Devils on Horseback: Nate Read online

  The only advantage of how they’d lived the past four years was the way they savored each bite, each experience, each taste of life. When at war, every moment might be the last, so they’d learned to snatch it and hold fast. Nate wondered if there was ever a time when he didn’t think the world was mad and he the only sane one in it.

  Shaking off his melancholy thoughts, he gave each man their portion of food and coffee. Then it was time to put their heads together, so they talked as they ate, discussing how best to get the Taggerts off their land. Zeke, of course, came up with the best plan of action.

  “I have a feeling Miss Taggert has a very big soft spot. We just need to take advantage of it.” Zeke nibbled on the ham biscuit. “We need to separate them. The girl’s weakness is her family. Once we remove the brother or the father, then she’ll be more willing to surrender.”

  “Surrender? It sounds like a war.”

  “It is war, Nate. It’s us or them. I choose us.” Lee stared at him with a dare in his gaze.

  “I choose us too which is how we got this job in the first place, Lee. All I’m saying is, before we resort to battle tactics, let’s try to talk to them first.” Nate didn’t want to cause the Taggerts irreparable harm, not even to feed his empty belly.

  “We already tried that,” Zeke offered. “That girl of yours didn’t seem too willing to talk, neither did her bullets.”

  “She’s not my girl.”

  “So you didn’t kiss her?” Jake raised his brows. “You’re slipping.”

  “She kissed me.” Nate was getting exasperated. He pulled his collar aside to show them the scab from her little knife trick the night before. “This isn’t a love bite. Her knife is as sharp as her mind.”

  “She cut you?” Gideon examined the wound more closely.

  “No, more like tried to get me to talk.”

  “Hmm, some tactic. Kissing and pricking with a knife. Should’ve known kissing the prick would’ve worked.” Jake grinned like an idiot.

  “Okay, let’s focus on the Taggerts, not on my prick.”

  They all laughed, and Jake nearly knocked over the coffeepot from the hot rock beside the fire.

  “Do you think she’ll talk to you alone?” Gideon wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

  Zeke nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  Although Nate wanted to argue the point, it was a good idea. He and Elisa had a kind of…relationship, for want of a better word. Perhaps she would listen to reason.

  Nate dismounted half a mile from the house and walked the rest of the way, leading Bonne Chance. He hoped Elisa would see that he meant no harm, particularly since he tied a white cloth to his saddle horn. He’d been running over and over what he was going to say to her, yet it was a jumbled mess of words in his mind.

  “You can stop right there, Nate.” Her voice, as expected, came from the direction of the trees.

  “I just want to talk.”

  She snorted. “Are you kidding? After the way you showed up at my house this morning and threatened my father?”

  That did it.

  “For your information, I didn’t threaten anyone. You shot at me, ruined my hat, then tried to kill me with your herd of longhorns.” Nate didn’t get angry often, but when he did, he had a hard time reining it back in. “In fact, you didn’t even give me a chance to tell you why I was at your house. You simply took it for granted that I was there for nefarious reasons. You’ve been the aggressor here, Miss Taggert, not me.”

  Twenty feet ahead, Elisa appeared atop her big black gelding, her rifle pointed at the ground. She licked her lips and cleared her throat.

  “So what do you want?”

  “Exactly what I wanted earlier. To talk to you.” It wasn’t a lie at all. He did want to talk—about the Taggerts vacating the land they sat on.

  “About what?”

  “I’d rather talk, not shout. Do you think you could pick a neutral spot for us to sit down and speak like civilized human beings?”

  “Why do you always talk so fancy?” she grumbled.

  “My father was a schoolteacher. I chose to take after him and be educated.” He hadn’t meant to tell her that, but done was done.

  “Meet me by the stream near your camp in an hour. We’ll talk.” She disappeared back into the trees before he could answer.

  “Confounded woman.” Nate threw himself onto his saddle. “All she does is give orders and shoot at people.”

