Endless Heart: Heart, Book 3

by Emma Lang

  Shane was right behind her, fully expecting to feel the burn of a bullet in the back, but nothing happened. No shouts, no gunfire, no bullets. Shane and Lettie kept running deeper into the trees, faster and faster, until everything was a green blur. Branches whipped at them, roots reached up and tried to trip them, but still they ran.

  Shane kept going until a stitch in his side hurt so bad, he could hardly get a breath in. He stopped and leaned against a tree, feebly wheezing her name. Lettie slowed to a stop, her bare feet crunching pine needles and oak leaves. She was breathing hard, her hair was in a frizzy halo, and strands stuck to the sweat on her face and neck. She limped as she walked toward him, and he wondered how her legs felt.

  He was sure he looked a hell of a lot worse than she did, but it didn’t matter. They had gotten away from the three morons, and if they were lucky, they would find their way to a town. He held up his hand and leaned against the tree, trying to catch his breath before he fell over in a heap.

  She paced in a circle around the trees, her gaze straying to him over and over. Her breathing was normal long before his, and yet she said nothing. She obviously chose to love a man who couldn’t run a couple miles without almost killing himself. The whiskey had nearly destroyed him inside and out. Plus he had been beaten twice in the last month. Lots of excuses, but none were important. He could only get better than who he was from now on.

  The stitch finally receded from his side, and he was able to take in a deep breath. “We should get moving again. Buster followed us from Forestville for the money. He’s not going to give it or us up that easily.”

  She ran her hands across her hair to try to tame it. He was startled to notice the condition of her fingers. They were red and bloodied, covered with scabs. His heart ached for what she’d put herself through to untie him, and all without saying a word of how much agony it caused her.

  “Your fingers.”

  She glanced at them. “I’ve had worse.”

  “Not because of me.”

  “Oh don’t think this was all because of you. I wanted to get out of there as bad as you.” She put her hands behind her back. “Besides, I ain’t got dainty feminine hands. I’ve had worse wounds than that. They’ll heal.”

  “It doesn’t matter if they’ll heal. You did that for me.” He tugged at her arms until he could see her hands again. One by one, he gently kissed each fingertip. She was the roughest diamond he’d ever encountered, but she was by far the most brilliant, dazzling, valuable treasure in the world.

  “I didn’t have anything better to do.”

  With a chuckle, he hugged her tight. When he let her go, he kissed her forehead, tasting the salt of her exertion. “How are your legs?”

  “They hurt something powerful when I first started running. I think they’re numb now. Standing still is making it worse.” Her expression was one of controlled discomfort. He wished they could find a nice comfortable bed for a week and not come out until all their wounds, physical and emotional, were healed.

  “We should get going.”

  “I ain’t the one who had to stop.” She gently touched the back of her thighs and hissed out a breath. “I need to get moving.”

  “What direction is Benson?”

  “West. By my guess we were less than an hour from there by wagon.”

  “If we’re lucky, that gives us less than an hour before Buster realizes we got away.” Shane peered around them, noting they were heading north. “Do you know if there’s a town close by?”

  She shook her head. “I ain’t left Forestville more than twice in a year, and both times we went to Benson.”

  “If we go east and head back home, he’ll find us easy. Let’s take a chance and keep heading in this direction then.” He knew it was a risk to go on blindly, but they couldn’t go south, or they would go back to the road, perhaps find the men waiting for them. This seemed to be the best choice, the only choice.

  “What if we don’t find a town?” She didn’t sound scared, simply matter-of-fact.

  “Then we keep going.” He didn’t want to walk for days; she probably couldn’t. However they would do what they had to survive. It wasn’t a choice but a matter of necessity.

  “We’ll need to find food and fresh water.” She cocked her head and listened. “I don’t hear any, but we may run across some.”

  “Sounds like you’ve done this before.”

  She didn’t smile. “I’ve run and been chased like a rabbit. I know how to survive.”

