Wild Winds Read online

  “I don’t want to put you in an uneasy position, Maggie, so I’ve tried to keep my distance and behave myself as I promised when we partnered up, but you surely don’t make it easy. So far, that precaution isn’t working for me; I just keep needing you more and more every day. I’m not used to dealing with a woman on this kind of terrain, so I guess it’s natural to be a mite wary and nervous.”

  She recalled that he had lost his family only months ago, so he must still be suffering. As a loner, he probably didn’t know exactly what to say or do in a romantic situation. Perhaps he felt insecure about his background as a trail man. She had to prove to him he was special, was a perfect match for her in all ways, and before he learned the dark truth about her and put distance between them forever. “I don’t mean to make it hard on you, Hawk, and you have kept your word of honor. Actually, I think there’s too much space between us.”

  As if fearing he would push prematurely, Hawk misunderstood, took a deep breath, and stepped to the dresser. As he removed his hat and holster and put them atop it, he said in a somber tone, “I’m sorry if I offended you, Maggie; that wasn’t my intention. I suppose there is a wide space between a refined lady like you and a rough man like me.”

  Maggie waved her hand between them and clarified, “I was referring to this kind of space between us, Hawk. I meant to encourage you, not reject you. I must know the truth, am I a risk worth taking so we can figure out exactly what kind of force is drawing us toward each other? Neither of us is the kind of person who relinquishes freedom in rash haste; after all, we have retained ours this long, so there must be something different about our relationship that should be investigated.”

  Hawk told himself he shouldn’t have approached her in this manner before certain matters were brought into the open and settled between them, but he couldn’t find the strength or will to back down now. Besides, everything she just said made perfect sense to him. “Yes, Maggie, you are a reasonable risk. Am I?”

  “Yes, Hawk, you are.”

  He admired her honesty and courage and was enslaved by his love and desire for her. She had come into his life at a time when his heart was frozen by hatred and a desire only for revenge; she had melted that terrain and brought him back to life. Mercy, he wished his other confessions would be as quickly understood and accepted as his revealed deceit, but he somehow knew it wouldn’t be the same. But before he risked losing her, he must risk loving her and binding himself totally to her with the hope that bond would be too strong for anything or anyone to break.

  “Even if you had rejected me, Maggie, I wouldn’t desert you and our work together. I’ll be at your side until you tell me to leave.”

  “That won’t happen, Hawk,” because I’ve fallen in love with you.

  His pounding heart leapt with joy, and the flames within his loins kindled to a greater height. For a moment, he did nothing more than hold her tight against him. “I have real strong feelings for you, Maggie, but you can slow or halt this ride if it starts to scare you,” he murmured before his mouth covered hers with a tender kiss. When she looped her arms around his neck and responded, his embrace tightened and a moan of intense need escaped his throat.

  Shared passion caused Maggie to quiver and ignite with pleasure and anticipation. She felt strange and wonderful all over. Her pulse raced wildly through her body, taking hot blood to every inch of it. Her dreamy thoughts danced like blades of grass in a wild wind. She hoped she would know what to do at the right time, and that such things would take care of themselves as nature intended. Once he realized how much she loved him, that should prevent him from turning against her later, at least from hating her. If she made their bond tight, surely he would forgive her recklessness in Yuma and remain at her side.

  Hawk was almost staggered by the spellbinding way she clung to him, kissed him, and pressed against him. He wasn’t a greenhorn where sex was concerned, but he was a stranger to romantic lovemaking. Even so, he instinctively knew she was an innocent, and he must move slow and gentle with her, though she was making self-control difficult with her ardent responses. He trailed kisses over her face where her skin was as soft as silk. His mouth journeyed down her throat as she leaned her head back to give him plenty of roaming room, and his actions evoked muffled groans from deep within her. He was elated that he could arouse such desire for him. He nestled his face against her brown hair and relished the feel of it against his cheek. He drifted his hands up and down her back and felt her curls tease over his fingers during each trip upward. He kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose. As his lips brushed over hers, he vowed, “Nothing in my life has ever felt as good as you do in my arms, Maggie. I’ve craved you every day and night for weeks. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear I was only dreaming.”

