To Kiss a Texan

FIVE

WES BECAME AWARE OF HER SOMEWHERE DEEP INsleep, more on a primal level than on a conscious one. A feeling born basic into the soul of a man, even though layers of civilization concealed it. A need to protect, to shelter, to hold, reacted in his dreams as strongly as reality.

Ignoring the pain from his wound, he moved his arm over her, curling her into the protective length of his lean body as he pulled her close. When her back rested against his chest, he felt a heartbeat that matched his own, and the pain passed, allowing him a deeper sleep. Her nearness began to heal him.

With the first light of dawn, she stretched. Half asleep, Wes opened his eyes to find a stranger curled beside him.

‘‘Good morning,’’ he mumbled for lack of anything better to say. Dreams and consciousness battled in his mind, for he had no idea who she was. Yet she seemed a part of him. ‘‘Did you sleep well?’’ He didn’t want to admit that this wasn’t the first time he’d awakened without remembering a lady’s name who slept next to him.

Her hair covered the pillow in waves of golden brown. He couldn’t resist rolling his head slightly so that it brushed his cheek. The smell was fresh and clean. The feel, soft and warm.

She twisted slightly to face him. In so doing, her breasts brushed against his outstretched arm. Full, rounded breasts. Not so large to be bothersome, but big enough to enjoy caressing, he thought.

Wes closed his eyes in the pure joy of feeling her against his skin with only a light cotton gown to cover her. If she felt so good just touching his arm, he wasn’t sure he could endure the pleasure he might have closing his hand over her flesh. And nothing would have made him forget such an enjoyment. Whoever this woman was, she wasn’t someone he’d made love to.

‘‘I must be dead,’’ he whispered as he moved his face against her hair once more. ‘‘I remember thinking I’d die last night. Now it’s happened. I can’t reason why I dreaded passing so, if you are my heaven.’’

She didn’t answer but placed her fingers lightly against his throat, as if testing his theory.

Wes laughed and opened his eyes once more. The makeshift bed they shared was hard as a table and had been placed in front of tall windows. Her hair caught the first gold of the sun. It took Wes several seconds to force his gaze to her face.

Bright blue eyes met his stare. Blue eyes!

Slowly, as if rising through water to the surface, he saw her. Her small shoulders, hardly big enough to be a full-grown woman’s. A bruise beneath her eye and another running along her throat. The white lace of her gown stood in sharp contrast to the deep purple mark at her collar.

He gently moved his fingers from her elbow to her hand at his throat and raised her arm slightly. Then he knew who she was, for the bruises of her chains were deep along her wrists.

As he put the pieces together in his mind, he knew she realized his memory of her had returned, for she pulled away. The beautiful woman whom he’d awakened with now lowered her head and raised her arms in defense as she slipped from his side.

Though he wanted her to stay, Wes didn’t try to stop her. The dirt might have been removed, but the poor creature he’d tried to save had returned. She moved into the cornered space between his bed and the bay window. Her wild blue eyes darted for an escape. He hadn’t the heart to reach for her against her will. Her stare was once more layered in fear and panic. She reached for a cape and pulled it about her shoulders as though the material would somehow make her vanish.

‘‘Wait!’’ He wondered if she could understand anything he said. ‘‘I’m not going to hurt you.’’ How could this woman who looked like pure paradise at dawn be watching him as though she thought him from the depths of hell?

With trembling hands, she fished into the knot of cloth she carried and drew a knife. The blade blinked bright in the morning light. She pointed it toward him with the butt of the weapon against her middle, as though she’d use the force of her entire body to run him through if she must.

He swung his legs to the floor on the far side of the bed. He knew he still penned her in, but hoped that by increasing the distance between them, she’d feel less threatened.

Slowly, he reached for a shirt at the end of his bed as he glanced around. Somehow this creature had managed to get him to Adam, which told Wes that there was a good chance she understood at least part of what he’d said last night. Judging from his bandaging, Adam had done the usual grand job of patching him up.

‘‘Thank you,’’ he whispered, ‘‘for bringing me here. You saved my life.’’

She nodded slightly. A quick, tiny nod he would have missed if he were not studying her so closely.

‘‘I’m in your debt.’’ He meant his words to be kind, but he’d had little practice being gentle. He could see her shaking beneath the cape as if fearing he’d murder her at any moment.

‘‘Do you have a name I can call you?’’ Wes tried to ease the tension.

She stared at him, her knuckles still white around the knife.

A noise sounded from somewhere beyond the hallway and he watched her panic grow.