  He had been a soldier, knew what it meant to survive and not only exist. Shane hadn’t been chased like a rabbit, but he had been scared enough to feel like one. Considering the dire circumstances that generally accompanied them, a person never forgot survival skills.

  “Then let’s go.”

  They started running again, this time at a moderate pace that he could keep and that wouldn’t cause her too much pain. Shane had no idea what they’d find, but they were on their way. The woods were cool, letting only dappled sunlight through. The only noises were their footsteps crackling through the heavy layer of pine needles, sticks and leaves. Occasionally a bird tweeted or a squirrel chattered.

  Another half an hour passed in silence before Lettie came to a stop. She was breathing hard and sweat ran down her face, staining her brown dress under the arms and breasts. She’d never looked better to him.

  “I hear water.”

  “Thank God, because I’m parched.” He sucked in air, disturbed that he didn’t hear the water. She must have hearing like a bat.

  “To the left.” She walked slowly and deliberately. He realized she was keeping her approach as quiet as possible.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Shush.”

  She went around the side of a big clump of bushes and disappeared. Shane walked where she had, respecting the fact she wanted to be silent. He found her standing beside a small creek, watching the water flow past.

  He stopped beside her. “What are you doing?”

  “I reckon you haven’t spent much time in the woods.”

  “Mostly lived on the plains, on a farm. In the war, I did what they told me to. I didn’t have to do the finding or nothing.” Soldiering was hard, and he had hated it. He could build a fire, chop wood, plant a field, milk a cow but hadn’t had to search for fresh water in the forest. There weren’t many forests like this in the plains where he grew up.

  “When you find water, you need to be sure it’s safe. If there are critters about or have been here, it’s drinkable. If too many of them are using it to shit in and around, you don’t want to be drinking it.” She pointed to tracks in the mud. “Those are raccoon tracks, and over there is likely a bobcat.”

  “Good or bad?” He had no idea there was so much that went in to figuring out if he could drink water or not. His mouth watered at the sight of the creek, and he sure as hell didn’t want to wait much longer.

  “Good.” She got to her knees gently with a grimace, then she scooped up a handful of water and slurped it. “It tastes good too.”

  Shane didn’t wait a second longer. He almost stuck his head in the creek, drinking great gulps of water. His stomach cramped, protesting the gorging. He lay back on the carpet of leaves, trying like hell not to bring the water back up.

  She hovered over him. “If you puke on me again, I might have to punch you, Murphy.”

  He laughed, albeit with a bit of pain. “I’m sorry. I was so damn thirsty. I forgot how sick I was gonna get.”

  “I drank my fill and you obviously did. We need to go.” Her mouth drew down into a frown. “I don’t want to be anyplace they might be looking for us.”

  Shane had forgotten for one blessed minute that they were running because of the threat from Buster and his men. Sitting there and smiling at her, alone, was reminiscent of their time in the stream earlier that day. He ached to be back there, making love to her in the cool flow of water.

  He got to his feet and blew out a breath. “Your legs?�
�

  She shrugged. “Bearable.”

  That one word was full of meaning, so much so he couldn’t sort through it. Now that he knew what she’d endured in her life, bearable was more than likely completely unbearable for most people.

  “If it gets to be too much, tell me. The sun is starting to go down. It will be pure dark soon. We need to find shelter.” His stomach grumbled, and he wished they still had the basket of food from the restaurant. He might be able to get a rabbit after they found a place to spend the night. “I can carry you.”

  She made a scoffing sound, and without a word she started walking with a significant limp. The woman had been running on wounded legs for an hour or more. Now she was refusing his help, when she could hardly stay upright. Stubborn wench.

  Well he could not talk too. Shane needed to be a man, and that meant doing what needed to be done. He caught up to her, and before she could protest, scooped her into his arms and starting running. When it was only his weight, he struggled, but with her depending on him, he felt like he could run to Utah and back.

  “Put me down.”

