It had taken months of investigating, traveling and questioning to end up in the shootout on the Sinclair ranch. I was used to leaving my property, but this time, I'd done it with extra focus and zeal. I was getting too old for chasing men and putting my life on the line, but my father's revenge came first. At thirty-two, it was time to settle down and a woman to share my bed. I just had to catch a wily and dangerous woman first.
I had not expected to obtain that woman—a Sinclair—by judicial decree. One minute I was fitfully asleep on the floor guarding a naked prisoner, ready to collect my reward money for all four of the Sinclairs and get the hell out of town, the next I was collecting a wife. A wife!
I'd been so focused on her guilt, that she was a prisoner and not a woman that I'd let proprieties slip. If the judge hadn't shown up early, perhaps the outcome was different, but no. He'd found us in a compromising way, yet absolutely nothing had happened. The irony of it was that I hadn't even touched the woman or enjoyed any of the actions to which I'd been accused—and found guilty.
I'd been stupid to take that damned bath and to make her remove her clothes, but since I believed her to be a criminal not a man, I assumed that since I was a bounty hunter it wouldn't have mattered. Piper had been a prisoner, not a woman! But my judgment was clouded, for even at the time I couldn't help but think of her as a woman, a very appealing, beautiful one. Clearly, I'd been wrong in my decision-making. I was married now to a woman who I'd thought was guilty up until a few minutes ago. The sheriff had said she was innocent. The circuit judge had said she was innocent, even had a different woman pinned with the crime.
I ran my hand over my face. God, I was shackled to a woman. I'd had no intention of ever being married. I was jaded to the institution and now I was not only wed against my wishes, but to a woman who was linked to a family of convicted murderers. I didn't have to like it. I didn't have to like her, but we would still be wed. No matter what I thought of her guilt or innocence, it wasn't going to change. So I should treat her as a wife, for the judge had legally joined us so I could do so. That meant I could strip her down and have my way with her, when I wanted, where I wanted and how I wanted.
Right now I wanted to rip that sheet out of her grip and see her lush body. I wanted to feel the weight of her breasts, watch as her nipples tighten as I played with them. I wanted to discover the color of her curls that covered her pussy. I wanted to feel the slick folds there, to feel how tight she was. I wanted to fuck her. My cock wanted Piper, not caring whether we barely knew each other or not.
There was only one thing standing in the way of making this happen. Piper.
She stood there staring at me as if I'd been delivered by the Devil himself to ruin her life. Perhaps I had.
"There's no way on God's green earth that you're going to kiss me again. Being married means nothing other than we're stuck with each other." She reached down and picked up her dress, shaking it out with more vigor than necessary. Searching the room, she found the remainder of her clothes in a pile in the corner. Holding it all tucked up against her chest, she opened the door.
"Where the hell do you think you're going dressed like that?"
She looked at me over her shoulder with those green eyes. "Now you're worried about me being naked? A little too late, don't you think?"
"You can't go out in the hallway in just a sheet!"
I stood to my full height and towered over her, but she didn't cower.
"Fine! Then you go out in the hall while I get dressed." She held the door wide for me to leave.
There was no reasoning with a riled woman, especially one wronged as greatly as Piper. My cock ached and I was downright cranky. I didn't want to be married to her either, but she didn't care. Hell, if she'd trapped me into marriage, I'd be downright livid. I couldn't blame her, but it didn't mean I didn't want her beneath me in a soft bed. Perhaps a day of riding would change her demeanor. I had no clue what else might do the trick.
"I will settle the bill, then we ride to Banning. If Miss Carter is to be found, we will start there."
"You want to bring her to justice?" Her pale brow went up. "With me in tow?"
"I want to bring the murderers to justice. All of them. They killed my father."
She gasped, clearly not aware who had been murdered or the depth of motivation for justice.
"And yes, I plan to do it with you in tow. The judge didn't offer me much choice. I assume you don't wish to watch your own family members die."
"Really? I saw you kill Bill."
I groaned my frustration. "Not everything that has happened is my fault. He shot at me. At you, too! What kind of brother puts his own sister in danger like that?"
She tugged the sheet up higher over her body and lifted her chin. "What bounty hunter puts a woman in front of him as a human shield?"
I could feel my blood starting to boil. How did this little slip of a woman build my ire unlike anyone I'd ever met before? I wanted her naked and compliant, not prickly as a cactus. She might be naked beneath the sheet, but I had absolutely no chance of stripping her down right now. An argument was no way to get her in an amorous mood. Hell, I wasn't in any kind of mood to fuck if we were going to continue to bicker. I ran my hand through my hair.
"Up until ten minutes ago, I thought you were just as guilty as your family."
Her chin tilted up but she kept her lips together in a firm line.
"You never answered my question. Do you want to see your brother and father hang?" I asked. The way she'd been upset by the knowledge of her family's demise, I assumed, but I did not know her mind. I could tell her answer by the way she paled and looked at the ground.
"Of course not. I never want to see them again. While th
ey admitted I had no part in their illegal actions, they used me and only admitted to it because they probably thought it would give them a lighter sentence."
That was probably true, but the judge didn't seem to offer lighter sentences to murderers.