“I’m cold.”
“Really? You look hot to me. Sort of feverish, your face is flushed,” she pointed out serenely.
“That’s anger, little cat, pure, unadulterated anger.” He pulled the shirts off over his head and crammed them inside the saddlebag, mumbling beneath his breath the entire time.
“Are you speaking Pygmy again?”
“Damned right.” His entire body was stiff with impotent fury.
Lacey giggled again then sobered when he flashed a furious look at her. “You’re starting to look like a wooden Indian.”
“You think this is funny? We’ll see how funny it is when you’re looking at me through cell bars.”
Lacey’s shoulders tautened, but she gave no reply. She wasn’t going to argue with him about that. She wasn’t worried about going to jail. She had other, more important concerns at the moment. “What are you doing?” she asked tensely.
It suddenly dawned on her that Danger was saddling a horse, and he must have the insane idea she was going to ride the fierce stallion with him.
Danger whirled around to face her. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing? We’re getting out of here. I’m tired of this little game you’ve been playing.”
Lacey’s thoughts raced in frantic overdrive. God, she couldn’t ride a horse. She was terrified of horses. She’d never conquered her fear after being thrown when she was a child. Her left arm had been so badly broken it had taken two operations and months to heal. She still remembered the agony she’d gone through.
She hadn’t been back on a horse since. No way in hell was she riding now, and especially not this ferocious-looking animal with his equally ferociouslooking master.
A scowl pleated her forehead. She didn’t trust this man who alternated between hostility, kindness and sex-on-the-hoof in equal turns. Didn’t want her to touch him, but lay down beside her shirtless and her barely clothed.
But worse than all of this was the fact she hated like hell to admit to him she was scared of his damn horse. She, who was stubborn and bullheaded to a fault and wasn’t afraid of anything. Well, except for wild-eyed raccoons. She, who prided herself on having nerves of steel, could never verbally admit to being afraid of anything. Could she?
Lacey tried desperately to come up with some excuse not to ride with him, but nothing came to mind.
By the time Danger packed all the gear and loaded the two packhorses with a fierceness that made her nauseous, Lacey had managed to conceal her fear behind a bland facade. Covering her lack of nerve behind a wall of uncooperative silence, she bravely decided not to protest riding the demon horse from Hell.
Maybe Danger would change his mind. Yeah, and maybe Hell would freeze over and they could both go ice-skating.
Damn his soul.
He stood there cool as could be, motioning for her to climb up on the rumbling, fire breathing giant. Lacey glanced at the horse and shuddered. The fires of Hell gleamed in the stallion’s demonic, blood-red eyes. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear its eyes glowed with pure evil and smoke belched from its nostrils. Demon horse. That’s what it was. Like its master. She took a step back, shaking her head fiercely. She just couldn’t do it. She wasn’t that brave.
“Come on, Lacey. Now that I’ve provided your entertainment for the morning, let’s go. We don’t have all day,” he said impatiently. “More rain is on its way. We have to get away from this creek.”
Lacey shook her head again, sending the braid cascading across her shoulder. The silken weave rippled with a fiery life of its own in the early morning sunlight.
Danger curled his fingers into his palms to keep from reaching out for her. There was an odd light of vulnerability on her face. What little color she had, had leached away. She looked like a piece of white chalk as she stood there looking as if she was about ready to pass out again. Her gold eyes, huge and round, glittered with feverish horror.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quietly.
“Nothing,” Lacey shouted. “Just leave me alone.”
Her hands were clenched into tiny, impotent fists. Rebellion and defiance marched across her face as she threw him a look meant to make him drop like a dead fly.
“Leave you alone?” Danger’s lips tightened. “Lady, I’d be more than happy to accommodate you, but even I, savage that I am, can’t leave you here alone to fend for yourself.” He drew in a deep breath. “Now get your butt in gear, and get on this horse so we can get out of here, before you bring another disaster down on our heads, like an earthquake to go along with the flood.”
Lacey flipped her long braid across her shoulder. “Ah, a savage with a sense of humor. Ha!”
“I’m fast losing it. Now get on the damn horse.”
Danger started toward her in slow, precise steps, determined to pick her up and throw her on Diablo, if necessary.
Panic shot through Lacey. Frustrated and frightened, she gave Danger a wide berth then backed up three steps. “Stay away from me, lawman, I give you one warning only, then I’ll—”
“What? Shoot me? Handcuff me? Strip me?”
“Now there’s a thought.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.” He took another step toward her. “I’m not in the habit of making the same mistake twice. It’ll be a cold day in hell before you get the drop on me again.”
Lacey whirled and took off at an unsteady run.
“Hey,” Danger exploded. Swearing, he took off in hot pursuit. “Damn, crazy woman!”
