Angel Gone Bad Read online

  “But Rune—”

  “Let’s ride.”

  She followed Rune up the cliff. He was tougher than most, stronger than most, and more pig headed than most. All of that, if nothing else, ought to keep him alive.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Rune wished he was in Cherokee Nation. He knew some folks there. And he knew the territory. But the Cherokees were north of the Canadian and Arkansas rivers above Choctaw Nation. He’d crossed the Red River with Angel into Chickasaw Nation. Now they were riding east toward the Choctaws.

  “You know anybody around here?” He glanced over at her. “We can camp out, but I’d like a safer place.”

  “No. I was with you in Indian Territory.” She put her hand over her mouth, and covered a yawn. “Lady has a ranch in Choctaw Nation. It’s up in the Kiamichi River Valley. She won’t be there, but I’m sure we’d be welcome.”

  “That’s halfway north to the Cherokees. Won’t do us much good here.”

  “Guess not.” Angel looked toward the sun rising in the east. “But we’ve got to stop somewhere soon. We need to look after your wound.”

  “We could make it to Durant on the Katy railway, but I hate to be seen so close to the border.”

  “What about New Boggy Saloon?”

  “We were going there to meet up with the V Gang, but that’s too far.”

  “I don’t need a feather bed. We’ve got food. Let’s find a stream and take a break,” Angel said.

  “We’re coming up on the Washita River. Bet we can find a shady spot there.”

  “You won’t hear me complain.”

  “Water the horses and let them graze.”

  “They deserve some rest.” Angel patted Emma’s neck and glanced at him, smiling.

  Rune looked her over. She appeared particularly fine with her hair coming loose from its chignon, her cheeks pink, and her green eyes sleepy. “You need help with that corset again?”

  “Mister, you have a lot of explaining to do before you even get near my corset.”

  He chuckled, and then winced at the sharp pain in his back.

  “What is it?” She rode closer. “You’re hurting. We really do need to stop and look at your injury.”

  “Doubt it’ll do any good. Feels like a cracked rib.” He gave her the once over again. “Let’s talk about your corset.”

  “Let’s talk about you breaking out of jail.”

  Rune paused, wondering how much he should tell her. She was the one who’d set his life in a tailspin. Could he completely trust her? They’d made bargains, but that didn’t equal trust.

  He’d learned a lot of things in prison to survive. Knowledge is power, so never give it away. Take what you can get when you can get it. If you’re hit, hit back twice as hard. If you’re owed, extract payment. If a lie works, use it. Trust nobody.

  So far, Angel had been on the receiving end of all he’d learned, but she was far from repaying him. He realized now that he’d been getting soft around her, lulled into his old way of thinking and living. That wouldn’t do. He had to be ruthless if he was going to run with outlaws and win, seduce Angel and win, take on the law and win.

  He’d sought out Angel because she’d ruined his life, she owed him, and he wanted her. She’d apologized, but that didn’t mean when push came to shove she was trustworthy. He made a quick decision. He’d tell her what he needed to tell her, but it didn’t include telling her about being a detective for the AHTA or anything else critical. Besides, they’d both be safer if she didn’t know enough to get them killed if she spilled the beans by accident, intent, or under threat.

  “Your prison break?”

  He chuckled, a forced sound. “I had to see a man about a horse. Seemed the quickest way to do it.”

  “Rune, that makes no sense.” She frowned at him. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

  “All in good time.”

  She gave him a hard stare and turned a cold shoulder.

  They rode on in silence, morning breaking over the land to the sound of birds thrilling and warbling as they flew from nighttime perches in search of food to stuff down the craws of hungry babies.

  Rune savored the freedom so long denied him, the beauty and majesty beyond four gray walls. Green leaves on towering trees rustled in the breeze. Cottontail rabbits bounded from one hiding place to another. Colorful butterflies flitted here and there. He sucked in the scents of rich, dark earth, shifting buffalo grass, and wildflowers in bloom. He even heard the hum of bees.

