by Jane Toombs
Though the rock in front of him had been empty a moment ago, now a giant rattler lay coiled atop it. Mokesh, the Guardian. Aghast, Bram stared into its yellow eyes.
"Become a warrior!" The words reverberated in Bram's head.
A whirlwind swept across the rocky plateau, lifting him up and away, stripping off the blanket and the braids, leaving him naked....
And naked he awoke, in his own bed, befogged by the remnants of the dream.
A vision, he seemed to hear his father say. Vision or dream, he remained shaken.
It wasn't so easy to fall asleep the second time.
Though Vala had been truly tired when she climbed into her bed, sleep remained elusive, playing hide and seek with her. The root of the problem was that she wanted to be elsewhere--in bed with Bram, to be specific. She yearned to be in his arms, nestled against his warm body.
Since that was not to be, she tossed and turned, hanging position again and again, not finding the comfort she craved. When she finally looked at the lighted red numerals on the bedside clock, it was well after midnight. The next she knew, someone was speaking her name.
Davis? Her eyes popped open--to daylight and Bram standing over her, wearing khaki shorts and no shirt.
She sat up, looking around.
"Sleepy-head," Bram said, easing down onto the bed. "It's near eleven. Davis has already left for the rodeo with Rick. How about brunch in the Jacuzzi?"
He reached to slide the strap of her new nightgown back up onto her shoulder, his fingers warm against her skin. "Better agree in a hurry or you'll never get out of this bed."
"Um, what's for brunch?" she asked.
"A surprise," he promised. "So don't bother to get dressed."
"How about my swimsuit?"
"Woman, don't try my patience. This is a naked brunch." As he spoke, he rose and stripped off his shorts. "See?"
What she saw cleared her head of any sleep remnants. "Meet you there." He exited, twirling the shorts on his forefinger.
Vala, shy about parading through the house with nothing on, decided not to discard her nightgown. Never mind that it didn't conceal much, she felt better wearing something.
Bram, waiting for her in the Jacuzzi, whistled when he saw her. "That gown beats those gray sweats all hollow," he said. "I almost hate to see you take it off. But, as I told you, this is a naked brunch. People with clothes on don't get to eat."
Eyeing the food spread along the edge of the sunken tub, Vala reached for the bottom of the nightgown and slowly drew it over her head. When it was off, she glanced at Bram and a thrill shot through her at the hungry look in his eyes. She eased into the warm, frothing water next to the food, excited by being naked. She'd never before done anything even remotely like this.
"I'm starved," she said, reaching for a half of grapefruit already prepared.
"So am I."
"Would you like me to pass you something?"
He shook his head, "Just eat fast."
"Mmm," she said, "this grapefruit's delicious. What did you put on it?"
"Warm honey. Can't wait to taste it--second-hand."
She shot him a mock frown and he grinned.
Though she was hungry, her need for food was rapidly falling behind her need for Bram. As she finished the grapefruit and reached for a wedge of buttered toast set on a warmer, she tried to pace herself but instead found she was eating as fast as she could.
Bram edged closer.
She poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe to wash down the toast. After she'd taken a couple of swallows, Bram eased the cup from her hand, set it down and pulled her into her arms.
"The food can wait. I can't," he murmured against her lips before kissing her.
His taste on her lips, his scent in her nostrils, she gave herself up to pure enjoyment. She meant to savor every second of their love-making so she'd have something to remember during the bleak days ahead.
Quickly pushing the thought of leaving from her mind, she wound her arms around his neck, holding him to her, his body, as slick with water as hers was, hard and infinitely arousing against hers.
She'd never made love in a Jacuzzi before and she found the water frothing around her erotic, increasing her desire as it caressed her almost as intimately as Bram was doing. Why couldn't these moments last forever?
By the time he urged her legs up until they were wrapped around his hips so they could join together, she was beyond thought, could only feel. There was nothing like this, had never been anything like this, she could die of pleasure....