  Nate was glad she’d agreed to talk to him. It would be a blessing if the Taggerts agreed to leave without bloodshed. Nate didn’t want to be the cause of any more deaths in his lifetime, particularly his own.

  Elisa watched as Nate arrived at the stream. For some stupid reason, she considered it their spot since it was the second time they’d met there. It annoyed her that she even thought of it as “their spot” since there was nothing between them.

  In broad daylight, there was no hiding how incredibly handsome the Frenchman was. He had thick dark hair that sat in waves on his head, and the blackest eyes she’d seen on a white man. However, what really fascinated her were his hands.

  Nate had the most beautiful, graceful hands she’d ever seen, with long fingers and wide palms. Nothing in Elisa’s life had been graceful, not even herself. But Nate, when she’d seen his hands move, the word just popped into her mind. It fit him and made her realize that for all the daydreams she’d had of the man, he was far beyond her reach. No graceful, proper-speaking gentleman would ever want a foulmouthed country gal with dirt under her fingernails and calluses on her hands.

  She didn’t want to startle him, so she rattled the bushes a bit before stepping into the clearing. He glanced at her outfit, but didn’t say a word. No doubt comparing her to all the southern belles he’d grown up with.

  “So talk.” Elisa sat down with her legs criss-crossed and her father’s Colt pistol in her hand, cocked and ready. Her knife was strapped to her waist within easy reach.

  “Hello to you too.”

  She waved her hand in the air. “No need for formalities.”

  “It wasn’t a formality. It was courtesy.”

  “Something a lady would do then?” She narrowed her gaze.

  “No, something anyone would do to be polite.” He straightened his dark coat and she followed the curve of the fabric across his wide shoulders.

  “All right, then, hello, Nathaniel Marchand, my friends call me Nate, but you’ll answer to Lieutenant.”

  When he smiled, it stole her breath. Like a witch’s spell, the effect of his beautiful white teeth resonated through her. She hoped to God he couldn’t see that her body had grown so rigid, she was afraid she’d shoot herself.

  Sweet Mary and all the Saints. Nathaniel Marchand was more than trouble. He was her downfall.

  “Hello there yourself, Miss Elisa Taggert. I’m pleased you offered to speak with me this afternoon.”

  “Uh, yeah, all right.” Blithering idiot. She cleared her throat in an effort to rein in her out-of-control body. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “As you know, my associates and I have a business, D.H. Enterprises. We were recently hired to assist some folks with relocating their homestead.” He pulled at his collar and she saw his Adam’s apple bob. “I was hoping you could see your way to, ah, helping us.”

  Elisa shook her head to blow out the confusion—she had to focus on his fancy talk. “Assist what folks?”

  “A family.”

  She got up on her knees and crawled toward him, the gun heavy in her hand. “What family?”

  He glanced at the weapon, then back up at her face. “Ah, a local family.”

  “That bastard hired you to get rid of us, didn’t he? I knew it!” A burst of red ran across her vision. “All this fancy shit of yours and what was it for? To confuse me?”

  “No, of course
not. I just wanted to t—”

  “I’m done talking, Marchand, and I’m sure as hell done listening.” She stuck the barrel of the gun against his throat. “You stay the hell off Taggert land or I won’t miss that pretty head of yours next time.”

  “You think my head is pretty?” He blinked rapidly as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

  “You know you’re a handsome man, so don’t act all stupid about it. I aim to see how handsome.” Elisa’s impulses always got the best of her. The urge to see him, all of him, was too much to resist. Her body took over and her mind was powerless to stop it. “Now strip.”

  “Strip?”

  She pushed the barrel deeper into his flesh. “Strip.”

  He didn’t move so she decided to “assist” him. With a wicked grin, she pulled the knife from its scabbard and sliced off two of the buttons from his shirt. The small patch of olive-toned skin made her mouth water. She couldn’t wait to see the rest of it.

