Apache Summer sb-3

by Heather Graham

  "You take care now. I'll be in tomorrow morning. You make sure my piece

  goes on the front page."

  "Yes, ma'am!"

  Tess left the office and walked slowly down the street toward Mr.

  Barrymon~'s office.

  What had she gotten?

  She'd wanted a hired gun. And she'd gotten one. She railed against Jamie

  for leaving the ranch when he'd been finding out what he could--and

  shooting it out with some of yon Heusen's toughs at the same time.

  And gaining quite a reputation as he did so. She shivered suddenly.

  She'd seen him shoot the snake. She'd known that he was fast and good.

  She shouldn't have been surprised to hear that he had knocked down four

  of yon Hensen's men in a matter of seconds. Then he'd humiliated yon

  Heusen at the ranch. Von Heusen was going to be mad, and he was going to

  be thirsting for blood. Her blood.

  But she'd known she had to fight him. And she had Jamie. She'd wanted

  the gun.

  And she'd wanted the man.

  And now she had both.

  She tightened her fingers around the drawstring of her little purse and

  stopped walking to lean against a wooden wall as a fierce trembling

  swelled within her. hard and inhaled deeply as she remembered the

  previous night.

  She couldn't have been so brazen. Or so wanton. or so decadent. or so

  searingly intimate.

  But she had been. He had warned her away. He had given her every

  opportunity. He had told her that she should be with a man who cared. He

  implied that he didn't care. Surely that wasn't true. He liked her.

  There were about her he loved.

  But it didn't mean anything. That was the rub. It mean anything at all.

  She was just a woman, a warming body. Just like Eliza. She had thrown

  herself at him.

  And one day he'd turn away from her, just as he had turned from Eliza.

  She inhaled, exhaled, then forced herself to walk. She must not let it

  happen again. Even if it had been more than she had ever dreamed. She'd

  never imagined that making love could be so erotic, so wonderful. She'd

  never imagined that it was possible to feel so excited,- so cherished,

  so ~ explosive and so sated. She'd never imagined that a man's hands

  could do what his had done, or that a man's kiss could awaken everything

  in her body, or that a man could 'join with a woman so completely and

  bring about such splendor.

  It could quickly become addictive. But he didn't intend to stay. Even if

  he bought her land and settled down, he had made it clear that he didn't

  intend to stay with her.

  She had taken care to sound independent, too. And now. Now she wanted to

  lie down beside him again. She wanted ~to laugh and feel his touch and

  explore his shoulders and his chest and his long, muscled legs and .

  everything. Even the parts of the body that she couldn't quite bring

  herself to name aloud. She had wanted him. never deny that. But now she

  was afraid of the long that seemed to have escalated since she had known

  his touch.

  Having him hadn't quenched the desire at all.

  It had set it all afire. She was in front of the lawyer's office. She

  set her hand knob and twisted it and walked in. Mr. Barrymo~e finishing

  copying out a second set of papers. Jamie directed him as to what he

  should write.

  timing," Jamie said, applauding her.

  "We need ~ " Shouldn't I read the documents?"

  "Be my guest."

  Tess took the papers from Mr. Barrymore, but she couldn't quite manage

  to read. She pretended to, skimming the words. They all swam before her.

  "We need a witness," Mr. Barrymore said. "No problem," Jamie told him.

  He stepped outside. A moment later, he was back with Doe. He signed one

  set of papers, then Mr. Barrymore and Doe signed as witnesses. Then Tess

  signed, not having the least idea of what was really on the papers, and

  her signature was witnessed, too.

  "That's that, then!" Jamie said, pleased. He counted out gold coins to

  Mr. Barrymore, who seemed very pleased. So much was being done in paper

  currency lately. "Let's go, Tess," Jamie said.

  "Good day, Mr. Barrymore, Doe. Thank you," she told the lawyer. But

  Barrymore and Doe were hardly able to respond before Jamie had his hand

  on her elbow and was leading her out.

  When they reached the wooden sidewalk, she wrenched her hand free.

  "Jamie, I just might not be ready to head home."

  "We're not heading home," he told her.

  "We're going to talk."

  "What if I had something to do?" she demanded. "It would have to wait."

  "It wouldn't!"

  "Today, Tess," he insisted, "it would." The brim of his hat was pulled

  low over his eyes, hands were firmly on his hips.

  "Now, listen" -- "You listen," he told her, wagging a finger beneath

  nose.

  "I'm not going to live like this. We're straighten out the

  relationship."

  "There is no" -- "The hell there isn't. Now get in the wagon, or I'll

  put you in it."

  "You wouldn't" -- He took a step toward her. Before she knew it she was

  off her feet, then she was sitting in the wagon. She swung around, but

  he was beside her in an instant, and the reins were in his hands, and he

  was clucking to-the thoroughbred that pulled the small conveyance.

  Tess crossed her arms over her chest, staring straight ahead.

  "You are intolerable!" she told him.

  "I just don't like a bunch of bull, that's all."