Afterwards, out of the Jacuzzi, wrapped in a towel, she reached for her nightgown only to have Bram pluck it from her and toss it away.
"But--" she protested.
"Brunch isn't over," he told her. "We've barely tasted the first course. Anyone would think you'd never explored the fascination of nakedness."
She hadn't. But she was willing to give it a spin.
He poured her another cup of coffee and took one himself. "Toast?" he asked. "It's still warm. And there's peach jam."
Naked, they sat side by side on towels, eating. Though she was hardly aware of how the food tasted, she'd never enjoyed a brunch more.
He was so good to look at--broad-shouldered and muscular without the muscles bunching up excessively. He had very little hair on his chest, perhaps due to his heritage? She viewed it as an asset. Hairy men had never appealed to her. When he said with considerable amusement, "Find anything you like?" she realized she'd been staring and flushed.
At the same time, she saw he was becoming aroused again and shivers of anticipation coursed through her.
"Cold?" he asked, setting down his coffee cup.
Before she could deny it, he rose to his feet, grasped her hand and pulled her up. "I know the best place to warm up," he told her. "Been trying to get you in my bed every since you set foot in the house."
His room was sparsely furnished with eclectic pieces, which, except for the bed, didn't look new but comfortably used. All in all it looked surprisingly homey. Peeling the covers back, he pulled her with him into the king-sized bed and wrapped his arms around her.
"Getting warm?" he murmured.
"You'll have to do better than that," she teased, feeling incredibly young and light-hearted.
"Think I can't?"
"I'll have to wait and see."
He proceeded to take her down paths she hadn't traveled before as he caressed every part of her body, making her mindless with need, then fulfilling that need.
She clung to him afterward, not wanting to let him go. Ever. As he held her next to him, everything seemed bathed in a golden light. She was drifting into a doze when suddenly she felt something cold probe her ear, then Sheba's distinctive voice demanded to know what they were doing.
"I thought I closed the door," Bram muttered as the cat climbed onto him and stared into his face. "I swear she must have opened it. There's such a thing as being too smart, cat."
Sheba, once she was convinced everything was all right, decided to curl up on Bram's pillow. Her purring acted as a lullaby, easing them both into a nap.
When Bram woke, Sheba was gone. Vala, though, still lay next to him. She looked so young asleep, he almost felt he had teenaged Vala back. But he greatly preferred the woman she'd become.
He hadn't yet told her that, when he'd called the airline before he woke her, they'd given him a tentative departure time of noon tomorrow. If they had to part, he was determined to do his damnedest to make this last day memorable for both of them.
Davis wouldn't be back until evening since Rick had offered to feed him supper as well. They might not be able to spend the last night together but they had a lot of daylight hours still at their disposal.
She was a beautiful woman, still with that appealing look of fragility she'd had as a teen. She wasn't fragile--far from it. Hadn't she held her own on the trip into the Superstitions? He shook his head, remembering how she'd suffered after her lie to him about being a rider. Yet she'd gone
on. One tough lady.
Her eyelids fluttered and opened. He gazed into her clear blue eyes and found words he didn't mean to say trembling on his lips. With some effort, he held them back and looked away, afraid he might blurt out something he wasn't sure he meant.
"Where's Sheba?" she asked.
"Apparently she decided we weren't doing anything she disapproved of, so she left."
Rising onto an elbow, he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. "Anyone ever tell you what a sexy woman you are?" he asked.
"What makes you think so?" she asked with a wicked little smile.
"It could have something to do with the fact you're sliding your foot up my leg toward a very sensitive spot. Then again, maybe it's because just looking at you sends me up."
He groaned when her foot made contact with his arousal and retaliated by sliding his hand over her thigh to the warmth between her legs.
Though he'd never kept count of how many times he'd made love to a woman in the space of a few hours, he was certain today would surpass any record he might have set. Just as Vala surpassed any other woman he'd ever known. He couldn't get enough of her.
