Ace's Wild (26 page)

“Where’s the gun?” Petunia asked in a harsh whisper. If Brian was out there, they needed a weapon.

“In the parlor.”

“Darn it. Ace’s going to be ticked.”

“Not only ticked, he’s going to tan your butt.”

Petunia shook her head and stood, moving quickly to the door. “He can’t be ticked about what he doesn’t know.”

Hester was right on her heels. “You’ve got a point there.”

They made it to the bottom of the stairs in record time, both of them skipping the creaky stair. There was no sign of the children. Hester and Petunia exchanged a worried glance. Hester eased the curtain away from the side window. Petunia slipped into the parlor.

“What are you doing?” Hester asked.

“I’m not going to cower in here like a mouse.” She grabbed the gun and pointed the barrel at the door. With a jerk of her chin, Petunia indicated the other woman open it.

“You’re crazy.”

“No, I’m just ticked. Open the door.”

With a short nod, Hester did. The only thing that charged in was sunshine and a blast of cold air. There wasn’t anyone at the door.

“Damn.” Relief nearly buckled Petunia’s knees. From the expression on Hester’s face she was feeling the same.

“You don’t suppose the children are playing games?” she whispered as a thought hit her.

“I’ll skin them alive if they are,” Hester growled.

The knock came again.

“They’re at the back door.”

Hester closed the front door. Petunia stepped forward and locked it. Everything in her said it wasn’t the children who were knocking.

“Are you ready?” she asked Hester.

“You’re getting pretty feisty for a city girl.”

“I blame Ace.”

“I’m fine with that.”

They started down the hall.

Hester stopped dead just inside the kitchen. Petunia bumped right into her. “What’s wrong?”

“I thought I heard something.”

In the next second, Petunia heard it, too. A thin mewling cry. Oh, damn. Handing Hester the gun, she opened the back door. On the narrow stoop balanced a round basket piled high with what looked to be a blanket. The cry came again. Petunia looked around. There was no one in sight. The blankets wiggled and the mewling cry became a banshee wail of displeasure.

She pulled the blanket back revealing clenched fists and a scrunched-up red face. A baby. Someone had left a baby on their doorstep. No doubt someone who wanted him or her to have the better life she’d promised Providence would offer. Looking up at the sky, she asked, “Really?”

Wasn’t she under pressure enough?

“Who are you talking to,” Hester asked from behind her.

“God.”

Hester looked over her shoulder at the screaming baby in the basket. “Is He listening?”

She picked up the basket. “Not to me.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T
WO
HOURS
LATER
there was another knock at the back door. This time, there was no doubt who was demanding entrance.

“Open the door, Pet.”

Only one man gave orders in that calm yet commanding way. Upstairs in Petunia’s bedroom, Petunia looked at Hester; Hester looked right back at her. “He’s your man. Did you really think he wouldn’t come?”

She tightened the tie on her wrapper and glanced at the window. The only thing she could see beyond the building across the street was the dust hazing the bright stream of the late-afternoon sun. “I was hoping for more time. Were you expecting him?”

Hester raised her eyebrows. “Yes.” Snapping out the petticoat she’d pulled out of the drawer, she continued, “Frankly, I’m surprised it took him this long.”

Petunia sighed and placed the scissors she’d been ready to use to cut up petticoats into diapers on the bed stand. “He doesn’t sound happy.”

“No reason he should be what with you flip-flopping about like a landed fish.” Hester tossed her another petticoat. “That should do for the diapers.”

She caught it just as the knock came again.

“Damn it, Pet. I’m not going to tell you again.”

That didn’t sound good. Petunia glanced warily at the door. “He wants so much.”

Hester shook her head and picked up the baby girl. “An all-or-nothing man isn’t a bad thing.”

Hester grabbed the blanket out of the basket and used it to swaddle the baby. Alarm shot through Petunia.

“Where are you going?”

The back door creaked as it opened. They’d forgotten to lock it after the shock of seeing the baby on the doorstep. Darn it.

Hester settled the baby on her shoulder. “I’m taking this innocent out of the line of fire.”

And leaving her to face Ace alone? “Traitor.”

Staccato boot steps sounded in the lower hallway.

“I’m just leaving you to talk.”

“Uh-huh.” Those footsteps didn’t sound conversational. “You could at least leave the baby.”

The loose stair creaked.

Hester smiled. “I’m going to do one better,” she stated as calmly as if Ace wasn’t about to burst through that door any second. “I’m going to find the children and take them over to Antonio and Luisa’s for dinner.”

Leaving her alone in the house with just Ace and her complete lack of defense to his appeal.

Balling up the petticoat, she put it with the scissors. “That’s not fair.”

Hester headed for the door. “You don’t need fair. You need to stop running from things.”

She wanted to scream. She was not a coward. She was just...cautious. “I could hunt up that gun.”

“It’s downstairs in the kitchen.”