  “I can slice your throat open or shoot you and be away in seconds. Your friends will never find out who killed you. Your choice. Strip or I’ll make sure there are only four of you Devils.”

  The idea of making him strip seemed ludicrous when it popped out of her mouth, but now her nipples pebbled with the idea of seeing Nate Marchand in the flesh. All the flesh. Her body pounded with anticipation and arousal. Nate looked murderous as he bent sideways to pick up the buttons she’d sliced off and put them in his pocket. The barrel of the gun slid against his skin, leaving a pink line on his throat.

  When he started unbuttoning his shirt, she sat back and watched the show. The barrel of the pistol never wavered, but Elisa shook with the fierce need to touch all that she saw. Acres of maleness covered with a fine sprinkling of dark hair on his chest. Scars, too many to count, marred his skin.

  After he removed his jacket and shirt, she swallowed hard.

  “Now the pants and boots too.” Her voice had become so husky, she almost didn’t recognize it.

  “What is the purpose of this?”

  “I want to see you naked.” It was the truth, at least part of it.

  Apparently she’d shocked him though because his mouth dropped open and that’s when she noticed the bulge. His trousers seemed to be much tighter than they had been earlier. In fact, he looked about ready to pop one of his own buttons.

  “Let me see you.” She stood and gestured at his remaining clothes. “I need to see you.”

  His gaze never left hers as he slowly removed his boots, socks and finally his trousers. He must have abandoned wearing drawers or he didn’t have any left, because Nate Marchand was naked beneath the gray cloth. Amazingly, proudly naked with an erection that would rival a horse’s.

  He was blessed with a long, thick staff that jutted from a nest of dark curls, cupped by a pair of bollocks that made her fingers twitch to touch them. Her pussy throbbed with an awareness it had never before known. Elisa had images of her shedding her own clothes and lying down in the sweet grass with Nate.

  “Now what?” he ground out, his gaze slipping to her shirt.

  Elisa looked down, embarrassed to see that her very hard nipples were clearly visible through her homespun shirt. He already knew she wore no corset or female trappings, but now he knew that the sight of him naked made her body react.

  “You can get naked too,” he whispered.

  Of its own volition, Elisa’s hand put the knife back in the scabbard and reached out to touch him. Warm skin met sweaty palm and a jolt of pure passion raced through her. Her body vibrated with need, with want, with animal impulses that almost overtook her. Almost.

  Instead, she trailed her hand down his stomach, touching each scar as she went, until she grasped his cock. It was as hard as a tree branch, and as hot as fire, her hand barely encircled its girth. He hissed in a breath and Elisa swam in the depths of heat she saw in his eyes.

  “God has blessed you, Nathaniel Marchand. If we weren’t enemies, I’d lie with you.”

  “I’m not your enemy.”

  “That’s a load of shit, but I’ll let it pass.”

  “So lie with me. I want you, sweet, beautiful Elisa.” His voice, that honey-sweet voice, coated her, tempted her, called to her to do as he bade.

  “I—I can’t.”

  “Let me pleasure you. You can keep the gun if you’d like, but please”—he closed his eyes and sucked in a breath through his nose—“let me taste you.”

  Let me taste you.

  Heaven help her. She’d never had a man say that to her before, or even had a man want to get in her britches before. Tragic thing was, she didn’t know if he was lying or not.

  “Why would you call me beautiful?”

  “You are. Those eyes are as blue as the sky in December. Your skin is sweet as cream, and your breasts…ah, God, I’d give up a week of my life for one taste.”

  Nate knew how to seduce, that was for certain.

  “How do I know you’re not funning with me?”

  He choked out a laugh and pressed her hand to his throbbing hardness. “Does this feel like I’m funning?”

  No, it surely didn’t. Elisa swayed for a moment, then threw her arms around his neck and pressed her body to his. The man was like an oven, heat radiated through him, bringing her to a boil. Her lips locked with his and she dove into a whirlpool of sensation.

