Ruthless Heart Read online

He nuzzled her and was rewarded with a kittenish sigh. Her breasts begged for his touch, and he was more than willing to oblige. Cupping one, he began licking the other, small catlike licks all around the nipple. He enjoyed the tight bud brushing against his cheek as he deliberately avoided it.

  It wasn’t until he could hardly stand it another second before he gently licked a nipple. He was rewarded with a sigh of pleasure, so he sucked on it; the sweet flavor of her skin made him groan. As he tweaked the other, she pushed up into him, filling his mouth with her breast.

  Grady accepted the gift for what it was and nibbled at her as his hand crept down her body to the juncture of her thighs. Her heat penetrated through the clothing to his touch. Grady bit her and she jumped, bumping her head into his. Reality crashed down around him and he woke up fully as the pain from the collision throbbed almost as much as his dick.

  “Oh, my.”

  That voice. He knew that voice.

  It was Miss Eliza, the damn schoolmarm, under him, with her breast in his mouth and her pussy currently pulsing in his hand.

  Holy shit.

  He took his hands away slowly, almost as if she were a rabbit and he didn’t want to spook her. She sighed as his mouth left her breast wet with his warm saliva. The nipple puckered even more as the cool morning air hit it. Grady told his dick to shut up, but it wasn’t listening. It roared with frustration as he slid away from her body. He felt like a mouse backing away from a trap—the prize wasn’t worth the risk.

  Who the hell knew the schoolmarm had a body full of delicious curves and tits that would haunt his dreams for the next year? Not to mention her responsiveness, which was beyond amazing. Not many women reacted to a man’s touch with such heat, such passion.

  Of course his experience with women in bed was limited to whores, but some of them had been good girls doing what they had to do to survive. He had always done right by them, no matter what their circumstances. However, none of them had heated as quickly as the woman inches from his yowling cock. God, and it had to be Eliza for pity’s sake. Why couldn’t it have been a woman he could fuck and leave?

  It dawned on him that he had actually left her the day before, and a long, hard ride was between them. So how in the hell was she lying by his fire snuggled up against him as if they were an old married couple? Was she a witch who flew through the air to taunt him with her curvy body? Or was he simply insane with thoughts of her that he called her to his side without meaning to?

  Grady sat up and got a good look at Eliza in the murky light. She looked absolutely tempting, and it was a good thing he didn’t like her or he might be doing more than scowling at her. Her dark hair was tousled as if she’d been well loved in a bed, and her eyes were heavy lidded with arousal.

  Son of a bitch.

  Grady stood and backed away from her. “Fix your clothes.”

  She smiled. “That was a lovely way to wake up, Mr. Wolfe.”

  He almost swallowed his tongue. There was no way she could be pleased with what had just happened. “Are you loco? I almost took you like a common whore on the cold ground.”

  “I beg to differ. There was nothing common about that. I thoroughly enjoyed it.” She sat up, and one breast popped out of her gaping shirt.

  “Jesus Christ, woman, put your damn tits away.” He sounded gruff because he was beyond angry. In fact, he was furious with himself and her.

  This time her smile disappeared, and he almost regretted snapping at her. She had it coming, though. Stupid female creature didn’t have a lick of common sense.

  “Well, that’s not very polite of you.” She buttoned up as she met his gaze.

  Without glasses, Eliza’s eyes were clear for the first time since the moment he’d met her. They shone like sapphires, accusing him of being the bastard he was. She had no idea just how much of a bastard he could be if he had a mind to.

  “I ain’t a polite person by nature, so don’t expect me to be otherwise.” He frowned as he noticed her old damn horse happily munching grass by his bay. “Now we start with the questions, Eliza. How did you find me, and what the hell are you doing here?”

  She shrugged. “After you left, I regretted the fact we hadn’t discussed a deal. I had thought perhaps we could travel together. There are many advantages to sharing our journey.”

