Jesse's Renegade (#3 of the Danner Quartet)

  By

  Nancy Bush

  Published by Nancy Bush

  Visit Nancy Bush’s official website at

  www.nancybush.net

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  Copyright © Nancy Bush, 1991

  Cover by Extended Imagery

  e-book formatting by Guido Henkel

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Books in the Danner Quartet

  Lady Sundown

  Miracle Jones

  Jesse’s Renegade

  Scandal’s Darling

  Author’s Note

  “Jesse’s Renegade” is the third book of the Danner Quartet and after the first two books of the series were published, it was like everyone was just holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen with Jesse Danner – the black sheep of the Danner family – who took off for parts unknown at the end of “Lady Sundown” and stayed missing for years.

  My fans have spoken up and I’m happy to say that this book does not disappoint. “Jesse’s Renegade” has proved to be a fan favorite. Jesse’s one of those characters who jumps off the page, but the woman who finally wins his hardened heart — gun-toting, truth-telling Kelsey Garrett — is definitely his equal through and through. From the onset of the series I’d planned to put them together, but even I was surprised at how made for each other they truly were when I sat down to write their story.

  I hope you like “Jesse’s Renegade” as much as I do. It’s not only a fan favorite, it’s one of my favorites, too!

  Hope you enjoy it, along with the rest of the Danner Quartet: “Lady Sundown,” “Miracle Jones” and “Scandal’s Darling.”

  Nancy Bush

  Prologue

  Portland, Oregon

  August 1892

  Jesse Danner grinned his devil-may-care grin and bent his head to the blond-haired beauty seated in front of the oval dressing table. Her black eyes snapped at him in total outrage, and his grin widened.

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” he whispered in a sexy drawl.

  Lila Harroway snorted inelegantly and shrugged against the hands resting lightly on her shoulders. Damn the man. She wanted to kill him.

  His teeth flashed white beneath the brim of his battered Stetson, a gift from one of his brothers years before, or so he’d explained when she declared the hat offensive. In the mirror’s reflection his blue eyes danced with merriment. The scourge was enjoying her rage and jealousy! Yes, she wanted to kill him. She would kill him.

  “You’re a scoundrel,” she hissed, combing her luxurious mane with studied sensuality. Her peignoir was silver and shimmered in the light from the overhead chandelier, outlining her sumptuous curves. Lila knew her effect on men, and with that thought planted firmly in mind she purposely stroked her long hair, hoping Jesse would succumb to her sexuality rather than leave before her plans could take effect.

  She was furious. Livid! How dare he run out on her! When he’d told her he was leaving at the end of the week, he’d sealed his fate. Before that she’d been hatching plans to keep Montana from finding him, but now she hoped her husband would rip Jesse’s lean body in two. Savoring her revenge, it took all of Lila’s concentration not to smile. A few more minutes… that’s all she needed.

  “It won’t be long — maybe a couple of weeks before I wind up everything in California,” Jesse told her, oblivious to her anger. “By then I’ll own that Portland park block. When I come back, we can pick up where we left off.”

  His voice was full of amusement. Amusement at her expense. Damn his eyes! He’d be sorry. “I don’t have a couple of weeks,” she said bitterly.

  “Why not?”

  She swung around on the stool, her chin lifting defiantly. “Because my husband will be back by then.”

  “Your husband?” Jesse stared at her incredulously. Twenty-five, successful, and worldly-wise beyond his years, Jesse was seldom, if ever, caught off guard. And never by a woman.

  “Did I forget to mention him? He’s due back in Portland any day now. I’m afraid he won’t like the idea of you bedding his wife. He’s so very puritanical about these things.”

  She climbed to her feet, still smiling. Jesse stepped back, staring at her as if she’d just sprouted another head. Taking advantage of his momentary stupefaction, Lila slid her arms around his waist, her hands inching up his back, pulling his shirt from his denim pants in one fluid movement.

  Jesse moved so fast she gasped. He thrust her away, his strong hands gripping her forearms so hard it made her wince. He had a rule about women: no virgins and no married ones. Virgins were just plain trouble. And married women had husbands.

  “You should’ve told me you were married,” he muttered fiercely, shoving her away from him. Lila stumbled as he swung toward the door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing.

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Just like that?” Lila cried desperately. He couldn’t leave yet. It was too soon! “You can’t!” She crowded close to him again, this time pressing her breasts against his strong back, her arms winding tightly around his waist. Jesse Danner was a fantastic lover. She wasn’t going to give up until the last moment. Now she wished she’d held her tongue about Montana. That warning may have cost her a last few minutes of ecstasy.

  Jesse yanked her arms from around his waist, swearing beneath his breath. He tucked in the shirt Lila had pulled from his trousers.

  But Lila wouldn’t give up. She nipped at his nape and rubbed her sinuous body along his back. She was certain she would win. Jesse Danner was a slave to his senses. She’d learned that in the wonderful hours they’d spent together.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t know about his rules.

  “Oh, Jesse,” she implored, hurt. He jerked away as if her touch sickened him. “I didn’t know it would matter this much.”