  “There’s no better place to be,” he said, awe in his voice, “than out on the land. Free to come and go whenever and wherever I please.”

  Angel rode over beside him and squeezed his hand. “That’s my answer.”

  He covered her hand with his own, noting the differences. Rough against smooth. Big against small. Male against female. Reminded him of all those nights he’d been awake, thinking of her and the open range to keep his sanity.

  But he’d tell her none of it. If he did, he’d appear weak. And he’d never give up his strength.

  Angel pulled her hand free and pointed at a sparkle of blue water. “Isn’t that the Washita up ahead?”

  “Must be.”

  When they reached the river, Rune turned north to find a secluded place. He saw a bend in the stream with a cluster of trees shading the bank and headed there. He wanted a place where the river had run high with spring rains and left bare land that wouldn’t house snakes or other critters. He found what he wanted between the gnarled roots of an ancient oak tree.

  When he stopped, Angel rode past him into the river and let Emma lower her head and start sucking up water. He let Traveler do the same.

  “After they’re full,” Rune said, “I’ll ground tie them over in that patch of grass.”

  “Thanks.” She sighed, shaking her head. “I can hardly wait to change clothes before the day heats up.”

  “I’ll be glad to help.”

  She rolled her eyes and headed Emma toward the grass. “First I take a look at your back.”

  Together, they made quick work of getting food and possessions off the horses and piled under the oak. Ignoring the pain in his back, Rune filled up the canteens while Angel spread out a blanket and set out food.

  “Come and get it,” she called.

  At the sound of her homey words, Rune stopped and looked at her sitting on the blanket. He wished appearances weren’t deceiving. A stranger would think two lovers had packed a picnic lunch and come out for a day in the country to be alone. Instead, they were on the run, escaping one trouble and heading for another. And up against time.

  He walked over and sat down beside her, willing to live the fantasy at least for a bit.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Angel splayed her hands across the thick muscles of Rune’s bare back. He’d taken off his shirt and set his gun belt aside, although he kept his Colt .45 within easy reach. She felt for injuries as she moved down toward the large bruise turning purple on his lower right side. A red gash scored out from the bull’s-eye.

  When she gently touched the bruise, he groaned. “Sorry. You’re right. At least a cracked rib. A long scratch, too. I don’t know why you weren’t hurt worse.”

  He pulled the chain around his neck up over his head. “Take a look at this.” He handed her his Thor’s Hammer.

  The iron pendant felt heavy in her hands as she turned it over and over, puzzling about the deep indentation near the center.

  “Stopped the bullet. I’d put my Hammer on my back so the bird head watched the lawmen.”

  “What amazing luck.”

  “Thor looked out for me.” He tossed an object into the air, caught it, and then tossed it to her.

  She caught the misshapen bullet and fit it to the indentation in the Thor’s Hammer. “Saved your life.”

  “Sure as hell didn’t do me any harm.” He held out his hand. “Bullet caught in my shirt.”

  She gave both back, watching as he slipped the c
hain around his neck and the bullet in his pocket. With Rune’s type of luck, she could almost believe in Thor’s power. But luck was luck. They could use all they could get. She hoped the luck held for Verity, getting closer every day to giving birth as she waited for word about her fiancé. Angel felt guilty that she still had no news about Tate or the Badger Gang, but she was moving forward as quickly as possible.

  “Do you have some ointment to put on your cut?” she asked.

  “How deep is it? Need stitches?”

  “No. It bled, but not too much.”

  “Good. I cleaned it out in the river. Just leave it be.”

  “I don’t want you to get an infection.”

  “Not a chance.” He looked around at her, mischief dancing in his blue eyes. “Come here. Let’s get that corset off you.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t need your help. I bought a new corset that hooks up the front.”

  “Why’d you go and do that?”

  She stood up. “I suggest you eat while I go behind that big tree over there and change clothes.”

  “Sure you don’t need help?”

  “We don’t have time to play games and you know it.”