  “We had this conversation, Lettie. I ain’t putting you down, so shut up and let me do what I gotta do.”

  She made all kinds of noises, grumbles, curses, snorts and dramatic sighs, but she didn’t struggle against his hold. He was glad of it, since he didn’t have the breath to argue with her. For once, Shane felt in control around her. A fleeting experience, but it felt damn good.

  Sweat trickled down every surface of his body, even his nose, but he kept going. They would have to stop soon or he might just kill both of them when he collapsed.

  “There, beneath the leaves.” She squinted ahead and pointed. “I see something shiny, like a window.”

  He slowed down and headed in the direction she pointed. By the time they got close, he recognized the outline of a shack. The forest had begun to swallow the building. The leaves and trees hung over the roof, covering it almost completely.

  Shane set Lettie down in a soft patch of grass and went to explore the cabin. “I need your knife.”

  With a grimace, she pulled it from the scabbard and handed it to him. He could almost feel her complaints at being left behind, but she probably couldn’t walk if she wanted to.

  The door was open an inch, but vines had grown in and around the frame. Surprisingly the window was intact, if not filthier than him. He used her knife to cut away the leaves and branches and clear the door, then the window, as best he could. It took a good five minutes of yanking before it opened enough for him to get through.

  The inside smelled dusty and deserted, but dry. Someone had spent time putting down a wood floor, which now heaved up in various places. The cabin was no more than fifteen foot wide in any direction, but it had been well made a very long time ago. Weak sunlight filtered through the dirty window. There was a broken chair but otherwise no furniture. The chair could be firewood, and the dust could be swept aside with a branch of leaves. It was perfect.

  Lettie gritted her teeth. Her legs throbbed in a steady beat with her pulse, which rushed past her ears. Thump, thump, thump. There wasn’t a part of her that didn’t hurt in some way. Aches, pains and bruises she could usually ignore. The stabbing agony in her legs was not so easy to ignore.

  She wouldn’t tell Shane, but she’d been grateful when he picked her up and carried her, to the point where she almost wept happy tears. That surely would have been something. Walking or running any farther was impossible. She would have done it because she had to. She was grateful she didn’t. The shack they found was a lucky coincidence. It was well hidden in the trees. Someone like Buster wasn’t smart enough to notice it there. She hoped.

  After a few minutes of sitting, she was glad not to be bouncing in Shane’s arms. That didn’t mean she hurt any less, but she wasn’t hurting any more. The forest was full of nature, crickets were singing, frogs croaking and there were a few birds still chirping.

  A small bird hopped toward her, its head cocked. Closer and closer it moved until she could see it was a sparrow. She stared at the bird, hoping like hell it was a coincidence. A sparrow? It had to mean nothing or would mean everything. The feather from her pillow sat nestled in the chest of drawers at home.

  Lettie closed her eyes, unable to think straight. Later she would try to puzzle out the sparrow and the damn feather. For now, she leaned against the trunk of the tree and shut her eyes to rest.

  When Shane appeared in front of her, she was startled. He smiled and picked her up again. She had gotten used to him being shirtless, but touching his bare skin still brought a tiny thrill. “I didn’t want to wake you, but the shack is dry and a good place to rest and stay the night.”

  She glanced around, surprised to see time had passed since she’d thought about the peacefulness of the forest. “I fell asleep?”

  “Yep, I believe you did. It gave me time to clean up a little and put together a bed for us.” He turned sideways and carried her into the shack. The light was murky, but it was enough to see what was there.

  Lettie couldn’t explain it, but she felt safe inside it. The perfectly square building held nothing but a bed made of large green leaves in the middle of it and a broken chair. Yet it welcomed her and gave her a sense of belonging. How that was possible, she didn’t know. There were a lot of things that had happened in the last month she couldn’t explain, and likely never would.

  He set her on the bed of cool green leaves. He’d made it a few inches thick, and it was quite comfortable. Shane reached behind him and came up with a leaf full of berries of different sizes. Her stomach rumbled loud and long. He laughed and put the leaf in her lap.

