Mail-order Bridegroom Part 2

needed him most still hurt, even after all these years. Until he'd ridden uptoday, she hadn't realized how much of that pain lingered."Yes, I know."She flinched."You knew?" Knew and never bothered to return? Never bothered to see how she was, see if she required any help or support? She straightened hershoulders. No, not support.

She'd support herself. And her grandmother. And the ranch. And all those she'd gathered beneath her wing. No matter what it cost.

"I read his obit in the papers." He leaned closer, and she caught herbreath, drawing in the rich, spicy scent of his aftershave.

"I.

understand the ranch has gone downhill ever since. You may be just asruthless and single-minded as your old man, but you're sure as h.e.l.l not therancher he was. "

She jerked as though slapped, and for a moment the defiant, protective maskshe'd kept rigidly in place slipped, leaving her vulnerable and exposed. How could she ever have been seduced by this man? Even at eighteen she shouldhave had the sense to see the cold, heartless soul that ruled his keenintellect, no matter how attractive the outer packing.

"I won't defend myself to you. Why should I? Nor will I be judged by youryardstick," she insisted fiercely.

"So spit out what you came to say and get the h.e.l.l off my land."

She saw the familiar spark of anger flicker to life in his eyes and wonderedif she'd pushed him too far. Not that she cared. With her back against thewall, both literally and figuratively, she'd fight free any way she could andd.a.m.n the consequences.

With an abrupt sweep of his arm he snagged her waist, and forced her betweenhis legs.

"Don't you know why I'm here?" He cupped her shoulders to curb herinstinctive opposition, rough amus.e.m.e.nt edging his words.

As much as she wanted to tell him to go to h.e.l.l, she knew he wouldn't releaseher until she'd answered. Qlaring at him, she said, "You came in response to the ad."

"More than that. Lean. Much, much more," he corrected, a bitter smile twisting his mouth.

"I came for the ranch." His eyes grew black and pitiless, searing her with a burning determination.

"And... I came for you."

CHAPTER TWO.

shock held Leah immobile for a split-second. Recovering swiftly, she liftedher chin."That's a real shame. Hunter," she retorted, continuing to fight his hold."Because you aren't getting either one."His grip tightened."We'll see."She stopped struggling. Resistance was fruitless. Instead, she used the only other weapon she possessed. Words.

"Did you really believe that after all these years you could just come

strolling back up my drive? Your arrogance is incredible. After what you did to me, I wouldn't give you so much as the time of day!"

"A little melodramatic, don't you think?"

Fury ripped through her and she gave in to it, needing the satisfaction

losing her temper would provide."Melodramatic? Not by a long shot. You stole my innocence, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.And you did it solely to get your hands on this ranch." Bitterness spilled over, pouring out after years of suppression. Her pain, her agony, strippedof any protective cover, lay bare for him to see."I was eighteen and crazy in love. And you used me. You used me." " The h.e.l.l

I did. I just took what you offered. "His cruelty cut her to the quick and it required all her willpower not to hithim. But she remembered his lightning-fast speed of old.

Her blow would never land and his retaliation would be swift and unpleasant.

She looked him straight in the eye.

"You can't get out of your responsibil

ides that easily. You took exactly what you wanted, no matter who suffered in the process."

His mouth settled into a grim line.

"You never knew what I wanted.

You still don't. ""Oh, no?" Did he really consider her so blind, so ignorant of man's basermotivations? Perhaps eight years ago she'd been guilty of such an oversight,but no longer. He'd cured her of that.

"It's the same then as now. You want my land. Well, get in line.""There is no line," he bit out."Nor will there be. You'd better face that fact right here and now."He tugged her closer, as though to obstruct any chance of flight.Slowly, relentlessly, he gathered her in, trapping her in a grasp as binding and inescapable as a mist-net around a struggling sparrow.

She pressed her hands against his chest, striving to keep some small distance between them. But instead she found that touching him only resurrected

long-forgotten emotions, reminding her of all that had gone before. Tearsthreatened, but she ruthlessly forced them back.Tears wouldn't accomplish a thing. Not with this man."Why are you doing this?" she asked."Why now, after all this time?""Because it will give me what I want most."She laughed quietly, the sound one of pain and disillusionment rather than amus.e.m.e.nt.

