Book: Emma And The Outlaw
Quotes of Book: Emma And The Outlaw
You can't work for Big John with your ribs bound!" she protested, when she'd recovered somewhat. "How will you ride?" "I'm glad you're concerned about my well-being," Steven replied in a voice meant to carry beyond the fence, where two women were strolling by, pretending not to notice that Emma Chalmers was entertaining the much-talked-about stranger. "I wish you'd just go away and leave me alone!" Emma reached for the screened door, and the hinges squeaked loudly as she wrenched it open. Steven grinned broadly. "Like I said before, Miss Emma-you're going to be seeing a lot of me from now on. In fact, I mean to come calling again as soon as I can." One of the curtains moved behind Steven, and Emma wondered who was eavesdropping-Chloe or Daisy. Emma's desperation drove her to lie. "That would not be proper, I'm afraid. You see, I plan to become engaged to Mr. Whitney very soon." Steven caught hold of her hand and dragged it to his mouth, where he kissed the knuckles. It was as though she hadn't spoken. "Good night, Miss Emma," he said fondly. "Sweet dreams." There book-quoteThe banker isn't good enough for you," he said, carefully inspecting one of Chloe's china shepherdesses as he spoke. His blithe confidence nettled Emma, and so did the tantalizing scent of bay rum he'd brought with him. He was completely disrupting the sanctity of that parlor where Emma had always felt so safe. "But you are?" she inquired, raising one eyebrow. "Yes." "You're a drifter-an outlaw!" Steven's gaze never left hers. "Until now I didn't have a reason to stay in one place. And I'm not an outlaw." "You're wanted-you admitted yourself that someone is looking to kill you." He gave a ragged sigh. "All right, it's true-I'm wanted in the state of Louisiana. But I'm innocent." "Criminals always declare their innocence," Emma said stubbornly, even though, deep inside, she knew Steven would not have deliberately broken the law. Still, she longed to know what he'd been accused of. That maddening grin was back. "You're wasting your breath trying to discourage me, Miss Emma. Once I decide I want something, I don't ever give up on it. If it takes from now till the crack of doom, I'll bed you properly, and I'll prove you were born to love me." Emma's hands flew to her hips. "If you aren't the most arrogant and impossible man I've ever met-" Before Emma could finish the sentence, Chloe arrived home. book-quoteHow are you feeling?" she asked in the same tone she used on summer afternoons, when some of the town's children came to sit beside the lake with her and listen while she read stories. He ruined everything by saying, "I don't like your hair that way. It makes you look like a spinster." Emma couldn't help bristling. "Did it ever occur to you that I might want to look like a proper lady?" "Why?" grumbled Steven, reaching for his book. "I don't have to stand here and be insulted!" Emma flared, wounded because a lady was what she most wanted to be. "Honestly, Mr. Fairfax-you are the most arrogant, impossible man!" He smiled mischievously. "I'd like you to call me that from now on-in public, at least. Mr. Fairfax." He paused to relish the name. "Yes, I'd like that very much." If there had been anything in Emma's hand, she would have thrown it at him. "You can't possibly think I mean to speak to you at all after this!" He laughed. "You'll do a whole lot more than speak, Miss Emma." Emma gave a strangled scream of fury and once again fled the room, striding along the hallway and down the rear stairs. book-quoteI'd like you to have supper with me this evening," he called out, in jovial expectation of her ready agreement. Emma walked circumspectly toward him, so that she wouldn't be forced to shout her refusal for the entire town to hear. "Fulton," she said in a moderate tone, "we have already discussed this matter. And I've told you that I think you and I have spent entirely too much time together." He looked more annoyed than disappointed. "I would have thought you'd be over that nonsense by now. I'll come by for you at seven, and we'll dine at the hotel." Although she could feel her color rising, Emma kept her temper. "Please do not trouble yourself, Mr. Whitney. I will be dining alone and retiring early." With that, she turned to walk briskly away. Fulton's fingers bit into her upper arm, hard enough to leave bruises, and when Emma looked up into his eyes in furious