The Outlaws: Jess Read Online Free PDF Page B

me."
    "You're a man," she said with scathing
contempt. "It's what men do."
    Meg was truly frightened. For the first time
in her life she'd experienced desire and she didn't like it. She'd
lost control, something she rarely did. When Jess kissed her a
ripple of heat had radiated through her body. She felt as if she
were drowning in feelings, feelings that had no place in her life.
To make matters worse, Jess's kiss had been no chaste kiss, it was
the kiss of a man with vast experience in the ways of the flesh. An
expert lover who could give her things she'd only allowed herself
to dream about.
    What did she know about sexual hunger, or
desire, or hot, insistent kisses? Very little, and she had no
desire to experience those things with a man she knew nothing
about.
    "Is that what you think, Meg? That all men
are vile creatures intent upon their own pleasure?"
    "Of course. You know it's true."
    "What about Zach?" he challenged.
    "Zach is...different. He'd never hurt
me."
    "Some man must have hurt you badly," Jess
said. "I'm sorry. You deserve better than that. Forgive me, it
won't happen again."
    "It had better not," Meg said.
    Why did her voice have to tremble? Meg
wondered as she turned away. Why did this particular man have the
power to reduce her to a mindless puddle of flesh? She had
whimpered, for heaven's sake!
    And another thing. She didn't like his
assumption that Zach was her lover. Furthermore, it was none of his
business. Jess was a doctor, he had saved her life, but he held no
special place in her life. As soon as he returned her to Zach, he
would ride off into the sunset and become a dim memory. If she
remembered him at all it would be whenever she looked at the wound
she carried on her chest.
    Meg rested all that day, preparing for the
ordeal of mounting a horse and riding for the first time since her
injury. The wound was still painful; the merest jostle sent waves
of pain radiating through her chest, her back, and down her right
arm.
    That evening she made her way to the river
alone to bathe. Jess didn't follow and she was grateful. She didn't
know how she would react if he tried to kiss her again. She was
confused. Normally she couldn't stand any man around her but Zach.
After what Arlo had put her through she'd wanted no part of any
man. Had she been wrong to lump all men in the same category? Not
really, she decided. Her healthy contempt for men is what made her
a good bounty hunter. That and Zach's expert training.
    That night Meg and Jess ate a meal of
leftovers and retired early. She knew tomorrow would be grueling
but looked forward to going home.
     
    Sleep didn't come easily for Jess. He
couldn't get the kiss out of his head. He relived it over and over.
Meg's lips were soft, clinging to his with sweet surrender for the
space of a heartbeat. He wondered what had happened to make her
despise men...and what made Zach so special.
    It wasn't like him to take advantage of a
weak woman. And that's he'd done no matter how he tried to excuse
himself. Meg was his patient, for godsake! Being a doctor made his
transgression even more inexcusable. But, damn, he'd wanted Meg in
every way a man wanted a woman. Had he been away from civilization
too long? Deprived of female company longer than he'd like to
contemplate?
    His last thought before succumbing to sleep
was that he wanted to kiss Meg again, and how immensely he'd enjoy
it.
     
    They dismantled camp early the next morning.
Jess lifted Meg into her saddle and handed her the reins. She
gripped them in her left hand and slowly straightened, reeling
under the pain of unaccustomed exertion.
    "Are you all right?" Jess asked, his voice
taut with worry.
    "I...can manage."
    "Where are we going?"
    "Head for Cheyenne. I live north of the city,
beyond the railroad tracks. Zach built the house on land he bought
before he... Never mind."
    "I won't pry, Meg, if that's what you're
worried about. Are you ready?"
    Meg nodded. Jess took the lead. "Holler out if you
need to stop.