Linda Miller - A Wanted Man - A Stone Creek Novel

He’d felt acquiescence in her, and been sorely tempted to bed her.

He knew she’d be responsive, give herself up to him with shy fervor. He knew precisely where to touch her, where to kiss her, how to set her ablaze with need.

He’d been a fool not to, and he’d suffered for his restraint.

She’d surely been with a man before.

And yet there was that troublesome, contradictory innocence about her.

With an inward sigh, he set her on her feet, held her firmly by the waist until, blinking and sleepy, she found her balance.

“Go,” he said hoarsely. “They’ll be awake soon, Mrs. Porter and the others.”

Lark bit her lower lip, hesitated, then hiked up the blanket and hot-footed it for the back stairs.

Rowdy stood up, groaned. He was hard as tamarack, and it would be a while before the raw wanting slackened.

Pardner got to his feet, went to the door and whimpered to be let out.

Rowdy didn’t bother to put on his coat and hat. He just worked the latch and opened the door, welcoming a rush of wind so cold that it made his eyes water.

Yes, sir.

A little fresh air was just what he needed.

* * *

UPSTAIRS, IN THE SAFETY of her room, Lark washed hastily and donned her primmest dress, the modest, high-collared black wool she’d been wearing when she’d fled Denver during a funeral. She’d feigned a headache, knowing Autry wouldn’t flaut convention by leaving the huge, stuffy church before the service was over, and asked his carriage driver to take her home.

Once there, she’d packed in a desperate rush and prevailed upon that same driver to deliver her to the railroad depot, claiming she’d just gotten word, by telegram, that her sister had taken gravely ill.

She’d been anxious all the way to the station. She knew the train schedules by heart, and if she missed the two-o’clock, she’d never escape. Moreover, Autry would realize she’d deceived him, and the consequences of that didn’t bear considering.

The carriage driver, the oldest retainer on Autry’s large household staff, might have been suspicious, but he hadn’t questioned her orders. He’d simply taken the most direct route to the depot, unloaded her belongings onto a porter’s cart, tipped his hat to her, and wished her Godspeed.

Now, standing in a boardinghouse room, trembling with cold and the fear stirred up by remembering, Lark considered filling a single reticule and running away again.

There wouldn’t be a stagecoach through town until Thursday morning, and she didn’t have the fare, but perhaps she could prevail upon someone, a freight driver or a peddler, for instance, to give her a ride to—where?

Flagstaff?

She sat down heavily on the edge of her bed. What would she do when she got to Flagstaff?

Perhaps she could pawn her cameo brooch there and buy passage on a train—

No, not a train.

Autry might have agents aboard, because of the recent robberies, to protect his financial interests. And any one of them might recognize her as the upstart wife who’d dared to fly the coop and add insult to injury by having divorce papers served upon her outraged husband only ten days after her departure.

Tears filled Lark’s eyes. She pinned the cherished cameo brooch, her mother’s most precious treasure, to the bodice of her dress. How could she part with it?

Besides, she didn’t want to run. She loved her pupils, loved seeing the light of understanding in their eyes when they suddenly grasped some new concept or idea, mastered some elusive skill. She loved Stone Creek, damnably cold though it was in winter and, anyway, she’d been invited to the O’Ballivans’ home for supper on Friday night.

She bit down hard on her lower lip. She’d behaved like a hussy, down there in the kitchen. Sat in Rowdy’s lap, like some...dancehall girl. And, dear God, at the slightest encouragement from him, she’d have gone willingly, even eagerly, to his bed.

He’d been so tender.

He’d been so strong.

And he’d as much as said, outright, that he’d have her.

Nevertheless, there will come a day—or perhaps a night—when I know everything there is to know about you, Lark Morgan, and a few things you don’t even know about yourself.

She blushed at the memory of his words and the way he’d said them.

He meant to seduce her, sooner or later, and he’d taken the first step in the process the night before, in Mrs. Porter’s kitchen.

What would be next?

A kiss? A caress?

Rowdy Rhodes was a patient man, that much was obvious. One by one, he would strip away her defenses, like garments.

If she stayed in Stone Creek, her downfall was inevitable.

She’d barely resisted him the night before, barely kept herself from lifting her head from his shoulder, finding his mouth with her own, kissing him, like some brazen trollop, some tramp—

Some saloon singer.

Lark gave an involuntary whimper.

Even now, at what should have been a safe distance, with Mrs. Porter and Mai Lee up and about, she wanted him.

Wanted his hands on her breasts, her hips, her thighs.

“Stop it!” she said aloud, squeezing her eyes shut.

After several minutes of deep, slow breathing, Lark regained some semblance of self-control.

A light rap sounded at her door. “Mai Lee has breakfast ready, dear,” Mrs. Porter called cheerfully. “And if you don’t hurry, you’ll be late for school.”

“Coming,” Lark called back, with an effort at equal good cheer. But her voice quavered a little.

The creaking of the front gate sent her scurrying to her window. She tugged aside the curtain and looked out.

Rowdy was just stepping onto the sidewalk, Pardner cavorting at his side.

She let out a long breath. At least she wouldn’t have to sit across the table from him, choking down her breakfast, pretending she hadn’t let him rub her feet the night before, hadn’t sat in his lap and felt so foolishly safe that she’d fallen asleep.

She watched from the window until she was sure Rowdy wouldn’t double back, then hurried downstairs with as much dignity as she could manage. Their two chairs, she was glad to see, were back in their usual places at the table, and there was no indication that either of them had been in the kitchen at all during the wee, scandalous hours of the morning.

Except for the two coffeecups sitting beside the sink.

Mai Lee looked at them curiously, then glanced at Lark, frowning a little.

Thankfully, Mrs. Porter didn’t seem to notice the stray cups. She took Lark’s cloak from the peg by the door, carried it over to the stove and draped it over a wooden rack alongside, so it would be warm when she wore it to the schoolhouse.

Lark’s eyes burned again.

“Rowdy suggested it,” Mrs. Porter explained brightly, smiling at Lark. “He said you’re uncommonly sensitive to the cold. He even said you might want to move into his room—once he’s gone to live in the new place, of course.” Here, she paused to blush girlishly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. There’s no reason you couldn’t use the best quarters when they’re not rented.”

Lark straightened her spine. “Th-thank you,” she said.

“No reason at all,” Mrs. Porter prattled on, still caught up in her musings. Then, with a pointed glance at the clock, she added, “Hurry up, now. You’ll have to gobble your food and practically run to the schoolhouse as it is, if you’re going to ring the bell at eight o’clock.”

Lark nodded gratefully. She consumed a fried egg and a slice of toasted bread and drank her coffee so quickly that she burned her tongue. Mai Lee had packed her lunch in a lard tin, as she did every weekday morning, and set it on the counter nearest the back door. Mrs. Porter had made special arrangements with the school board, soon after Lark’s arrival in Stone Creek, when she realized her boarder was going without food between breakfast and the evening meal.