Springer, Jan - The Pleasure Girl [The Desperadoes 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (17 page)

Her blood froze at his next words. “I…um noticed…two sets of horse tracks about a mile from here. A single set…uh…two miles up the road. All three sets…um… disappeared into the river that runs directly through your land. Um…did you see anyone?”

Teyla laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as forced and nervous as it sounded to her.

“With most of the world’s population wiped out, I’ve seen maybe one stranger since the Catastrophe.” Too bad you didn’t get wiped out too, she added silently. Life would have been a whole lot easier if he had literally been snuffed to dust.

“I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place,” she continued. “If you’re looking for three men, sheriff, I only do one at a time and two a day. Keeps the doctor away.”

She winked at him, and the sheriff frowned and shifted restlessly, obviously not comfortable with what she was saying.

Once again, he cleared his throat as she stopped brushing her hair and straightened up, the top part of her robe naturally covering her breasts again.

“I just want you to…um…to be careful. You being here all alone and everything. People with self-sustainable farms are being killed outright and their homes taken.”

Great. Was that a threat? Teyla steadied her nerves and placed her hair brush onto the letters Dr. Liz had sent regarding Logan and his two friends, then slipped hand into her robe pocket, quickly withdrawing the item she kept there. It was her backup gun. One of many that she’d found while pillaging through neighboring homes after the Catastrophe. Homes where her friends had once lived before her friends, too, had disintegrated. No ammo for this gun, but, hey, he didn’t know that, now did he.

His pale blue eyes widened in surprise and his long moustache twitched nervously when she pulled out her gun. Bubbles of excitement burst inside her as he took a couple of steps backward. If the deep valley of her exposed breasts hadn’t fully caught his attention, well, her small derringer certainly did.

“Easy with that gun, Teyla,” he sputtered.

“I’m just showing you I can take care of myself. Now if you don’t mind, I really must get ready for my next customer. Can I show you out?” She purposely pointed the gun at him. He took another couple of steps backward.

“Easy with that gun. It might go off.”

“Oh, it’ll only go off if I want it to,” she replied, forcing a casualness into her voice that she didn’t feel. She strolled past him and out of her bedroom, thankful to hear his footsteps following behind. She sighed in relief to find he’d left the kitchen door wide open to the point where it hid the area where Logan’s black leather jacket would be hanging. Good. He hadn’t seen the jacket.

A renewed sense of urgency slashed through her as she stopped at the kitchen front door, her hand on the door knob, pushing the door open even more, making double sure Logan’s jacket remained hidden. She needed to get rid of Linus in case Spencer, Logan, and Cassidy were the men he was looking for.

It was at that moment she realized she may just have to shoot this man if any of the others decided to make an appearance. But could she murder someone? And why was she entertaining the idea of shooting this self-proclaimed lawman if the three men were fugitives?

A tremor of unease ripped through her at her next thought. The Durango Gang was notorious for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. Until now, she’d thought those types of men were ruthless. But the tender, possessive and thoughtful ways Logan, and the other two, for that matter, had treated her threw the idea of them being ruthless right out the window.

“Maybe you should tell me their descriptions? Just in case?” she spoke, daring to keep him here a moment longer. For all she knew, she could have just slept with three ruthless bank robbers. Maybe even killers?

A shot of adrenaline zipped through her at the thought she may have experienced the most exquisite sex in her life with outlaws. Another idea rocked her. What if they decided she was a loose end that needed to be tied up? That they had no choice but to kill her? Maybe she should tell the sheriff the potential robbers were in her home? That two were outside, maybe even waiting to ambush him and that one was hiding in her very own bathroom?

* * * *

Logan couldn’t make out what Teyla and the intruder were saying, no matter how hard he listened.

Damn her! Why had she shut the door? She could have at least left it open a crack. Was she, at this moment, turning him in? Had the others been caught? What was happening out there?

It had grown quiet out there. Too quiet. His uneasiness slipped up several notches. Were the hell had everyone gone? From his vantage point, he eyed the bathroom window and tried to see past the frilly white lace curtains. He couldn’t see a thing. Disappointment rocked him.

His gaze dropped to the bathroom floor, to the shattered glass and where he’d left his jeans. Had the intruder been able to see the glass and his pants when Teyla had stepped out into the bedroom? Or before that when he’d inadvertently left the door slightly ajar? Hopefully, if he saw, he thought she had a customer in here with her. Unless whoever was out there knew about Spencer and Cassidy. Shit, where the hell was she? Where were Cassidy and Spencer, damn their hides?

Another thought shot through him. Maybe the newcomer was another customer? Logan did not like the gut-twisting way he was feeling at thinking another customer had shown up. Maybe she was servicing him right now? Maybe she’d taken him upstairs into one of her other bedrooms? His grip on the neck of the wine bottle tightened to the point where his wrist and fingers actually hurt. He loosened his grip and forced his breaths to slow down. Tried to not imagine her with strange men.

She better not be with another guy. Man, he’d known her for such a short time and he was already dictating who she could or could not see?
Not good, my man. Not good at all
.

Maybe he should just go out there and see what was going on? Take what belonged to him and smash the bottle over the bastard’s head. Better yet, get his gun and shoot the fucker, ask questions later.