  “That didn’t answer all my questions, lady.” He squatted down and stared hard into her innocent looking face. “How did you find me?”

  “Your horse has a nick in the rear shoe. It was easy to follow your tracks.” She sounded so matter of fact, as if every person in the world would notice the nick much less follow it thirty miles through the rough terrain.

  Grady frowned harder. “You a tracker, then?”

  “No, but I read a book about tracking.” She picked up her spectacles from a rock nearby and brushed at her dress. “I’m afraid this outfit is nearly ready for the rag pile.”

  He decided it had been ready for the rag pile before she’d even put the damn thing on. “A book. Of course, a goddamn book.” Grady paced for a few minutes as she sat there prim and proper with an innocent expression. He stopped and pointed. “So why did you follow me?”

  She picked at the dirt on her skirt. “Well, as I told you I am traveling west and truthfully, I’m in need of a companion. A woman alone can be in danger.”

  Grady threw back his head and laughed, something he hadn’t done in a very long time, if ever. Now she says she could be in danger. Who did she think he was, a Sunday school teacher? She was a completely confusing mix of smarts, innocence, and annoyance. He had to admit, though, she had more courage than most men, not that he’d tell her that.

  “Are you planning on paying me? I ain’t cheap, lady, and sure as hell ain’t free.” He didn’t expect her to actually consider his services, no matter what the price. She didn’t know him from a killer who would leave her for the coyotes.

  “Of course I would expect to pay you. What would you charge to escort me to my relations, for perhaps a week or two?” She got to her knees and poked at the fire with a stick.

  Grady wanted to poke her with the stick. What the hell kind of joke was this? No woman in her right mind would act like Eliza. Maybe she really was loco and she’d leave him for the coyotes. He dismissed the thought as soon as it entered his mind. Grady had an ability to read people, and although Eliza confused him, she was definitely not a physical danger to him or anyone.

  “You couldn’t afford it.”

  She calmly put more wood on the fire and stoked it. When she reached into his saddlebags for the frying pan, he could hardly believe his eyes.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Making breakfast of course. I noticed you had some cornmeal, so I thought I’d make some corn pone and coffee.” She blinked up at him like an owl. “Is that not acceptable?”

  Truth be told, Grady had never had a woman other than his mother make him breakfast before. That sure as hell was a thought for another time. He didn’t want to think about his mother at the moment, or ever really. She’d done enough damage to his life.

  “It’s damn odd, that’s what it is.”

  She continued stoking the fire. “I am used to taking care of others.”

  Grady didn’t doubt that for a minute. She sure as hell took care of herself.

  “As to your price for being my escort. Well, would you consider payment to be my, ah, cooking and keeping camp for you?” She sounded hopeful, and it made him cringe. He didn’t want the woman to be pinning her hopes on him, that was for damn sure.

  “Cooking and cleaning, eh? You don’t know much about offering yourself do you?”

  Surprisingly, she blushed, telling Grady in no uncertain terms that she’d never offered to pay a man in services before. “I would be happy to discuss details.”

  Grady snorted. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not buying. Anything.”

  She nodded, and although he expected her to argue, she turned back to rifling through his bags
and started fixing breakfast. The woman confounded him at every turn, and he couldn’t decide if she was doing it deliberately or not.

  The one thing she did well was cook. He sat down and watched as she expertly made coffee and corn pone. He’d planned on buying supplies before he set out, but by the time he’d left the saloon in Tolson, the store had been closed. Then he’d spent all day running from the woman who ended up in his bedroll with his hands all over her surprisingly sexy body.

  It was like he’d entered a new world, one he was unfamiliar with, and it angered him to feel that way. Eliza might well have come with a warning pinned to her blouse that said “Dangerous.”

  She handed him coffee in the only cup he had, which meant she was used to being the last served. He took the cup without comment, and she busied herself looking around for something near the trees. When she found a plant with big green leaves, she picked two of them and poured water from the canteen, then patted them dry with her skirt.

