Mail-order Bridegroom Part 5

She silently cursed the color surging into her cheeks.

"That's the least of my concerns."

"You're right. It will be." He regarded her with derision.

"Is that how you see married life? A sterile partners.h.i.+p with a husband who hasn't a clue how to please his wife?"

Images leapt to her mind, images of the two of them entwined beneath an endless blue sky, their clothes scattered haphazardly around them, their nudity cloaked by thick, knee-high gra.s.s. She resisted the seductive pull of the memory. She couldn't afford to remember those times, couldn't afford to risk her emotions on something so fleeting and uncertain. nor so painful.

Not if she intended to save the ranch.

"That's not important," she stated coldly.

"Conrad has promised that if I marry someone the bank considers a sound businessman and rancher, I'll get my loan. And that's what I intend to do.

Period.

End of discussion. I'm keeping this ranch even if it means accepting the first qualified man who walks through my door. And nothing you say or do will change that. "

"I've got news for you. I am the first qualified man to walk through your door. The first and the last." He reached into his pocket and retrieved a business card.

"Perhaps you'd better know who you're up against."

"No, let me tell you who you're up against," she retorted, almost at the end of her rope.

"That huge company I mentioned--Lyon Enterprises--is after this ranch. And they'll use any means necessary to acquire it. You've met Bull Jones. He's encouraged almost all my workers to leave with exorbitant bribes. Nor was I kidding when I accused him of cutting my fences and stampeding my herd and fouling the wells.

The man I marry will have to contend with that. " She planted her hands on her hips.

"Well, Hunter? Maybe now that you have all the facts in your possessionyou'll decide to get out of my life. Just be sure that when you do, you makeit for good."

His eyes narrowed and, in a move so swift she didn't see it coming, he caught her by the elbows and swung her into his arms. She slammed into him, the breath knocked from her lungs.

"Don't threaten me, Leah. You won't like the results," he warned curtly.

"Give it to me straight. Are you really being hara.s.sed, or is this anotherof your imaginative little fantasies?"This time she didn't even try to fight his hold. She'd learned the hard way how pointless it would be.

"It's no fantasy! You saw a prime example today. Or ask my foreman.Patrick will tell you. He's one of the few they haven't managed to run off."His eyes glittered with barely suppressed wrath and a frown slashed deep furrows across his brow. Without releasing her, he tucked his business cardback into his pocket."You're serious, aren't you?"She nodded."Dead serious.""You're also serious about marrying, even if it means losing the ranch?"'lam. ""In that case you're down to one option."She sighed, weary of their argument."I told you. I'm not selling."

"No, you're not. You're going to marry me."If he hadn't been holding her, she would have fallen. "What?" shewhispered, unable to hide her shock.

"You heard me. We'll many and I'll see to it that you get your loan."

She stared at him in bewilderment, the fierce determination she read there

filling her with a sense of unease. "You said... I thought you didn't want to marry me."

"It wasn't my first choice, no," he agreed.

"But the more I consider the idea, the greater the appeal."

She caught her breath.

"That's the most insulting offer I've ever heard."

"Count on it," he said with a grim smile.

"I can get much more insulting than that."

"I wouldn't advise it," she snapped back.

"Not if you'd like me to accept."

He inclined his head, but whether in acknowledgement or concurrence she

wasn't quite clear. An endless moment stretched between them, a moment wherethey fought a silent battle of wills. It wasn't an even match. Slowly, Leahlowered her eyes.

"You agree," Hunter stated in satisfaction.

"I didn't say that." She stalled for time--not that it would help.

Exhaustion dogged her heels, making it impossible to think straight.

She needed time alone, time to consider, time to put all he'd told her into

perspective. But she strongly suspected she wouldn't be given that time."What about the bank? Can you guarantee I'll get the loan?"His expression hardened."I have some small influence. I'm not the poor, mixed-breed cur I was eight years ago."

"I never saw you that way," she reacted instantly, despising the crudecomparison."And if my father did, he was wrong."He shrugged off her rejoinder."What's your decision, Leah?"This time she did try and free herself. Not that she succeeded."What's your rush?" she asked. His touch grew gen tie, soothing rather thanrestraining, at striking odds with his clipped tone. Had he decided an illusion of tenderness might better influence her? If so, he'd soon discoverhis mistake.

"I don't want anyone else coming along messing up my deal. You havetwenty-four hours to make up your mind. Sell the ranch to me or marry me; Idon't give a d.a.m.n which. Because I know it all, Leah," he informed hertautly. "I've had your financial situation investigated.