surprise, she was frightened by the cold anger she saw there. "Don't make the mistake of thinking I'll give you up so easily, Emma," he breathed, "because I won't." She rubbed her arm as she walked away, torn between puzzlement and outrage. Uneasiness quivered in the pit of her stomach. When book-quoteShe stiffened in relief and shock when the door opened and Steven walked in. He actually had the audacity to grin at her as he swept off his hat. "Hello, Miss Emma," he said. Emma felt heat surge from her breasts to her cheeks. A full sixty minutes had passed since she'd seen him go up Chloe's stairs, and it was plain enough what he'd been doing. When she didn't speak, Steven walked over to the counter she was standing behind and laid his hat down on it. "Aren't you going to say hello?" She glared at him. "I think 'good-bye' would be more suitable to the situation, don't you?" He reached out, bold as could be, and grasped her braid lightly in one hand. "It's like spun fire," he mused. "You're a very beautiful woman, Miss Emma." "Am I?" Emma countered sweetly. "Tell me, Mr. Fairfax-how do I measure up against the girls over at the Stardust?" His grin was maddening. "If what we did a week ago was any indication, you can definitely hold your own." Emma flushed at the reminder and turned her head away, but Steven caught her chin in one hand and forced her to look at him again. "Is that why you've been avoiding me, Emma? Because of what happened?" All her life Emma had wanted to be decent and respectable. And what had she done? She'd let the first gunslinger who rode into town make her act like a strumpet within a matter of days. "Yes, damn you!" she blurted out, her eyes filling with angry tears. Still holding her chin in his hand, Steven rounded the counter. "You'd better get used to seeing me," he said huskily. "Because I'm going to be around a while." Emma swallowed hard. "You said someone was after you-" "Maybe it's time I let him find me," Steven said, his lips only a fraction of an inch from hers. His kiss jolted Emma through and through, and she wasn't able to push him away, no matter how badly she wanted to. book-quoteSo you'll be leaving now, I suppose," the banker said, breaking the strained silence. "I don't imagine a man like you cares to stay in one place too long." Steven folded his arms. "Until just a few minutes ago, I figured on riding out," he answered. "Now I'm not so sure." Color blossomed in Whitney's pasty cheeks. "What possible reason could you have to stay?" "Just one. Her name is Emma." The banker stared at him with undisguised contempt, and Steven figured he must look pretty seedy, all things considered. It had been days since he'd shaved, and two months since he'd had a haircut. "You aren't good enough to lick her shoes." Steven indulged in a slow, obnoxious smile. "Let me understand this," he drawled. "I'm not good enough for Emma, but you, her fiancé, just crawled out of bed with two whores?" Again, book-quoteSome instinct told Steven who the ladies' man was even before Chloe spoke. "You've been so curious about Mr. Fairfax, Fulton," she said, in an idle tone. "Here he is." The banker. Steven got to his feet, not as a gesture of courtesy, but so the man couldn't look down on him. "Fulton Whitney," the banker said by way of introduction. His tone was grudging. Steven didn't put out his hand, or speak. He was wondering what kind of polecat would cozy up to a woman like Emma, then spend a sunny April morning rolling in the sheets with a couple of floozies. Whitney cleared his throat and shifted awkwardly on his feet, while Chloe left the sofa where she'd been sitting, her fan still fluttering. "I'd better see how things are going downstairs," she said, and then she was gone. "So you'll be leaving now, I suppose," the banker said, breaking the strained silence. "I don't imagine a man like you cares to stay in one place too long." Steven folded his arms. "Until just a few minutes ago, I figured on riding out," he answered. "Now I'm not so sure." Color blossomed in Whitney's pasty cheeks. "What possible reason could you have to stay?" "Just one. Her name is Emma." The banker stared at him with undisguised contempt, and Steven figured he must look pretty seedy, all things considered. It had been days since he'd shaved, and two months since he'd had a haircut. "You aren't good enough to lick her shoes." Steven indulged in a slow, obnoxious smile. "Let me understand this," he