Kissed by the Outlaw Page 7

  "It's… not as bad as I thought it would be. It wouldn't be bad at all if I belonged here."

  "That's true. I'd be in trouble in the future, too. I wouldn't belong there, either."

  Part of him didn't believe his own words. No, he wouldn't have belonged to that time originally. On the other hand, he would have no choice but to adapt. Just like he'd adapted to other situations in his life, things much worse than getting thrown into another place in time.

  "You could get along here," he piped up. "You could learn. You're a strong lady. Telling you just—you know, in case it does happen, that you can't get back there."

  "McSwain, about something else… are you afraid of that happening? Of getting too close to me, because then I'll leave?"

  That question hit him out of nowhere. He didn't stop and only tossed her a cursory glance over his shoulder. "I ain't afraid of nothin'," he told her flatly.

  "Yes, yes, I know. You're a big, tough cowboy. Reformed bad boy, and all that jazz. Even now that you're not the person you were before."

  Inwardly, he softened, though he maintained his gruff exterior. He also slowed down for her to catch up with him.

  "Yes, but you don't know what I was before," he pointed out.

  "No, but you told me about it." Kelly paused. "Lots of people still see you that way, huh? They don't let you forget who you were before. They stare at you, waiting for you to mess up and become who you were."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Because I saw it yesterday when we were in town. The way some people look at you. It's not fair or right. But not everybody thinks badly of you."

  McSwain struggled to keep his head high. That old shame often haunted him. "How do you know that?" he asked.

  "Because… someone came up to me yesterday. And told me you'd turned over a new leaf. That you're trying to mind your own business and not—"

  He came to an abrupt halt and glowered at her. "Who told you that?"

  Kelly stopped. She wasn't intimidated by his bluster, asking, "I don't think that person wants it known. They—they wanted me to know you're a good man, no matter what others think of your past."

  "I thought you said you didn't talk to anybody while we were in town? So now you're saying you lied?"

  "I'm saying I didn't want to betray a confidence. Like I wouldn't betray yours. That's just the way I am. Someone tells me something, unless it's something that could hurt someone else, I keep it to myself, if that's what this person asked of me. But at the same time, I want you to know that, from what I've seen of you, that person is right. You are a good man. So… am I in trouble for not having been honest with you?"

  "You should be!" he barked, but it was only more bluster, more for appearances.

  The look she gave him, one of hurt, melted his heart. McSwain touched her face, moved by the way she leaned her cheek in against his palm.

  "It hasn't been easy for me, either," she admitted. "My life hasn't been easy, McSwain. My family's always been kind of detached. That's who they are. And then my marriage fell apart. Maybe I can understand a little bit about how you feel."

  "Ah…" It was more of a halfhearted scoff than a word. Halfhearted, because he didn't feel right minimizing what she had gone through.

  "No, really," she insisted. "I've felt like I don't belong sometimes. Even at this age. You would think it would stop, you know? That you'd get to feel comfortable in your own skin once you get to your forties. But then…"

  Unable to resist any longer, he closed in the space between them and stole a kiss from her lips.

  "But then… you—oh, I don't even know what I'm talking about anymore." Wrapping her arms around his neck, Kelly reached up and kissed him again.

  He accepted the kiss, even hungrier for the one that came after it. She had just finished telling him she'd lied. That she had spoken to someone in town. He should have been making her bottom pay for that falsehood.

  But he understood, and even respected, what she'd said about not betraying a confidence. If anything, whoever that was had spoken in his defense. Besides, that would have required continuing to deny his need for her. For her touch, for her kisses, her embraces. The need, both his body's and his heart's, to have his way with her.

  Her lips parted for his tongue again, and he kissed her, hard and long.

  When she took in some air between kisses, she whispered, "Let me in, McSwain. Don't keep pushing me away."

  No. No, no, no.

  He held her, burying his face in her neck so that she wouldn't see the pain coming across his face. His hands traveled down her back, cupping each of her bottom cheeks. McSwain gazed down at her before kissing her again.

