Cupping her with his hands, he pulled her down harder against him as his strokes quickened. As his hardness filled her even more deeply, it touched that innermost part of herself that she had only recently discovered, that which knew the wonders of fulfilled longings . . .
Again Shane kissed her.
He tingled in anticipation, yet fought to go more slowly, to savor the swimming sensations that loving her always caused within him. He reverently breathed her name against her parted mouth; his lips brushed her throat.
Melanie was aware of how Shane's body suddenly hardened and tightened. She knew that his release was near. As his mouth came down over hers demandingly, his fierce, fevered kiss triggered a fire in her. She abandoned herself to the wondrous ecstasy flooding her senses. She trembled,
her hands moving over the slope of his hard jaw, through the shock of his golden hair.
With quick, eager fingers, Shane cupped Melanie's breasts. As the peak he had sought was reached, he held his head back and emitted a loud cry that filled the dark void of the night.
Melanie clung to him as he shuddered violently into her. She closed her eyes, lost to everything but rapture.
Breathing hard, Shane lifted Melanie from his lap. Gently, he draped the blanket around her shoulders again. He gazed down upon her, trying to hide his torn emotions from her astute eyes. Although she had just shown again how much she loved him, and he had discovered anew how important she was to him, Shane was troubled about their future. It had disturbed him terribly to have to steal into the Indian village like an enemy. The more he thought about it, the more he resented Gray Falcon for denying him his rights.
He had cut his hair to prove something to Gray Falcon, but had the act proven anything to Shane? Could he ever truly conform to this new life he had chosen?
He wanted tobut only for Melanie.
Should he allow a woman to be that important to him? And what of her welfare? Hadn't she been drawn into Gray Falcon's vendetta against Shane? Would it be best to take her safely home, then go on his way, alone? He had brought nothing into Melanie's life but confusion.
And wasn't it time to settle this thing with Trapper Dan?
Sensing that Shane was troubled, Melanie touched his cheek in a soft caress. "Darling, please tell me what's wrong," she murmured. "Perhaps I can help. I owe you so much, Shane. Because of you"
Shane gently covered her mouth with his hand. "You owe me nothing," he said, devouring her face with his eyes, memorizing her for all lonely nights of his future. "It is I who owe you. You have given me so much. I, in truth, have given you so little in return. Only confusion and danger!"
Melanie crept into his arms, her blanket dropping away from her. "Oh, Shane, how can you say that?" she asked softly, placing her cheek to his bare, solid chest. "You have given me a direction in my lifea true reason for my existence. Until you came, I was only half a person. Now I'm whole. I awaken each day with a song on my lips. Darling, you are that song. You are my life."
Guilt sprang forth within Shane for even thinking of abandoning her. She would never understand. She would never forgive him!
"I love you so, Melanie," he whispered, his breath hot on her ear. "Always remember that."
Melanie stiffened. She drew slowly away from him and gazed up at him questioningly. "Shane, you say that as though there is a double meaning to it," she murmured. "Why, Shane? Why?"
To change the subject, Shane once more pulled the blanket up around her shoulders. "I'm sorry if I seem distant," he apologized. He thought fast, trying to hide his true thoughts from her. "But I have something that lies heavy on my mind and
heart." He glanced over at her. "You remember the trapper? The one who killed Cedar Maid? The one who stole from my mother after she was killed in the massacre?"
Melanie's insides went cold. Again she was reminded of having seen a man in St. Paul who fit the trapper's description. She had chosen not to tell Shane about the man. Had she been wrong?
"Yes, I recall the man," she said, her voice drawn.
"Melanie, I saw him yesterday," Shane said, raking his fingers through his hair.
Melanie tensed. "You did?" she said guardedly. "Where?"
Shane looked over at her, torment in his eyes. "He lives near our adjoining farms," he told her. "He sets traps for animals in the forest. He lives with an Indian woman!"
Melanie gasped. "What are you going to do?" she asked.