  “Didn’t you?” He was scathing. “Then why didn’t you tell me straightaway, when we first met?”

  “All right. I was scared that you wouldn’t understand. But now, after all we’ve shared…”

  “All we’ve shared,” he repeated acidly, throwing her a narrow look of disgust. Lila inwardly sighed. Even angry, Jesse was the most handsome, stimulating, sinfully sexy man she’d ever known. Tall, with thick black hair, slumberous blue eyes, a truly sensual mouth, and a strong, muscular, compact body, she’d realized she would have Jesse the moment she clapped eyes on him. Never mind that her reason for seeking him out had been because Montana had ordered it. How was she to know that Montana’s latest business rival would be so damnably attractive?

  And Jesse had been so willing.

  Of course, that was because he was young, she thought with bitter self-honesty. Younger than herself by almost ten years, though she’d taken pains that he didn’t know it. The first time they’d made love was in the back of her carriage. Lord! It caused her arms to break out in goose bumps just thinking about it! Lila liked men who knew how to take charge, especially in bed. If she had one complaint, it was that Jesse didn’t like it as rough as she did, although he’d kept her satisfied, heaven knew.

  Now, however, he looked as if he couldn’t st
and the sight of her. “Nothing’s changed,” she said softly. “Montana doesn’t have to know.”

  “Montana? Montana Gray?” Jesse stared at her in shock. “Jesus! You’re married to Montana Gray?”

  She nodded. “He’s away most of the time. He has lots of businesses.”

  “You told me your name was Harroway. This house is Harroway House according to the name inscribed on the wrought-iron gate.”

  “I’m Lila Harroway Gray,” she admitted. “The last of the Harroways.”

  If Jesse had been a resident of Portland, he would have known that. Her name was always on the society page of the Oregonian. Montana’s main reason for marrying her had been to infiltrate Portland’s upper echelons of society, and, of course, her reason for marrying an opportunist like Montana was simply for his ill-gotten money. The Harroway fortune had dwindled over the years, until Lila had been left virtually penniless.

  “Don’t leave me,” she begged, adding softly, “Please,” as she edged a step nearer.

  The cold look on Jesse’s face stopped her in her tracks and she dropped her outstretched arms to her sides. Jesse was repulsed by the woman before him. When she’d approached him in the park, complaining of a twisted ankle, he’d chivalrously turned to help her. He’d been entranced by the sight of her. In a white dress with peach-colored ribbons and a low, ruffled décolletage, her white-feathered and peach-flowered hat dipped over one eye, a dainty parasol swinging from her arm, she’d looked like a confection. Sweetness and purity wrapped in a delicious package. He’d helped her to her carriage and at the door there’d been no mistaking the invitation in those sultry eyes. Buoyed by his success in negotiating the park block, Jesse had followed her inside the carriage. She’d reminded him of Emerald – the Emerald who’d given him her virginity; the Emerald who had unknowingly been responsible for Jesse’s rule about virgins; the Emerald who had turned out to be as coldhearted as she was beautiful.

  Now, facing the real Lila Gray, Jesse realized with bitter irony that she was indeed exactly like Emerald. Scheming, selfish, spoiled, wicked. He couldn’t wait to shake the dust of Harroway House off his boots much as he’d walked away from the life he’d once known in his home town of Rock Springs. Trouble with women followed Jesse like a bad smell, and he had a bullet scar on his right shoulder from old man McIntyre’s shotgun to prove it.

  “You’re making a mistake!” Lila burst out when she realized her pleading had no effect on him.

  “The mistake I made was three days ago when I climbed into your carriage.” Lila’s lips tightened, but Jesse added coldly, “Your husband is in the same business I am. He’s buying property all around the city. Did you think we wouldn’t meet?”

  “But you already have met. You were at his office last Friday.”

  Jesse felt as if the breath had been knocked from him. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I followed you from Montana’s office to the park.”

  A sick feeling gathered in Jesse’s stomach. Lila had followed him? Then she would have witnessed his meeting with Nell. Holy Christ, if she knew who Nell was, all hell was about to break loose!

  “I didn’t meet with Montana,” Jesse explained, eyeing her closely, choosing his words carefully.

  “Well, you met with that little mouse in the park!” Lila’s fury burst out as if she couldn’t hold it in. “Who was she? Another lover?”

  “Just a friend.” Jesse’s relief was boundless. Lila hadn’t recognized Nell. She didn’t know it was Nell who’d given Jesse the inside track on that particular piece of real estate; Nell who had helped squeeze her boss, Montana Gray, out of the deal; Nell whom he’d planned to meet at Gray’s offices, but who’d left him a note to meet her in the park instead.

  Not a religious man, Jesse nevertheless sent up a silent prayer of gratitude for Nell’s safety. If he’d had any idea Lila was Montana’s wife, he never would have gotten involved with her.

  “A friend?” Lila snorted, only slightly mollified. After a moment, she said in a low voice, “When I saw you at the park, I just lost my head. I wasn’t supposed to take you home, but there you were and things just happened.”

  “You followed me on your husband’s orders,” Jesse realized.