  He could give her his body. That, he could do. His heart was another matter. Why give her all of him, when the whole reason they were out there in the first place was to find the portal?

  He was helping her, in effect, to leave him. She wanted to go home. She had left what she'd known behind. He understood that, especially because they were still virtually strangers.

  But she didn't feel like a stranger to him. There was a connection, something he'd never before shared with any other woman.

  Roughly, he undid the buckle on his belt. "I can't wait to get back to the house."

  "Good. Neither can I." She looked him squarely in the eye.

  "I've gotta have you."

  "Then have me."

  He groaned. What a pretty little promise, one she was sure to break. The minute they found the portal, it would be the end for whatever was starting there.

  He knew he should have waited, that the woods were risky. But when her dress came down, pooling around her feet, her body was actually trembling for his touch. Her nipples erect, calling for flicks of his tongue, and when his pants came off his erection brushed tantalizingly against her bare flesh.

  "I wanted this last night." He knew better than to reveal that, making himself vulnerable. The words still spilled from his mouth, which sought her lips and her breasts.

  "I know. I did, too." Kelly groaned in his arms.

  Carefully, he lowered her to the cool ground. He descended on her, entering her, and she curled her legs around his hips.

  As he thrust slowly, in and out of her pleasure-moistened walls, she removed his hat. Her fingers combed through his hair, tugging lightly in sweet play. McSwain grinned at her. She kissed his face and his neck, trailing the tip of her tongue along his shoulder.

  He knew something about women, enough that he knew to reach down and find that tiny part of her that was engorged and moistened. She reacted as soon as he touched her. Without pause, he continued to stroke her and to move, his motions coming harder and faster.

  "Oh, like that. I love that, baby." She stopped talking then, her pretty mouth opened slightly, her eyes closed.

  It had been so long. Painfully long. McSwain had tried to delay it for as long as he could, but she was too delicious, being inside her was too much for him. With a moan, he allowed the orgasm to come. To his relief, she peaked with him within moments.

  He wished it could go on and on. He held onto her tightly, and she to him. Again he buried his face, this time in her hair. She was kissing his neck, nibbling at his skin.

  He felt alive. More alive, perhaps, than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Yet with that surge of life, that quickening of his blood, came the feeling that he was also exposed. Vulnerable.

  She would leave. They were bound to find the portal, sooner or later. When they did, Kelly would leave him. Because, in the end, they had been born in different worlds. They weren't meant to be together. That fact taunted him. After a few minutes of holding her, he forced himself to move.

  "We—we need to get back," he stammered, clamoring to get to his feet.

  Kelly was still recovering. She looked back up at him. So impossibly pretty, resting with her hands tucked under her head.

  "What?" She was confused.

  Tugging his pants back on, he found her dress and tossed it at her.
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  "Sorry to hurry you, ma'am. Get dressed," he ordered and slipped his holster back on, then plopped his hat back onto his head. "We gotta get back to the house."

  "Oh. McSwain!"

  When she sat up, her breasts jiggled. Now that was fun! He could have watched them do that the whole livelong day.

  "Guess this means you're not inviting me to breakfast, either, huh? Slam, bam, thank you—"

  Helping her onto her feet, he silenced her with a kiss. Greedily, she barely waited until it was over to help herself to another one, making him laugh.

  "Now, woman. This way."

  To discourage her from dillydallying, he began to stride in the direction from which they'd come. Slowly enough so that she wouldn't lose him, but fast enough to get her moving. He glanced back and chuckled, seeing her hastily getting her dress and panties on, pulling her shoes on last as she walked.

  "Hey, cowboy! Wait up!" Kelly shouted after him.

  The walk back would give them both a chance to cool off. And to think.

  He needed to think before he started believing in something idyllic, a dream that wasn't going to come true for them. A dream that was never meant to happen.

  * * * * *

  The man was stubborn and impossible. He had some old-fashioned ideas of how to deal with a woman who got sassy with him, meaning he wouldn't hesitate to turn her over his knee for a butt-blistering spanking. He then treated her like a girl paid by the hour, having rock-your-world sex out in the forest like Prince Charming when he was too hot and bothered to wait until he got back to the castle to bop his sexy, little Snow White.

