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seek-ing, as he brought her to the fine edge between plea-sure and madness. "I want you to remember
this," he said, crushing the words against her mouth. "Remem-ber every time you think of me."
She clung to him tightly, her hips arching upward. "Much as I'd like to, I'm not going to take you here,"
he muttered, burying his face in her hair. "If for no other reason than because he would have." Sighing
tautly, Ben withdrew his hand from between her thighs, bestowing a longing caress on her abdomen
before pulling her skirts back into place. He looked around the shadowy little building as if noticing their
surroundings for the first time. His lip curled with dis-gust. "A blacksmith shop."
Aching and frustrated, Addie shifted underneath him, her breath ragged. Ben smiled, pulling her into his
arms and pressing her head against his shoulder, holding her until her quivering had stopped. The
un-satisfied wanting was just as painful for him.
"I have to go back to Sunrise tomorrow after the wedding," he said, trying to sound casual. "Someone
has to look after the ranch, and right now I don't trust it out of my hands more than a day or two. If you
don't want to undergo a repeat of Jeff's performance tonight, then stay close to your father and your
fam-ily. "
"What if . . ." She paused and gulped hard before continuing, "What if I don't want a repeat of your
performance?"
"What if you don't?" He sounded interested by the idea, and he nibbled lightly at the juncture of her neck
and shoulder as he gave it due consideration. "I guess we'll find the answer to that when we're both back
at Sunrise. "
He was humoring her. She knew he had no doubt she'd still want him later. Even now she had to fight
against the urge to nestle against him. Instead she wriggled in protest, pulling her shoulder away until he
stopped nibbling .
 And don't be surprised to find some of the Sunrise hands keeping an eye on you. Before I leave, I'm
going to make sure they understand there'll be hell to pay if he comes within a hundred feet of you. If I
find out he's done so much as look at you, I'll make him regret it sorely.
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"Even at the risk of starting a range war?" she asked in a muffled voice, and he smiled grimly, amused by
her feeble attempt at sarcasm.
"That's right. And if it has to start over you, darlin', you're looking at the man who 'll fire the first shot."
After Addie had restored her appearance as best she could, she spoke to May privately and pleaded a
head-ache in order to avoid the rest of the evening. She couldn't face anyone right now, not when her
thoughts were in a whirl and her head aching with confusion. Having gone to bed early, she lay in bed on
her stom-ach with her arms clenched around a pillow, staring blindly at the wall. The Fanins' house was
comfortable but hardly as elegant as the ranch house at Sunrise. The rooms here were small and plainly
furnished, the beds lumpy and even a little musty. Leah was asleep in the bed against the opposite wall.
They were shar-ing the room next to the one Caroline and Peter oc-cupied.
Addie didn't want to think about what had happened that night, but she couldn't wish it away, and she
couldn't forget about it. She kept hearing Jeff's voice, and what he'd said about Russell. "He's riding too
high these days, honey. He has no right to hide you away from me . . . don't you worry, it won't be
long . . ."
What had he meant by that?
"A little-boy threat," she whispered. "A frustrated little boy who wasn't getting his way. It couldn't have
been more than that."
She sighed and rubbed her forehead, moving down to the comers of her eyes and pressing the pads of
her fingers there. She closed her eyes and her mind con-tinued to wander. Slowly the darkness behind
her eyes became endlessly deep, and the echo of a husky voice came back to torment her.
 Addie, don't hold yourself back from me. I won't hurt you." A warm mouth sliding over her skin, a hard
body promising ecstasy as it fitted close against hers. "No one will ever know you like I'm going to.
You can keep the rest of the world at bay, but you're going to let me inside. "
Addie writhed and sat up with an indrawn breath, her heart thumping. "Stop it," she whispered tightly.
"Stop it. "
Ben was her enemy. She wouldn't let him kill Rus-sell. She couldn't let him tear her defenses down.
Rus-sell was her father, her real father, and his life was her responsibility. It was time to start doing
something about it.
She would have to warn Russell. Somehow she'd have to find away. Addie stood up and paced back
and forth across the room, her nightgown billowing out behind her. She tried to imagine Ben plotting to
kill Russell, waiting until the new will was signed, and then creeping up to Russell's room and committing
the murder. It was almost too logical and obvious a plan, and it bothered Addie. Ben would have to
know he'd be the first one everyone suspected. Surely he'd be more subtle than that.
And then there were the Johnsons, who hated Russell. A lot of outfits would like to get their hands on
the Sunrise Ranch, tear down its fences, and take pos-session of its livestock and water rights. Just about
everyone around, in fact. But more than anyone else, the Double Bar did. Maybe the Johnsons were in
on the murder.
She stopped in her tracks as she remembered Jeff's words again. "He's riding too high these days,
honey . . . don't you worry, it won't be long . . ."
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That was a threat, plain and simple. There was little doubt in her mind that Jeff and Big George wanted
Russell out of the way just as much as Ben did. Were they all planning it together?
"No." She shook her downbent head in confusion. "Ben hates the Johnsons. He'd never plan anything
with them. And he loves Russell. He wouldn't kill him. I can't believe he would." She didn't want to
believe it.
But Russell would have to be killed by an insider, someone who knew about his sleeping habits and
which room was his, and how to get through the house. Someone who didn't have to get past the line
riders that protected the property around the clock. It had to be Ben, especially since-according to
history-he would leave town after the murder and never come back.
"Oh, Ben, that's not you. It's not you." She leaned against the wall and bit her lip.
Strong hands, touching her gently, coaxing purest fire to blossom inside her. "I want you to remember
this. Remember every time you think of me. "
Why is this happening to me?" she whispered in agony. "What have I done to be put through this? I'm [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]