Where they’d left it when they’d found the baby. She sighed as Ace’s footsteps came down the hall. A promise and a threat. “Wonderful.”

Another thing for which Ace would take her to task.

Hester shook her head. “There are some things you just can’t run from, Petunia. Being a woman is one of them.”

Before she could answer, Ace did. “And I’m another.”

Dark and rich, that low drawl rolled across her nerves in a smooth coat of honey. A slight turn of her body was all it took to see Ace standing in the doorway, his broad shoulders filling the space, his presence filling the room. With his hat pulled down low and his sensual mouth set in a straight line, it was clear he was here with an attitude, but it wasn’t fear that had her licking her lips or had her remembering how his lips felt against the delicacy of hers. Relishing the utter mastery with which they parted hers. How completely he took possession when he stepped in.

I’m claiming you.

She caught her moan before it could fully escape, reducing it to an awkward hiccup that had everyone looking at her.

Hester just shook her head and patted the baby on the back. “Afternoon, Ace.”

As if the greeting were an invitation, Ace entered the room. He touched his finger to the brim of his Stetson. “Afternoon, Hester. Heading out?”

“I thought I’d treat the kids to dinner at Antonio’s.” She cut Petunia yet another glance over her shoulder as she headed to the door with the baby. “Between dinner and Luisa cooing over this sweetie—” she pulled the blanket back showing Ace the little one’s face as she drew even “—I don’t expect we’ll make it back much before seven.”

Seven was two hours away.

“And who is this?” Ace asked, moving the blanket back farther with his finger. The set of his mouth softened as he took in the infant. He liked children, Petunia realized, a bit belatedly considering all he’d done for Terrance.

“A foundling,” Hester said at the same time Petunia found her voice.

“We haven’t named her yet.”

She longed to snatch the shaky words back. She wanted Ace to see her as strong in these negotiations. Not needy.

I’m claiming you.

Lord help her, everything feminine and sure inside her wanted to be claimed, while everything independent and insecure said run. The man had her at war with herself.

“She was a bit of a surprise this afternoon,” Hester elaborated when Petunia didn’t say more.

Ace met Petunia’s gaze. The impact made her toes curl in slow-drawn pleasure. She became vividly aware of the thinness of her robe and nightgown. Completely enthralled with the implication of standing in her bedroom with him while so dressed. Hester slipped out of the room. Petunia smoothed her robe. Her pinkie caught on the edge of a pocket. She left it there, letting the tension balance her.

“Someone left her?” His knowing smile let her know he knew what she was doing. “So your plan is working out. The children are coming to you.”

One syllable was all she could muster. “Yes.”

Her tongue eased over her lips. His gaze dropped. Her lower lip trembled, remembering the nip of his teeth, the press of his mouth, the sweeping possession of his kiss...

“Good.”

Ace smiled, and Petunia’s heart joined the game, skipping a beat while her lungs gave up functioning completely. A schoolgirl had more maturity around this man than she did, but she couldn’t help it. There was just something about Ace that made her want to surrender. Mind, body and soul.

As if he heard the secret she wanted hidden, Ace murmured, “All or nothing, my Pet. Everything you are.”

It was eerie how well this man understood the need that no one had even sensed before.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?”

Stop knowing what she was thinking, stop affecting her senses like this... Stop walking toward her. She placed her hand in the middle of his chest, measuring his heartbeat beneath her palm. Steady and strong. Like him. “Stop.” She tested the solid muscle with firm pressure. Summing up everything crazy she felt inside she whispered, “This.”

His fingertips grazed up her side. His answer was simple and to the point. “No.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I don’t care.”

She didn’t even know where to go with that. Not because she couldn’t find the words but because she couldn’t find the impetus. She liked the way Ace took charge of things between them, wiping out the confusion and the conflict she hid within herself. Centering her focus with a simple touch of his thumb on the side of her jaw, bringing everything that mattered to the fore with an equally simple, “Why not?”

It was a leading question. She followed as always. “Because.”

His thumb stroked over her lips catching on the dry surface as his gaze continued to probe hers. The hat shadowed his eyes, letting her see only some of what he was thinking when she needed to see it all.

“Because isn’t an answer.”

Swallowing hard, she tried again. “It’s all I have.”

His smile preceded the touch of his lips. Warm, hot and masculine, they teased hers before lifting on a whisper. “That’s a lie. There is so much more to you.”

He saw her so differently than she saw herself. She touched her tongue to his kiss. “Like what?”

“Like strength, loyalty, purpose, devotion.”

“You make me sound like a dog.”

He smiled. He touched his thumb to the dampness left by her tongue. “I see your strengths, Pet, but I also see your need, and that’s my concern.”

He saw too much. “What need?”

It was a bluff pure and simple. She wasn’t surprised when he called her on it.

