Navajo's Woman

by Beverly Barton

  Joe's fingers danced over her feminine folds, urged them apart, and sought the center of her sexuality. The moment he stroked that hard nub, she unraveled. His ar­dent attention soon had her writhing, her body wanting and needing only a little more to achieve fulfillment.

  Mindless with passion, she undid and unzipped Joe's jeans, then reached inside his briefs to cup his sex. He was big and hard and ready. She shivered with anticipa­tion.

  Her last rational thought was that she had never ex­pected their first time to take place inside her Expedition. But where really didn't matter. Nothing mattered except that at long last she would belong to Joseph Ornelas as she was meant to belong to him.

  His talented fingers worked their magic, and he soon had Andi on the verge of release. She fought the moment, wanting these pre-climactic feelings to last, but with one final stroke, Joe sent her over the edge to a shattering conclusion.

  Crying out with pleasure, she shuddered and then fell limp. Before she had time to fully recover, Joe urged her jeans and panties down over her hips, ripping off her clothing, shoes and socks. Hurriedly, he freed his sex, lifted her up and around until she straddled him. Then he thrust into her damp, swollen sheath, so receptive to him. The moment he entered her, renewed sensations began to build inside her.

  "I want you," he murmured. "Only you."

  She savored his admission of need as well as the hot, sultry words that followed. Erotic. Crude. Words a man spoke while in the throes of passion.

  "Love me," she told him.

  He withdrew from her, only to plunge deeper. When she whimpered, wanting more and yet uncertain of her ability to accommodate him entirely, he filled her. Big and hard and demanding.

  "It's all right, Andrea. I promise I won't hurt you."

  With every powerful thrust, Andi felt his shaft embed­ding itself more and more completely within her, until she knew they were truly one. Two bodies joined together in the oldest and most profound way a man and woman car. physically unite.

  Everything dissolved, faded away to nothingness, as they gave themselves over to primitive forces that guided them further and further into that wild, feverish darkness.

  Wait. Wait. Not yet, her body screamed, wanting to hold on to the pleasure. But her climax came, earth-shattering in its intensity.

  The moment she cried out. Joe hammered into her and found his own release. Groaning and shivering, he held her fiercely and possessively, as if he would never let her go.

  While the sexual aftershocks rippled through them, Andi curled around him and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped her in his arms and spread soft kisses from temple to jaw.

  Joe did not want to let her go. He longed to keep her in his arms until dawn, their bodies still joined, their naked flesh slick with perspiration. He worked his fingers through her hair and cupped her head with his hand.

  "I want this moment to last forever," she said.

  "Mmm." He closed his eyes, savoring the feel of this special woman. Being with her this way had been a home­coming for his soul. Nothing in his life had ever felt so right.

  She murmured his name against his neck. He shivered. His arms tightened around her. And then he realized that she had fallen asleep. Carefully, so as not to disturb her, he flung his arm over the seat and felt around in the back until his hand encountered the jacket she had discarded yesterday. He wrapped the black fabric around her hips, covering her nakedness and protecting her from the night­time chill. They were in the middle of nowhere, parked on a dirt path. It was highly unlikely anyone would come up on them, so he felt safe enough to close his eyes and rest.

  The ringing telephone woke Joe. He discovered Andi draped around him, her body soft and warm against his. She lifted her eyelids and smiled at him. He gave her a tender, hasty kiss, then reached for his phone. He fumbled at his side, where the waistband of his jeans lay folded back, and straightened his belt enough to pull the plastic holder from under his hip. When he lifted the phone to his ear, Andi eased off his lap. The black jacket stenciled with white-and-tan prancing horses that he had laid around her backside hours ago fell to the floor.

  Joe grinned when he noted the look of embarrassment on her face when she realized she was naked except for her open bra and the unbuttoned shirt that covered only her back. She scrambled to pick up her panties and jeans, while Joe flipped open his phone.

  "Ornelas, here." Joe glanced through the windshield and saw the first tentative rays of morning sunlight spread­ing across the sky. A rosy pink blush to the east.

