Renegades and Stubborn Pride (sequal to Renegades and Pretty Women)

Chapter Seven

"Man I'll be the first one here to call you crazy. If you let me catch ya cussing at a kid or roughing up a lady and God forbid that anybody mess with mine... Ya gotta whoop  man's ass sometimes." Trace Adkins 'Whoop a Man's Ass'

             Jonah jumped forward and caught Joe in his arms before she hit the ground, lifting her body and pulling her into his chest the same way a husband would his new bride.

                Everything else in the world disappeared in that moment. All he could see was Joe’s face so close to his own. All he could feel was her body pressed so close to his. All he could do was simply stand there and hold her.

                For five long years he had longed to touch this woman again. He had dreamed about holding her body…. Now he was and the moment was bittersweet because of the deceit that he knew she was guilty of. But still… She fit against him so perfectly, what had he been thinking when he’d let her walk away? Then he felt her shivering in his arms and the peace was shattered as he realized just how heated her skin was.

                “She’s fevered bad.” He said quickly. Turning to Reb, Jonah motioned for him to take Joe from his arms.

                “I can’t stand on my own, Jonah.” Bart argued and Jonah growled. He didn’t care if the damn bastard had to crawl. That truly wasn’t any concern of his. Instead of saying that, Jonah glanced around and found a long, thick stick on the ground. He wrapped his hand around the rough bark, his knuckles whitening as he gripped it tight, stood straight and looked at Bart.

                The other man swallowed hard but met his gaze full force. Jonah sneered. “Well, Uncle Bart, I’d hate to have you fall on your good for nothing ass.”

                He shoved the stick into Bart’s hand and Reb moved out of the man’s grasp and took Joe from Jonah’s arms. Bart nearly did fall as he tried to balance his weight, clinging to the stick like a lifeline.

                “Reb, get them back to Clayton. I don’t like the boy being alone…. I’ll be along shortly.”

                “What’re ya gonna do, Jonah?” Reb asked with a frown. Jonah glanced back toward the camp that they’d moved a short distance from.

                “I’m gonna take care of these men. It won’t do to have them wake up in a few hours and come right back after us.”

                “Why don’t ya help me get them to our camp and I’ll come back and help ya?” Reb questioned.

                “I can handle them.” Jonah countered.

                “Jonah, there are four of them and only one of you.” Bart whispered. Jonah glared at the skinny man and clenched his fist.

                “I sure as hell don’t need your opinion on a damn thing, you stupid son of a bitch. If you weren’t already more than half dead, I’d beat you ‘til you were myself.”

                Bart swallowed hard. “Clayton…..”

                Jonah took a deep breath and turned his attention back to Reb. He saw Joe’s eyelids flutter and had a suspicion that she had regained consciousness but was choosing to play opossum. Or maybe she was simply too sick and weak to open her eyes. That was probably it since Jonah couldn’t think of any situation where Joe would be chicken enough to feign sleep to avoid confrontation.  Either way, Jonah had a feeling she was hearing the conversation.