Wes reached for his holster and strapped on his Colt. ‘‘Don’t worry. You’re safe here.’’ He only hoped he spoke the truth. If the preacher had asked before trailing him, a few of the folks in Denton could have told him where Wes’s brothers lived. If Wes had had any other choice, he’d have stayed clear of Adam and Daniel. But last night he’d been out of options.

He could tell by the way she watched him arm himself that she didn’t believe him. He couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever had the luxury of feeling safe in her life.

‘‘Adam!’’ a man’s voice shouted from the hallway. ‘‘Adam. Nick. Anybody here?’’

Wes relaxed. ‘‘In here, Daniel,’’ he answered as Adam jerked awake with the sudden noise and unfolded from the chair by the fireplace.

A huge man suddenly framed the doorway, and Wes thought he could feel the woman’s fear as thick as smoke between them. Her gaze darted from the doorway to Adam’s sudden rise from sleep, to Wes, as though now her problems had tripled.

‘‘Wes, I was hoping you’d be here.’’ Daniel took a step into the room, then froze when he saw the woman. ‘‘Then it’s true? You did kidnap a girl from Denton?’’

Wes shrugged, unwilling to deny the truth. ‘‘News travels fast.’’ He motioned from the woman to Daniel. ‘‘Kidnapped woman, I’d like you to meet my younger brother, Daniel McLain. He’s a blacksmith on weekdays and a preacher on Sundays.’’

She took the news with a shudder as though Wes had said Daniel was a killer on Sundays.

Wes quickly nodded toward Adam, who was still rooted by the chair. He had never lived fearing enemy attack as Wes had, so he woke up more slowly.

‘‘I assume you met Dr. McLain last night, since you got me safely here, so you know the whole family now.Seems like whenever trouble’s around, we McLains always manage to find one another.’’

Daniel took a few steps toward her, then stopped when the glint from the knife she held blinked in his eyes. He raised a questioning eyebrow to Wes.

‘‘She doesn’t talk,’’ Wes answered the unasked question. ‘‘I don’t know if she can. The man in Denton seemed to think she couldn’t. Despite the knife, she hasn’t hurt anyone that I know of.’’

He looked toward Adam for more news, but Adam only shrugged. Then the doctor straightened his clothing and added, ‘‘You really shouldn’t be up, Wes. As your doctor, I must insist-’’

‘‘I’m fine,’’ Wes snapped, always resenting his brother’s advice. Adam was the only doctor Wes would let touch him. But as soon as he could stand on his own, stand he would. No younger brother would treat him like a frail old maid.

Daniel slung his blond hair from his eyes and looked at the woman behind Wes with his head tilted slightly. ‘‘She doesn’t seem all that friendly toward you, Wes. Did she come willingly?’’

Wes rubbed his forehead as if trying to remember. ‘‘She came willingly enough from the cage they had her in. They were using her as the savage for a revival. You know the kind of service. I couldn’t stand the thought of her being paraded around to fill the preacher’s pockets. So I took her out of the cage. I was shot as we rode out. She managed to get me to Adam.’’

Daniel raised both eyebrows as he glanced once more at the knife in her hand.

Wes shrugged. ‘‘She just doesn’t face mornings well, I guess.’’ He moved a step away, allowing her more space, but still close enough to stop her if she tried to bolt. ‘‘How’d you know about us?’’

Daniel ran his fingers through his sandy-colored hair in need of cutting. ‘‘Riders came by last night at the settlement. A preacher with the last name of Louis seemed to be the leader of the group. A Ranger rode with him and several hands from the Montago spread, by the markings on their mounts. As soon as they left, I headed here, knowing this is where you’d come if you were wounded.’’

Daniel looked worried. ‘‘The preacher said he has the law for a hundred miles around searching for you. Most have orders to shoot first and not be overly worried if the woman gets in the way. He was ranting and raving as if volume alone could make everything he said true. He even claimed you’ll do her harm if she doesn’t kill you first.’’

‘‘All the harm was his doing,’’ Wes said. ‘‘I’m not sure I’d lay a hand on her even to stop her from running. She’s had enough, judging from the pain in her eyes and the bruises on her arms.’’

Adam approached the woman. ‘‘The bruises along her neck are too deep to be new, but the law won’t take the time to notice that. Do you think she’d let me examine her?’’

‘‘I don’t think so,’’ Wes answered. ‘‘But I felt whelps on her back that probably need tending.’’

Adam crossed to one of the white cabinets and began pulling supplies. ‘‘If she won’t let me touch her, maybe she’ll at least use the medicine herself. If any of the wounds are open, she could be in real danger.’’

