her body. He knew what she wanted and loved hearing the sounds of her pleasure.
Somewhere above, a child cried in sleep. Painfully, Daniel forced himself back to reality. He heard movement. Someone was up.
“This is insane,” he whispered against her mouth still tasting her as he spoke. “We have to stop.” He knew she'd do nothing to help his quest. “I have to stop.”
Karlee nodded and rocked slightly, her body pressing against him, allowing him to feel her fullness against his heart. She was a woman made to be loved, hard and fast, soft and slow, all night long. He knew as soundly as he knew his name that she would never withdraw from him or help him stop holding her. He caressed her breast and heard her moan. He'd already taken her beyond reason. In another moment, he'd be there as well.
He cupped her face in his hands. “You are so perfect. Right or wrong, we will finish this between us.” He held her still until he knew she was listening. “I promise, I'll make love to you so completely, Karlee, you'll beg for sleep.”
Without hesitation she answered, “Or you will.” Her breathing, against his throat, grew shallow, causing her breasts to rise and fall against him.
He grabbed her hair and leaned against her once more. “I'm not sure if it's me having you, or you having me, but I plan to bed you. If you have no objection, Mrs. McLain? When we have a bed, of course.”
“I've no objection,” she whispered as he pushed away from her. “With or without a bed.”
For a long moment, he stared at her, his eyes hot with passion even in the darkness. There would be no more bargains or games between them. She'd open to him willingly the next time they touched. And he'd make love to her as he'd never made love to a woman in his life. She was a part of him, as essential as breathing. A part he could no longer deny.
TWENTY-SEVEN
KARLEE PULLED ON HER CLOTHES WHILE LISTENING to the sounds that had brought Daniel to his senses. Someone moved from room to room, carefully opening and closing doors to keep from waking anyone.
Her body still shook with need. She wasn't sure what she'd expected when she crawled onto Daniel's lap and kissed him while he slept, but an all-out declaration to bed her was what she got. She had little idea what it would be like to have him make their marriage real, but if it were anything like what they'd felt so far, it might kill them both.
He was such a kind man, reading to his children, giving a welcoming word to all. He even made Gerilyn feel as though she belonged tonight. Not because he liked the woman; he just didn't want to see her unhappy. But there was another side to Daniel McLain. A side she wondered if any woman had ever seen, even his first wife. Gerilyn talked of how they had been best friends, and he always seemed to carry May around as if she were a china doll.
Karlee couldn't imagine him plastering little May to the wall and pressing against her while he took her breath away with a kiss. If she hadn't been there she wouldn't have thought he'd ever do such a thing. A newly discovered passion pounded in him stronger than a heartbeat. Karlee found it exciting and impossible to resist.
“Are you all right?” Daniel's words startled her.
Karlee finished buttoning her blouse. “Yes, thank you.” Her hands were shaking, her voice formal. She wanted all of this wild animal within Daniel, not to tame, but to satisfy. And she wanted the gentle Daniel, as well, to stand beside.
“I didn't hurt you.” Worry flavored his words as he moved toward the door. “Did I?”
“No, Dear.”
He extended his arm, and she moved beneath his gentle-embrace.
“I never want to hurt you.” He kissed her forehead. “It's more than you make me feel alive again after years. You take me to a place I never knew existed. I feel like I'm in a full run when I'm around you, and you're matching me stride for stride.”
A latch clicked beyond the study. Daniel pulled her close.
“Someone just opened the front door,” she whispered against his throat.
“I know.” He rubbed his chin against her cheek. “And they had to have used a key for I locked it earlier.”
They waited, listening.
“Stay here,” he ordered.
Karlee nodded but followed him out of the study. The hallway was dark as a tomb. She touched his back for guidance and moved with him toward the porch.
She heard the latch close when he touched the door. Someone had stepped outside, leaving it ajar.
Slowly, he opened the door and moved onto the wide porch. Karlee followed, bumping into him when he stopped suddenly.
“What is it?” She peered around Daniel.
On the center of the steps, five feet away from them stood Ida, still as a statue. The light from the street lamp slashed across her face. Terror had frozen her features.
“Ida?” Karlee started around Daniel, but his arm swung to hold her back.
When she glanced up to understand why, silver light sparkled off a handgun with the barrel pressed against his temple.
For a second, nothing before her seemed real. The shadows hid the gun's owner from sight. Karlee tried to move, but Daniel's arm held her in place.
“Don't scream.” Ida's aging voice drifted across the stillness. “Please, Karlee, don't scream, or the entire household will die.”
Karlee made herself breathe. Screaming hadn't occurred to her. Fighting had. She hesitated, knowing she had to pick her time. She heard the slight jingle of spurs, the creak of leather, a restless breathing of several men hidden in the blackness around her.
“What's going on?” Daniel asked, his voice almost casual. “What do you want here?”
The shadow of a stout little man appeared from the murkiness beside her. “Just stand real still, Preacher. We don't want to hurt no one here.”
“Whiteley?” Karlee whispered.
“Evening, Ma'am.” He tipped his hat almost politely. “Sorry to wake you. But, you see, we got some business with your husband and this old woman in rags here. Some business we got to take care of tonight.”
“You're working for Baker,” Daniel interrupted.
Whiteley pulled up the trousers of his new civilian clothes. “You guessed right, Preacher. I've been informing him of when shipments of supplies would be easy pickings for years now. We've made quite a haul. Enough for me to retire and live easy after tonight. Only one unfinished detail I have to attend to.”
Karlee felt sick to her stomach. She'd trusted this man. “Your mother wouldn't be very proud of you tonight, Sergeant Whiteley,” she said before she thought.
He laughed. “My mother's been dead for twenty years, Ma'am, but when you mentioned being from Indiana, I figured it was my way to get your husband to talk. We had to find out if Altus was telling any secrets on his death bed. If he talked to anyone, it would probably be a preacher. He was always chumming up to them. Even built this house for the last one for almost nothing.”
“What does Altus have to do with you?” Daniel jerked his head away from the gun, but two men rushed from behind him.
They shoved Karlee out of the way, and each grabbed one of Daniel's arms while the owner of the gun moved his weapon to point at Daniel's mid section. “Make any sudden moves, and I'll gut-shoot you,” a whiny voice almost giggled with the threat. “I like to watch 'em die when they're gut-shot. They wiggle around and complain before finally enough blood leaves them to quieten 'em down.”
Whiteley laughed. “I ain't got time for a visit, Preacher, but I might as well tell you Altus joined us when we started raiding Union supplies. He weren't like the rest of us. He weren't in it for the money. Altus saw raiding as his one chance to fight in a war he'd already missed. Soon after he came onboard, we made a grand haul. But he