  Kelly knew, for a fact, that she had every right to dislike him, to run the other way, even if she stumbled across the portal again and landed herself back in the Stone Age.

  Instead, she was still tingling from having made love with him. McSwain excited her like nobody's business. If possible, she wanted him even more now than she had before.

  So it was official: Somewhere between 2014 and 1871, she'd lost her sanity. And her common sense. And any pretense she'd ever had of not wanting a take-charge, dominant, bossy man's man.

  Just like a certain cowboy farmer she knew.

  Yet maybe, Kelly thought as she walked the rest of the way to McSwain's farm, she'd feel differently when she found the portal at last. With the prospect of leaving the Wild West—and now she understood why it was called that—would she still feel the same towards him? Back in 2014, with her career and her modern townhome in Huntersville, her car—which wouldn't be truly hers for three more years of payments.

  There, in 1871, she had to bathe in a large tub that was bought into the house. She had to learn how to cook without an electric stove, an outdoor grill, a microwave, and a dishwasher. No shopping malls, no washer/dryer sets, no movies, no laptop, no internet, no cell phone.

  "Slow down, Kelly…"

  "What? What's wrong?"

  Kelly watched McSwain, standing beside her now, his hand on the handle of his revolver. She followed his gaze to where a man sat on a horse in the distance, staring at McSwain's house.

  Her own hand closed around McSwain's bulky bicep. She felt his muscle relax when the rider turned his horse around, showing his face.

  "Who's that? Friend or foe?" she inquired.

  "Friend. Sort of."

  McSwain quickened his gait and Kelly followed, trying to keep up with the stride of those long legs. The man now climbing down from his saddle was handsome and tall, even taller than McSwain. The sandy-haired, clean-shaven cowboy must have stood at close to six feet four, or so. He wasn't that young, however, and Kelly guessed he was somewhere in his mid-forties. As they drew closer, she felt the weight of his stare falling on her. An appreciative stare that made her shyly look away.

  On the breast pocket of his vest he wore a badge in the shape of a star that bore the word, SHERIFF.

  "'Afternoon, McSwain," he greeted Jess.

  "'Afternoon, Sheriff."

  The sheriff grinned at Kelly and tipped his hat. "Ma'am. Sheriff Gene Helms, at your service."

  Now wasn't he the flirty one? He was too likable for her to look away again, so she tilted her head and returned his dazzling smile. Kelly secretly admitted that his blue eyes were no match for McSwain's.

  "Kelly Long," she introduced herself. "Farmgirl-in-training. I think."

  That remark won her a chortle from the winsome sheriff and an eye roll of irritation from McSwain.

  "To what do we owe this visit?" he addressed the sheriff, becoming all business. "I know you're not here for anything from my farm."

  "No, I'm not." Sheriff Helms removed his hat and gave Kelly a gentlemanly nod. "I'm here to give you a warning, McSwain."

  "A warning?"

  Oh, no. Please don't tell me this about what happened back there in the woods! Wisely, Kelly kept quiet, folding her arms protectively across her chest to keep from fidgeting. She imagined the sheriff somewhere hiding under the cover of trees and brush, playing western voyeur.

  "That's right. I haven't seen him myself," Helms began, "but I'm told Clyde Shannon is in town. Supposedly, he's looking for you."

  Kelly looked from the lawman to McSwain. He wore a poker face.

  "For me? I got nothin' to do with Clyde Shannon. Not anymore," he said brusquely.

  "That's good to hear. As far as I've heard, though, Shannon's a wanted man. He's up to no good. Sounds like he's looking for a new partner…or an old one, depending on how you look at it."

  "Thanks for the warning. He won't be finding a partner in me."

  "I didn't think so." Something in that declaration from the sheriff didn't ring sincere to Kelly. Helms absently tapped his hat against his thigh. "But you might want to be careful. In case he finds you before I find him."

