Heart of an Outlaw *First in the Crane Gang series*

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Four

 

          Gill rode up to the barn and barely had time to slide from his horses back before Jeb was sweeping him into his arms and clutching him tightly to his chest. “Where the devil did you go?” Jeb grumbled as he buried his face in Gill’s neck.

          “Town…” Gill managed to reply, though he felt a bit breathless, just as he always did when Jeb held him this way.

          “Why did you go to town?”

          Gill sighed and yet didn’t pull himself from Jeb’s arms. He was enjoying the closeness. “I had to send the badges back to the base.”

          “You what?!” Jeb demanded, releasing his hold on Gill and stepping back.

          “I had to return the badges,” Gill repeated.

          “And why the hell did you have to do that? I thought you and Willie burying them had just as much to do with hiding them as it did the tradition of burying folks who stop breathing.”

          Gill could hear the worry in Jeb’s voice. “I had to send the badges back, Jebidiah. If I hadn’t done that then the wives of those men wouldn’t have gotten their money.”

          Jeb scowled. “Well I feel sorry for them, really I do, but I’d rather they go without a few dollars and cents than have my man risking his neck to make sure the widows of the men who tried to kill him are provided for.”

          Gill shrugged as his temper sparked. “And I’d rather have my man safe and at home rather than running around, risking his neck to see that a few orphans have better meals. There are things that a man just has to do, Jeb, whether other folks like it or not.”

          Jeb crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at him. Once again Gill cursed his shorter stature and wished he didn’t have to look up to glare right back. “That’s not the same, Gilliam, and you know it.”

          Gill felt his fight leave him—hell, he hadn’t had much to begin with. He was too tired, too worried, too beat down to worry much about tempers. He pressed his fingers into his temples and closed his eyes as he rubbed. “I love you, Jeb, and I don’t want to fight. I was careful. I kept my face covered in town, I didn’t use my real name when I mailed them and I don’t reckon I was followed. Now why don’t you get to kissing me instead of jumping my ass? I ain’t had near enough of you lately.”

          A teasing smile lit Jeb’s face even as he grabbed Gill by the gun belt and pulled him close. “As I recall, you rather enjoy having me jump your ass.” He winked and Gill trembled from his head to his toes. “And I’ll make up for the lack of kisses just as soon as I can but first there’s something you should know.”

          Gill rose up and nipped at Jeb’s jaw, chuckling at the growl he drew out of the man. “What should I know?”