  Damned if she hadn’t found them some plates for the hot cornpone. He didn’t want to eat it, but it smelled heavenly and his stomach yowled from the scent. As they ate their silent breakfast, hers with water to drink from the canteen instead of coffee, he watched her.

  Eliza did seem harmless at first glance. He had a sneaking feeling she’d continue to follow him, using her damn books to guide her, unless he allowed her to ride with him. Since he still wasn’t sure exactly what she was after, it was probably a better idea to keep her where he could see her. Some old saying about keeping friends close and keeping enemies closer rang in his head.

  He’d be wise to heed that warning and keep Eliza within sight until he figured out exactly what she wanted.

  Eliza wanted to moan in pain and confusion, but she held it all in through sheer force of will. She had woken to the most beautiful pleasure she’d ever experienced, then it was taken from her instantly. Her body was excruciatingly sore, yet it still called out for Grady’s touch.

  She’d never thought much about the sexual act between a man and woman beyond procreation, and of course what she’d read in books. It was a simple physical act, or at least that’s what she’d thought before now. There was nothing simple about what happened beneath her blanket.

  His mouth, his tongue, and his hands. Sweet bliss with every second he’d touched her. Eliza wanted to weep from the perfection of those moments. As a scientist she appreciated the attraction between two bodies; as a woman she felt things for the first time.

  Grady had been angry, as she knew he would be, but beneath the anger, she sensed confusion for him as well. He didn’t know she’d be beside him when he woke, and she didn’t fault him for his actions even for a moment. The bald truth was she enjoyed it too much to think badly of him, although she knew she should have. What they did was meant to be done between a man and wife, not two strangers under a blanket.

  Perhaps his confusion was rooted in the same cause as hers—there was no reason for them to be attracted to each other much less find physical pleasure, yet they were and they did. Eliza had spent enough time around animals to recognize the signs when two creatures were aroused. That fact was undeniable as the erection in his trousers.

  As she worked around camp cooking and cleaning up, her legs ached with pain, but she knew that muscles reacted to stretching to heal. Each time she bent over, she pushed herself to stretch even farther, until her body shook and she could hardly stand it. However, it was working, and each time she stretched, the better she felt afterward.

  It was only after they’d eaten and cleaned up that she realized he hadn’t answered her request to guide her or her offer to cook and keep camp for him. His bawdy suggestion about other services still echoed in her head. Her chagrin had been compounded by the fact she was embarrassed enough for her cheeks to heat. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

  “If, and that’s a big damn if, I let you tag along with me, we’re going to have to set some rules.” Grady’s voice nearly scared a year off her life. He’d come up behind her as she rinsed off the pan using the sand in the creek.

  “What sort of rules?” She wiped the pan and stood up. Since this was the first time they’d actually stood nose to nose, or rather nose to chest, Eliza was quite surprised at how tall he was. Their previous encounters had been at a distance or on the ground; she had no reference as to their full distance in height.

  It was almost a foot.

  Up close, his whiskers were nearly menacing in his sculpted cheeks. However, it was his eyes that told her the true story. In the morning light, they were dark brown with tiny flecks of gold that sparkled, topped with long, thick lashes. All in all, quite lovely eyes even if they were looking at her with impatience.

  She stopped perusing him for a moment to realize what he said. He’d decided to take her with him!

  “First, we ride when I say, how long I say, and you don’t complain about any of it. Second, you don’t tell me how to do anything, no matter what any of your books say.”

  “Somewhat stringent rules for being a traveling companion.” Eliza didn’t want to tell him she wasn’t sure she could ride at all, given the current state of her thighs and buttocks.

  “It’s going to be my way or nothing at all.”

  “Then your rules are accepted provided you agree to allow me to cook and make camp in payment for your services.” She had to secure her own terms or he may think her too easy.

  “My services? You make everything sound so fancy, woman.”