drawled. "I'm not good enough for Emma, but you, her fiancé, just crawled out of bed with two whores?" Again, Whitney's face flooded with blustery color. "I don't have to explain anything to you," he rasped. And then he started to walk away. Steven was possessed of a rage nobody but Macon had been able to arouse in him before. He grasped the banker by the arm, whirled him around, and threw his fist into the middle of the bastard's face. Fulton gave a startled yelp as he struck the wall, then slowly slid down it, one hand to his bleeding mouth. "Now," Steven said calmly, "we know exactly where we stand, you and I. book-quoteEmma set the tray across his lap, he made no move to pick up his spoon or fork. "It's been a long day," he said with a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure I want to make the effort to eat." She sank into the chair beside the bed. "But you must eat," she replied. "You'll never get your strength back if you don't." Steven lifted one shoulder in a dispirited shrug and looked away. After drawing a deep breath and letting it out again, Emma reached for his fork, stabbed a piece of Daisy's meat pie, with its thick, flaky crust, and raised it to Steven's lips. He smiled wanly and allowed her to feed him. In fact, it seemed to Emma that he was enjoying this particular moment of incapacity. The experience was oddly sensual for Emma; she found herself getting lost in the graceful mechanics of it. When Steven grasped her hand, very gently, and lightly kissed her palm, the fork slipped from her fingers and clattered to the tray. Her breasts swelled as she drew in a quick, fevered breath. Steven trailed his lips over the delicate flesh on the inner side of her forearm until he reached her elbow. When his tongue touched her at the crux, the pleasure was so swift and so keen that she flinched and gave a soft moan. His eyes locked with hers and he told her, without speaking aloud, that there were other places on her body he wanted to kiss. Places he fully intended to explore and master. Emma took hold of the tray with a hasty, awkward movement and bolted to her feet, feeling hot and achy all over. "Well," she said with a brightness that was entirely false, "if you're not hungry any longer…" "I didn't say that, Miss Emma," he interrupted, his voice as rough as gravel. "It's just that it isn't food I'm hungry for." Only her fierce grasp on the sides of the tray kept Emma from dropping it to the floor-plate, cup, leftover food, and all. "What a scandalous remark!" Steven smiled and stretched, wincing a little at the resultant pain. "I can think of plenty of 'scandalous' remarks," he said, "if you'd like to hear more." Emma was painfully conscious of the pulse at the inside of her elbow, where Steven had kissed her. A number of other fragile points, such as the backs of her knees and the arches of her feet, tingled in belated response. "Good night, Mr. Fairfax," she said, with feigned dignity. And then she turned and walked out of the room. book-quoteSo you do care about me, just a little?" "Just a very little," Emma said primly, sitting up straight and smoothing her skirts. "We'll see how little you care," Steven told her, his eyes slipping from her mouth to her breasts and back again, "when I've got these damn sheets off my middle." "You presume a great deal, Mr. Fairfax. It just so happens that my interest in you is no more than ordinary Christian charity." Steven smiled a slow, leisurely smile that made Emma's heart and stomach collide with a jolt. "It's been my experience that 'Christian charity' isn't all that ordinary," he said. "And it generally doesn't involve letting a man take his comfort in quite the way I did with you." Emma flushed hotly, for she could not deny having allowed Steven to bare her breasts, then kiss and fondle her in a most intimate way. Nor could she claim she hadn't reveled in every caress. "There is no need to remind me of my-error in judgment," she said, clasping her hands together and lifting her chin. She thought of the things Callie had told her men liked, and her color deepened even more. "Come here," Steven said evenly. The formidable pistol was close at hand on the bedside table. Emma was backing toward the door. "No," she said, with breathless resolution. But she wanted desperately to go to Steven, to lie with him and let him kiss her and touch her the way he had before. He only smiled, shrugged, and closed his eyes. The book-quote