From the eager way she responded, she must feel the same about him. A thrill of pure masculine pride shot through him. She was the only woman in the world he'd ever cared enough about to want to impress any way he could.
As they came together, it was as though this was the first time he'd made love with her. He wanted her with all the passion and need he'd brought to that night under the penultimate moon.
"You know what?" she murmured as they lay entwined afterward.
"Can't imagine," he said.
"Your bed is more comfortable for love-making than your sleeping bag."
"I can see you're getting spoiled."
"Another thing."
"What?"
"I'm hungry."
So was he, now that he thought about it.
Still naked, they finished off what was left of the brunch, then took another dip in the Jacuzzi.
"We could go swimming," he suggested. "Ever tried it nude?"
"Outside? Never. Except for that time at Spanish Horse Springs and that wasn't really a swimming pool and, besides, we were in the mountains. Your house is in the middle of a city, for heaven's sake."
"There's a fence around the back yard."
"But still--"
"Scared?"
"I told you I'm not used to--well, running all over the place naked."
"All the more reason to try swimming that way."
"I thought people weren't supposed to swim right after they ate."
He grinned at her. "We'll stay in the shallow end. Try it, you'll like it."
"Why do I get the feeling that the next thing you'll want me to do is don wild geese feathers so I can fly with you."
"No need, when we fly together just fine without them." "I'll bet you were formidable in court," she said. "You're hard to out-argue. Okay, one quick swim and, if anyone looks over the fence, you're in real trouble."
Once she was actually outside in the swimming pool, Vala forgot about being naked. Although the water's caress wasn't the same as in the Jacuzzi, she found swimming a totally different experience without a suit on. For good or ill, one by one her inhibitions were dissolving and it was all Bram's doing.
It made her realize how conservative Neal had been.
He'd never liked to be caught without clothes on. She wouldn't have dreamed of undressing in front of him.
She smiled, reveling in the freedom of no clothes at all. Being with Bram was unlike anything she'd ever known. With him she was learning to be herself.
Later, as, wrapped in towels, they lounged in the dappled shade of a Russian olive tree, she noticed he seemed deep in thought.
"Care to share?" she asked.
He turned to look at her. "I'm seriously considering going back, at least part time, to my original profession."
"Oh? Why?"
"Would you believe Mokesh told me I had to get out there and fight?"
She blinked. What on earth was he talking about? "Mokesh?" she repeated.
"Yup. In all his rattler finery, he came to me in a vision-dream. Said if I'm Ndee, then I'd better contribute--or else. I figure as a lawyer I can stir the pot, get it boiling and see what cooks up. I've always looked forward to challenges."
"I can believe that."
"But reality-based Vala is withholding judgment on the vision bit?"
She tried to be as truthful as possible. "Something like that is beyond my experience, but I'm not so narrow- minded as to deny it can exist. However the idea came to you, though, I think what you've decided to do will be good for both you and the Ndee."
He gave her a crooked grin. "Glad to have you in my corner."
She bit back the words that would have told him she'd always be in his corner, no matter what. Instead, she focused on the here and now. "Do you know what time Davis will be back?"
"I've been waiting for you to ask. We don't have to get dressed until five, at the earliest. Rick is treating him to supper. Until then, fair maiden, you're my captive."
"Oh mercy me," she wailed in mock fright, "whatever shall I do? Here I am helpless and unclad in the clutches of a warrior. And not just any old warrior, but an Apache, as I, in my ignorance call them--the most feared of all warriors."
"You got that right." Bram rose and loomed over her lounge chair. "Do you come peacefully or by force?"
Giggling, in a sudden swift leap, she shot from the chair, eluded his grasp and ran across the back lawn, losing her towel on the way.
He was after her like a shot and she darted this way and that to avoid capture. Both of them naked, they raced over the grass until he lunged and caught her. Lifting her into his arms, he trotted toward the back door. As he shifted her to open it, Vala caught a glimpse of a man on the other side of the back fence. He stood on a tall ladder, apparently repairing a gutter on his house.
