She slid her hands around his waist and cupped his lean flanks beneath his hastily opened trousers. “Not my husband. I want to be in charge sometimes.”
He sucked air through his teeth. “I like the sound of that.” He was already stirring back to life against her thigh. “I’m your humble servant, ma’am.”
She pressed her leg against him. “This time don’t pull out.” He pulled away from her, bracing his weight on his hands and knees. “Lorelei. Be reasonable.”
Oh, but she didn’t like the ring of his words. He only thought her unreasonable because she wasn’t giving in to his demands. “We’ll be married before I even start to show.”
“I’m not some prize stud.”
She nipped at his braced arm. “I disagree.”
He laughed low in his throat, gathered her up in his arms, and kissed her long and hard on the mouth. “You tempt me, woman, but let me do what I have to. I don’t want to have to worry about you carrying our child until I can devote my full attention to it.”
She traced his cheek and saw the earnestness in his eyes. She suddenly felt guilty for demanding so much of him when the problems he faced were created by her and her brother. “I’m a lot of trouble, huh?”
“You’re worth it.”
“So you think the marshal will listen to you over his deputy?”
He nibbled her shoulder. “I think so. Let’s change the subject. Tell me a place I haven’t kissed you yet.”
She squirmed beneath him, enjoying the attention but also realizing he was purposely covert. “What are you not telling me?”
He lifted his head and looked at her seriously. “The less you know, the better. I don’t know exactly how it’s all going to work out, but you have to trust me.”
“I do,” she said, shocked that he would insinuate she didn’t. “Haven’t I trusted you from the beginning?” She stopped herself, glad it was too dark for him to see her gaze falter. “With only a couple of exceptions.”
“Those exceptions are what’s got me worried.”
“On the way back I promised you I was going to stay here with Jay no matter what, and I intend to keep that promise.”
“Good. Because if you run off, Jay will come too. I need you both to keep an eye out for each other. I don’t want Jay and his family to be dragged into this any more than I want you to get into trouble with the law. I’m going to have trouble enough keeping your brother and myself from swinging.”
“Don’t say that.” She kept the tears from her eyes, but obviously not the anguish from her voice.
He gently kissed her forehead. “It would kill me if you had to face prosecution. Promise me you won’t say a word about our relationship to anyone who might come around here asking questions.”
“We’re going to be married. I’m not going to keep that a secret.”
He squeezed her shoulders roughly. “You have to, or it could look bad for you if I can’t clear my name.”
“No, Christopher.” A cold, familiar fear snaked up her spine. Berkley had forced her to keep their marriage plans a secret until he could fix things. Only later did she realize that that was because he had no intention of marrying her at all.
“Promise me, Lorelei. You’ll do nothing but stay on this farm and act the innocent bystander that you are.”
She hesitated. This was nothing like with Berkley. She and her brother had dragged Christopher into this situation. All he was doing was trying to arrange it so they could all live happily ever after. Of course, she knew that happily ever after didn’t really happen, but she felt like she was close…so close.
She lifted her head and tagged him with a kiss on the mouth. “I promise.” He relaxed against her. “Good. Now be quiet so I can spend my last hour making love to you.”
She let him kiss away any objections. She wanted to remind him that he’d have the rest of his life to make love to her, but she didn’t want to jinx them.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The encroaching dawn turned the desert light blue. Rocks and cactus lost their menacing shapes. Shadows transformed from hidden threats to ordinary scenery. Braddock shifted in his saddle, relieved and distraught at the same thought. He couldn’t kill Langston in cold blood. Hell, he didn’t even think he could kill him in a fair fight.
Knowing that Lorelei lay wrapped in a warm bed still sated from their parting melted the desperate fury that, less than twenty-four hours ago, had urged him to bash Langston’s head against a rock. A patch of crisp air left over from the frosty night curled around Braddock like a choking vine. Braddock shivered and pulled the thin coat he should have exchanged for his sheepskin jacket tighter around him. Cold, tired, and hungry, he didn’t feel like half the badass he’d once thought he was.