He growled with frustrated impatience at the delay.
There was very damn little reason Reed Elgin should take the time from his day to come all the way out here.
There was only one reason that he'd do it.
The other man was curious about Emma. Luke gritted his teeth.
He knew from his conversation with Cody that his message had been relayed to the lawman that there had been a sole female survivor and that she was safe now. The sheriff should have been the last man that had time to worry over the welfare of one lone woman when he had a job that needed to be done.
Luke ripped the leather gloves from his hands and stuffed them in the back pocket of his Levi's as he quickened his pace.
Luke's brow creased in a frown of pure annoyance as he realized his anger was already at the boiling point and there was no justifiable reason for it.
He tore the door opened and walked purposefully into the house.
Emma looked up from where she sat at the kitchen table when she heard the loud bang of the door reverberating through the room like a gunshot.
Her senses were already mired in confusion. Sheriff Elgin had come to call half an hour before and since that time, he'd done nothing but try to get her to come back to town with him.
When she left her bedroom that morning, she was relieved that Luke was already out of the house. Maria had been working in the kitchen and told her that her luggage had arrived late the night before.
Emma was unsure of actually unpacking her things, but Maria had helped her move the luggage to her bedroom, had convinced her to unpack and put away her things so the creases would come out, and they had spent a pleasant morning together while they had gotten Emma settled.
Now she sat as stiff as a board while the sheriff sat back on his haunches in front of her, held her hand in a vise-like grip and tried to get her to come around to his way of thinking while Maria hovered over them, clucking like a chicken trying to protect her chick.
Emma's eyes landed on Luke as he slammed through the door. He stood still for a moment while he took in the scene. Emma's eyes widened and her breath caught as he seemed to grow in stature right before her eyes. His shoulders stiffened and squared, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, and a black, menacing expression came over his countenance.
A loud buzzing began in her ears as she continued to watch him, her body immobilized from shock. A strange feeling of guilt came over her and she tried without success to pull her hand away from the sheriff's grasp.
She felt a moment of helplessness, as if she were a bone being pulled between two dogs. Luke stepped away from the threshold, and in a manner that spoke of casualness that she knew was deceptive, he took three steps until he stood in the middle of the room and in a low, deadly voice said only three words to the sheriff.
"Let her go."
"Luke," the sheriff acknowledged the other man's presence without releasing her.
"Let her go," Luke reiterated in a menacing hiss that promised retribution if not immediately obeyed.
The other man dropped her hand, stood to his full height, faced Luke and questioned in a gravelly voice, "It's like that?"
"Yeah," Luke answered in a single, harsh syllable that gritted from the back of his throat, and then turned to her. "You all right?"
Emma felt the pulse in her neck begin to quiver under his direct gaze. "Yes," she answered him simply.
His eyes ran over her, observing her closely, no doubt taking in her flushed features, the different dress she was wearing, and the soft-soled slippers encasing her feet. He stood tall and straight before her with a nonchalant grace that was frightening in its deception. The look he was giving her was stamped with a stubborn streak that was rigid in its intensity, as if he was staring at something he owned, something that was his, and his alone.
The moment in time was interrupted when Maria cleared her throat. Her shiny old face was marred with tension as she looked from Luke to the sheriff and then back again. She held a box in her hands and said simply, "I'm going to the cabin, I'll be back directly." She glanced at Emma once and then quietly left the room and the two men that were facing off inside of it.
Emma shuddered slightly and wished she could make her get away as easily as Maria had. The tension was thick in the air as Luke cut his eyes away from hers and faced the sheriff fully. "You get 'em yet?" His voice rang out in the quiet room as he referred to the apprehension of the stagecoach robbers.
"No, not yet," the other man admitted.
Luke's face was a mask that hid his emotions. His lips tightened, his skin pulled taut over his cheekbones as he questioned with accusation, "Why are you here, then? Seems your time would be better spent some place other than my kitchen."