  "I'll take your good advice. Thanks for coming out here to tell me." To his credit, Kelly could tell McSwain's gratitude was sincere.

  Sheriff Helms started to leave but turned and addressed Kelly. "Ma'am, mind if I ask… you that lady from the future?"

  McSwain frowned. "How'd you know that, Sheriff?"

  "Small town. Word travels." Helms turned his attention to Kelly, his dimples appearing as he smiled. "So what's the future like, Miss Long?"

  "It would take a while to fill you in," she responded. "A lot different than this time, where you're all living. I'll tell you that much."

  "Hm. I'd like to hear about that sometime." The sheriff replaced his hat onto his head and tapped the brim as a parting gesture to her. "I'm usually in my office, if you ever need me. That is, if you don't get back to your time first."

  "Thank you so much, Sheriff!" Kelly waved to him and turned to McSwain after he rode off back in the direction of town. "Well, I have to say, he's pretty charming."

  "Yeah. You would say that," he muttered.

  Kelly raised an eyebrow. Was he jealous of the attention she'd received from the good-looking sheriff? A little teasing could be fun, she decided.

  "He's a gentleman, too. You could learn a thing or two from him, McSwain," she lectured.

  "Yeah, I could really see the sheriff searching for a portal high and low to get your naughty backside back to where it belongs." When she wasn't expecting it, he landed a loud, hard smack on her seat. That propelled her forward a step and emitted from her a grunt of protest. "You get on in the house and fix some supper for us. I still have some work to do."

  Kelly rubbed her bottom. Amazing—it was only one little smack, and yet it packed a good, wince-worthy sting.

  "How come you haven't asked much about the future?" she asked. "Your sheriff—that's the first thing he asked about. Aren't you the least bit curious, McSwain?"

  He thought for a moment, a hand on his waist. "I'm curious, yeah. I don't know. That time… it doesn't belong to me. Maybe I don't really want to know what happens in the future. But I do know what's happening in the short-term future."

  Standing on the porch, she looked back at him. "Short-term future?"

  "Ye
s. That man the sheriff says is looking for me? He's a snake. Dangerous man." McSwain stepped right up to her. "He rode with me and my brothers there for a while. I'm surprised he's not dead or in jail."

  "So you're going to tell me," she said, anticipating his next words, "that as long as he's out there, I can't go off this ranch, anywhere without you. Right?"

  "Right. I catch you going off by yourself, and you'll be getting a spanking that you're not likely to forget anytime soon."

  "Sounds perfectly lovely." Her voice dripped sarcasm. "McSwain, didn't—didn't what happen out there today with us—didn't that mean anything to you?"

  Finally. A crack in the tough, former desperado's armor. His hard expression softened.

  "Did it mean anything to you?" he turned it around on her, exasperatingly enough. "Because you're here, makin' eyes at the sheriff."

  "Making eyes at—oh, so you are jealous!"

  "Jealous? Don't flatter yourself, young lady," he insisted with an arrogant air. "If you want to stay with the sheriff, I'll take you to him right now. But he won't have time for you, and he's liable to lock you up in his jail just to keep you out of trouble. Don't think you'd want that, so you're better off here. But, here, you've gotta contend with—"

  "Yeah, I know. Your rules. And if I break them, I can expect to get spanked. You know…spanking's not very popular where I come from." She emphasized the point with a few wags of her index finger.

  "Oh, no? Well, it is where I come from. I take it your husband never spanked you," he assumed out loud.

  "No. He did treat me pretty shabbily, though. Ran around with other women. He told me I wasn't… as young anymore. Or as thin. Or as pretty."

  There. She'd said it.

  McSwain shook his head. "He was a stupid man, your husband. Excuse me for saying so."

  "Excuse you? You're right about him." Uncomfortable, she shifted the subject away from her ex, although the new subject wasn't any more welcomed to her. "I never got spanked as a kid, either."

  "No? I was. By my grandfather. He was the only person who ever cared enough to spank me. Wasn't spanked enough, though. Neither were my brothers. We wouldn't have turned out the way we did if we had been."