You're broke. Without a loan you'll go bankrupt. And without me you won't get that loan. "

She caught her breath in disbelief.

"I don't believe you!"

"You will. You will when the banks tell you that I'm your only choice other than bankruptcy."

She shook her head, desperate to deny his words."How can you possibly do that?""You'd be surprised at what I can do.""What's happened to you?" she whispered."Mercy used to be a part of your nature."He gazed at her impa.s.sively."Not any more. You saw to that. It's your decision. And to help you decide..."

She knew what he intended; she recognized the pa.s.sion in his expression, saw the resolve in his eyes. To her eternal disgust she lifted her face to meet

his kiss. Curiosity, that was all it was, she told herself. But she lied.

Her curiosity had been appeased earlier.

She knew from that first kiss that her reaction to his touch hadn't changed,

not even after eight years.

No, she returned his kiss because she wanted to experience the wonder of it

again. To come alive beneath his mouth and hands. To relive, if only for a moment, the mind-splintering rapture only he could arouse.

He took his

time, drinking his fill, sharing the pa.s.sion that blazed with such incredible urgency.But it was all an illusion. She knew that. He wanted the ranch and woulduse any means available to get it. Even seducing her. Even marrying her.And she'd be a fool to forget that.

Lifting his head, he gazed down at her.

"What we once had isn't finished, Leah," he informed her in a rough, husky voice.

"There's still something between us. Something that needs to be settled,

once and for all."She eased back."And you think our marriage will settle it?""One way or another," he confirmed."You don't leave me much choice.""I've left you one choice. And I'm it."He set her from him, his expression once more cool and distant. In that instant she hated him. Hated him for making her want again.Hated him for resurrecting all that she'd struggled so hard to forget. But she especially hated him for being able to turn off his emotions with solittle effort. Because she knew her emotions weren't as easily mastered. "Twenty-four hours, Leah. After that, you're history." And, without another word, he left her.

Long after he'd ridden away she stood on the front porch, unable to move, unable to think. Finally, with a m.u.f.fled sob, she buried her head in her hands and allowed the tears to come.

CHAPTER THREE.

hunter walked into his office and set his briefcase on his desk. A brief

knock sounded on the door behind him and his a.s.sistant, Kevin Anderson, pokedhis head in the door."Oh, you're back. How did it go? Did she agree to sell the ranch?"Opening his briefcase. Hunter removed a bulky file and tossed it to one side."Not yet. But I'll have it soon... one way or another." He turned and faced his a.s.sistant, allowing his displeasure to show."Why didn't you tell me about Bull Jones and what he's been up to?""The foreman?" Kevin hesitated, then shrugged."I didn't think it was important."Anger made Hunter speak more sharply than he would have otherwise."Well, it d.a.m.ned well is important. You don't make those decisions. I do.""Sorry, boss. It won't happen again," came Kevin's swift apology.Then he asked cautiously,"I a.s.sume you've made the foreman's acquaintance?""In a manner of speaking.""Did he recognize you?"Hunter didn't answer immediately. Instead, he crossed to the window and stared out at the Houston skyline. The intense humidity from the Gulf of Mexico rippled the air on the far side of the thick, tinted gla.s.s, signaling the start of another South Texas heat wave

"No," he finally said.

"He didn't recognize me. But then I didn't go out of my way to introduce myself."

"That's probably smart. What do you want done about him?""Nothing for now." Hunter turned back and faced his a.s.sistant."But I may need to take action in the future.""Whatever you say. You're the boss."Hunter inclined his head."One last thing before you go.""Sure. Anything.""You keep me informed from now on. No matter how minor or insignificant. I won't be caught off-guard again."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Kevin agreed. Then he quietly excused himself and slipped from the room.

After a brief hesitation Hunter crossed to his desk and nipped open the file

marked"Hampton Homestead." A white tide of letters, legal doc.u.ments and severalphotos spilled across the gleaming ebony surface. Reaching out, he selected two photos of Leah--one identical to the picture he'd studied in the Hampton study, the other a snapshot only a month old.

Examining the more recent of the two, a savage desire clawed through him,

unexpected and intense. He still wanted her. wanted to rip her hair free ofher braid, feel her silken limbs clinging to him, feel again her softnessbeneath him.

He dropped the photo to his desk. Soon, he promised himself. Very, very soon.

"We have to talk," Grandmother Rose announced the next morning, slamming a thick porcelain mug in front of Leah.

Leah closed her eyes, stifling a groan. She hadn't slept a wink last nightand could barely face the unrelenting morning sun, let alone a moreunrelenting grandmother.