"I needed to ask Emma a few questions. See what she could remember while it was still fresh." The sheriff gritted his teeth as if he wasn't used to being under interrogation while Luke grew even more rigid.
"She answered your questions?"
"Yeah."
"All right then. I guess you'll be heading back now." Luke's voice was dark.
"I think she should go with me, Luke." The other man said it as if he knew he would get an argument, if not a flat-out rejection.
"No." Luke's answer was firm, spoken in a voice filled with denial, contempt, and irrefutable authority.
"You can't just keep her here," the other man's voice was filled with dismay and disapproval.
"Yeah, I can."
"It's not right."
"My land, my ranch, my decision." Luke's voice had turned sinister.
"It's her decision, Luke."
Luke didn't answer that but his gaze landed briefly on Emma's white face.
His eyes devoured hers and there was a subtle softening in his features that turned back to stone when the sheriff began speaking again.
"You're not thinking straight, man. She needs to be in town, where she has access to a doctor. She's had a shock and that ankle needs attention."
Emma held her breath while the two men discussed her as if she wasn't in the same room.
She'd heard the sheriff's arguments before; he'd done nothing but try to convince her to come back to town with him. But he'd admitted another stage wouldn't be coming for awhile. The telegram he'd received from the Denver office issued the news that until the robbers were apprehended, the stage wouldn't be making it that far down south for awhile. It would continue along a more dedicated, safer route to Denver.
The sheriff had given her that information and even offered an armed escort to the next large town on the stage route, but had admitted to her that it couldn't be organized for a few weeks.
She was stuck and she only had to decide if she wanted to be stuck in town or here on this ranch. She knew no one in town except for the sheriff, she didn't have the funds for an extended stay in the hotel, and besides, she felt comfortable on the ranch with Maria.
But deep inside her conscience, she knew the reason she wanted to remain here.
And the reason was looming large and menacing a few feet from her.
"She stays here." Luke refused the sheriff in no uncertain terms.
Reed Elgin turned and cursed under his breath. "Luke, be reasonable. She doesn't belong to you, man. Think with your head."
Luke sucked in oxygen through his front teeth with a hissing noise and pierced the other man with a look that almost made Emma light-headed. Ropes of tension coiled through his steely muscles and his chin jutted out as he answered, "I never claimed she belonged to me. But she damn sure doesn't have to go with you. I'm saying her ankle will heal on its own, she doesn't need a damn doctor, and I can protect her better here than you can in town."
"This isn't your decision to make. She's a grown woman. She can think for herself."
Luke's eyes chilled on the other man before they whipped around to land on her.
"Tell him you want to stay here, Emma." His voice was confident, slow and sure, with not a bit of doubt that she would agree coming from his tone.
And Emma wasn't about to disagree. As uncomfortable as he made her, it wasn't an altogether bad feeling. It was different from anything she had ever known, and it was something she wanted to explore further. If she went to town she might never see him again, and she wasn't prepared to let that happen yet.
And added to all those emotions running through her brain, was the added distress of going to an unknown place, with unknown people, and not having a source of income when she got there.
True, the thought of Denver was still a scary one, but it was something she'd had time to grow accustomed to. And she had a position secured there already.
The town of Burnet held no such comfort for her. She was quite ready to accept that staying here for awhile longer was what she wanted to do.
"I want to stay here with you." Her eyes stayed glued on Luke's. "I've already explained that to the sheriff," she said softly.
Her eyes clung to his as he gave her a short nod of approval and a shaft of incendiary heat passed between them. Emma savored the small moment until his eyes left hers to move to the man standing behind her.
"That right, Reed? She already told you she doesn't want to go with you?" The tic in his cheek was indicative of the anger that glinted from his eyes.
The sheriff wasn't prepared to let it go without an argument. "You can't expect her to know what she wants. She's alone and she's still in shock. Out here in the back of beyond isn't any place for a single woman."