by Lyn Horner
His lips parted slightly. Bending his head, he welded them to hers. She met him eagerly, opening her mouth. His tongue took instant advantage, twining with hers in perfect unison. A river of molten need flooded her. She never wanted the kiss to end, but he broke it off abruptly.
“Josie, I want you,” he said in a choked voice, kissing and nibbling his way along her jaw to the ultra sensitive cord running down her neck below her ear.
“Yes! Oh yes, Gabriel,” she breathed, trying to reclaim his lips.
“Wait.” He held her off. “Not here in the water. It could be dangerous and I do not wish to frighten you.”
She hated being separated from him for even a moment but she appreciated his concern for her. He brought them to the edge of the pool and helped her climb out. With her legs still dangling in the water, she wrung water from her dripping hair while he hoisted himself up onto the rocky shelf. Standing, he collected their clothes and made a lumpy pile of them beside her at the edge of the pool. She frowned, wondering what he was up to.
He sat in the middle of the pile, also hanging his legs over into the water, and patted the clothes on either side of him. “Now kneel on these facing me.”
Seeing what he had in mind, she burned with renewed excitement. Still, she took care not to slip and tumble into the pool as she rose and planted her feet on either side of his thighs. He slowly raised his eyes, taking in every inch of her, making her insides clench. Moisture gathered between her legs as she knelt over him. Clutching his arms, she caught her breath at the touch of his shaft nudging her slick entrance, half expecting him to enter her right then, but he didn’t.
“These are so beautiful,” he murmured, caressing her breasts.
“I think … they’re too small,” she panted.
“No, no, they are perfect. Let me adore them as they deserve.” Cupping her bottom, he urged her to lift up, bringing her breasts in range of his mouth. He gave a long, loving lick to one distended nipple, drawing a gasp from her lips and making her tangle her hands in his hair. When he took the taut crest into his mouth and sucked, she cried out and threw back her head, shockwaves rippling through her.
Meanwhile, his hands were busy petting her bottom cheeks and tracing the valley between. Then one hand detoured around between them, delving into the ultra sensitive flesh laid open to him by her spread position. He stroked her tender folds and the bud of her desire, causing her to moan and jerk uncontrollably. Between what his mouth and his hands were doing, she thought she might die from the torturous pleasure.
“Please, I want you inside me!” she cried. Her nails dug into his shoulders, expressing her desperate need for release.
“As you wish, mi tigresa,” he growled. Gripping her hips, he pushed her down onto his velvety shaft, driving a strangled scream from her as he thrust upward. He stopped instantly. “Am I hurting you?” he gasped.
“No, you just feel … so good!”
A hoarse laugh burst from his throat. “So do you, querida.” With that, he filled her to the brim then slowly withdrew most of the way before pushing into her again.
Josie squeezed her eyes shut and hung on as he gradually quickened his pace. Thrashing her head back and forth, she cried out and bucked against him. He caught handfuls of her damp hair and captured her lips, swallowing her cries until, finally, the heart of her convulsed in a starburst of fiery delight. A split second later, he reached his own peak, erupting inside her with a growl of ecstasy.
He collapsed backward, bringing Josie down on top of him. For a few moments, she lay there breathing hard, feeling his lungs work like a bellows. When she managed to collect enough strength, she raised up, bracing one hand on his chest. Biting her lip, she lightly touched the thin red scar running across his middle.
“I’m so sorry for knifing you,” she said, filled with regret.
“I would endure far worse for you, querida.” Smiling, he drew a line down her sternum, under and around one breast with his fingertip. The nipple instantly puckered. “So pretty,” he murmured.
She shivered with a fresh jolt of excitement, more than from the chilly air. She wanted him to sweep her away on that wild, wonderful climb to the stars again.
“You are cold,” he observed, frowning.
“Not really, I just –”
“Yes, really. Get up and we will dress.”
“But I don’t want –”
“No arguments, tigresa. The sooner we return to the house, the sooner I can love you again.”
