The Outlaw (8 page)

Trying to lift him from the floor was easier
said than done. One good tug and his body shifted but it wasn’t in
the direction she wanted. He leaned heavily to one side, teetered
dangerously before he reached out and grabbed her, pulling her with
him to the floor.

Sarah’s startled yell died when they landed
with a thud, the sheet she’d wrapped herself in tangling around
their bodies and effectively trapping her under him. His laughter
only made matters worse. She tried lifting her arms to push him off
of her but couldn’t lift so much as a hand.

Closing her eyes, Sarah took a deep breath,
trying to calm her nerves while Colt got his laugh. When he
stopped, she looked up at him. He was staring at her, that lust
filled look directed at her again. Her pulse leaped. She realized
the position they were in seconds later. He was half on top of her,
one long leg pressing against her inner thighs and she could feel
him against her hip, thick and growing harder by the second. She
swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Colt, let me up.”

He shook his head, his gaze resting on her
lips. “Don’t want to, sweetheart.”

“I’m not your sweetheart.”

Lifting his hand, he ran his index finger
over her bottom lip. “You will be.” He shifted, lying half on top
of her, his fingers sliding across her cheek. His eyes lifted to
hers and Sarah could tell he was serious. He smelled like he’d
crawled across the floor of the saloon but there was too much
clarity in his eyes for him to be as drunk as she first
thought.

“Let me up, Colt.”

“Not yet.” He continued to stare at her, his
fingers a light caress on her face before he ran them down her
throat and over the skin along the edge of her shift. She
remembered him saying he could see through the material and her
nipples hardened at the thought he could see them now.

After long minutes of him doing nothing but
staring at her breasts, Sarah sighed. “Colt, what are you
doing?”

“Lookin’ at ya.”

“I can see that. Why?”

“You won’t let me bed ya. Lookings alls
left.”

Sarah opened her mouth to reply but was at a
loss for words. What was she supposed to say? He still wanted to
bed her and her reasons for not letting him do so were still the
same. Not to mention the fact that he was intoxicated and had
probably already spent more hours rolling around the sheets with
some woman at the saloon than she wanted to think about.

He grabbed the ribbon holding her shift
together and Sarah struggled beneath him until his hand stilled.
“Colt.”

“Why?”

She blinked at him. “Why what?”

“Why can’t I bed ya? Do you really not like
me?” He grinned again. “I’m real purdy. My ma told me so.”

A small laugh bubbled up and Sarah let it
escape before she could stop it. “You being ‘purdy’ has nothing to
do with it, Colt. You’re an outlaw.”

“I’m not a bad man.”

“An outlaw isn’t a bad man?” It was her turn
to grin. “Since when?”

He leaned down close to her face and
whispered. “I’m not really an outlaw.” He looked toward the door
like someone was there listening before facing her again. “I’m a US
Marshal but don’t tell anybody. I’ll have to kill ya if ya do.”

Sarah stared at him and took back her
assessment of him not being that drunk. The US Marshal statement
confirmed he was. Right? “You’re a US Marshal?”

“Yep.”

“Since when?”

“Since… um, always.” He inhaled a breath and
reached for the ribbon tying her shift closed. “No more talking,
sweetheart. I want you and I aim to have ya.” He untied the ribbon
and pulled the material apart, exposing a good portion of her
breasts. Sarah gasped and yelled his name, struggling underneath
him. He stopped and looked up at her and she could see the clarity
she’d seen moments ago, again filled his eyes.

He stared down at her for long moments before
he flung himself away, falling to the floor beside her hard enough
his head smacked against the wooden boards. Sarah stared at the
ceiling, wondering if he would have really had his way with her
against her wishes.

Turning her head to look at him she saw his
eyes were closed, small lines bracketing the edges he was holding
them shut so tightly. He wouldn’t have taken her by force. She
wasn’t sure how she knew but she did. Colt may be an outlaw but he
was a decent man. Other than stealing a kiss and saying a few
unseemly things to her he hadn’t touched her. Not before tonight,
he hadn’t.

Rolling to her side, Sarah leaned up on one
elbow to look at him. “Colt?”

He opened his eyes and one corner of his
mouth tilted in an apparent smile. “I’m gonna make you beg for
it.”

“Excuse me?”

That lopsided grin turned into a full-blown
smile as Colt rolled to face her, propping his weigh onto his elbow
to be eye level with her. “By the time we part ways, sweetheart,
you’ll beg me to bed you. You’ll crave me like I crave you.”

He craves her? She didn’t know whether to be
flattered by his admission or laugh at how ridiculous he sounded.
He was intoxicated, after all. He probably wouldn’t even remember
half of what he was saying by morning. She wondered what he’d be
willing to tell her in his current state and wanted to test her
theory.

“You said Virgil and his men were after you
because you turned them over to US Marshals. Why would you do that
if you led their group?”

Colt laughed, an amused look in his eye.
“Told you, I’m a US Marshal. It’s what I do.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you
do?”

He sighed, closed his eyes, and shook his
head. When he looked back up at her, the clarity she’d seen earlier
in his eyes made him look less intoxicated and more tired. “I find
the outlaws no one can catch, then worm my way into their gangs,
set up a heist, then turn them all over to US Marshals when its all
said and done. I catch the bad guys when no one else can.”

The way he explained it made it sound
so—true. Sarah stared at him and wondered if this tale was just a
drunken delusion on his part or if he was in fact telling her what
he did for a living. Pursing her lips, she contemplated his words
and shook her head. “I don’t believe you.”

He laughed again, the sound so light-hearted
she couldn’t help but smile. “It’s why I’m perfect for the job. Who
would believe someone as dangerous looking as me to be one of the
good guys?”