  "Bull" -- "The way you're acting."

  "I'm not acting" -- "I hope to hell you are."

  "I don't know what you're talking about." They were already out of town.

  He was silent for a moment.

  The horse picked up its gait and it seemed they were flying down the

  road.

  Then, suddenly, Jamie reined in. The horse slowed and Jamie hooked the

  reins around the brake. He jumped down and came around the wagon for

  Tess.

  "What?" she demanded, staring down at him. He reached up, placed his

  hands around her waist and lifted her down. When she was on the ground,

  his hands still her. His eyes were like smoke, and his jaw was She knew

  that he did, indeed, intend to have things She opened her mouth, wanting

  to protest again, want- to deny and denounce him and run away. But she

  was because that wasn't what she wanted at all. She to trust him. She

  wanted to lean against him.

  And, of all, she wanted to feel his lips upon hers again, as as the sun,

  as rich as the earth. But she didn't want to him so badly. she didn't

  want to make a fool of her- like Eliza.

  Because, like Eliza, she was falling in love with him.

  "Come on," he told her.

  "Where?" she protested.

  "Down by the water."

  The road ran along the river. He held her hand and led her through the

  trees until they came to a little copse. They were alone with the sounds

  of the rippling waters, with the occasional call of a bird, the soft

  rustle of a tree. He drew her close, and when she stiffened, he drew her

  even closer.

  "What is this?" he demanded.

  She moistened her lips, staring at his eyes, then at his mout
h.

  "What is--what?" she asked.

  "Miss. Stuart, I gave you a chance last night. Hell, I gave you several

  chances last night. You wanted to stay."

  "You wanted to make love."

  "I ... yes," she whispered.

  "And now you're running. Why?"

  "I'm' not!" she protested.

  "It's just that" -- "I can't do it, Tess. I can't live with it if you

  think you can blow hot and cold in a matter of hours."

  "Then what?"

  "I'm just trying to give you ... space!"

  She lowered her head. She desperately wanted to put her~ shoulder

  against his shirt. She breathed in, smelling clean male scent of him,

  and she felt a furious pulse flight at her throat, in her heart, in her

  veins. He slid fingers into her hair at the sides of her head and lifted

  face. He stared, and she tried to return his gaze tering. But then his

  hand came to her breast. She muted something softly, then she did lean

  against him.

  sky seemed dazzling, but not so dazzling as the man. "Tess, Tess!" he

  whispered to her, holding her close.

  frightening, it's damned terrifying. You're coming so much to me."

  His arms were around her. She parted her lips and moistened them with

  her tongue again. His parted and moved upon hers, and they melded and

  tasted until finally he drew his lips away. Then they sank down together

  upon a bed of leaves, with the river just beyond them. Their arms locked

  together and they kept kissing, tasting one another, and it ~ ~eemed

  that the sound of the rushing water grew louder and louder.

  Tess found that she was pressed into the leaves. His hands were upon

  her.

  She set her palms against his cheek, and desire took flight within her

  as she felt the planes and textures , of his face. She thought

  confusedly that she loved the way he looked with his smoke-dark eyes and

  sandy, disheveled hair, with the rough touch and the rugged angles and

  lines of his face, the twist of his jaw. She wrapped her arms around

  him, sliding her fingers through the hair at his nape, drawing him to

  her for another kiss. The earth beneath her began to heat. She ran her

  fingers over the opening of his ~ahirt. She felt the ripple of muscle

  with her fingertips. She teased at his buttons until his shirt opened,

  until she could reach her hands inside and slide her nails over his

  naked ~t~h and feel the trembling that she evoked.

  him groan and she felt his touch upon the tiny of her dress, then she

  felt herself being freed from Her slip and her chemise remained, but

  they were the feel of his searing kiss upon her body and Soon her slip

  was wound beneath her, and she felt earth with her bare flesh. His hard

  and driving man teased her for a split second, then drove within her a

  startling, shattering thrust that swept her breath The sun was above

  him. She heard curious cries, then re- they came from her and that she

  was clinging to arching, writhing. meeting him, welcoming him, him. She

  felt the slap of his body against hers, and earthy and real. She felt

  the sun upon his naked flesh, and that, too, was real. And she felt

  more. the certain heat, the glow of the sun, which heightened every

  swift pleasure, a touch of the blue, cloudy sky. She was damp, and so

  aware of him within her, and aware of the rising ecstasy inside her

  body. Coiling tighter and tighter until she was crying out again, then

  gasping in a soft shriek as something came upon her so strong and sweet

  and volatile that it rent the whole of her with shivers, while something

  like hot nectar seemed to swamp her body. She couldn't move. She could

  scarcely breathe, and it seemed that the world went dark before the sun

  burst upon her again. And just as it did, he thrust hard within her and

  stayed and stared at her, the whole of his face tense and haunting and

  taut with passion. Then he exploded within her, and thrust and thrust

  again. and lay down beside her, wrapping her in his arms.