She carried his expression of mixed amazement and amusement with her into the house.
"Your neighbor over the fence saw us!" she cried.
"Bet he's sorry he's not me," Bram told her as he dropped her onto his bed.
This time their love-making was slow, so sweet and tender she felt she would never forget this man, this day, this moment. How could she when she knew this would be the last time they'd lay together like this.
Later, after showering, Vala put on her new Arizona clothes, tying her hair back with the scarf.
"You look so different," Bram told her. "I'm not sure we shouldn't stay right here so I can get to know the new you."
"You already know all you need to about me," she told him, pleased at his admiration.
They drove to a nearby Mexican restaurant for an early dinner, arriving back at the house shortly before Rick pulled up with Davis.
"You can park this kid with me any time," Rick told them. "Man, can he pick winners. Called 'em, six out of eight, damn good odds."
While Davis tried not to look as proud as he felt,
Rick explained that the boy had predicted, in six out of the eight bronc riders, which man would stay on his horse and which man would fail to.
Vala smiled. "Heavens, I hope this doesn't mean he'll grow up to be a bookie."
"He did watch the horses, not the riders," Rick said, "so maybe you got something to worry about."
Davis shook his head. "Naw, I'm gonna be a shaman." Rick's eyebrows rose. "Oho, so that's your secret."
He clapped Davis on the shoulder. "Hope we can get together next time you're in these parts, amigo."
After he left, Davis said. "We had a really awesome time, Rick and me. And, yes, Mom, I remembered to thank him. What'd you guys do while I was gone?"
We had a pretty awesome time ourselves, Vala thought. "We went swimming and sort of laid around," she told him, the understatement of the century.
The phone rang, Bram answered it and came back with the news that the airline had confirmed t
heir reservations for noon tomorrow.
Davis muttered, "Bummer."
Silently, Vala echoed him.
Chapter 15
Vala slept better than she'd expected to, considering it was her last night in Arizona, the last night anywhere near Bram. When she woke in the morning, she lay quietly for a bit, thinking she might be boarding a jet at noon, but she'd be leaving her heart behind. It made no difference how Bram felt about her, she loved him. On this treasure map trip, what she'd found was a man worth loving.
After she showered, she put on the navy pants suit, but wore the bright yellow shirt she'd bought in the mall with it, instead of the plain white one. For some reason, this lightened her spirits a little.
When she went into the kitchen, through the sliding doors she noticed Bram and Davis were standing on the patio in what looked to be earnest conversation. No doubt having to do with how soon Bram can send the kitten, she thought. Davis glanced her way, saw her, waved and then the two of them, Davis still talking, walked away from the house into the yard.
Vala shrugged and went about fixing herself breakfast. Though she didn't feel much like eating, the idea of facing airline food for the rest of the day made her decide to eat something decent while she had the chance.
She was downing her second cup of coffee when Davis came through the sliding doors into the kitchen. Bram, she saw, was still in the yard, apparently contemplating one of the grapefruit trees.
"He's thinking things over," Davis informed her.
"I know he's planning some changes in his life," she said.
"You do?" Davis sounded surprised.
"I think he intends to start lawyering for the Ndee. It seems he had a dream where Mokesh told him to."
"Whoa! It was really Mokesh?"
"In his rattlesnake form."
"Awesome. So he's gonna do it?"
Vala nodded. "Your map made a difference in Bram's life, didn't it?"
"Mine, too," Davis said. "And yours."
Startled, she stared at him. "Why do you say in my life?"
"Um--" Davis tugged at his ear. "Well, you learned to ride a horse, didn't you?"
Not sure he wasn't concealing something, she would have pursued it if Bram hadn't pushed open the sliding door and entered just then. When her gaze fastened on him, everything else fled from her mind.