  Her dark gaze slid down his body. “We could still work together,” she added slowly, as if turning the idea over in her mind. “Montana doesn’t know anything yet.”

  Jesse’s stomach revolted at the thought of joining forces with the woman in front of him. He’d thought her a lady, and so she was. He realized he never wanted another lady as long as he lived.

  He strode away from her without another word, yanking open her bedroom door. In the hall below he heard voices. Not the voices of Lila servants. Men’s voices. And one of them was Montana Gray’s.

  There was nowhere to run. Jesse whipped around to stare accusingly at Lila. The look on her face said she’d known, or at least guessed, that her husband would be arriving soon.

  “Jesse,” she implored in a whisper. “I can still hide you. There is an entrance to the attic. Tell me you’ll stay with me!”

  Jesse turned in revulsion and strode across the upper balcony.

  “Lila!” Montana’s voice boomed from below. He walked to the center of the entry hall and stood in a circle of black tile. He was huge and burly with a hard jaw and one eye that drooped a bit, a relic of an earlier fight at a time when Montana was more interested in brawling than climbing his way to the top of society. Now he had money and some sophistication, but underneath he was still a nasty character. Jesse may not have paid much attention to who Montana’s wife was, but he’d committed to memory all the stories he’d heard about the man himself.

  Montana looked up and saw Jesse immediately.

  And Jesse saw the four other men who’d accompanied Montana inside.

  “Get him,” was all Montana said.

  The four men swarmed up the stairwell. Jesse stood his ground. He had no pistol, no weapon at all. The first man lunged too fast and Jesse kicked him in the groin, tossing him over the rail. The second grabbed his left arm and he swung with his right, crashing his fist into the man’s jaw until the fellow bellowed in pain and rage.

  The third man shot Jesse an uppercut beneath his jaw. Jesse’s skull exploded into stars. The fourth slugged him in the chest. He heard ribs crack and his legs buckled.

  The fight was over before it had begun. They carried Jesse downstairs.

  Montana barely looked at him. “Lila, come down here,” he ordered.

  The slam of Lila’s bedroom door was her answer.

  “Take him to the cellar,” Montana growled. “Teach him a lesson. Then get rid of him.”

  He strode purposefully up the stairs.

  Jesse struggled against his captors as they dragged him into a dark, dank, foul-smelling cellar. He was flogged again for his trouble. They tied ropes on his wrists, then stretched his arms straight out, lashing him to two beams so that his muscles strained from the effort. Within seconds he had no feeling left in his hands.

  “What do you want to do first, Gardner?” The short one asked the taller man, who seemed to be in charge.

  Gardner smiled. A thin scar ran down his left cheek. “He’s awful pretty. How’d you get so pretty, son?”

  “The Danner curse,” Jesse replied sardonically, struggling to hide the pain of his broken ribs. It hurt to breathe, but by God, he wasn’t going to let them know it. He didn’t dwell on what they were planning for him. He knew he’d be damned lucky to survive it, whatever it was.

  “The Danner curse, eh?” Gardner guffawed and looked at a big man wearing a dirty black hat. He was the one who’d broken Jesse’s ribs. “Want to take care of that, Al?”

  A hammy fist slammed into Jesse face, snapping his head around. His knees sagged. The ropes bit into his wrists.

  “You’re not gonna be so pretty now,” Gardner pointed out. “Let’s see. What else did the lady like about ‘cha?”

  “She liked him i
n bed,” the fourth man said, the eagerness in his voice cutting through the red haze in Jesse’s mind. He was the one Jesse had tossed over the rail and he held himself bent over, his right arm close, his mouth bloody. “Maybe we should make sure you don’t sleep with no one else,” he snarled.

  That shocked Jesse to his senses. He yanked backward and kicked as hard as he could. His boot connected with Gartner’s ear, ripping it open. Gardner screamed in rage. “Kill him, Al! Kill him!”

  Al’s fist broke Jesse’s nose. Blood gushed. It took two more punches and then Jesse mercifully fell unconscious.

  ¤ ¤ ¤

  He awoke with a bad taste in his mouth. River water. He wanted to spit, but couldn’t seem to get the muscles of his face working. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything in his face. It was numb. He was aware he was alive, and that was something, but he assumed it was only for a short time. Why they should have anesthetized his pain was something he couldn’t figure. But there was no other explanation for the lack of feeling.

  He lifted his right hand and groaned. Hot needles of pain stabbed inside it.

  “You’re awake,” a male voice said.

  Jesse stiffened. The voice was tight and clipped. He tried to open his eyes but realized his whole face was wrapped. Gingerly, he touched his fingers to the bandages. Only his fingers hurt, not his face. “Where am I?” he asked, and his voice was so garbled he could barely understand himself.

  “You’re on Montana Gray’s ship,” the voice answered.

  Hope died. He was still captured. “Why did you bother to wrap up my face?”

  “What?”

  He had to say it two more times before the man understood, and by that time Jesse was exhausted.

  “Relax now. Take it easy,” his captor said. “Someone had to put you back together.”

  “Why?” Jesse felt sleep taking him, but he had thousands of questions.