"I will take you home, then make plans for the trapper that will finally give my heart peace," he said, staring gloomily into space. "But I must spare the woman. She is not at fault for the evil the man has done."
Melanie could not help but think back to how she had found Cedar Maid, her brown eyes fixed in death. She shuddered at the thought, then looked slowly at Shane. "This Indian woman," she murmured. "Was she paid for also with a bride price?"
Shane nodded. "I am sure of it."
Melanie shuddered again, finding it hard to
envision any woman willingly marrying the man that she had seen. His vile stench and wild appearance had turned her stomach.
Shane crept an arm around her waist. He urged her to her feet and offered her her clothes. "It is time to travel onward," he said, again looking toward the sky. "The storm has passed. Soon the sky will be lightening with dawn."
Melanie hurried into her clothes that were still damp, but thankfully not clinging wet. A great uneasiness swept through her. She did not like Shane's mood. What did he have planned for Trapper Dan?
Why must he place himself in danger againand again, and again?
Chapter Twenty-six
Having worried about Shane the whole night, Melanie hurried into a long-sleeved blouse, a heavy riding skirt, and a buckskin jacket. She left her house without eating breakfast and walked determinedly toward the men who were milling around outside the bunkhouse, drinking coffee.
''Boys, I think I've got to ask for volunteers again," she said. The chill morning air stung her nose and the wind lifted her hair from her shoulders, whipping it around her face. "Shane Brennan is still without cowhands. Until more are found, he needs help at his farm. Chores are going undone now. That can't continue for much longer or the whole farm is going to suffer."
A coldness seized her when she saw most of the men turn their eyes to the ground, ignoring her.
Then she understood the reason why. Terrance was suddenly there at her side, looking down at her with utter contempt.
"What the hell are you doing, sis?" Terrance said in a controlled voice.
"You don't really have to ask, do you?" Melanie said, turning to talk up into his face. "And you're darn well going to try to stop me, aren't you?"
Terrance waved a hand into the air toward the men. "All of you get to work!" he shouted. "There's been enough horsing around here the past few days to last a lifetime! What are you getting paid for? Damn it, get to work!"
Melanie stared at the men as they splashed the remainder of their coffee from their tin cups onto the ground and walked away, grumbling beneath their breaths.
She then turned and stared angrily up at Terrance. "Why do you have to be soso mean?" she asked incredulously. "Terrance, you know as well as I that we can spare a few of the men. If not for Shane, at least think of Josh. Josh still owns a portion of the farm. He'll suffer losses, as well as Shane."
Terrance's lips lifted into a smug smile as he challenged her with a set stare, then turned and sauntered away from her.
Melanie's temper flared even hotter, and she rushed to him and grabbed him by an arm, stopping him.
"You hope they do lose the farm, don't you?" Melanie accused him. "You want to be there to take it off their hands, don't you? You won't even
have to force Josh on me anymore. That won't be necessary. You will have the farm and an unwed sister, to boot!"
She dropped her hand away from him. "Well, brother dear, you will find that you are wrong on both counts," she said. "Your sister is going to be married, but to the m
an you would least want her to marry! And I won't allow you to force the Brennan farm into bankruptcy. I'll do anything I can to stop you!"
She turned and began running toward the stable. She had to get to Shane and encourage him to go into town today and hire himself a new crew. Not one more day should be allowed to pass without filling his pasture with men branding the longhorns, herding the cows, and repairing the fences!
Even if she had to go into town herself and do the hiring, it would be done!
Quickly saddling her horse, Melanie swung herself up onto it and rode away. She looked at the sky, thankful for the rising sun giving warmth to the air. She looked ahead, seeing no smoke rising from the Brennan chimneys. Had the house servants also fled?
She damned Josh beneath her breath.
His head throbbing, his tongue thick, Gray Falcon awakened from his drunken stupor. Blue Blossom was still at his side, asleep. The morning light was pouring in through the smokehole in the ceiling.