  Amidst their mingled breaths, she said, “So would I, Hawk, but we’re wide awake. That day at the corral in Yuma, I felt as if I’d known you"—and waited for you—” forever. I somehow knew my life would never be the same.”

  He looked at her radiant face. “If you never believe anything I ever say again, believe how much I want you and need to learn where this twisting path will take us.” With those heart-stirring words, he lifted her and carried her to the bed, where he lowered her beside it. Maggie unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off his broad shoulders, dropping it to the floor, unwilling to leave him even long enough to toss it over a chair or hang it on a peg. She untied his bandanna and let it fall to the rug. She waited in rising suspense as he removed her blouse and cast it aside, then undid the ribbon and unfastened the tiny buttons of her undergarment. After his mouth covered hers again, she felt his fingers slip the straps of her chemise off her shoulders. She held her arms down so he could free them of that white garment, which was left to dangle over the waistband of her skirt.

  For a short time, they simply looked at each other, as if each was making sure the other had no reservation about what was going to happen next. Her palms were flattened against his bronzed chest while his hands cupped her face and his thumbs stroked the velvety skin near her parted lips. Maggie sent her fingers to toy with hair as dark as midnight which curled under at his nape, and he slid his into her long tresses and drew her head toward his. Their mouths united in a budding kiss that flowered as passion spread it throughout their bodies.

  Maggie slipped her hands beneath his arms to rove his broad back and felt the strength that dwelled there. His shoulders and arms were taut and well muscled from ample use and her wandering fingers encountered defined ridges and planes amid the tanned flesh.

  Time seemed to stand still and any reality beyond that room seemed to vanish as they explored their feelings and stimulated each other to a lofty degree. Their kisses became hungry and greedy, as did their hands.

  As if receiving a mental message from her, Hawk unbuttoned her skirt and let it slid to the floor, as did her chemise in its wake. He felt her move as she lifted one foot at a time to discard the pool of material around them. As he doused the lamplight to prevent alarming her with the sight of his jutting manhood when he undressed, Maggie tossed aside the covers, removed her bloomers, and climbed onto the bed. With haste, he shucked his boots, socks, pants, and lower undergarment. He eased down beside her and pulled her into his arms on their sides.

  They shared a pillow as they kissed and caressed each other, eager to be as one. Her nipples hardened even more as Hawk’s fingers tantalized them to firmer points after rolling her to her back.

  Maggie was awed by how stimulating and profound it felt to have him touching her breasts. She had imagined it would be nice, but nothing as sensuously evocative as it was. Her astonishment and pleasure multiplied when his questing mouth closed over one rosy brown bud. His tongue lavished hot moisture and generous attention there. The sensations he created were deliriously arousing. She closed her eyes to absorb them, though the room was too dark to see him or any object there.

  Hawk’s right hand ventured over her bare figure as far as it could reach without d
islodging his mouth from its splendid task. She had a firm and agile body, and every inch was an enchanting enticement. Her unflawed flesh was neither pale nor dark, but somewhere in between. She was almost too beautiful and angelic to touch, but too irresistible not to do so. His hand drifted over her rib cage and stomach, caressing its way to the fuzzy triangle between her thighs. He remembered being told that rubbing the small nub there evoked delight and ravenous hunger, so he massaged it with light and slow strokes at first, then with firmer and faster ones as her hips began to squirm and soft moans escaped her mouth.

  Maggie’s fingers played in her lover’s ebony hair as he feasted at her breasts and drove her wild with his hands. A curious tension gnawed at her, though she tried to relax as she anticipated what was to come.

