Bertie. That was Melodys special name for the king. If ever there was a sissy nickname
More and more, intense, desperate men seemed to be making border crossings. Not just men these days. Women and children, who were pitifully unprepared to attack the desert.
Delfino repeated that single word, Kids.
Ten miles. Illegals never carried much food or more than a gallon of water. In this heat, on foot, theyd be dead before they reached his headquarters.
North nodded glumly. Keep an eye out for my bandit, you hear?
After North hung up, the llama suckled indifferently. Still, North fed the baby camel with a vengeance till the bottle was completely empty. When he was done, he touched his brow to the furry ear. Youre not going to starve on me, Little Camel. Not if I can help it!
When North was done, he found Jeff in the tack room. You gonna take care of Little Camel, here, while Im gone to Corpus?
Corpus? Jeff shot him a look. What about Saturday and Maria and me and Tina?
Right. Saturday. Maria. North took his sweat-stained Stetson off, raked brown fingers through his black hair, set his hat back on. Wouldnt miss it for the world. His deep voice lacked enthusiasm.
Well cook em steaks, take em ridin around on the ranch, show off the spread, impress em and bed em, Jeff reminded him. Just like old timesbefore her.
Right. Just like old times.
Jeff resented Melody more than anybody else on the ranch. North and he had gone to college together, double-dated together. Theyd been inseparable until Melody.
Dont you worry none about Little Camel, King.
North showered and changed into a pair of faded jeans with razor-sharp creases, a long-sleeved white shirt and his best bootshis uniform, Melody used to say. Then he stomped out to his white pickup. First thing he saw was his Colt in its holster on the seat.
He was licensed to carry. Quickly wrapping the belt around the holster, he got inside and jammed it into his glove compartment.
Once he left the ranch, the flat, familiar highway was clogged with speeding NAFTA trucks all the way to Robstown where he turned off for Corpus Christi.
The drive through flat, unremarkable countryside was so familiar it soon grew boring. Maybe thats why he noticed the bumper stickers peeling off the eighteen-wheeler in front of him. One was about beautifying Texas and the need to put a Yankee on a bus.
The other was about Humpty Dumpty being pushed.
North grinned. Melody loved bumper stickers.
Melody. Hed been thinking about her way too much. He should have canceled dinner at the Woodses.
Too late. Dee Dee was a superb cook. Sam knew everything there was to know about football. Norths own father had died young. Too young. Not that North let himself dwell on that.
Hell, his own mother certainly didnt dwell on it. She was in Europe blowing her fortune on the immense schloss of a Bavarian count shed met in Paris.
The Woodses had always made a helluva fuss over North, a helluva lot more of a fuss than Melody or his own mother or even Gran ever had. Besides, he did have appointments with his accountant and cattle buyer in Corpus Christi. A frozen dinner in his bachelor apartment there held no appeal.
But the Woodses were her parents, and he was dating Maria now.
Only one date so far.
Not counting next Saturday.
An hour later, he was knocking briskly on the front door of the Woodses two-story home, fighting to pretend he felt cool and was in control. When nobody answered, he jammed his fist on the doorbell. He turned to go when he heard lightly racing footsteps.
The door was thrown open by a slim hand with glossily white fingernails that had ridiculous little silver moons etched into them.
Little silver moons.
They sparkled, winking at him. Even before he saw the rest of her, the jolt of male-female awareness that shuddered down his spinal column told him to bolt.
Instead he drawled lazily, Hello there, Melody.
Two
Smile, Bertie boy. Its the second best thing you can do with your lips.
Something about Melodys low, Southern voice, something in the images she conjured was so damn sexy, so damn blatant. He began to dream about how good it could be if she put those lips to work.
Naughty, naughty, she whispered, reading his mind.
What the hell
Relax. I didnt mean anything. I got that line off some bumper sticker when I was driving home today.
So, shed been reading bumper stickers, too.
He moved closer. Big mistake. She smelled too good.
Ive got one for you, too, darlin. Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
She laughed.
To keep from grinning back, he bit his tongue till he tasted blood.
