Cowboy's Redemption. B.J. Daniels

didn’t have to.” She got to her feet, grabbing the table to steady herself. “I shouldn’t have come here, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

      “Hold on,” he said, pushing back his chair and coming around the table to take her shoulders in his hands. She felt small, fragile, and yet he saw a strength in her that belied her slim frame. “You have to admit this is quite the story.”

      “That’s why I didn’t tell you the night we met about the cult or the problems I was having getting my parents’ remains out. I still thought I could handle it myself. Also I doubt you would have believed it.” Her smile hurt him soul deep. “I wouldn’t have believed it and I’ve lived through all of this.”

      He was doing his best to keep an open mind. He wasn’t a man who jumped to quick conclusions. He took his time to make decisions based on the knowledge he was able to acquire. It had kept him alive all these years as an Army helicopter pilot.

      “So what you’re telling me is that the leader of SLS has taken your baby to force you to marry him? If he’s so dangerous, why wouldn’t he have just—”

      “Forced me? He tried to...join with me, as he put it. He’s still limping from the attempt. And equally determined that I will come to him. Now that I’ve shamed him...he will never let me have my baby unless I completely surrender to him in front of the whole congregation.”

      “Don’t you mean our baby?”

      Lola gave him an impatient look. Tears filled her eyes as she swayed a little as if having trouble staying upright after everything she’d been through.

      He felt a stab of guilt. He’d been putting her through an interrogation when clearly she was exhausted. It was bad enough that she was scraped, cut and bruised, but he could see that her real injuries were more than skin deep.

      “You’re dead on your feet,” he said. “There isn’t anything we can do tonight. Get some rest. Tomorrow...”

      A tear broke loose and cascaded down her cheek. He caught it with his thumb and gently wiped it away before she let him lead her to the guest bedroom where she’d showered earlier. His mind was racing. If any of this was true...

      “Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out,” Colt said as he pulled back the covers. “Just get some sleep.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep a wink.

      Could he really have a daughter? A daughter now being held by a crackpot cult leader? A man who, according to Lola, was much more dangerous than anyone knew?

      Lola climbed into the bed, still wearing his too-large sweats. He tucked her in, seeing that she could barely keep her eyes open.

      “Dayton.” At his puzzled look, she added, “That’s my last name.” They’d shared only first names the night they met. But that night neither of them had been themselves. She’d been running scared, and he’d been wallowing in self-pity over losing the woman he’d thought he was going to marry and live with the rest of his life.

      “Lola Dayton,” he repeated, and smiled down at her. “Pretty name.”

      He moved to the door and switched off the light.

      “I named our daughter Grace,” she said from out of the darkness. “Do you remember telling me that you always loved that name?”

      He turned in the doorway to look back at her, too choked up to speak for a moment. “It was my grandmother’s name.”

      * * *

      LOLA THOUGHT SHE wouldn’t be able to sleep. Her body felt leaden as she’d sunk under the covers. She could still feel the rough skin of Colt’s thumb pad against her cheek and reached up to touch the spot. She hadn’t been wrong about him. Not that first night. Not tonight.

      She closed her eyes and felt herself careening off that mountain, running for her life, running for Grace’s life. She was safe, she reminded herself. But Grace...

      The sisters were taking good care of Grace, she told herself. Jonas wouldn’t let anything happen to the baby. At least she prayed that he wouldn’t hurt Grace to punish her even more.

      The thought had her heart pounding until she realized the only power Jonas had over her was the baby. He wouldn’t hurt Grace. He needed that child if he ever hoped to get what he wanted. And what he wanted was Lola. She’d seen it in his eyes. A voracious need that he thought only she could fill.

      If he ever got his hands on her again... Well, she knew there would be no saving herself from him.

      * * *

      COLT KICKED OFF his boots and lay down on the bed fully dressed. Sleep was out of the question. If half of what Lola had told him was true... Was it possible they’d made a baby that night? They hadn’t used protection. He hadn’t had anything. Nor had she. It wasn’t like him to take a chance like that.

      But there was something so wholesome, so innocent, so guileless...

      Rolling to his side, he closed his eyes. The memory was almost painful. The sweet scent of her body as she lay with her back to him naked on the bed. The warmth of his palm as he slowly ran it from her side down into the saddle of her slim waist to the rise of her hip and her perfectly rounded buttocks. The catch of her breath as he pulled her into him and cupped one full breast. The tender moan from her lips as he rolled her over to look into those violet eyes.

      Groaning, Colt shifted to his back again to stare up at the dark ceiling. That night he’d lost himself in that delectable woman. He’d buried all feelings for his former fiancée into her. He’d found salvation in her body, in her arms, in her tentative touch, in her soft, sweet kisses.

      He closed his eyes, again remembering the feel of her in his arms as they’d danced in his hotel room. The slow sway, their bodies joined, their movements more sensuous than even the act of love. He’d given her a little piece of his heart that night and had not even realized it.

      Swinging his legs over the bed, he knew he’d never get any rest until he checked on her. Earlier, he’d gotten the feeling that she wanted to run—rather than tell him what had brought her to his door. She hadn’t wanted to involve him, wouldn’t have if Jonas didn’t have her baby.

      That much he believed. But why hadn’t she told him what she was running from the night they’d first met? Maybe he could have helped her.

      He moved quietly down the hallway, half-afraid he would open the bedroom door only to find her gone and all of this like his dream about being back in Afghanistan.

      After easing open the door, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the blackness in the room. Her blond hair lay like a fan across her pillow. Her peaceful face made her appear angelic. He found himself smiling as he stared down at the sleeping Lola. He couldn’t help wondering about their daughter. She would be three months old now. Did she resemble her mother? He hoped so.

      The thought shook him because he realized how much he wanted to believe her. A daughter. He really could have a daughter? A baby with Lola? He shook his head. What were the chances that their union would bring a child into this world? And yet he and Lola had done more than make love that night. They’d connected in a way he and Julia never had.

      The thought of Julia, though, made him recoil. Look how wrong he’d been about her. How wrong he’d been about his own mother. Could he trust his judgment when it came to women? Doubtful.

      He stepped out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. Tomorrow, he told himself, he would know the truth. He’d get the sheriff to go with them up to the compound and settle this once and for all.

      Colt walked out onto the porch to stare up at the starry sky. The air was crisp and cold, snow still capping the highest peaks around town. He knew this all could be true. Normally, he would never have had intercourse with a woman he didn’t know without protection. But that night, he and Lola hadn’t just had sex. They’d made love, two lost souls who’d given each other comfort in a world that had hurt them.

      He’d