California Caress

“I want more than just your money,” he said softly. His warm breath fanned her upturned face and smelled faintly of tobacco and gin. The scent mixed much too nicely with the aroma of freshly milled soap that clung to his sun-gold skin. He'd bathed recently. “If I’m going to risk my neck, I damn well want to be sure the payment will be worth my while.”

“I’ve already offered you—”

“Not nearly enough. Do you have any idea what could happen to me if I turned up to fight Saturday?”

“Yes,” she said, gasping when the roughened tip of his index finger traced the delicate line of her jaw. “I—I know what will happen. The Swedes will be furious my brother won’t be fighting. The easy win they’d planned won’t be so easy after all.” She pulled her head back. It was difficult trying to concentrate with the feel of his chest beneath her hand—and it was damn near impossible to think with his finger trailing freely over the lines of her face! “If they lose, by the camp’s bylaws, the Swedes will be driven off our claim and forced to stake another somewhere else; one that might not show as much promise.” Sighing, she tried to pull her hand away. His grip held firm and she didn’t try again.

“If they lose, they are going to want revenge.”

“I won’t lie to you, Mr. Frazier. They’re a hot-tempered lot of men, even if they aren’t too bright. Yes, if they lose, they’ll be thirsty for justice. And not just against us. They’ll come here first. In their eyes, you’ll be the one who robbed them of a potentially rich claim by stepping in for Luke.” She shouldn’t care about what would happen to Drake Frazier once the Swedes got hold of him. Shouldn’t, but did. Much to her confusion and dismay, she found that not all of her misplaced concern could be attributed to the mixture of whiskey and gin.

She nibbled on her bottom lip, completely unaware of how provocative the gesture appeared. “I haven’t got anything else to offer,” she whispered hoarsely. The second the words were out, she wished he could take them back. Damn, but it was hard to concentrate with the feel of his heart drumming right beneath her knuckles.

“Don’t you?” Again his free hand rose, this time to cup her chin. The feel of his calloused fingers against her skin sent an entirely new shiver of delight coursing through her. “Think again, Sunshine. Even beneath that ugly cloak of yours, a blind man could see that you have one hell of a lot to offer a man.”

Her large brown eyes widened. “Mr. Frazier, certainly you aren’t suggesting....” His wicked grin told her that, yes, that was exactly what he was suggesting. She shook her head. “Oh, no. If you think I’m going to...” her words faded away, and she would have shaken her head to emphasize the protest had his hand not been holding her chin so firmly.

“Why not?” His gaze lingered on her softly parted lips. “Don’t I appeal to you?” Her cheeks grew hot with a blush. This sight made his grin broaden. “Or would you rather have your brother go up against one of the Swedes? Funny, but I could have sworn you came here tonight to avoid that.”

“I did,” she answered miserably, then sighed in frustration. Oh what the hell, she might as well tell him the truth. He had probably already guessed it anyway. “Luke can’t fight them. He isn’t—he isn’t right.” The index finger of her free hand tapped her temple. “He’s big. He has the strength to win, yes. He just doesn’t have the intelligence to back it up. There was an accident when we were kids.... Look, the reason doesn’t matter. What does is that that they’d make mincemeat out of him in less than a minute. I can’t let that happen. He’s my brother, for God’s sake!”

“So you’d rather see them make mincemeat out of me instead, is that it?”

“Yes—no!” She clenched her teeth and glared at him angrily. “Will you please let me go so I can think straight?”

“No.”

“You aren’t making this very easy, Mr. Frazier.”

“That’s your problem,” he breathed as his thumb returned to caress the delicate line of her jaw. “And call me Drake. After all, we are going to be—ahem—friends.”

“We aren’t going to be anything,” she insisted, trying to pull herself free. “And I’ll be calling you a lot worse if you don’t let me go.” Her voice was rising in near panic, but she could no more control that than she could the frantic pounding of her heart as his fingertips brushed the corner of her mouth. She stiffened. “If you’re trying to intimidate me, I might as well warn you it won’t work.”

But it is working, her mind screamed. And it’s working too damn well!

Drake ignored her as he slipped the glass from her hand. Where it went, Hope didn’t know. Her senses were spinning out of control. She felt his body shift, leaving her for the barest of seconds. The next thing she knew his chest was pinning her against the door. It was more than the pressure of his body that made her suddenly gasp for air, although she would rather have died than admit it.

In a feeble attempt to free herself, she wedged her hands between their chests, trying to push his away. What a pitiful struggle that turned out to be! Her knees turned to jelly at the feel of his bare flesh beneath her splayed palms, and it was by willpower alone that she was able to keep herself from melting into the warm, solid length of Drake Frazier’s body.

“Two hundred dollars?” she asked breathlessly. Her voice was nothing more than a throaty whisper as his lips captured her earlobe.

“You don’t have that much,” he reminded her softly. His breath was like a hot desert wind in her ear.

“I’ll get it somewhere,” she promised as she pushed at his shoulders.

He shook his head. “Sorry, not enough.”

“Three?” she asked weakly. The flick of his tongue, moist and warm, teased the inner recesses of her ear. It was almost more than she could bear. “I have two pieces of gold that are worth—”

“If I wanted your gold I would have take

n it when I stole your bullets. Think of something else.”

Why was she letting him do this to her? Why was she allowing him to awaken a passion inside her that she could never hope to quench? It was cruel, this sensual teasing; spiteful and cruel. His tender ministrations were stoking a desire in her that she had, long ago, learned she could never have. But, of course, Frazier had no way of knowing the truth.

“Damn it, Frazier, stop that!” she cried when his lips trailed a hot path down the sensitive taper of her neck.

Drake pulled his head up and sent her a look that pierced her to the core. “Why?” he asked dryly. “You wanted to buy me, didn’t you? I’m naming my price. I think it’s a pretty fair one, considering what you’re asking me to risk.”