Chapter Twenty-Two
She couldn’t believe him. Jessie stormed off toward the inn without looking back, leaving Gray behind her. She needed some time away from him so she could think.
How dare he say to her that she should stick to hunting cattle thieves and not go after what she wanted? After all this time together, he still didn’t believe in her, and it hurt. She’d made a mistake by not firing on that man, that much was clear now. It was a mistake that almost got her killed, but thankfully Gray had been there to help her. But people weren’t often perfect the first time they did something. She just had to learn from the mistake, and not make it again.
He was so condescending and arrogant, throwing it back in her face. But he wasn’t making it easy for her. He acted as if he hadn’t made a mistake before, when he’d started out as a gunslinger.
She stomped up the stairs of the inn, ripping the front door open and storming past the innkeeper, who was back to life as normal, waiting for guests to come inside. The innkeeper tried to greet her, but Jessie stormed past her and up to the room without a glance in her direction.
Gray didn’t need to gloat over how he thought she wasn’t good enough to catch someone wanted for murder. She’d gotten them closer to Casey than he and his brother had gotten in months. She could be good at this, she knew it. She just had to be more careful.
She could have left Gray to deal with the gunfight on his own, and he could have died. Three-on-one were not fair odds, and even though he had managed to best all three of them on his own this time, there was no guarantee that he could do it again.
She made it to the room and ripped that door open, slamming it behind her when she got inside. She paced around the room. She should have let him fight them on his own. She quickly squelched the thought because she was worried about him, even if he was so willing to throw his own life away. If he wasn’t so busy protecting Luke, he wouldn’t even be in this situation to begin with. He wouldn’t be a gunslinger at all. It wasn’t fair to him that he had to assume all the risk by fighting a battle she was also capable of fighting. When had he gotten under her skin? Why did she care for him?
Chiding herself, she pushed the thought aside, crossed her arms, and dropped onto the bed.
She was a decent shot. She’d been shooting since she was young, but the man had surprised her when he’d turned around, and she’d missed. But she wouldn’t miss next time.
The thought of taking a life didn’t sit right with her, and that was why she had hesitated. She didn’t want to end the life of a man who might just be trying to wound them or take them in for a reward. That was what she did, after all. What if every man she attempted to bring in tried to kill her like Gray said she should have done?
But he was right in this case. She’d tried to get the man to put his gun down, but he wasn’t going to. The look of determination in his eyes haunted her and wasn’t something she’d ever forget. A chill went through her at the memory of how close her life had come to ending.
He’d had no intention of giving up without a fight, and he was going to kill her. She grabbed a blanket from the bed to wrap around herself, wanting its comfort and its warmth to fight the chill that had overcome her.
Next time, she wouldn’t let her fear get the better of her. And she wouldn’t let her soft heart stop her either.
She wanted to take her anger out on someone, but she didn’t want to argue with Gray right now. She had been so afraid for him when she realized that he hadn’t been behind her.
Her feelings for him had gotten out of control. She couldn’t think rationally when it came to him. When she had seen he wasn’t behind her, she’d tried to walk out the front door during a gunfight to go help him.
A man who didn’t need help. Or want her help, apparently.
He was a gunslinger, after all. He was used to his life being in danger and having to defend it. He’d probably been in countless gunfights and standoffs before all of this happened.
She needed to put a stop to her growing feelings for him it before the feelings got stronger. He was a wanted man for helping his brother, who was accused of murder. She couldn’t be with a man like him.
She was ripped away from her thoughts by Gray storming into the room and slamming the door behind him, like she had done. She stared at him, anger bubbling up to her throat, and she wanted to scream. He hadn’t even bothered to knock!
He was breathing quickly, as if he had run to catch up to her. He strode over to her in three large steps. She pointed at him to give him a piece of her mind, but he was already on her before she could say anything. He pulled her roughly, almost violently, to him, crushing her body to his. She gasped at the rough contact, a thrill shooting through her body.