He should never have agreed to Teyla’s request that he keep his weapons in the kitchen. Hell, the intruder would probably find his stash and use it on him.

The bathroom door burst inward totally catching him off guard. But he reacted quickly, lifting the bottle, and he just about brought it down on Teyla’s pretty head.

“Fuck, woman,” he whispered when he realized who had entered.

The look of surprise and shock on her face had him holding back another string of curses.

“He’s gone. But I don’t know where your friends are. I hope they’re okay.”

Logan stepped around the broken glass and raced to the bathroom window just in time to see a man hop into a black car and drive away. No signs of his partners.

“They’re big boys. They can take care of themselves.” Yeah, he was worried, but if something had happened to them, surely this guy wouldn’t leave just like he had.

“Who was he?” Another customer, he asked silently.

“He’s the law around here.”

Great. Just great.

“Does he drop by often?” he asked a little too gruffly as he swept his jeans off the floor and hurriedly stepped into them. The last thing they needed was the law visiting her on a damned regular basis. He wanted to ask her if she serviced him, too, but he bit back that bitter question as he noticed she was hesitating in answering.

She averted her gaze and worried her bottom lip. Okay, not a good sign when she did those things and didn’t answer his question. Up until this guy had shown up, she’d been very cooperative. That her attitude had suddenly changed irritated him, and he grabbed her arm a bit too roughly. Immense guilt slammed through him at the look of surprise and fear slashing across her face.

“I didn’t tell him anything,” she snapped and tried to pull her arm from his grasp. Anger flared in her pretty eyes and he cursed himself for scaring her and forced himself to calm down.

“I didn’t ask that question, Teyla.”

“I said he’s the law. He doesn’t need an invitation. He drops by whenever he feels like it.”

Whenever he feels like it
? Irritation snapped through him like a live wire.

Chill, Logan. Chill.
The guys said she didn’t sleep with him. He needed to relax and remember that.

The jovial sounds of his friends’ voices outside made Logan realize they probably didn’t have a clue they’d just had a visitor.

“Get dressed. Wear something pretty. I need to talk to the others,” he told her and ignored the pout on her mouth. A mouth he wanted to kiss and make love to.

Damn, but he sure did have it bad for her, didn’t he?

He didn’t miss the pink flush in her cheeks or the sultry sparkle in her eyes. Maybe she wanted another ménage?

Oh, shit. He needed to get away from her before he took her up against the bathroom wall or before he fell head over heels in love with the woman. He left the bathroom and rushed through the bedroom into the kitchen. Thankfully, the saddlebag had been out of immediate eyeshot and it appeared his jacket had been, too. He grabbed his jacket, donned it, and relief swept through him as he felt the familiar heaviness of the gun in the pocket. Despite the relief, his heart hammered insanely against his chest as he realized exactly how dangerous the situation had been. The law had come calling and the boys had been absent. Not to mention he’d been so fucking jealous, he’d almost turned on her.

Fuck, he was crazy. That cop could come back. Could have caught him literally with his pants down. Put a bullet into him.

He swore softly and headed outside.

* * * *

Tugging her robe around her, Teyla took a shuddering breath and gazed at herself in the mirror. Sizzling shimmers scampered up and down her back. She looked…well, she looked erotic.

Her hair was a gorgeous mess, her mouth looked plump and red from kissing and her eyes seemed so bright, someone might think she had a fever. Opening her robe, she gazed at her nude body. It even looked different. Voluptuous. Her breasts appeared huge, felt swollen. Her nipples were pert and red from their touches. And the area between her thighs and her ass throbbed intensely with a need she’d not felt before.

She wanted to be taken by Logan again. Wanted to experience another ménage. But these men could be dangerous if what the sheriff had said was true. The exorbitant amount of money they were paying her for her services proved to her they were into something illegal. And Logan’s uneasy reaction when she’d told him the law had been here pretty much confirmed he was part of that Durango gang.

Oh, crap. Wasn’t that just her rotten luck? Falling for a guy who was a desperado. A guy, who, if caught by the law, would swing by the neck until he was dead. These days, despite a self-appointed sheriff, there really wasn’t any sort of legal justice. It was vigilantism all the way around. Posses grabbed their suspects and dished out the punishment as they saw fit. Robbers and killers were treated alike. Hanged by the neck until dead. Which left her with the question what should she do now?

Up until now, they hadn’t given her a reason to be afraid of them. They’d been quite pleasurable. Kind. Studs. If they’d wanted to harm her, they would have done that, wouldn’t they? And her instincts would have told her to beware.

Besides, her friend, Dr. Elizabeth, had said they could be trusted in that note she’d sent with Logan. It was her handwriting, and her perfume splashing from the note, so there wasn’t any doubt about who had written it. And her friend wouldn’t have joked about sizes if she’d been under pressure to write out a note for Teyla.

Oh, for Pete’s sake, if they were dangerous to her, they would have rode in and taken her against her will, and not gone to all this trouble of coming with notes and paying her. Logan wouldn’t have been so damned nice to her and everything.

No, he wasn’t a danger. She wasn’t a judge on why he would run with the Durango Gang
if
he was with them at all. Besides, what they did was none of her business.