Wes leaned back against the bed, feeling the full load of what he’d done. No one would believe him against the preacher and, in truth, hedidkidnap her. Four years as an officer in the Union army would probably do him more harm than good here in the South. Every cowhand who knew him to be a man of honor had died at the Red River. Vincent Edward had been his only friend who grew up in Texas, and he’d disappeared during the stampede. No one would probably ever find his body or be able to identify it.

‘‘What’ll we do?’’ Daniel paced. The worry reflecting in his face made him look almost as old as his brothers. ‘‘It’s only a matter of time before they get here. I only made it first because I know the trail.’’

‘‘I’ll handle it.’’ Wes hardened his jaw.

‘‘No.’’ Adam did the same. ‘‘We’ll handle it. We’re your brothers. We stand together.’’

‘‘It she wants to run, she can take my horse,’’ Daniel offered. ‘‘It’s tied out back. We can’t keep her here against her will or we’d be no better than the one called Louis. But if she goes, so does your proof that she came with you willingly last night.’’

‘‘If we let her run, we’ll all be dead before they figure out she isn’t here,’’ Wes answered. ‘‘I got myself into this. You’re a doctor, Adam, and you’re a man of God, Daniel. The two of you have responsibilities. When they come, they’ll only be looking for me. I don’t want you two getting in the line of fire.’’

Both brothers seemed to have gone as deaf as the wild woman.

‘‘If she stays, she’s still Louis’s ward.’’ Daniel glanced from her to Wes. ‘‘And in this state that means he can do whatever he wants with her, including beat her half to death.’’

‘‘But she’s a woman, fully grown.’’ Wes reached for his rifle by the window. The sound of horses arriving drifted across the morning air. ‘‘He’ll put her back in a cage and treat her worse than an animal.’’

‘‘She’s his ward until she marries,’’ Daniel explained as he grabbed Adam’s rifle from above the wardrobe. Though he might be a man of the cloth by profession, he was a McLain by blood.

Horses thundered to a halt at the porch out front. All three brothers straightened, preparing, hardening to face whatever came through the door.

Adam slid his Colt into the band of his trousers at his spine and straightened the string tie at his throat. He moved toward the front door of his home. ‘‘Then marry her,’’ he whispered as he passed his brothers. ‘‘I’ll stall them for as long as I can.’’ He disappeared into the hallway.

‘‘That’s insane!’’ Wes made no effort to keep his voice down. He glanced at the woman, who still held her weapon. For a moment he remembered the soft creature who had lain next to him before dawn. Where had that woman gone?

‘‘Adam’s right.’’ Daniel nodded. ‘‘If you’re married, they’ll have no right to take her back. I can perform the ceremony right now. But I’ll not marry a woman who’s not willing.’’

Wes saw the idea as hopeless. ‘‘How are we going to know if she’s willing? She hasn’t spoken a word.’’

Daniel leaned his rifle against the desk and took a few steps toward the woman. She backed up against the wood between the windows-the knife still tight in her hand.

Daniel leaned over the bed and opened the window. ‘‘Crawl out if you like. My horse is tied to the back porch.’’ He pointed, showing her the way. ‘‘If they catch you, they will probably force you to go back to the man who calls himself a preacher or put you away. Or you can run toward the front to find Louis if you want to go back to him.’’

She didn’t move as he straightened.

He pulled a thin gold band from his little finger. ‘‘Or put on this band and be married to my brother. No one can force you to go back then.’’ Daniel glanced at Wes. ‘‘He’s not much of an option. To be honest, he’s broke, drinks more than most, short-tempered, and generally hard to get along with. But I’d swear on my life that he’d never hurt you.’’

‘‘Thanks for the glowing recommendation.’’ Wes watched, but she didn’t move. ‘‘What makes you think I want a wife? Even one this willing and friendly. The idea of marrying me seems a fate worse than death for most women, judging from my track record. I doubt this one would see it any different, even if she did understand a word you’re saying.’’

Daniel frowned. They could hear the men yelling from the doorway. ‘‘You don’t have a choice. They hang men in this state for kidnapping.’’

A shot rang out. Both brothers grabbed their weapons and moved toward the door.

Shouts echoed from the hallway as they took positions by the door and waited.

Daniel glanced back. The woman was still there.

‘‘Do you?’’ he asked as she lifted the ring that had once belonged to his wife.

She nodded slightly.

‘‘What about me?’’ Wes snapped. ‘‘Don’t I get a vote?’’

Daniel shook his head. ‘‘She’s willing and you’re breathing. I pronounce you man and wife.’’