  Hawk’s lips traveled up Maggie’s chest and neck at a snail’s pace and at last fused with hers as he moved atop her. He hoped she was as eager to continue their bold journey as she appeared to be; he certainly was. He had never had to use this kind of restraint before or delay his release so long.

  He entered her with as much gentleness as he could muster, then halted while she accustomed herself to his presence. She stiffened slightly and inhaled sharply before she relaxed again, her fingers pressing hard against his shoulder blades. When she arched toward him, he thrust himself deeper within her, kissing and caressing her all the while. He hoped he hadn’t hurt her, as he had been told it could be painful for a woman her first time, or if a man was rough and too swift, whether it was a woman’s first time or hundredth. He knew she had never lain with a man before, and he was overwhelmed that she had chosen him to be the receiver of her precious gift of chastity. After her ankles overlapped his calves and she seemed to open herself more to him, he penetrated her more deeply and began to move within her sweet heat.

  One sharp pain and ensuing mild discomfort passed quickly for the highly aroused Maggie. Each time he moved within her, it was sheer ecstasy. It was beautiful and special and natural to have their bodies joined as one. To her, it was a total sharing of themselves, a consummation of their wedding vows, an exquisite foreshadowing of a golden future together.

  Together, they climbed upward, seeking a goal that they could only imagine at that point. They urged their spirits skyward and grew dizzy at the awesome heights of their soaring passion. Maggie reached her precipice and toppled over it only minutes before an enraptured Hawk did the same, and they met in a tranquil valley afterward to cuddle as their bodies cooled and their pounding hearts slowed.

  The minute Hawk’s near breathlessness ended, he asked, “Are you all right, Maggie? Did I hurt you?”

  A sated Maggie replied in honesty, “It was a little uncomfortable at one point; but on the whole, it was wonderful. You were very gentle and considerate. Thank you, Hawk.”

  “I’m the one who should be thanking you, Maggie.” You’re mine now, woman, and I’ll fight anybody and anything to keep you at my side. “Maybe this means I won’t need to be calling on my judge and lawyer friends later to untie us,” he murmured before thinking, which was unusual for him; so he chuckled as if jesting because he didn’t want her to think he was trying to entrap her.

  Maggie nestled into his embrace and rested her head on his shoulder. She liked the way his fingers trailed over her arm and shoulder, and the husky tone of his voice. Although they hadn’t confessed love for each other, she was certain that’s what they both felt; it definitely was what she felt. “I suppose this episode ropes us together good and tight, Mr. Reynolds; at least for as long as it works out between us.” There, that should relieve any pressure you might be feeling about being trapped in a hasty marriage.

  It’ll work out somehow; you’ll see. “Yep, it guess it does.”

  “We did say, if we liked our marital arrangement, we’d keep it. So far, I find it most pleasing and acceptable. We make a good team.”

  “I like it, too, boss lady; that’s something I didn’t expect to be saying and thinking when I took off after you in Yuma to see why I couldn’t get you off my mind day or night. You’re a sneaky critter, Maggie Malone.”

  After she laughed with him, she said, “Since we were thrown together unexpectedly and married by necessity, let’s wait and see if we can discover why before we cut that knot. We don’t want to toss away something which might be beneficial to us both.”

  “Yep, you’re right; smart, too.” Hawk realized she was relaxing more and more as he stroked her hair and bare flesh. He was surprised she didn’t get out of bed and put on a nightgown, but was glad she didn’t. He savored the feel of her bare body against his, the way her arm rested over his chest and a knee over his thighs, the way her soft nether curls tickled his leg, the way she cuddled up to him, and her occasional dreamy sigh. He knew they had been talking in jesting tones to conceal their real feelings from each other, as if they both were wary of each other and their sudden emotions because of their secrets.