That changed matters. “In that case, let’s hurry,” she said with a sassy grin. Scrambling off him, she waited for him to rise then snatched up her badly rumpled clothes and dressed as fast as she could.
They raced to the little house. Kicking the door shut behind them, Gabriel set down their lantern and pulled her into his arms for a drugging kiss. How they made it to the bedroom, she didn’t know but their clothes soon lay scattered on the floor and she lay entwined with him on the narrow bed.
The limited space didn’t prevent Gabriel from kissing and tasting her from head to tingling toes. He took his time, driving her mad with need, eventually zeroing in on her moist center with his clever mouth. She had to bite her hand to keep from screaming as he sent her flying to heaven. The spasms hadn’t yet stopped when he entered her, driving a gasp from her throat.
“You grip me like a warm, silken glove,” he whispered with a sigh of pleasure. Then he began to move and Josie lost herself in a whirlpool of sensations that went on and on and on.
*
Gabriel woke with a start, disturbed by something, though he couldn’t say what. Not from lying curled around Josie on the small bed with her sweet, tempting ass nested in his groin. Of that he was positive. On the contrary, he’d love to stay there all morning, making love to her and dozing contentedly. But something was wrong. He knew it.
Carefully unwinding his body from hers, he rose and stepped into his pants, watching her sleep. Recalling the several times he’d taken her during the night, he gave a purely masculine grin, thinking she needed her rest. He slipped from the room, closing the door quietly, and retrieved his shirt and boots from the other bedroom. As soon as he was fully dressed, he let himself outside. The sun was barely up.
Hearing his name shouted, he looked up and saw Javier running toward him from the corral. Gabriel met him halfway. “What’s wrong?”
“That dog Manuel is gone, Jefe. He was not in his bed and his horse is not in the corral.”
Swearing furiously in Spanish and English, Gabriel pounded a fist into his other hand. “He means to betray us, I am certain of it. Quickly, wake the men and send two of them after him. Tell the others to get ready to leave if the two don’t find him soon and bring him back.”
“Sí! Immediately, Jefe!” Javier trotted off to carry out his task.
Minutes later, Gabriel was issuing orders to his men when Josie stepped out of the foreman’s house. Wearing the same wrinkled clothes she’d had on last night, she strode over to him, an alarmed expression on her lovely face. She had knotted her raven hair into a long tail that swung back and forth as she walked.
“I heard shouting. What’s going on?” she asked, big brown eyes searching his.
He crooked his lips and gently rubbed her arms. “I am sorry for waking you, querida, but we may have trouble coming.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Manuel has ridden off. I suspect he wants revenge for the beating I gave him. If he links up with the smugglers we raided … .”
“He’ll lead them here to the canyon,” she finished for him.
“Sí, that is what I fear.”
“What are we going to do?”
Pleased to hear her say we, he bent and gave her a quick kiss. “I have sent two men after him and have ordered the others to pack up and saddle their mounts. You should also gather your belongings and be ready to leave if Manuel is not found. We cannot risk being trapped here.”
Josie nodded. “I’ll get rea
dy.” She glanced at the men rushing around collecting gear and saddling the horses and mules. “Then I’ll help Paola fix some breakfast. Ever heard the old saying ‘An army marches on its stomach’? Well, I’m here to tell you it’s true.” She winked and hurried off, leaving him with a grin on his face despite his worries over Manuel’s disappearance.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Breakfast consisted of arepas hastily prepared by Paola and Josie combined with campesino cheese, a bland cheese Gabriel didn’t especially like. But he ate it to please his little gringa and tried not to think of what would happen to her if the smugglers trapped them here and got their hands on her. So help him, he would not let them have her.
Debating with Javier how long to wait for the searchers to return before giving the order to evacuate the canyon, he decided to wait two hours, no more. The minutes dragged. Trying to curb his impatience, Gabriel helped his men pack up gear and saddled his horse and Josie’s mule. Then he divided his time between pacing the dusty canyon, talking to the men who kept vigil at the canyon’s mouth, and sitting next to Josie outside the foreman’s house. Seated on the ground with her back propped against the front wall, arms resting on her bent knees, she sighed impatiently when he plopped down beside her yet again.