  “Wouldn’t take long.”

  She walked over to Emma and untied her roll of clothes. She glanced back to make sure Rune was unwrapping the food before she moved behind the wide trunk of a tree. She quickly unbuttoned her vest and tossed it to one side. She struggled with the clasps of her sateen corset, but finally reached the top, jerked if off, and flung it beside the vest. The air felt wonderfully cool against her naked breasts. She took a deep breath, sighing in relief.

  “Decided to go a-viking.” Rune stepped around the tree, caught her about the waist, and pulled her against his bare chest. He pushed long fingers into her chignon, knocking out the pins so that her hair tumbled down to her hips. He splayed his other hand across her back to hold her against him.

  Every feeling she’d tried to subdue after their experience in the rain came flooding back with memories of his touch, his scent, his heat. She felt her breasts swell and her nipples pebble against the hardness of his chest. She felt as molten as the summer sun at its zenith as he stroked down her back while prodding her in front.

  When his lips found hers, she whimpered and stretched up to wrap her arms around his broad shoulders, thrusting her own fingers into his thick hair, and holding his head still for her kiss, nibbling and biting and delving deep into his hot mouth. He returned kiss for kiss, molding their bodies together so closely that there seemed to be only one.

  And then he kissed lower, nuzzling and nibbling down her neck to the upper slopes of her breasts. When she could take no more of the torment, she clasped his head in both hands and thrust her breast up to his mouth. He toyed with her, teasing with his tongue as he laved her nipple to a taut peak. And then he started on the other while she moaned and held him tight. When he finally raised his head, his sky-blue eyes were the shade of deep water.

  He smiled, a slight quirk to one corner of his mouth. “I’m going all the way down you.”

  She trembled in response.

  He unbuttoned her skirt. He pulled loose the drawstring of her drawers. And he let them slide down her legs to the ground. “Beautiful.” He dropped to his knees, clasped her buttocks with his hands, and pressed his face to the apex of her thighs.

  At the first touch of his tongue to her hot, moist center, Angel leaned back against the tree trunk for support, thrusting her fingers into his hair, holding him in place as she felt him feast upon her. When he moved deeper, nipping, nibbling, flicking in and out, she felt her entire body come alive, arching against him, wanting, needing, demanding release. But he didn’t give it. He tormented her, bringing her to the edge again and again until she moaned in desperation.

  He raised his head and looked up at her, eyes hot with a lust of his own. “Now?”

  She couldn’t answer. She had no words. She was nothing but feelings in a kaleidoscope of shifting colors and shapes that centered on him . . . only him.

  He smiled, as if in understanding, and then lowered his head.

  When she felt his tongue thrust deep within her and then work its magic, she threw back her head and cried out in ecstasy, trembling from head to toe.

  He surged to his feet and drew her against him, crooning wordless sounds as he held her close.

  In time, her strength returned along with a sense of her surroundings. She wanted more of him, much more, and she knew how to get it. “Now I’m going a-viking. Drop your trousers.”

  “Are you sure you’re up to it?”

  She reached down and grasped the hard rod that was straining against the buttons of his trousers. “No. But you are.”

  He quickly unbuckled his belt and shucked his trousers to reveal his engorged cock jutting toward her.

  “You’re beautiful, too.” She stroked down the hard length of him with the tip of one finger, and then looked up at his face. “I’m not sure what to do.”

  “Take me in your mouth.”

  “But you’re so big.”

  “Don’t torture me.” He placed both her hands around his shaft and began a rhythm that made him groan.

  She was not to be outdone. She went down on both knees and pushed aside his hands. She put her lips to his tip, gave a little lick, and then sucked him into her mouth. When she felt him tense and shudder, groaning, she felt emboldened enough to work the magic of her mouth on him as he had done for her.

  Soon he grasped the back of her head and thrust into her, timing his movements with her own until he shuddered and spasmed with his own ecstasy.

  When she looked up at him in wonder, the taste of him on her lips, he pulled her to her feet and held her close, taking quick, deep breaths.

