A Lady of the West Read online

  What was he going to do about Victoria? She threatened him in a way no one else ever had, because she threatened him emotionally. Last night had shown him his own frightening vulnerability to her. He was terrified of his weakness for her, of how close and raw she made his emotions. The only way Jake knew to deal with this kind of threat was to flee, to protect himself by being rid of her, but he couldn’t do that without losing the ranch.

  She had been McLain’s wife; he should be disgusted at the thought of touching her, but the truth was that he ached to have her again and again. She was so fine that McLain’s ugliness hadn’t been able to coarsen her. The night they had just shared hadn’t diluted the intensity of his desire; it had increased it.

  He desperately wanted to fight that desire, to keep himself heartwhole. He could send her away, but the thought of some other man marrying her made him grind his teeth in rage. And with her went the legal ownership of the ranch. He was caught in her woman’s web like some stupid insect, and damn if he liked that idea.

  He couldn’t let her go, so there was no sense in even toying with the idea. He and Ben had control of the ranch, but they didn’t have ownership. Unless he married Victoria. Then it would be his, and he would deed half of it to Ben.

  He could keep the ranch, or he could protect himself by letting Victoria go. He and Ben had been born in this house; the thought of coming back to it, reclaiming it, had been the driving force of their lives. He’d fought for it, killed for it, won it back, but still it legally belonged to someone else. He could try to close himself off emotionally, try to protect himself with the wall of ice that had served him so well until now. But physically and legally, he and Victoria were to be man and wife. He really had no choice.

  Ben walked in, sipping his own cup of coffee. He sprawled in a chair close to Jake’s and eyed his brother with sharp awareness, both of where he had spent the night and of what was on his mind now.

  “She’s a fine woman,” Ben said.

  Jake looked up. “I know.”

  “And a real lady. I’m not too sure about that cousin of hers, but Victoria is a lady through and through.”

  Amusement lightened Jake’s frown for a minute, and he grinned at his brother. “Emma? She’s even more proper than Victoria. What did you do to her to get her stirred up?”

  “Me?” Ben snapped. “She shot at me, damn it, and tried to knock my brains out with the rifle!”

  Jake shrugged. “Victoria took a shot at me, too.”

  “She fought like a wildcat,” Ben said, remembering the way Emma had felt beneath him, the way she had gone still when she’d felt his hardness pushing against her. He shifted restlessly and changed the subject.

  “Do your plans still stand?”

  “What choice do I have?”

  “We both know the choices.” Ben knew Jake would never harm Victoria, but he wanted to jolt his brother out of his brooding, so he said, “Victoria owns the ranch now. You can marry her, or you can kill her.”

  Victoria had come downstairs just after Ben had entered the library, and stood outside the door trying to work up enough courage to greet them. Jake had seen her as no one else had, touched her as no one else had. The memory would be in his eyes when he looked at her, and knowledge would be in Ben’s because the things that a man did to a woman were something that all men knew, and did. She hadn’t intended to eavesdrop, but in her hesitation to enter the room she had. And what she’d heard had drained all the blood from her face.

  So that was why he’d been trying to seduce her. From the beginning he’d planned to make her fall in love with him so she would be willing to marry him and give him legal ownership of the ranch. She supposed she could only be relieved that he’d considered that option at all rather than simply killing her outright, as he’d killed McLain. It appeared he hadn’t yet made up his mind about her fate, though, and the knowledge stiffened her spine.

  She stepped into the library, her entrance making both men look around at her. She was still white, but composed. “I couldn’t help overhearing,” she said in a tone that was calm, if a bit strained. She clenched her hands together to prevent their trembling and forced herself to meet Jake’s narrowed green eyes. “Which should I prepare myself for, a wedding or a funeral?”

  Jake scowled; he still didn’t like the idea that she had so much power over his emotions, but the fact was that she did. Here she was as calm and cool as a nun, all starched and buttoned, as if she hadn’t dug her nails into his back and all but screamed with pleasure while he held her convulsing body still for his thrusts. The memory burned through him and made him grow hard. Kill her? He couldn’t even form the thought in his mind. And how could she think it, especially after last night? Angered, he glared at her, his eyes icy green.

  “The wedding,” he said abruptly. “I’ve sent one of the men after Father Sebastian. He’ll marry us this afternoon.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, and left the room.

  At least there was no pretense between them, she thought with a bitter smile. He hadn’t tried to lie to her and dupe her with romance. He hadn’t even bothered asking her if she would marry him, but then, why should he have? She could marry him or die.

  She sought out Emma, whom she found in the courtyard enjoying both the sun and their freedom from the yoke of constant fear. If for nothing else, Victoria felt gratitude to the Sarratts for getting them out of that.

  “Jake is marrying me this afternoon,” she said baldly, not knowing how else to state it.

  Emma’s mouth and eyes went round. “This afternoon?” she squeaked. Then she blushed and said, “Well, yes, of course, after last night—”

  Victoria flinched. “You knew?” She was mortified.

  Emma flushed even redder. “Not last night. But this morning… um, I saw him leaving your bedroom, carrying his shirt.”

  Victoria sank down on a bench and looked at her hands, struggling with her embarrassment. It was foolish, really, after all they had been through. Even though Emma didn’t know the shocking things Jake had done to her or the way she had responded, Victoria knew very well and couldn’t prevent herself from thinking of them.

  Emma sat down beside her and hugged her. “Please don’t be embarrassed,” she said. “You’ll be married this afternoon, so I don’t think it’s so scandalous to have anticipated your wedding vows by less than twenty-four hours. Unless … unless it was awful?”

  “No, it isn’t that.” She paused, then said, “He doesn’t love me.” Victoria sighed and watched a rose blossom swaying in the slight breeze. “Now that the Major is dead, the ranch is legally mine. The only way Jake can get it is to either marry me or kill me. I’m terribly grateful that he’s chosen marriage.”

  Emma stiffened, shocked. “Then you can’t marry him.”

  “Pride would say so, wouldn’t it? But I like living. And he’d have to kill you and Celia, too, so don’t be so hasty saying I should refuse his decision.” She found that there was, after all, some amusement to be had. She smiled at Emma. “And it wasn’t awful at all.”

  Emma blushed and looked away, but a smile tugged at her lips, too. “So it isn’t that the act is awful, but sometimes the man is.”

  “Exactly. One’s modesty is useless and it’s painfully intimate, but not awful.” She took a deep breath. “The opposite, in fact.”

  Emma shivered, but not from a chill. She couldn’t stop thinking about the suspended moment when Ben Sarratt had lain on top of her, his heavy arousal obvious. She had given him the cold shoulder since then because his frank arrogance irritated her, but all she had to do was let her concentration slip and she felt the imprint of his body again, lying all along hers, pressing her down.

  They sat together, each of them thinking of a different Sarratt. At length Victoria’s empty stomach prompted her to the kitchen, since she had slept so late she had missed breakfast. There was work to be done, now that two men had moved into the house, and she had dawdled long enough.

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