  Elisa let instinct guide her as mouths dipped and played. He cupped her ass and pulled her closer, nestling his staff against her pussy. Before she knew it, the bark of a tree was at her back and both her shirt and trousers were unbuttoned.

  As his mouth continued to pleasure her, his fingers dipped into her honey and pleasure ricocheted through her.

  “You’re so wet, sweet Elisa,” he whispered against her lips. “So wet.”

  She hoped that was good because she sure as hell felt good. He rubbed and circled the pleasure spot she’d discovered years ago. Only with him at the reins, it felt a hundred times better. Soon those questing fingers were sliding into her pussy even as his palm continued to rub her sweet spot.

  “I need to get in there. Please, Elisa, let me in.”

  She nodded, lost in a sea of sensation and passion, eager to journey with Nate to wherever it would lead. His mouth found her nipples and she nearly cried out from the ecstasy. Somehow her trousers were down around her ankles and his cock had replaced his hand. Just as he slid into her, his teeth closed around her nipple.

  Pleasure, pain and everything in between ripped through her as he impaled her, stealing innocence and gifting her with womanhood.

  “Holy Christ.” He cupped her jaw. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Doesn’t matter. Better you than some hairy, fat man Da picks out.” She hadn’t let loose the pistol and tapped him on the back with it. “Finish it, Marchand, and make it good.”

  He captured her mouth in a kiss as he slid from her body, only to fill her again. And so his rhythm was set, one designed to bring her slowly back to the brink of insanity.

  “Faster.” She bit his shoulder and rubbed her hardened nipples against the hair on his chest. Skitters ran down her body as he growled and captured the neglected nipple in his mouth and started fucking her in earnest.

  Deep, slippery strokes pushed against her clit with each thrust. His roar of passion took her completely by surprise. She cried out a little, unable to speak, and her eyes closed with the spasms of her release. Nate bit her again as he found his own release, pulling her along on the road to heaven.

  Their breathing was the only sound in the woods. The birds and insects had long since quieted against their passionate union. Elisa pushed against his shoulder and he stepped back, his cock sliding from her still hungry body. With a deep breath, she found courage she’d never known she had.

  “Thanks, Marchand.” She buttoned up her shirt and trousers with hands that
surprisingly didn’t shake. “I enjoyed that.”

  His eyes filled with fury. “I am covered with your virgin’s blood and all you can say is ‘Thanks, I enjoyed that’?”

  He stepped toward her and she raised the pistol.

  “What do you want me to say? Marry me, Nate?” She snorted. “That ain’t never gonna happen, so I figured thanks would be good. It was definitely good, I’ll give you that, but that doesn’t change anything.”

  She circled around toward her escape, keeping her eyes on the seething, naked man in front of her.

  “What do you mean, it doesn’t change anything? It changes everything.”

  His dark gaze reflected confusion and anger. Elisa wouldn’t fall for any of it. Her family was more important than anything she could ever have with a stranger who made her feel like a woman. A stranger who made her heart gallop and her body throb.

  “No, you’re wrong. You are still my enemy.” Elisa ran, escaping the man who already owned a piece of her soul.

  Chapter Five

  Nate stood there trying desperately to catch his breath and locate his brain, which had relocated to somewhere between his legs. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look at his dick or he’d see the proof of the innocence he’d just taken against a tree.

  A tree!

  God help him, his father would have whipped him with a switch, one of the thin ones that always stung the most. Gideon would likely tear his hide for this.

  Nate wanted to redo the last thirty minutes. If only he’d told someone he was meeting Elisa. There went the “if only” problem again. He needed to forget about that and live with the regret now that he’d deflowered a young woman.

  He smacked himself on the forehead and ran toward the stream. At least the temperature of the water would cool the boiling heat that still gripped him. He felt hunger for the voluptuous woman he’d had in his arms a few moments ago, a hunger that hadn’t been satiated by one encounter. Even now, he hardened just thinking about her curves, her breasts and the sweetest pussy he’d ever had.