  “My name is Eliza. Calling me ‘woman’ makes me think of a Neanderthal who may grab my hair and club me.” Eliza didn’t know what possessed her to say that to him. It apparently surprised him as much as it surprised her. “What I meant to say was, please call me Eliza.”

  His gaze narrowed. “I think you’ve got a smart mouth, Eliza. I prefer my women a bit dumber.”

  With that, he turned away and walked toward his horse. “We’re leaving in ten minutes. Be ready or get left behind.”

  Eliza wanted to shout with joy, but she kept it bottled inside. It would not do for him to see the victory dance in her eyes or on her tongue. However, it was a definite victory considering Eliza had spent her life in a small house in a small ward with a small-minded father. She’d broken free from the yoke forced upon her since birth.

  She wanted to throw back her head and howl in triumph.

  Instead, she walked over to her horse and began readying Melba for another day of riding. She got the blanket on just fine, but when she reached down to pick up the saddle, it was scooped up from her reach. To her utter astonishment, Grady put it on the horse for her.

  “Cinch it.” The man was used to giving orders.

  Although Eliza wanted to respond that she wasn’t a dog to be ordered what to do, she knew it wasn’t a wise idea. She didn’t want to jeopardize that fragile agreement five minutes after it happened.

  She did as she was bid and finished getting ready, even packing his saddlebags and bringing them to him. He frowned at her when she brought them over.

  “I mean to keep to my word to cook and clean.” Eliza went to retrieve her own bags, when he grabbed her arm.

  There were few times in her life she’d been touched, and now three times in only a few days, Grady had laid hands on her. Once in anger, once in arousal. And now an almost innocent touch. This time she jerked as if she’d been scalded, and it shocked her into immobility. His hand was hot on her skin, in sharp contrast to the cold morning air. Yet it wasn’t the heat that shocked her, it was her body’s reaction.

  As soon as they made contact, a sharp twang resounded through her body like the string of a violin being plucked. An echo of awareness that hadn’t been there before they’d been intimate, or nearly so. Eliza wasn’t expecting it, and she knew she looked as flummoxed as she felt.

  He took his hand away slowly as if he were afraid she would protest. “What the hell just happened?”

  “I-I don’t know.” She managed a s
mall, strained smile. “Shall we be on our way?”

  He stared into her eyes, peering into her soul, perhaps to find the desperate longing for more of his touch she was trying so hard to hide. She knew in moments she would blurt out exactly how she felt about his hands on her skin if he continued to gaze at her so intently.

  “Should I bother asking you if you’ll leave the confounded books behind?” He moved his gaze to her traveling bags.

  Eliza’s fascination with Grady’s touch flew away in a millisecond. Her protective instinct reared its head. “Never.”

  “That’s what I thought. I ain’t picking them up for you, so I hope you can do it yourself; otherwise the rats will get them.”

  He turned his back and began securing his saddlebags to his own saddle. Eliza was full of righteous anger, and it helped her haul up the bag of books for what seemed like the hundredth time in mere days. She put the smaller bag on as well, then led Melba to a fallen tree.

  When she stood on it to mount the horse, Eliza found Grady watching her. “I’m ready.”

  He shook his head. “I seriously doubt that, but let’s go, Liz.”

  Liz?

  Chapter Four

  The woman didn’t have much of a seat on the horse, but she had grit. Grady pushed her hard, intentionally past her limits and nearly to his. The only consideration he made was for the horses. He let them rest, the only break Eliza got. She looked exhausted with a pinched expression around her mouth. Even though she spent a good deal of time bouncing on the saddle, she didn’t complain even once.

  Hell, if she were a man, he’d say she had a pair of brass balls.

  “What’s your family’s name?”

  His voice apparently startled her because she let out a squeak. “I didn’t think you wanted to speak at all.” She met his gaze from under the brim of a hideous brown hat. “I appreciate the conversation.”

  “Liz, answer the question. Or maybe there is no family?” He actually believed her about the Ephraim fella, whoever he was, but knew there were other things she was hiding.