  “Angel, do you know how long I’ve dreamed of that?”

  “No.”

  “From the first moment I saw you.”

  She pulled back from him, a puzzled frown between her eyes. “But you sent me away.”

  “For your own good.”

  Anger washed over her and she stepped back, fisting her hands. “If you wanted me, how could you let me go? You knew how I felt about you.”

  He reached out with one hand, and then let it fall to his side. “As long as you were with me, you weren’t safe.”

  “But I was always safe with you!” She felt her breasts rise and fall with her fury. In one moment Rune had taken her to the heights, and in the next he’d dashed her to the lowest level.

  “Trust me. Nothing was as it seemed.”

  “Nothing is ever what it seems with you.” Abruptly, she felt cold, naked, and vulnerable. She reached down and jerked up her drawers and slipped a lace-trimmed chemise over her head. Covered, she felt better.

  He stood silent and still, powerful in his nudity.

  “You came after me for revenge. Well, you’re getting it. I want you more than ever. But this time I’m getting you.” She put her hands on her hips, feeling the muslin soft under her fingers in contrast to the hardness she was forcing into her heart. “I agreed to give you what you want. Well, I’m taking what I want.” She reached and grabbed his prick, feeling it swell in her hand. “There! You can’t say no to me.”

  He nodded in agreement.

  She tugged, and felt him get harder still. “Our bargains stay in place. Only now, you’re going to give me what I want, when I want, how I want.

  “And right now I want you on your knees again.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  “I can do better than that.” Rune pulled loose the drawstring of Angel’s drawers and heard her quick intake of breath as lacy muslin fluttered to the ground around her ankles. He grabbed her buttocks with both hands and thrust his cock between the apex of her thighs. Flesh to flesh.

  She grasped his shoulders, moaning, and held him tight, breath coming in quick bursts as he stroked slow and tender, and then hard and fast. He wanted to drive deep into her, but she was a virgin. Now was not the rig
ht time or place. Yet he had to fight hard to keep from throwing her to the ground and breaking through her last barrier.

  She rode him with wild abandon, fingernails strafing his shoulders, hips undulating in his hands. When she gasped, quivering with fulfillment, he thrust harder, nearing his own completion.

  And then he stopped, going from hot to cold in an instant. All his senses tingled with warnings of danger. He listened, but heard nothing beyond Angel’s raspy breath. Yet the birds had gone silent. He trusted his gut. Somebody was coming, getting closer whether he heard them or not.

  “What is it?”

  “Company. Get dressed. Quick.”

  He jerked on his trousers, buttoning as he ran for the six-shooter he’d left on their blanket. He grabbed his gun belt and buckled it around his hips. He spun his Colt’s cylinder to make sure it was fully loaded, and then dropped it into his holster. As he shrugged into his shirt, he heard a horse bridle jingle down toward the Red River.

  Angel hurried to him, tucking her blouse into her split-skirt. As she tied her hair back in a knot, he glanced at her. Lips swollen from kisses and clothes hastily replaced. One look at her and lawmen or outlaws would know she wasn’t alone and vulnerable.

  “You still got that derringer?”

  “Yes.”

  “Get it out, but don’t let anybody see it.”

  “Deputies?”

  “I’m going to find out. Nobody will recognize you. If need be, give a false name. Act like you’re on a picnic with your fiancé.”

  “What about you?” She sat down, opened her reticule, pulled out her derringer, and slipped it into the pocket of her skirt.

  “Depends on what I see back down the trail.”

  He checked the horses, made sure they were ready to ride, and then ran south. He kept to the underbrush and the shade of trees. He touched his Thor’s Hammer through his shirt for luck. It felt warm.

  Soon he saw two men. Black hair. Bronze skin. Powerful, compact bodies. He didn’t need a second glance to recognize Eagle Road and De Luca, two Anti–Horse Thief Association members. He’d once called them friends. Now they believed he was a rogue vigilante and worse.