He grasped her head in both hands, bringing her lips to his in a passionate and brutal kiss. His mouth covered hers hungrily, like he couldn’t get enough of her fast enough.
She sunk into the kiss, giving into temptation. She should fight this and turn him away, but the world melted away as he kissed her. He was safe, and she was safe. They had made it out of the situation alive.
Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she leaned deeply into the kiss, pouring into it all the feeling and passion she had in her—her fear, her desire, her relief that they were okay.
His hand grasped her hair and he tugged her head back, and a small pain shot through her, sending a thrill of desire through her body. He looked into her eyes. His gaze was bold and raked over her face with hunger. She was shocked by her body’s response, but she wanted him.
Sweeping her into his arms, he walked her to the bed and lay her down. His body followed, settling in between her legs as his lips reclaimed hers.
He removed her shirt and pants as quickly as possible, leaving her completely naked before him. She should be embarrassed at being so exposed, but she was too busy tearing at his shirt to remove it as quickly as she could.
Slowly, his gaze moved over her body, drinking her in. He cradled her breasts before replacing his hands with his lips, his tongue caressing her swollen nipples. Her whole body filled with desire, and she arched her back, desperately trying to be closer to him. She threw her head back. Pleasure rocked through her body at the wicked feeling of him sucking on her nipples.
She reached for his pants, needing him inside her. He stood up to remove them, his cock springing free. She marveled at the sight of his manhood. She couldn’t believe all of that had actually been inside her earlier, and she felt the wetness between her legs growing again. She wanted him. She wanted another night like last night, and even though she should be ashamed, she reveled in the thought of what he was going to do to her body.
Not wasting any time, he got back in bed and settled between her legs. The feeling of his body against hers without anything in between was enough to make her moan in anticipation.
Grinning a mischievous smile, his hand drifted over her stomach, shivers coursing through her at the delight of it.
“Do you like that, Red?” he whispered, his breath hot against her ear, and a ripple of excitement moved through her. His hand drifted lower, until he was touching the most intimate part of her. His fingers slowly rubbed over her sensitive nub, giving her the most pleasure she’d ever felt, and torturing her at the same time.
She gasped, arching her hips to meet his hand as his fingers moved in a tantalizingly slow motion that sent little darts of pleasure through her. She bit her lip, looking up into his eyes again. His grin widened, because he knew the answer to the question. She was starting to like the nickname he had given her. Maybe she’d allow him to call her that when they were in bed together.
“Yes,” she whispered to him as she pressed into his hand.
His eyes blazed with fire at the confirmation that she wanted him. He cradled her head in his hand as he slowly entered her. He went so slow it was torture. She wanted all of him, and she wanted him now.
He kissed her neck gently, a stark contrast to the passionate kiss he had given her earlier.
She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him closer to her body, closer to her core. She reached around him and gripped his firm butt, pulling him into her. He groaned, and pressed deeply inside her until she felt him in the deepest parts of her.
Then he began to move.
At first his movements were slow, but soon he began to pound into her with speed and force that had her climbing toward that blissful peak again. It didn’t take her long to reach the peak of pleasure, just out of grasp. Their bodies found a tempo together, in harmony with one another.
As he thrust into her hard and quick, she cried out for release. He reached down and circled her sensitive nub with his fingers again, and it sent her over the edge and she found her release. She gasped and clutched his shoulders as she was overcome, needing him to anchor her back to the world.
Sensing that she had come, he let out one final moan and his body tensed as he thrust one final time, deeply, spilling his hot seed into the deepest part of her.
He withdrew and pulled her up against him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and shoulder. He planted a gentle kiss on top of her forehead and squeezed her tightly to him.
She was getting sleepy again, which seemed impossible since it was just a few hours past lunchtime. But she felt … satisfied … with what had just experienced.
Feeling content and a little bit more confused about what she was going to do about their situation, she drifted off into a blissful state of sleep with her head on his shoulder.