Desire Runaway
(Desire, Oklahoma: The Founding Fathers 8)
Erotic Romance, Historical, Menage, Western/Cowboys, Romantic Suspense, MFMM, HEABelle Hawkins was on the run when she overheard men making plans to ambush the men from the Triple C. She raced ahead in order to help, not knowing the turn her life would take.
Seeing her brother was difficult enough without the addition of John, Cull, and Alan Jackson and her attraction to them. They wanted to claim her as their own, and even though she married them, she knew she couldn’t stay.
She was a wanted woman.
Defenseless when they touched her, when they loved her, she found herself getting more involved with them than she’d expected, but learning of a wanted poster with her name and picture on it, she knew staying on the Triple C would put everyone there in danger.
But her husbands were determined to bring her back, stunned to learn that things weren’t the way they seemed at all.
Excerpt
She reached the hotel restaurant, but instead of stepping inside, she continued on, hoping with the heat that the kitchen door would be open. She continued down the wooden sidewalk toward the corner, following the sounds and smells to the side door.
Her stomach rumbled, the scent of steaks making her mouth water.
Keeping her head lowered, Belle stood there, watching the people inside from beneath the brim of her hat.
A middle-aged woman stirred something in a pot, barking out orders to the others inside, including an elderly man wearing a dirty apron who cooked steaks in three separate cast-iron frying pans while piling fried chicken from another onto a large platter.
Another younger man washed dishes, sneaking glances at a younger woman who bustled around the kitchen, filling plates and calling out orders.
The delectable scents of steaks frying, warm biscuits, and potatoes cooked in bacon fat had her mouth watering even more and weakening her knees.
Belle swallowed heavily. “Excuse me.”
No one appeared to notice her, so she raised her voice. “Excuse me!”
The older woman glanced in her direction. “Dining room’s the other door.”
Belle used her kerchief to wipe sweat from her face, the heat from the kitchen adding to her dizziness. “Can’t afford a meal. Can I buy a biscuit or two? Maybe a piece of fried chicken?”
She held out the paltry amount of coins she had left, hoping she could get something to eat and more water before she left for the Circle T.
Realizing how bad she must look after several days of traveling, Belle squirmed under the woman’s gaze, her face burning even hotter.
Giving her a faint sympathetic smile, the older woman retrieved a napkin, wrapping it around two chicken legs and two biscuits and handed it to her. “Put your money away.” She smiled. “Now go on. Get outta here before I have a line for free food.”
Choked by tears of gratitude at the woman’s kindness, Belle nodded. “Thank you.”
“Shade out back. Sometimes a breeze.”
Nodding again, Belle smiled. “Thank you.”
Moving away from the doorway, Belle peeled back the sides of the napkin and picked up a chicken leg and took the woman’s advice to head to the back where there’d be shade.
As she took her first bite of chicken, she moaned in delight as her tastebuds sprang to life. Forcing herself to eat slowly, she started down the back of the building, her mind on the meeting ahead, the map to the Circle T she’d taken from the kitchen drawer both in her pocket and imprinted on her mind.
It was the map Hayes himself had drawn when he’d left her, so that her uncle would know where he was.
Years of fear, of anger, and of helplessness had built inside her, and she wanted nothing more than to spew it all over him.
But doing so would do nothing to change anything in her life and would only bring him misery.
Her uncle had told her that Hayes had found happiness, but Belle had stopped believing him a long time ago.
She’d see for herself and then be on her way since her brother had made it clear that he no longer wanted anything to do with her.
“Hurry up and eat. Supplies for the Circle T should be going through Copper Pass before dark.”
Belle stilled at the mention of the Circle T, stopping just short of the open dining room window.
Copper Pass.
Belle tossed her eaten chicken leg aside and dug her map out of her pocket, finding the area just west of the Circle T.
Another man spoke, his voice low but filled with excitement. “Do you really think he’ll give us five hundred dollars for it?”
“If he knows what’s good for him. He wants the buckboard, but he said that we can keep the horses, too.” Familiar with the evil Belle heard in the tone of the man who sounded like the boss, Belle shivered, transfixed.
“Why doesn’t he just order his own damn supplies?”
“Because ever since Tillman left and went to open his store at the Circle T, that asshole Modder ran the business into the ground. He’s mean to people so he’s losing customers. He cheats them, and he buys shitty merchandise. Figures if he steals decent stuff from Tillman, he can get back on his feet again.”
Transfixed, Belle barely breathed, knowing that her brother could very well be one of their targets. Tucking the map into her pocket, she dug out the other chicken leg, determined to listen for more.
“So we kill the men?”
“Of course, you idiot! We can’t leave any witnesses behind. Word is that the men on the Circle T are not men to mess around with. They’re mean. Got a bunch of women there that they protect with violence. No one ever messes with them.”
“But we’re braver than that, aren’t we, Willy?”
“The only reason we’re doin’ it is to make the money to get to Mexico. Once we get the money, we’re pickin’ the two best horses and headin’ to Mexico.”
“Willy, I heard rumors about the men at the Circle T, too. Messin’ with them will get us dead.”
“Not if we move fast and they can’t find us.”
“They don’t have lawmen there?”
“Two. If they show up, we’ll kill them, too.”
Belle had heard enough. She’d known one of those lawmen her entire life, and as angry as she was at him, the last thing she wanted was to see her brother dead.
Munching on her chicken leg, she hurried back to the livery.