Turning to rise, Gray Falcon stopped short and
stared at something that had fallen from his hands. He stared unblinkingly at the floss of hair that lay golden against the dark bear pelts. He reached his fingers to it and touched it.
"Golden hair . . . ?" he said, running his fingers over the hair. "How did it . . . ?"
Then his gaze moved quickly upward. Now that he was coming out of his drunken state, he remembered his captive. His eyes darted around the dark recesses of the wigwam and his gut twisted when he saw that Melanie was nowhere in sight. She was gone! She had escaped!
Again he looked down at the hair. A slow, lazy smile lifted his lips. "Shane," he whispered. "He came. He stole his woman away from me. He cut his hair and left it for me to find. He is clever! He is even more cunning than I!"
He rose into a sitting position and lifted the hair up into his hands. His smile faded, knowing that Shane had cut his hair for more than one reason. It was a way of showing Gray Falcon that Shane had severed his ties with the Chippewa forever!
A pang of regret stung Gray Falcon's heart. Were the games, the challenges with Shane truly over? Now that they seemed to be, Gray Falcon was not at all happy. There would now be a void in his life, and he was sorry now that he had forced Shane's hand.
Perhaps he should offer a truce to Shane, he thought, still studying the hair, sad that Shane had actually parted with it. Perhaps he should offer himself as a brother to him. Did it take this, to
make him realize just how important Shane really was to him?
Blue Blossom stirred at Gray Falcon's side. She leaned up on an elbow, the blanket falling away, revealing her thick breasts. "Ah-neen-ay-kee-do-yen?" she said, smiling up at him.
Then she suddenly remembered the captive and shot her eyes around and gasped when she discovered that Melanie was gone. She looked guardedly back at Gray Falcon. "White woman," she said softly. "She is gone."
"Ay-uh, she is gone," Gray Falcon grumbled. He gazed at the golden hair that lay within the folds of his hand. "And Shane is also gone. Forever."
Blue Blossom stared down at the hair, recognizing it. She placed a hand to her mouth, stifling a sob.
A great bellowing across Shane's pasture met Melanie's approach. Worried, she looked at the restless longhorns, then at Shane's house and the yard that surrounded it. Everything was too quiet.
But of course, it would be, if all of the cowhands had deserted the farm.
Yet, where was Shane? Now that he had returned her safely home, she had expected to find him slaving away at his farm, trying to keep up with everything!
A sick feeling grabbed Melanie at the pit of her stomach. Had he left again? If so, where had he gone? Had he decided to leave all of his misery behind after all, or had he gone to find Trapper Dan's?
She brought the buggy to a halt and leapt from it and ran into Shane's house. More silence met her there. She ran up the stairs to Shane's bedroom and gazed with longing down at his pallet of furs, recalling the passionate moments spent there with him. Then she drew her mind back to the true reason she was there.
"He's gone," she whispered, placing a hand to her throat.
She rushed from room to room, just to make sure, then stopped when she came to Josh's bedroom. She inhaled the familiar fragrance of his cologne, which still clung to the drapes and bedspread. Her eyes narrowed angrily as hate rose within her.
"It's all his fault," she hissed. "If not for Josh and his attitude toward Shane, none of these things would have happened."
Racing toward the staircase, Melanie now knew what must be done. She had to go to St. Paul and find Josh. Come hell or high water, she had to find him and bring him home. By damn, he would make things right! He would even go and search for Shane and give him whatever assistance he needed, if she had to force him to do so at gunpoint!
She rode away from Shane's farm and went to her own and attached another horse to the back of her buggy. When Terrance came outside and demanded to know what she was up to, she paid no attention to him.
«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»«»
Shane took several gold coins from his pocket and tossed them on the table in the blacksmith shop in St. Paul. "I will double this amount if you can find some dependable men who are willing to work as cowhands at my farm, under my employ," he said, giving the blacksmith a firm stare. "Tell them to come tomorrow morning. They will be well paid and fed for their services. My bunkhouse is better than some in these parts. During the winter months, the men will have a place to keep warm by a blazing fire. I will pay you well, Smith, if you will do me this service."