Danger caught the long braid flying out behind her and gave it a sharp yank. She yelped and spun around so quickly he barely had time to duck the wild swing she took at him.
“What in the name of God is the matter with you? Every time I get near you, you kick me in the balls, pull a gun on me or hurl on me. Can you cut me a little slack here?”
He glared at her, his chest rising and falling with ragged breaths. “I swear you’re crazier than a piss ant with its brain in backwards.”
Lacey blinked. A piss ant with its brain in backwards?
Where in the hell did he come up with these things to compare her to? She slapped her hands on her hips. “Whoever heard of a piss ant with its brain in backwards? For that matter, who ever heard of a piss ant with a brain?”
“Me.”
Lacey snorted. “You’re the only one.”
Danger scowled at her pale face. A fine sheen of perspiration dotted Lacey’s upper lip. Every ounce of color had bled from her face. She looked like a corpse, for Christ’s sake. For a moment she stood before him, her body swayed like a dead leaf in a storm. “What is wrong with you?”
At last, she dropped her head against his heaving chest. Soft sobs racked her slender frame. “I can’t ride that—that thing,” she spluttered.
“That thing?” Half the time he had no idea what she was talking about. The woman had a unique way of driving him crazy.
“Yeah. That—that big, furry beast.”
“Diablo?” Incredulity rang in his voice. “You’re referring to my horse as a big, furry beast?” Torn between laughter and despair, Danger wasn’t quite sure how to handle this situation. Helplessly, he stared at her bowed head.
The nape of her pale neck invited his touch. His fingers itched. He curled them into the palm of his hand. God, but she had a way of touching his soul. Involuntarily, he gently raised her head, his thumb idly brushing across the fullness of her bottom lip.
Lacey backed away from his touch. Sliding her tongue along her dry lips, she watched him, uneasiness clouding her eyes.
Fascinated, Danger frowned as he correctly read the fear on her face. “Look, honey, you’re going to have to trust me, in all things. I can control Diablo. I would never allow you to be hurt by him. Besides, he’s a perfect gentleman when it comes to a lady riding him. Come on, sweetheart. I’m not kidding when I tell you we have to leave here and soon.”
Lacey shook her head and backed up a step.
“Come on, little ca
t, there’s no way in hell I’ll ever believe you’re afraid of that bag of bones. You’re not afraid of anything. You have more courage in your little finger than most men I know have in their entire body.”
Careful not to make any sudden moves that would frighten her, he held out his hand and waited patiently for her to place herself and her trust in his care.
She hesitated.
Come on, sweetheart. Trust me. Just once, trust me.
He hadn’t realized how a moment’s hesitation could cut so deeply. Swallowing back the ache, he asked huskily, “Will you trust me?”
Danger studied her pallor. Christ, but she was driving him insane. She had a way of getting beneath his skin, and like most things that burrowed into one’s flesh, once embedded, it was nearly impossible to remove. He didn’t seem to have any control over anything anymore, least of all, her.
He snorted. Hell, since having the misfortune of meeting up with her he’d lost his capacity to even think straight. He was like a piss ant with its brain in backwards. So how could he possibly control the situation?
To his surprise, she placed a trembling hand in his. Danger swallowed the painful lump lodged in his throat and led her slowly toward Diablo. “Let him get your scent. Don’t be afraid. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Lacey hesitated. Danger pressed her palm against the stallion’s side. “Talk to him, sweetheart. He won’t hurt you. I promise.”
She slid the inner surface of her hand down the stallion’s face, jumped when Diablo snorted and tried to chew on her hair. The big stallion pawed the ground with one hoof and nudged Lacey with his wide head. Lacey’s startled laughter surrounded them. “I think he likes me,” she whispered softly.
“What isn’t there to like?”
“What?” Lacey scratched between Diablo’s ears and turned curious eyes on Danger. “Are you speaking Pygmy again?”
“Seems like it’s become my second language.”
She laughed.
“Are you ready? Because I damn sure am.”
I’m hard as a brick, and if you keep stroking that damn horse, I’m going to explode.
Abruptly, Danger lifted her onto the back of Diablo. Lacey gave a strangled sound and grabbed for the reins lying across the saddle. “Damn you, I wasn’t ready.”
“You’re on him, aren’t you?” Danger swung up in front of her. “But I’m warning you, little cat, if you throw up on my horse, we’re parting ways. I don’t take that from anyone and neither does Diablo.”
Lacey’s giggle shot straight to his heart.
At that moment, Danger Blackstone lost the battle and became hers.
In The Arms Of Danger
Chapter Sixteen
Sex is a misdemeanor. The more you miss, the meaner you get.
Mae West
Montana Backcountry Sun.10:00 a.m.
It didn’t take long for Lacey to decide that being afraid of Diablo was foolish. Riding behind Danger gave her the perfect opportunity, and excuse, to wrap her arms around the sleek muscles of his waist.