“You’re wearing yourself out. It won’t do any good. Relax for a while.”
He scowled at her briefly but decided to take her advice. Scraping back his windblown hair, he tipped his camo hat low to shade his eyes and tried to relax. But he found it impossible even when Josie began telling stories – to distract him, he realized – about her Navaho people and her experiences in the U.S. Army. Then she asked him questions about life in Cali and his days at Berkley. He didn’t really want to talk about such things now but he humored her. However, when she tried to get him to speak of his mother’s death, he said only that he knew she was murdered because of her stand against the drug lords. The details, he kept to himself.
“And that’s why you took up her fight.” At his silent nod, she asked, “But how did you get all of your followers to join you?” She gestured toward the men lounging outside the bunkhouse.
He shrugged. “They heard of what I am trying to do and got word to me that they wished to aid me. All have lost loved ones to the drug smugglers. Javier and Paola’s eldest son was killed right in front of them, caught in cross fire between government forces and a band of the criminals who had taken over their village.”
“God, how awful!”
“Sí, and that is only one of many … .” He stiffened at the sound of pounding hoof beats and jumped to his feet as the two men he’d sent after Manuel raced into the canyon in a cloud of dust. His stomach sank when he did not see the renegade with them.
Both men drew rein and one, a tough hombre named Juan, threw himself off his horse and ran to meet Gabriel. “Jefe, we saw him!” he blurted. “He left the trail a short way past the cutoff to the canyon. We followed his path into the forest. It led to the smugglers’ camp. We saw him talking to their leader and waving in this direction. I fear they are on their way here even now.”
Damning his decision to wait, Gabriel shouted for everyone to mount up. Josie, who had followed on his heels, took his hand and raced to the corral with him. He boosted her onto her mule and handed her his revolver.
“Stuff that in your boot. And you are to ride back in line behind Berto. You will be safer there in case we are ambushed.”
“Listen, I was a pilot but the Army trained me to handle guns. I want to ride near you and help.”
“No! It is my fault you are here. Let me try to protect you, at least.” He laid a hand on her thigh and gave her a pleading look.
“All right,” she grudgingly agreed. “But you’d better not get yourself killed, Gabriel Valdez.”
He grinned, loving her spirit and her concern for him. “I will do my best not to, querida.”
Moments later, as they started up the narrow canyon trail, he prayed his small precaution would prove unnecessary.
*
Moments after Josie rode onto level ground above the hidden trail, gunfire broke out ahead. She screamed Gabriel’s name, terrified he’d been shot. Her mule brayed loudly and came to a stiff-legged halt while several of the men struggled to control their neighing, panicked horses. She kicked the mule but the animal refused to budge. Desperate to reach Gabriel, she cried out in relief when he came galloping back with Javier, leading another horse whose rider, young Felipe, sat slumped over in the saddle, blood staining his shirt and pants.
“The desperados are coming! Turn around! Go back!” Gabriel shouted in Spanish, resulting in a melee of riders racing for the trail back to the canyon, all except for Josie, who couldn’t get her stubborn mount to turn around.
“Josie, go!” Gabriel hollered.
“I can’t! This stupid animal won’t move!”
Coming abreast of her, he tossed the reins of Felipe’s horse to Javier and snatched hers from her hands. Ruthlessly jerking the mule’s head to the side, he forced it to turn. When it was headed in the right direction, he handed the reins back to Josie. “Now ride and don’t stop for anything,” he barked, slapping her mount hard on its rump.
She clamped one hand around the saddle horn and hung on tight as the mule lunged forward. Chasing after the others, she made a mad dash down the narrow canyon trail, hazarding one quick glance over her shoulder. Javier rode a short distance behind her, leading Felipe’s horse. Gabriel brought up the rear. Twisting in his saddle, he laid down cover fire with his rifle. She swallowed a lump of scalding fear for him. Darn man! Why did he have to play the hero?