Peeking from behind the door, Melody batted her long, burnished lashes at him, just as she had that night when shed come looking for him at his apartment. When the lash work got no visible reaction, her impish smile brightened, and she began to tease him in earnest.
His palms dampened. The smile was overkill. Her lash work had done the trick. So had the comment about what he could do with his lips.
No wonder the ambitious Dee Dee had called this morning. A mother knew when her daughter was in the mood to start something. In Dee Dees mind he was a prize catch and a big enough dope to fall for her little girl all over again.
What the hell are you doing home? he demanded.
Hi there to you, tooBertie.
His mouth thinned. Dont call me that unless
Then, hi there, Rancher Black, she said sassily.
North will do just fine.
Aye. Aye. Instead of saluting, she touched her lip with a fluttery white fingertip and blew him a kiss.
Little moons sparked.
His lips actually got hot.
Hell, it was August.
His sneer was slow and deliberate, So, youve come back Then he added, What the hell for?
She flinched at those secret code words, just as he did. Her beauty upset him even more. Her long, straight, reddish-gold hair framed the slender oval of her flushed face. Her golden skin was damp as if shed just stepped from the shower. And those half-scared, flirty, smoky-blue eyes ate him alive. Why, oh why, did she have to smell of soap and perfumed bath oils?
Even without makeup, she was naturally, heart-wrenchingly beautiful, more beautiful and innocent looking and yet voluptuous than he remembered. Shed come looking for him after her little dance in Shortys, after their wild kisses in the parking lot. No sooner had he pulled her inside his place that night, the night hed wanted her so damn much, hed felt as if hed die if he couldnt have her.
Shed let him take her to bed. But first, shed actually stripped for him.
You say I only want to perform in public. Not tonight. Tonight I want to dance just for you. Do you want to dance with me?
Im not the exhibitionist. Ill watch.
Youre gonna have fun. I promise. Her eyes had gleamed, teasing him, luring him.
Shed put a CD in his player, turned his lights way down and had begun to move in the velvet shadows. For a long time all shed done was sway back and forth to the heavy beat and run her hands over her body. When hed joined her, shed let him grasp her by the waist, pull her close, let him put his hands wherever he wanted, let him strip her ever so slowly. She hadnt even fought him when hed undone the buttons of her blouse, one by one. Shed danced and smiled and lured them both to their doom.
The ground rocked under him as he stood on her porch. His heart thudded.
You look too damn good, darlin, he whispered.
So do you, she said in a sad, lost tone that matched his own.
Just those words, and he wanted to touch her so bad he hurt. But he remembered the dangerous place that desire had led them to so many times before, so he knotted his callused hands, slipped them into his hip pockets. He took a deep breath and a long step backward.
Instead of her usual grunge attire, she wore some sort of silky, scarlet sarong that clung to her curves so tightly, he saw nipples. And that there was no panty line. It wasnt hard to imagine her body since he knew exactly what she looked like with nothing on. Show but dont let him touch, being her motto.
How the hell could you answer the door in that? I couldve been anyone.
It would have been a whole lot less dangerous if you had been, she teased before she realized what she was doing. I was expecting you.
Her pupils darkened with alarm, but not before her husky voice had rippled over every raw nerve ending, making his skin sting as if he was on fire the way it had that night.
But you have no right, no claim on me or what I wearor dont wearever again, Rancher Black. She lifted her chin, challenging him to more verbal dueling.
Youre right, of courseMiss Woods!
No doubt shed purchased the improbable garment somewhere in the Orient when shed run away from him on that freighter and driven him mad with jealousy, rage and fear. When shed finally turned up safe and sound, shed thrown his life into turmoil all over again when shed almost seduced him. Then shed gone off to India.
I was in the shower, she said demurely without lifting her gaze to his. My muscles were stiff after the long drive.
All of a sudden he had a stiff muscle problem and a mighty keen need for a cold shower, too.
Would you prefer it if Id answered the door stark naked? she teased.