“For clarity and direction. Right now you’re leaning away from me, but your tongue is tickling my thumb in the sweetest of invitations.”

He was right. She tucked her tongue back into her mouth, savoring the faint hint of his flavor. His smile was almost tender. “So tell me, which message do you want me to hear?”

She didn’t know. “The right one?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

He offered her no quarter and part of her was glad. She was so tired of men who couldn’t match her strength. But that didn’t help her find the answer he wanted. To be vulnerable this way. “Ace...”

“You know what I want.” Working his finger between her lips, he ordered, “Give it to me.”

“I can’t.”

There was a pause. His thumb pressed and then slowly relaxed. For a soul-dropping moment she thought he was going to walk away.

“I want your surrender.”

She wished she could. Too much of what she’d convinced herself up to this point in her life was a “must” lingered.

“I’m an independent woman.” Even if she didn’t sound it.

With a shake of his head Ace brushed aside her claim. “You’re mine. Always have been. Always will be.”

“Not unless I agree.”

His smile was softly dangerous. Knowing. His hand swept down from her shoulder to her hips resting on her buttock. The thinness of her gown offered no protection when he pressed his fingers into the crease between. Neither did her conscience. This was Ace. Her protector. Her friend. Her...lover.

“You already have.”

It was only then that she realized she was completely relaxed against him. Her resistance had been so pathetic, even she hadn’t noticed its departure. “That’s just physical.”

This time his thumb pressed and parted her lips, sliding into the moist heat beyond. “Lie like that to me again and I’ll put you over my knee.”

Her shiver was involuntary. His smile faded. “And not in a good way.”

Lust hit her so hard her knees buckled. She would’ve stumbled if not for the pressure of his hand in the small of her back. She could see it so easily, feel it so clearly, being held down across his lap, helpless and vulnerable. His.

“I’ve got you.”

He always had, she realized. From the moment she’d landed in this town he’d been an invisible force in her life. Shaping it, guiding her, protecting her. She never realized how much until just now.

Reaching up, she grasped his wrist, needing something to hang on to. “You made sure I got the teaching position, didn’t you?”

“You’re qualified.”

“And you sent Hester over here, didn’t you?”

“It worked out for both of you.”

She looked up into his eyes, seeing that flash of something she’d seen so many times before. That something she hadn’t understood but she did now. “That’s not why you sent Hester.”

“Is that a statement or question?”

She cocked her head and tested the thread of certainty within, tracing its spread through their history from incident to incident connecting them in this subtle band of knowledge. Nothing that happened since she’d arrived in Simple with the exception of her kidnapping had been happenstance. The luck she’d been so grateful for all along had been because of this man who watched over her, and took care of her and gave her what she wanted. She remembered that day at the station when she’d waited for him to come and stop her. He hadn’t because she’d chosen to leave. Her choice.

Some of her panic left. She still felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, but she wasn’t so worried about stepping off anymore. “It’s a statement. But I do have a question.”

His head tilted to the side. His hand slid around the back of her neck. “Maybe I don’t feel like answering it.”

“But you will.”

His right eyebrow flicked up, disappearing into the fall of his hair. The shadows of his hat blended with the shadows in his eyes. She could only shake her head at herself. How could she have looked at this man and only seen the facade that he flashed the world? Why had she chosen to ignore her instincts? She’d prayed her whole life for a man like him. One who could see her and accept her. Someone for whom she had value on all levels. One who was strong enough to hold her safe. One to whom she could surrender the control she’d clung to for so long because she’d never found someone she could trust to give it to.

“What makes you so sure?” he asked as if he were discussing the weather.

It was a test. She wasn’t worried.

“Because I need to know, and you always give me what I need.”

His eyes narrowed, hiding the shadows within. “I won’t always give you everything.”

The warning didn’t worry her, either. She was finally figuring it out. “I trust you.”

Like she’d shot him, his breath caught. Against her hip, his cock twitched. On a growl, Ace took a step forward. She didn’t have any choice but to take one back. And then he took another. And another. Every time the outside of his thigh brushed the inside of hers, excitement slid up, pooling in a hot ache in her pussy. He came to a stop. The folds of her wrap swirled around his ankles, binding them together in a subtle promise.

“Ask your question,” he growled.

He thought he was taking her down a path he shouldn’t. Such foolishness. As clearly as he saw her, she was beginning to see him. And he might not be perfect, but he was strong, loyal, passionate about everything in his world. Protective and caring. Even the women he “used” for his needs saw him as someone upon whom to rely. But she was the one he held. And that mattered.

Hugging that knowledge tight, she breathed deeply, keeping her hand over his heart, counting the beats, knowing that exact moment when he realized the shift in her thinking, smiling inside when that rhythm sped up. For her. She did like the way he responded to her. Almost as much as she liked this pulsing sexual tension between them. So vivid it demanded to be cherished and nourished. To be brought to fruition. She had all she needed under her hand.