Charging into the canyon bowl, she jumped off her mule and stared back up the trail. Javier soon arrived with Felipe, who swayed precariously, looking ready to topple from his saddle. Seconds later, Gabriel rode in and Josie mouthed a sincere prayer of thanks.
“They’re not far behind. Take cover!” he shouted as he dismounted and helped Javier lift Felipe off his horse. “Josie, bring the first aid kit.”
She quickly fished the kit from her saddlebags and ran after them as they carried the groaning young man into the bunkhouse. Paola followed close behind. Laying Felipe on a bunk at the far end of the building, out of range of bullets that might smash through a window, the two men backed away, allowing Josie to approach.
She bent over the pale, wounded youth and unbuttoned his blood-soaked shirt. When she parted the material, she gasped. He’d been shot from behind, the bullet tearing open a wide hole in his belly. His insides were a mangled mess. How had he managed to stay on a horse like this?
Paola stepped close, took one look at the ghastly wound and murmured, “Pobre chico,” in a mournful tone.
Felipe stood no chance without immediate, expert medical attention, which no one here was capable of providing. Josie sent Gabriel a hopeless glance. He closed his eyes and hung his head. After a moment, he looked up, jaw clenched.
“They will pay for this, I swear. Do what you can for him and stay in here, both of you,” he told her and Paola. “Josie, you have the gun. If … if they somehow overrun us, do not let them take either of you. Understand?”
She gulped and gave a jerky nod. “I understand. But I –” A barrage of gunfire cut her off.
“Stay in here!” Gabriel shouted and ran for the door, Javier patting Paola’s shoulder and trotting out after him.
Wanting to follow and help fight off the vicious drug smugglers, Josie looked down at Felipe and knew she couldn’t leave him. She sat beside him, tore open several large gauze pads and pressed them over his terrible wound. He moaned and muttered something she must have misunderstood. Shaking her head, she glanced questioningly at Paola.
“He say he go to his familia. They all dead. He wants go to them.” The motherly woman leaned down and gently caressed Felipe’s ashen cheek, bringing a weak smile from the barely conscious youth. “He is age of my Mateo, Berto’s brother we lose,” Paola added in a choked voice. Tears trickled from her dark eyes.
Josie’s own eyes stung. Picking up Felipe’s clammy hand, she wrapped both of hers around his and tried to ignore the thunderous battle going on outside. A few minutes later, the young man breathed his last. Bowing her head, she said a silent prayer for him, that he might be reunited with his family. Then she laid his cold hand on his chest, rose with a shaky sigh and walked to the door.
“Señorita Josie, you no go out,” Paola protested, shaking her head and waving her hands side to side.
Josie smiled at her. “I have to, my friend.” Drawing Gabriel’s gun from her waistband, she slipped out, closing the door quietly behind her.
The bunkhouse stood at an angle to the canyon mouth. By creeping to the end of the porch closest to the opening, she had a view of the trail’s end. Peeking around the corner, she noted the smugglers’ positions as they exchanged shots with Gabriel and his men. One lay dead. The rest hid behind rock outcroppings at the canyon mouth. She estimated there were a dozen, maybe more, altogether.
Seeing Gabriel crouched by the corral with Javier, using the rocky fence for cover, she ducked back into the shadow of the porch roof. He was going to be furious at her for disobeying his order to stay inside. Let him be. She refused to cower away like a scared rabbit while he risked his life to protect her.
Taking a breath, she stuck her head out, aimed at where the invaders were bottled up and fired when one showed himself long enough to pop off a shot. The man screamed and toppled over. Josie instantly ducked back, but not before Gabriel spotted her.
“Josie, go back inside!” he roared as a volley of gunshots rang out, bullets slamming into the end wall of the bunkhouse or whizzing past her.
“No!” she hollered back, throwing herself flat on the porch floor. “You need all the help you can get.”
“Damn, woman! You will get yourself killed.”
“Shut up and shoot, Valdez!” Taking her own advice, she squeezed off another shot but missed. Aiming was more difficult lying on her stomach, with bullets flying overhead. And she had no extra ammo. She needed to make every shot count.