"When you said that eight years ago, I foolishly thought you meant me. Butnow I realize you meant the ranch."His expression closed over."Did I?""Yes! Is that why you bedded me? Because it would give you your dream? It didn't work out that way, did it?"

"Bedded you? A rather quaint description for what we did together.

Something a bit more elemental and a lot

cruder would be closer to the truth. And, as I recall, we never did get around to using a bed. "

She refused to feel shame for an act that had been the most beautiful experience of her life.

"No, we didn't. Because you left before we ever had the chance. Of course,you didn't hit the road until Dad threatened to disinherit me. He offered mea choice. You or the ranch."

"And we both know which you chose."

She caught his s.h.i.+rt in her fists.

"How would you know that?" she demanded pa.s.sionately, her distress breaking free of her control.

"You didn't stick around long enough to find out. But I can guaranteechoosing you was a mistake I've lived to regret. It never occurred to methat, without the ranch, I wasn't much of a bargain." Her pride had sufferedfrom that knowledge. But her pride had handled the battering. Her hearthadn't been nearly so st.u.r.dy.

"So you took what you could and walked."

A hard smile tilted his mouth to one side and his hands closed over hers, prying them free of his s.h.i.+rt.

"Let's be accurate. I didn't walk. I was dragged."

"Don't give me that. I waited in the line-shack for hours. Does that amuseyou?" Her breathing grew shallow and rapid, the dark recollections ones sherarely dredged from her memory.

"The afternoon was sweltering, but I waited inside the cabin for you anyway.I was so afraid one of the wranglers would stop by ... that there'd be someunexpected strays to round up or fence to string and he'd decide to spend thenight out there and I'd get caught. But I didn't leave. I kept tellingmyself you'd come. The hours became an eternity, as though the world hadmoved on and I'd somehow been left behind. Even after the sun set, I foundexcuse after excuse to explain your absence."

"Stop it, Leah."

But she couldn't. Once started, the memories continued to unravel, like a wind-up music-box grinding out its song until the music played down.

"It was a full moon that night. I sat on the floor and watched as it drifted from window to window, inching a path across the sky."

He stared at her, impa.s.sive and remote.

"It rained."

Surfacing from the remembered nightmare, she focused on his face.

"Not until two that morning," she corrected, her voice dull and lifeless.

"The storm rolled in from the south and blotted out the stars as though an

angry hand had wiped them from the sky. The roof leaked like a sieve but,fool that I was, I stayed." She bowed her head, her emotions nearly spent."I stayed and stayed and stayed.""Why? Why did you stay?" he asked insistently.

"Look at me, Leah.

Look me in the eye and tell me the rest of your lies. Because that's all they are. "

"How could you possibly know what's fact and what's fiction," she whispered, 'when you weren't there to see? "

Tell me! "

Forced by the relentless command, she lifted her head. He swept a wisp of ash-blonde hair from her face, and though he touched her with a tender hand his expression was anything but.

"I stayed because I was waiting for you to ride up and take me away like you

promised," she admitted, her voice breaking."At daybreak I finally realized you weren't coming. And I vowed that I'dnever trust a man again. I'd never give him that sort of power over me orleave myself open and vulnerable to that much misery. So tell me. Hunter.

Tell me the truth. What happened? What was so vital that it dragged you away and you couldn't be bothered to come back? "

"Sheriff Lomax happened."

It took a long minute for his words to sink in.

"What do you mean?"

she asked, dread balling in her stomach.

He laughed, the jarring sound slicing across her nerves like a finely honed

blade."Cut the bull, Leah. All that nonsense about waiting for me at theline-shack and sweltering in the heat and watching the moon. It didn't happen. I know it. And you know it. Though I did enjoy the part about theroof leaking. Very pathetic.""What's the sheriff got to do with this?" she demanded, more urgently."I went to the line-shack, as agreed. You weren't there." He paused significantly."The sheriff was. Along with a few of his men.""No. I don't believe you.""It took six of them to pull me out of there. You forgot to mention, in your heartbreaking tale of woe, about the smashed furniture or the broken window.