Ahh. Now this was pure perfection. Her fingers curled and itched to trace the ridged abs beneath his shirt. She didn’t think feigning a dizzy spell would let her get by with tracing her fingertips along the hard muscles.
So far, she hadn’t had to worry about what Danger thought of her forwardness. After all, frequent dizzy spells bombarded her. She could get by clinging to him. She decided she might not be in such a hurry to escape him after all or get well.
Lacey watched, with acute interest, the play of muscles quivering in his ropy biceps as he held the reins in his powerful grip. His thighs rippled with each movement the steed made beneath them. Her palms grew moist with sweat and burned to touch him in a most intimate way.
How peculiar. The mere thought created an assortment of sensations that was acutely arousing. He’d already cradled her through the night, so why did she ache to be held in his muscular arms now? Duh. So he’d held her before, she’d been too ill to appreciate it then.
Waking up this morning to discover him watching her with that ravenous expression on his face had both excited and frightened her. He’d looked like a starving man who’d discovered a delicious banquet spread before him, and he could have his choice of rich, creamy desserts as an added incentive.
“Where are we going?” Lacey asked abruptly as she suddenly realized Danger had turned in the opposite direction of where she now knew Rimrock lay.
“According to the last set of tire tracks I saw, you were headed west before you turned to cross the creek bed. I figure that must be the direction you want to go. The flood washed you miles to the south. Lucky for you I knew the path the high waters would take.”
A smile played around her lips, but Danger couldn’t see her face. “Yes,” she said softly, “but we’re headed north. I want to go west.” Pressing her face against his wide back, she continued. “I have a campsite to the west, although I don’t think it’s on this side of the creek. Once we get back across and I get my bearings, I’ll show you where the murder took place. It was less than a quarter of a mile from my camp.”
Danger twisted around in the saddle, his brows drawn together in a quizzical frown. “I thought you didn’t know where it happened?”
Had she lied to him? If so, how many other lies had she told him?
Lacey sighed. “I didn’t know in Rimrock. I don’t know from here, either. Once I’m back to the familiar, I’ll know.”
“I hate to rain on your parade, darlin’, but getting back across isn’t going to happen. Those flood waters are just getting started. I’m taking us to Jace Remington’s ranch, the Dancing Star. It’s to the northeast. You need a doctor.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as Danger faced forward again. Damn. She had to get back to the campsite. All her identification was there. If the killer found it first, she’d never be free of him. She couldn’t let that happen.
It was nearly noon when they finally halted for a break. Lacey was certain it was the pounding rain that forced Danger to stop and seek shelter, instead of the urgent need for food. He’d located a rocky ledge big enough for the two of them and a stand of trees clumped close enough together to give the horses some shelter. The problem was they were all already soaked to the bone and shivering.
Danger lifted her from the saddle and steadied her for a moment before releasing her. He looked around, eyeing the area.
“What is it?” Lacey inquired, having noticed him searching the area with keen eyes.
“Nothing.”
She frowned. “I have a feeling your nothings might be something.”
“Uh-huh. You just watch your step when you go behind the bushes. I’ll build a fire so we can get dry.”
Lacey nodded and headed toward the clump of bushes he pointed at.
“Hey.”
Lacey paused and turned back. She barely had time to catch the rifle he tossed toward her. “Take it with you.”
She eyed the rifle with distaste, but held on to it anyway. One never knew what was hiding in the bushes but she couldn’t believe he’d trusted her with a gun.
“It only has one bullet in it. I don’t think you’d waste it on me,” he said as if reading her mind. “If you see something you’re afraid of, shoot in the air. That should scare it away.”
Lacey nodded, gave a small salute and vanished from sight behind the bushes.
“Watch out for snakes,” he yelled, grinning at the sound of her startled squeal coming from the bushes.
“That’s not funny!”
Danger laughed softly. The rusty sound of his laughter surprised him. How long had it been since he’d shared a simple thing like laughter with someone? With a woman?
Too long.
He sighed. Lacey’s demand for a personal relief break had been a Godsend. The soft brush of her firm breasts against his back all morning had driven him slowly insane. His control dangled by a thread thinner than a strand of hair. One more jiggle of her breasts against him
and his cock was going to explode. He turned his face toward the heavens.
I need a little mercy, here.
A scowl darkened his face as he turned and watched Lacey looking down and stepping cautiously through the grass and weeds as she headed toward him, the rifle cradled in her arms like a baby. She looked up and froze. Her mouth gaped and all her color drained from her in one smooth leaching of the flesh.
He thought for a moment she was having another one of her dizzy spells and was going to pass out. He started to stand up from where he squatted to build a fire.
In The Arms Of Danger Page 20