Give My Love to Rose(1st in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Marston sat alone before the fire that night. Rose and Langley had long since gone to bed but Marston was staying up to work on getting Langley's gun ready for Christmas.

He sighed as he shifted on the sofa. He had hoped that after what had transpired between him and Rose in the washroom that tonight would be the night he could stop calling the sofa bed. He knew enough about Rose's past to understand her fear of lovemaking but, hell, he would settle for a night of simply holding her in his arms while they slept.

The torture of having her so close and yet being unable to touch her was slowly driving him insane.

'You were already insane.'

Marston grumbled under his breath at the goading of the voice in his head and held the revolver up against the light so he could look down the inside of the barrel. He'd been working on it for two nights and already had the thing as close to new as it would ever be—it looked damn good in his opinion. He hoped Langley would be as excited as he was when he saw it.

Rose's bedroom door opened and he heard her step out. Marston's first thought went to her nightmare but her foot step were wrong for that. She didn't into the kitchen, instead she came out to the sofa and took a seat.

Marston offered her a smile. "Can't sleep?"

Rose shook her head and pointed at the revolver in his hands. "Where did you get that? Isn't yours bigger?"

Marston couldn't help but wiggle his brows. "Mine is bigger than most." He saw her flush red in the firelight and he laughed softly. "This is Langley's gun."

Disbelief filled her feature. "The one that Langston wanted him to have?" she demanded. "How on earth did you get it to look so nice?"

"I've just been giving it a real good cleaning," he replied with a shrug. "I'm gonna sneak off in the morning and try to shoot it."

"Try?" Rose asked, taking the revolver in her hands and running her hand over the cold, hard iron.

"Yeah. I'm not entirely sure it won't blow up the first time somebody tries to shoot it and I'd rather lose my hand than have Langley lose his."

Rose all but threw the gun back at him as her eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. "I'd rather that neither of you lost a hand!"

Marston chuckled as he laid his hand on her soft red curls which were hanging loose around her face. "Don't worry, Rose. I can use my left hand just as good as my right so losing one won't make much difference."

Rose rolled her eyes even as she leaned into his touch. "Why don't I feel comforted?"

Marston slid Langley's revolver back into his saddlebag before patting his leg. "Get over here," he ordered.

Rose was quick to obey, loving how safe and secure she always felt with his arms around her. It amazed her that his big arms, with such death and power in them were as gentle as cotton when they touched her skin.

Rose trembled as she remembered the sight of him standing beneath that water. His body was all golden skin, littered with scars and hard with muscle and power. Rose's blood began to heat just thinking about earlier in the day.

"Do you want to hear something crazy?" Marston asked as he entwined their fingers and raised her hand to his mouth to brush a kiss across it.

"Sure," Rose whispered as a warmth spread from the top of her head down to her toes.