  As Maggie drifted off to sleep while locked in his embrace, Hawk’s concentration drifted in another direction. He couldn’t forget that two of his family’s killers were within his reach; two were already dead, and the last one could be found through the woman in his arms. He had been tempted to call out Slim Jones this afternoon while the odds were even, then go after Pete Barber with the same intention. All he had thought about for months was finding them and punishing them. But Maggie had come along and changed his original plans and his feelings. There was more at stake now; he needed those culprits alive to help extricate her from her reckless deed. In order to protect her life and to save her from incarceration, he had to be satisfied with exposing their crimes in Prescott and Texas, arresting them, and seeing them either hang for multiple murders or rot in prison in order to get his justice and revenge.

  Besides, as a U.S. marshal, he was sworn to uphold the law, so he couldn’t just kill somebody in cold blood and for personal reasons, even under the pretense of a justifiable showdown; that would make him no better than his wicked targets. Yet he sometimes had to battle violence with violence when a criminal tried to elude justice and punishment or threatened him or a victim. Since he had pinned on a badge years ago—first a Texas Ranger’s for five years, then a U.S. marshal’s for the last two—he’d bent some laws and stretched a few others while performing his duties, but he’d never broken one, at least with knowing willfullness.

  His badge and authority were recognized everywhere as the highest rank of law enforcement, but that had never made him feel or behave arrogant around town sheriffs or local marshals, especially since he rarely exposed his status and worked undercover. He took his job seriously, and his jurisdiction included anywhere his missions took him. He even had the power to appoint his own deputy; to date, he hadn’t felt a need for a partner since he preferred Working alone and being responsible solely for his actions and safety. His duties included bringing to justice murderers, robbers, arsonists, rapists, railroad obstructors, whiskey sellers to Indians, mail thieves, Army deserters, swindlers, adulterers. He was a threat and scourge to anybody who broke federal laws.

  Hawk listened to Maggie’s even breathing for a while as his mind told him she should be under arrest at that very minute for aiding the escape of an imprisoned convict. His heart told him he would have to resign before he could be the one to carry out that deed. Yet if her action was exposed and a warrant was put out on her, he would have no choice except to honor it in order to prevent other lawmen and/or bounty hunters from snatching her.

  Besides marrying her in Benson yesterday, he already had taken another bold step before he left Tucson to protect her from repercussions from-her misdeed in Yuma; he could get into big trouble if his deceit was discovered, probably cost him his badge. All he required now was the arrival of a certain item to prove his good intentions before he revealed the truth to her and pleaded for her cooperation.

  Hawk wondered what kind of assignments Maggie had carried out and where, and if she had ever been forced to kill a target in self-defens
e. He listened to her peaceful breathing and told himself she couldn’t have a bad bone within her lovely and shapely body. She was much too gentle-spirited to kill anyone, so her assignments couldn’t have been extremely dangerous ones.

  Yet, during his sly observations and their travels together, he had seen her exhibit enormous courage, intelligence, and prowess. In that same vein, she couldn’t have become one of the Carlton Agency’s best detectives if she never had confronted and resolved major problems and the kinds of perils that went along with them. That fact, along with her relationship to Ben, would work in their favor if she let them.

  But that involved her going up against vicious men. Could she stand up to cruel men like Pete Barber and Slim Jones if those bastards came after her to silence her? For certain, he would gun down those snakes without a second thought if they harmed a single inch of the woman he loved.

  As dreamy thoughts of life together on his ranch filled his mind, Hawk drifted off into a light sleep, unsuspecting of a crushing blow that loomed ahead for them …

  Chapter

  Thirteen

  Maggie sat up in bed and held the sheet to her neck as Hawk entered the room with several items in his hands.

  “Good, you’re awake. I’ve already had my bath and shaved. I tried to be careful with that delicate skin of yours last night; I hope my stubble didn’t rub your face raw.” He watched her lift one hand and stroke her flesh before she smiled and shook her head. “I ordered you a bath; a Chinese worker is preparing it now in the water closet down the hall. I’ll just put away my things and clear out so you can get up and get ready for breakfast” As he headed for the dresser to do so, he said, “Since we missed supper last night, I’m sure you’re as hungry as I am.”