Honey knew she couldn't stay in bed any longer without turning to Jesse yet again. Rather than be thought a wanton, she slipped quietly from beneath the covers, grabbed a shirt, jeans, socks and boots and headed downstairs to dress in the kitchen.
She didn't make coffee, certain the smell would wake Jesse, and wanting more time alone. Honey headed outside to feed the stock. Maybe she could subdue her unruly libido with hard work. She entered the barn and was immediately assailed with familiar smells that comforted and calmed her. She headed for General's stall and stopped dead at the sight that greeted her. Or rather, didn't greet her.
At first Honey refused to believe her eyes. She gripped the stall where General was supposed to be with white-knuckled hands. Had she left General outside in the corral all night? She was appalled at her thoughtlessness.
Honey ran back outside, but the bull was nowhere to be seen. She hurried back to examine the stall, thinking he might have broken the latch. But it was still hooked.
Staring didn't make the bull appear. He was gone. Stolen!
Honey felt despair, followed by rage at the one suspect for the theft who was still within her reach. Purely by instinct, she grabbed two items from the barn as she raced back to the house. She made a brief stop in the kitchen before marching determinedly up the stairs.
Jesse came roaring to life, drenched by the bucket of icy water Honey had thrown on him. "What the hell are you doing, woman?"
He leapt out of bed like a lion from its den, roaring with anger. He was naked, and she had never seen him look so powerful. Or so seductive to her senses.
He grabbed for her and she stepped out of his way. "You bastard!" she hissed.
"Honey, what the hell-"
"Don't come any closer." She held up the buggy whip she had found in the barn, a relic of days gone by. "I'll use this," she threatened.
"What's going on here?" Jesse demanded. "It's a little late for outraged virtue."
"Outraged virtue! You low-down mealy-mouthed skunk!" she raged. "You stole my bull!"
She wanted him to deny it. With all her heart she yearned for him to say he was innocent. But the dark flush she could plainly see working its way up his naked flesh from his powerful shoulders, to his love-bruised neck, landing finally on his strong cheekbones, was as blatant a statement of guilt as she had ever heard.
"How could you?" she breathed, more hurt now than angry. "I trusted you." Then the anger was back, and she wielded the whip with all the fury of humiliation and pain she felt at his betrayal. "I trusted you!"
The whip landed once across his shoulders before he reached out and jerked it from her hands. He threw it across the room and pulled her into his arms.
Honey fought him, beating at him with her fists and kicking at him with her feet until he threw her down on the soaking-wet bed where he subdued her with his weight.
"Stop it, Honey! That's enough!"
"I hate you!" she cried. "I hate you! I hate you!"
She burst into gasping sobs and turned her head away so he wouldn't see the tears she cried over him. She lay still, emotionally devastated, as he kissed them away.
"Honey." His voice sounded like gravel. "I'm sorry."
"Where's-my-bull?" she gritted out between clenched teeth.
"In a safe place," he said.
Honey moaned. His words were final confirmation that he had used her, lied to her, stolen from her.
"It's not what you think," he began.
She turned to face him, eyes blazing. "Can you deny that you lied to me?"
"No, but-"
"That you stole General?"
"I did, but-"
She growled deep in her throat and bucked against him.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll lie still," Jesse warned.
Honey froze, suddenly aware of the fact he was naked, and they were in bed. "Don't you dare touch me. I'll fight you. I'll kick and scratch and-''
"If you'll just shut up for a minute, I can explain everything."
"I don't want to hear your excuses, you bastard. I-"
He kissed her to shut her up.
Honey felt the punishment in his kiss, and it was easy to fight his anger with her own, to arch her body against the weight of his, to grip the male fingers threaded through her own and struggle against his domination.
The more she fought, the more her body responded to the provocation of his. He insinuated his thigh between her legs knowing it would excite her. At the same time his mouth gentled and his lips and tongue came seeking the taste of her, dark like honey, rich and full. She fought his strength, but his hands held hers captive on either side of her head while he ravished her.
"Don't," she pleaded, aware she was succumbing to the desire that had never been far below the surface. "Don't."
She was helpless to deny him. He was stronger than she. To her surprise, he stopped kissing her and raised himself on his elbows so he could look at her.
"Are you ready to listen now?"
She turned her head away and closed her eyes.
He shoved one of her hands back behind her and held it there with the weight of his body while he grabbed her chin with his now-free hand and forced her to look at him.
"Open your eyes and look at me," he commanded.
When she didn't, his mouth came down hard on hers. "Open your eyes, Honey. I'm going to keep kissing you until you do."
Faced with that threat, her eyes flashed open and she glared at him.
His dark eyes burned with fury. His mouth was taut. A muscle jerked in his cheek. "There is an explanation for everything," he gritted out.
"I'll bet!" she retorted.
"Shut up and listen!"
She snorted. But she stayed mute.
He opened his mouth and closed it several times. Searching for more lies, Honey thought. He closed his eyes and when he opened them again, she saw regret.
"I don't know how to say this except to say it," he began.
She waited, wondering how she could bear to hear that the man she had spent the night making love to, the man she had begun to think herself in love with, was part of a gang of murdering rustlers.
He took a deep breath and said, "I'm a Texas Ranger. I'm working undercover to catch the leader of the gang of rustlers that's been stealing from ranches in this area."
Honey couldn't believe her ears. Her first reaction was relief. Jesse wasn't a thief! The very next was anger-make that fury. He had lied to her! It was a lie of omission, but a lie all the same to keep her ignorant of his true identity. Finally there was hopelessness. Which was foolish because she had never really had much hope that the drifter would settle down. Now that she knew Jesse was a Texas Ranger, the situation was clear. He would leave her when his job was done. Not that it really mattered. She would never repeat the mistake she had made with Cale.
"Honey? Say something?"
"Let me up."
"Not until I explain."
"You've said enough."
"I didn't want to lie to you, but Dallas-"
" Dallas was in on this? I'll kill him," Honey muttered.
Jesse was pleased by the fire in her eyes after the awful dullness he had seen when he had told her the truth. Or at least as much of the truth as he could tell her.
" Dallas was under orders, too," Jesse continued. ' 'The Captain thought it would be better if you were kept in the dark. Because of…" His voice trailed off as he realized he couldn't tell her the rest of it. "I mean…I guess he thought you would understand, having been the wife of a Texas Ranger, why it was necessary."
"I understand, all right," Honey said heatedly. "You used me without a thought to the pain and anguish it would cause."
"How much of what you're feeling is the result of losing General and how much the result of my deceiving you?" Jesse asked in a quiet voice. "General would have been returned within a day or so at the most and no harm done. I hadn't counted on what happened between us, Honey."