  “Eat.”

  There he was ordering her around again. At the moment, she was too hungry to tell him not to do it again, so she dug into the berries. The flavor burst in her mouth, and she greedily ate every one of them. Shane watched her with a grin playing around his lips.

  She narrowed her eyes. “Did you give me all the food?”

  “No, I ate as I picked. Didn’t find one rabbit out there, which was okay because I couldn’t find anything to start a fire.” He shrugged. “I went searching for what we could eat. There are berry bushes all around the cabin, heavy with fruit. I can get more if you’re still hungry.” There was the grin again.

  “Then why are you smiling?”

  His grin grew wider. “You have berry juice all over your face.”

  Her first instinct was to scrub it off with her sleeve. Instead, she thrust up her chin and challenged him. “Then clean me up.”

  His brows went up. “Is that an order?”

  “I thought I’d return yours in kind.”

  He got to his feet and bowed. “As you wish, my lady.”

  My lady.

  Was she his lady? She sure as hell wanted to be his lady. Neither one of them would find a mate as perfect if they searched for a hundred years. He was her man, and that fact would never change no matter what happened.

  “I found a short waterfall behind the cabin, with a small pool beneath it. Only about a foot deep and three feet wide, but the water seemed clean. I need to find something to carry water in.” He knelt beside her, cupped her face and kissed her senseless. His tongue traced the outline of her mouth, then delved inside to dance with hers. Sweet, hot, wet kisses she could drown in.

  When he pulled away, her heart was beating hard for a very different reason, and damned if her nipples weren’t aching to be touched and her pussy wet in anticipation.

  “You taste good, Lettie.” He kissed all around her mouth, punctuated with little licks.

  “You kiss good, Shane.” Her voice was breathy. She wanted more. She wanted to feel him inside her again, filling her, bringing her the most exquisite pleasure she’d never known existed.

  How crazy to want to be with him. She could barely walk, was covered in sweat and dirt, yet she needed him. He seemed to understand, and his expression softened.

  “Let me get some wate
r and I can wash you up.”

  “Hate to tell you, Murphy, but you need to wash too.”

  He glanced down at his bare, dirty chest. “I probably stink too.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything.”

  He grinned and kissed her again, hard and fast. “I’ll be right back.”

  Lettie lay back on the leaves, surprised by how comfortable they were. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she let herself drift. Although they were being chased, were running for their lives, she felt safe with Shane. Safe enough to fall asleep.

  The next time she woke, shadows had overtaken the cabin. Lettie panicked for a moment before she felt a warm body beside hers and recognized his scent.

  Shane.

  The entire day came flooding back at her, filled with emotion, danger, love, pleasure, fear and acceptance. It was a day she could never forget. Her life had changed in the last twenty-four hours, of that she was certain. What the future held was uncertain. She knew she wanted to be with Shane, and he seemed to want to be with her.

  They were lost, in the middle of a forest in Wyoming, without food, water, shoes or a shirt for him to wear. Her wounds were waking up too. They needed doctoring besides Shane’s field dressing. She should be tied in knots with worry, but lying there beside him in the tiny cabin, she felt calm. It was pure magic the way they fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. Comfortable, safe, perfect.

  She must have made a noise or perhaps he sensed she was awake because he spoke into the gloom.

  “Lettie?”

  “I’m here.” She couldn’t imagine being anyplace else.

  “Are you feeling okay? Do you need anything?”

  She chuckled into the darkness. “You sound like Marta.”

  “I hope you don’t get us confused.”

  Lettie laughed this time. “I reckon that won’t happen.”

  “Good, because I don’t want you kissing her accidentally.” Shane’s breath was warm against her cheek.

  “That ain’t a possibility.” She turned her head until she thought she was face-to-face with him. “I only want to kiss you.”

  His lips found hers, a little to the left, but he corrected it and kissed her softly. “And I only want to kiss you.”