The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

bedtime and beyond. Somehow, he didn't think she'd like the direction of his thoughts.
    "We rest and then we go to sleep. Or you can turn in now, if you want."
    "I always thought that cowboys sang songs around the fire or told stories."
    "Some do."
    "Well, show me what it's really like out on the range."
    He contemplated her, studying how the firelight flickered across her face, chasing away the shadows of night. He'd like to show her something all right, but it wasn't what she had in mind.
    "I'm not the singing-cowboy type."
    "Why not?"
    He took a deep breath and slowly released it. "Miss Severin, it's time to turn in for the night."
    "But we just finished eating. It's still early."
    Travis stood and went to his saddlebags. He pulled out two small pieces of rope and carried them over to the fire.
    He knelt down at her ankles.
    "What are you doing?"
    "I'm going to tie you up, so you won't be foolish enough to take off in the middle of the night." He didn't have time to be chasing a silly woman roaming the hills without food or water. Yet he knew she'd be gone at the first chance.
    "What?" Her hands grabbed his. "You are not going to tie me up like I'm some—some criminal!"
    He glanced up at her touch, and his gaze met the liquid velvet of her green eyes. "In my mind, someone who steals is a criminal."
    She looked at him as if she would have liked to carve him into small pieces and feed him to the buzzards.
    "Okay, cowboy, what's it gonna take for you to believe me?"
    "The truth."
    "I've tried that and you didn't listen, you're so convinced of my guilt."
    "There's no one else who could have taken the ring."
    Rose stared hard at the handsome man, her frustration building. "You're right, cowboy. I took that wedding band." She leaned forward, close to him, and lowered her voice. "And I'm wearing it too. You want to know where?"
    Travis tried to swallow the lump that appeared in his throat. Where would a woman hide a ring? Somehow he knew he was in trouble. "Where?"
    She whispered seductively, "On my big toe."
    She was lying. She was lying as sure as the day she was born, but still he had to disprove her. He had to show her not to tempt him.
    His gaze held hers for a minute; then his hands slid down her ankle to her boot. Her feet were small enough to rest easily in the palm of his hand. He started untying her bootlaces.
    Laughing, she threw her head back. "I'm lying. I thought maybe you were smart enough to see the difference." As he slid her boot off, he couldn't help but admire her dainty foot. "I knew you were lying."
    He slid his hands up her dress, skimming her calves. She grabbed his hands beneath her dress.
    "Whoa, cowboy, just what do you think you're doing?"
    "I'm taking your stocking off so I can see your bare feet."
    "Oh, no, you're not. Allow me." She reached under her dress to remove his hands. She slid her stocking down, but not before he got a quick glimpse of her trim leg from knee to ankle.
    Travis moved, trying to hide his reaction to the smooth expanse of white limb he'd glimpsed beneath her skirt.
    She held out her foot. "See? No ring."
    Quickly she undid her other boot and rolled down that stocking. She gazed up at him defiantly. "See? No ring."
    "I know." He shrugged his shoulder. "Thanks."
    "For what?" she questioned.
    "For helping me get your boots off without a fight. Now I know you're not going anywhere tonight." He snapped the piece of rope in his hands and brought it around her ankles. "I'm tying you up, just to make sure you don't slip away from me."
    "Oh! You big bully. How am I to move around?"
    "You'll manage."
    He took her boots and stuffed her stockings down inside them, then moved the shoes out of her reach.
    "I'll keep these safe for you."
    "I just bet you will," she said, her eyes snapping with fire.
    He took the second piece of rope, and after moving his saddle closer to his bedroll, tied her wrist to his.
    They were tied together. Tied together by rope, bound by this hopeless sense of attraction.
    The memory of her standing in her underwear sent the blood rushing through his body. Though she was fully clothed now, the image of her up-thrust breasts, slender waist, and shapely hips would haunt him for quite some time.
    He lay on the ground next to her, his head resting on his saddle.
    All he had to do was roll over and crawl on top of her, and he could have his way with her. She was little better than a thieving saloon girl, after all. Nonetheless, he knew she wouldn't be willing