  The sun was still above them.

  "I'm afraid of you," Tess admitted.

  He had been flat on the earth. He rose up on an elbow. "What?"

  "I'm afraid of caring too much."

  He touched her cheek.

  "We're all afraid of caring too much ."

  "I don't believe you're afraid of anything." He smiled, a crooked,

  rueful smile.

  "Yes, I am. I'n afraid of losing you right now."

  "Right now," she repeated.

  "But what ... what about tomorrow, Jamie?

  That's what frightens me."

  "What do you mean?"

  She shook her head. She rolled away from him, rising to her feet,

  straightening her slip and dusting bits of leaf and dirt and grass from

  it.

  She smiled at him, then hurried toward the water.

  He must have stripped off the remnants of his for when he came up behind

  her, he was stark naked.

  placed his hands around her waist and kissed her nape.

  177 he whispered in her ear, so softly that she wasn't sure she heard

  him.

  "Tomorrow? I'm not sure. But I think that I'm falling in love with you,

  Tess."

  He left her, walking into the river, then ducking beneath the surface

  and swimming into the center of it. He rose, let out a cry and shivered.

  "It's damned cold for summer!" he called out to her.

  Tess stooped and threw water over her face. She watched as Jamie dove

  beneath the surface again.

  A twig snapped suddenly behind her. She leaped up, spinning around.

  There were four of them. The so-called Indians. They were clothed in

  bronze paint and breech clouts

  "Jamie!"

  she whispered.

  But of course there was nothing he could do. The men were armed with

  bows and arrows, rifles, even a few tomahawks.

  They were going to kill her, she thought, and Jamie would never have

  time to reach the surface. And it would be her fault, because if she had

  talked to him this morning, he would never have brought her here, and he

  would never have become so involved with her that he forgot danger.

  "Jamie!" she screamed as one of the men lunged toward her. She fought.

  She kicked, she scratched, she screamed and struggled, but a second man

  came up, grasping her legs, and between them, she was tossed over a

  shoulder. She still fought, clawing, screaming, pounding.

  Bronze coloring came off in her hands. "Tess!" Jamie was charging, naked

  and unarmed, out of the water. She saw his eyes. They met across the

  distance and locked with hers; the pain and the horror of the moment was

  mirrored between them.

  "Tess!" He screamed her name again in a loud, long cry and he was

  speeding furiously toward the emthe man carrying Tess began to run with

  her. She craned neck, straining to see Jamie. She saw him reaching the

  shallows, and she saw him running, running to the shore. He rammed one

  of the armed attackers with such violence and force that the man fell.

  He spun and kicked his next opponent, then thrust his fists against him

  in a fury.

  But then Tess saw that another man was behind Jamie as he fought. She

  saw the second man raise a battle club and bring it d
own upon Jamie's

  head with all his strength. She heard the cracking sound. And she

  screamed as she saw Jamie crumple to the ground, and then she saw no

  more, for blackness descended over the sun.

  Chapter Nine.

  Tess didn't know how much time passed before she regained consciousness.

  When she did, she was hanging facedown over the flanks of a sweating

  horse in front of the pseudo-Indian who had grabbed her. She was acutely

  uncomfortable.

  Although the sun was setting, it was still ferociously hot. The sticky,

  wet hair of the horse irritated her flesh, and the continual and

  monotonous thump-thump- thump of its gait was bringing a ferocious pain

  to her head.

  Her arms hurt, her back hurt, and her neck burned like blue blazes.

  She was a great mass of pain, and at first that was all 'she could think

  of.

  After a while she remembered. She'd been kidnapped. The bronze paint

  worn by the "warrior" behind her was coming off on her flesh and chemise

  where the man's thighs and knees rubbed against her.

  And Jamie Slater was by the river with his head bashed in. couldn't be

  alive. He had fought for her, and he had b~n killed in the attempt.

  Scalding tears stung her eyes. She fought back the urge to aloud.

  Jamie could perhaps have survived. Maybe just been knocked unconscious.

  They had left her for once, and she had survived. Jamie was tough. He

  had the war, he had. She had seen the club come against his skull.

  Still, she couldn't accept it. She had to believe that he was alive

  because if she didn't she wouldn't care if she lived or died.

  Maybe there wasn't much chance of her surviving, anyway. Von Heusen

  didn't know yet that there was now no way he was going to get his hands

  on the Stuart holdings. She wondered briefly about the other Slater

  brothers and their wives. Would they come to Wiltshire to accept an

  inheritance? When they saw what had been happening, would they pick up

  her fight? Why should they? Because they were probably close. Because

  Jamie wouldn't have taken the time and the care to see that things were

  done the way they were if his brothers weren't willing to fight. To

  fight for him. To avenge his death.

  No, no, he couldn't be dead. Please! God in heaven! she prayed silently.

  Don't let him be dead, don't let him be dead, don't let him' be. "Let's

  hold up here!" someone called out.

  The horse she was thrown over ceased plodding. A second animal trotted