The blacksmith, tall and lanky, smoothed a hand across his bald head, eying Shane critically. "I heard that Josh had a twin brother and by damn, this time gossip was right," he said, spitting over his shoulder. "If I didn't know that Josh was over there in that saloon drunk and all whiskered up in the face, I'd think I was speakin' to him, instead of you."
"I am not here to be compared to my brother," Shane said, resting a hand on a holstered pistol. "I am here to make sure my farm does not go one more day without cowhands. Do I take those coins back, or do I leave them?"
"You keep callin' the farm your farm," the blacksmith said, spitting over his shoulder again. "Until you showed up, it was Josh's. Whose is it now? Yours or his?"
Shane's shoulder muscles tightened. "That isn't any concern of yours or anyone's," he said. "It is between me and my brother." He leaned closer to
the blacksmith's face. "Smith, do you or don't you want my coins? I can go somewhere else. It does not matter to me who I make richer."
The blacksmith cupped his hands over the coins possessively. "By sunup tomorrow you'll have yourself enough cowhands," he said, smiling crookedly up at Shane. "By sunup tomorrow."
Shane nodded. "I appreciate it," he said, turning and leaving.
When he was out on the street again, he looked toward the saloons, then at the building where his brother made residence. He had thought that Josh was going to come home after their last confrontation. Apparently he had been wrong.
He went to his horse and swung himself up into his saddle. He was too lost in thought to notice a horse and buggy speeding into town, stirring up dust behind it. He mingled with the other men on horseback along the busy thoroughfare and made his way in the opposite direction, to the edge of town. He had one chore behind him and one more to go. He had a score to settle. With Trapper Dan. But he must first go and try to speak to the Indian woman, to see if he could persuade her to leave the trapper, so that she would not come to any harm when Shane finally got his revenge.
Melanie elbowed her way along the crowded sidewalk, unsure of which saloon she would enter first. Even the thought of mingling with the sorts of people who frequented those sinful places made her cringe, but to help Shane, she was ready to face
any sort of uncomfortable situation. For Shane, she would do anything!
Before she shoved the first swinging door aside, Melanie stopped and took a deep breath.
Then, mustering up the courage required for the task at hand, she stepped into the establishment. Choking on the thick smoke that was spiraling like heavy fog through the air, she covered her mouth with one hand. With her free hand, she waved the smoke aside and walked toward the sound of coins clinking and men laughing. She remembered the other time she had been in this saloon and she heard the sound of cards shuffling. She became unnerved when she stepped up to a table and found herself staring down, face to face with Josh as he turned and looked up at her as she approached the table.
"Melanie?" Josh said in a drunken drawl, blinking his eyes to be sure that he was not seeing things. "Melanie, is that you?"
Melanie stared at Josh, scarcely believing what she was seeing. His face was covered with thick, golden stubble. There were dark hollows beneath his bloodshot eyes; his face was gaunt. She looked slowly up at his hair. It was greasy and uncombed. His expensive white silk shirt was stained from food and drink. The collar was grimy, and a strong stench of perspiration rose from his armpits, proving that he had been without a bath for some time.
"Josh, I could safely ask if that is you," Melanie said, shaking her head with disgust. "Never did I
think that you could let yourself look like this. Youyou have always been so immaculate."
Josh laughed drunkenly as he rose to his feet, clumsily knocking the chair to the floor behind him. He reached for Melanie, then fell awkwardly forward when she stepped out of the way. "My little Melanie," he said, grabbing for her again and missing again. "Do I sense that you care just a little bit about me?"
Melanie cringed as he took another step toward her. "Josh, I didn't come into this hellhole for anyone but Shane," she snapped angrily. "He needs you, Josh, and by damn you're going to forget this life of gambling and drinking and behave as a brother should behave."
When Passion Calls Page 24