“I’m not sure how dangerous you are, Colt,
but you’re obviously a good liar.”

“I’ve not lied to you.”

“If you say so.” She crawled from the floor
and gained her feet, staring down at him as she retied her shift.
He was staring up at her, an unreadable look on his face. “You have
to leave.”

“I know.” He rolled over onto his back again
and closed his eyes. “Just give me a minute. My head is
spinning.”

Sarah waited, and waited some more. The
longer she stood there, the more aggravated she became. When he
made no attempt to get up, she prodded him with her foot.
“Colt.”

He didn’t move. A few more well placed jabs
at his side with her foot and Sarah realized he’d passed out. On
her floor. “Great.”

Chapter Six

Waking in a semi-soft bed was bliss compared
to waking on the hard ground, covered in dew from the grass and
smelling wet earth. Sarah smiled and stretched her body, only to
still a moment later. She wasn’t alone.

Opening her eyes, she did a mental check and
realized that Colt had crawled into bed with her at some point. He
was wrapped around her like a blanket and even though the feel of
him pressed so intimately against her back was more pleasant than
it should have been, her heart started pounding in her chest.

His arm was around her waist, his palm
cupping her breast as if he was scared it would get away from him.
His leg was sandwiched between her thighs and every breath he took,
a warm rush of air was felt against the side of her neck.

Grabbing his hand, she pried it from her
breast and looked over her shoulder at him. “Colt.” It took her
saying his name three more times, and jabbing him in the ribs with
her elbow, to get him to stir. When he did, she wished he hadn’t.
His slight movement caused his apparent erection to be felt against
her bottom.

A mere shift of his hips made that evidence
even more noticeable and Sarah swallowed a sudden lump forming in
her throat. “Colt.”

“Hmmm.”

“Get out of my bed.”

He did the complete opposite and wrapped
himself around her more, burying his face into her hair.

“Colt.” Sarah sighed when he made no move to
wake. She looked down at his arm, noticing she didn’t see the
sleeve of his shirt. Her tripping heart nearly exploded from her
chest when she realized he could very well be naked, that erection
of his bared with nothing separating him from her except the thin
material of her shift. The thought caused naughty images no proper
lady should have to flood her mind.

She had to get him out of bed but waking him,
and finding him naked, was too much to bear. Him pressed so
intimately against her back was causing thoughts she shouldn’t have
to dance across her mind’s eye. Thoughts of pulling the hem of her
shift up and letting him bed her like he’d said he wanted to
do.

The idea terrified and excited her at the
same time. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t wondered what it
would be like to let him have his way. She was attracted to him.
Had been the instant he pulled the bandana covering his face away
outside the bank. He was handsome, protective and a danger in more
ways than one. If it weren’t for the fact she’d be ruined by
letting him take what he wanted, she’d throw caution to the wind
and let him take her.

Ideas like that only caused more trouble down
the road and Sarah knew if she couldn’t get him out of her bed,
she’d have to be the one to move. It took a bit of struggling but
she managed to break his hold on her and crawled from the bed.

When her feet were on the floor, she hurried
across the room, refusing to look at him. If she did, and found him
naked, she’d be too tempted to crawl back into the warmth of his
embrace.

She found the calico dress she’d purchased
the day before and slipped it over her head, buttoning it to her
neck before trying to finger-comb her hair. The bed-ropes made a
squeak and she froze, torn between the desire to look over her
shoulder or keep her eyes averted. She kept her gaze locked on the
wall in front of her and tried to ignore that voice in her head
daring her to take a tiny little peek.

* * * *

Colt’s head was pounding and the sun shining
through the curtain only made it worse. He pried his eyes open a
fraction before slamming them back shut and turning his face into
the mattress. Her scent filled his head, lilacs and fresh mountain
air. Sarah, the woman he couldn’t stop thinking, or fantasizing
about, no matter what he did.

He turned his head and cracked open an eye.
He saw her then, near the wall. Her back was to him and it took
long moments before his cloudy mind replayed the events of last
evening. He grimaced at most of it but when he remembered Sarah,
and coming into her room, he smiled.

She’d been so scandalized, her face flushing
the softest pink at being caught in her shift, he couldn’t imagine
her looking any more fetching. Of course, that was before seeing
her curves outlined in that god-ugly dress she was wearing now. The
calico material did nothing for her, the small blue flowers on a
yellow background was plain and ordinary looking. Her feet were
bare and he smiled while looking at her small ankles. One never
paid much attention to a woman’s feet since they were covered all
the time but now that he could look, he did. Like the rest of her,
they were small and dainty looking.

His gaze traveled up her legs, over her
generous bottom, lingering there for longer than he should have,
before lifting to her small waist, to her shoulders. Her hair was
pulled in front of her while she braided it and the ordinary task
of her fixing her hair felt too intimate in the small room. Seeing
her barefoot with her hair down, him half naked in her bed caused
something warm to twist in his gut. He imagined her in his home,
those blonde locks swaying near her hips as she dressed in his
room. Their room. Her face flushed after he’d spent the morning
showing her just how much he wanted her.

He blinked and the images faded away. She was
still standing where she had been but she was looking over her
shoulder at him, her hair still held in her hands. “Whatever you’re
thinking about, stop.”

Colt grinned at her and wrapped his arms
around the pillow on the bed, laying his head on it. “Make me.”

She opened her mouth to speak but didn’t make
a sound. She whirled, flung her braid over her shoulder and
searched the room for something. She found it moments later and
crossed to the bed, bending over. When she stood, her stockings
were in one hand, her kid boots in the other. “I would ask where
you got the audacity to barge into my room last night but I already
know.” She sat on the foot of the bed, turning her back to him
before lifting one leg to slip her stockings on. “I hope no one saw
you other than the nosey man in the hall last night.”