The vision of her naked in a shower stall brought a rush of heat and made the muscle in question pull even tighter. Just for an instant he remembered her in a black lace bra and matching panties and a black velvet hat after hed removed her blouse and jeans. For no reason at all, he was tugging at his collar.
Dont worryBertie. If Id known you were going to be in such a bad mood, I wouldnt have answered the door at all.
Why arent you in Austin where you belong? His voice was as cold as ice.
Why did you say yes to my mother? This is my parents house. Its your own fault if youre not where you belong out on your big ole ranch. Playing king, doing your big man things. Ordering everybody in your kingdom around.
That wasnt how it was. Not that he let on.
Is that what you think of me and my business?
Isnt that what you want everybody to think?
I have responsibilities.
And they came before me.
His family hadnt thought so. Theyre a part of who I am.
And I dont know who I am. Is that what youre saying?
In bed or out of it, he almost shouted. Instead he flushed darkly. My ranch wasnt the problem.
You give everything of yourself to that ranch.
Because I have to.
Why?
Because my father died thats why! North remembered the fire. He remembered running. He remembered screaming for help.
Why you, Bertie?
Justjust An emotion built and burst inside him, so he waited. Just because, he finished darkly, remembering his fathers funeral. Im his son. Thats all.
Her eyes seemed to see inside him, into that shadowy secret place.
She smiled. You can tell me.
He glared. Can I? If you were me, would you trust youafter
Theyd hardly said hi, and already they were at it.
Yet he preferred arguing and probably so did sheto remembering that night and what had happened in his apartment and what hadnt.
She was pale and yet breathing hard, every bit as agitated as he was. Those fingers with the little silver moons were tugging at her silken sash. How can we be discussing thislike it still matters? When nothing about us mattersanymore.
He watched that rhythmic tugging of those little half moons at her sash as if hypnotized. My thoughts exactly, darlin.
So why was there a painful lump in his throat? Why that painful thickening lower down that stretched his jeans and made him too conscious of her easy power? Why were the memories of his childhood all mixed up with the crazy sexual frustration of that last night? Why this insane desire to yank that infernal sash loose, slide his hands inside that silk robe and pull her against his body when he knew why wanting her was so impossible?
Why couldnt she be normal? Why did she have to be the sexiest woman alive and not sexy at all?
Those moving fingertips with the little moons that twinkled slid along red silk. He felt his collar tighten like it was really choking him. Stop playing with that damned sash!
Sorry.
Do I come in or go? he growled when her slim hands were still at last. Its been a long day.
Oh, do come in, Rancher Black, she teased, pushing the door wider.
Quit calling me that!
When she didnt move out of his way, he was forced to sidle so close to her he almost brushed against her. Which was what she must have wanted because when he was almost past her, she reached out and laid her hand on his shoulder.
North, I Even before the panic flared in her eyes, she chopped off the end of her sentence.
Instantly his muscles contracted beneath the liquid heat of her slim hand. His black head jerked, startling her, and for a long moment they both stared at those fingertips with the tiny silver moons. Shed scarcely touched him, but the effect on his senses was electrifying.
He remembered that last night when her hands had been all over him. Shed been eager, as eager as he. And then suddenly, shed gotten scared.
North Her little girl voice died in her throat as she splayed her fingers, causing the tiny little moons to twinkle.
He felt her, remembered her in every pore. Theyd lain in his bed that night, his body pressed firmly against hers, her lips against his throat, her breast against his chest, the rest of their bodies touching all the way down. Shed felt so right. She always did.
Hed held her for a long time, stroking her hair, trying to gentle her as he might a frightened colt. But shed gotten frightened again and gone back to the wild on him anyway.
Dont start in on me again, darlinunless you intend to finish what you startthis time.
Her hand tightened and then fell away slowly, and still he couldnt move past her any more than she seemed able to escape him.
I want to forget you, he said, but his gaze was on her pink lips.
That does seem like the sensible solution to our problem.
Your problem, he said in a flat tone.
And yet
There is not going to be a yetdamn you.
She blushed. Her eyes remained downcast. What if I cant be as sensible or as rational as you? What if I
Not if you crawled
She went white at that code word.