  "It took you so long to answer that I was beginning to think something was wrong," J.T. said.

  "Andi and I were asleep." Joe yawned, emphasizing that he still wasn't fully awake. "We pulled off the road around two this morning. We were both exhausted."

  "You only slept about three hours," J.T. told him. "It's just a little after five now."

  "Why are you calling?"

  "Information."

  Clamping the phone between his shoulder and his ear, Joe lifted his hips and pulled up his jeans, then zipped and snapped them. “What sort of information?'' His gaze met Andi's. Her eyes widened questioningly.

  "Bill Cummings called about five minutes ago. He found a couple—a man and wife—who gave the boys a lift."

  "What?"

  "Yeah. Mr. and Mrs. Sosi. It seems they'd been to visit the woman's mother in Black Rock and just happened along about the time the boys reached the intersection. They took the boys with them about twenty-five miles and dropped them near Tsas-ka Creek. One of the boys told the Sosis that they had family nearby."

  “How did Bill get this information?''

  "Seems Mr. Sosi called his local police department," J.T. said. “After he and his wife got home last night, he noticed some blood in the back seat. Seems he couldn't sleep much for worrying about it, so he made a phone call before daylight this morning."

  "Damn! That means the police are on their way to Tsas-ka Creek right now."

  "Yeah, they'll be heading out soon, but maybe you and Andi can get there before they do and keep things from getting out of hand. Tell me where you are, and I'll tell you how to get from there to Tsas-ka Creek."

  Joe gave J.T. his location. J.T. let out a long, low whis­tle. "What's that for?" Joe asked.

  "Luck. Just damn good luck, that's all. You're not ten miles away. Stay on the same road you're on now and it'll take you to Cha-gee Road. The Sosis let the boys out about a mile onto Cha-gee. The creek runs along the side of the road for several miles. And there's a small settle­ment a few miles north."

  Joe turned to Andi, who was putting on her shoes. “Get buckled up. We're leaving." Then he said to J.T., "I'll get in touch the minute we know anything."

  "Hey, wait up."

  "What?"

  “Next time you see Bill Cummings, you might want to thank him," J.T. said. "He didn't have to call and share this information with us. You've got a twenty-minute head start while the police form a tracking party. Bill said to tell you that it was a favor. For old times' sake."

  "Yeah, I'll be sure to thank him."

  Joe closed the phone and returned it to the belt holder, then started the engine, turned the SUV around and headed toward the road.

  "What's going on?" Andi asked.

  "The police are headed to Tsas-ka Creek, about ten miles north of here," Joe explained. "The boys hitched a ride to there yesterday, so there's a chance they're still somewhere close by."

  Andi groaned. “We have to get to the boys first. If we don't, I'm not sure what Russ will do. He hates the police. He's liable to start shooting the minute they show up."

  "Hang on. I'm going to see just how fast this Expe­dition will go."

  Russ turned the wooden spit on which he was roasting the rabbit he had caught in a snare that morning. The last thing he had wanted to do was build a fire and possibly alert someone of their whereabouts. But he'd tried every­thing else to get Eddie warm and nothing seemed to help. He'd even taken off his
jacket a few hours ago, despite the predawn cold, and had wrapped it around his best friend. And Eddie needed food. They hadn't eaten in a couple of days.

  "This should help," Russ said. "The rabbit will be ready to eat any minute now. With some food in your belly, you'll get better. You'll see."

  Eddie offered him a weak smile, but he couldn't seem to stop shivering. Russ leaned down, placed his arm around Eddie and pulled him closer to the fire. Although Eddie said he was freezing and his body was racked with chills, he felt hot to the touch. Russ rubbed his hands up and down his friend's arms, then zipped his jacket.

  He had to figure out a way to get some help for Eddie. He should have made him stay with the couple who'd picked them up yesterday. They could have taken him to a doctor. But Eddie had nixed the idea—they were in this together, he'd said. Russ had agreed and dragged Eddie along with him. Now, look what had happened.

  Russ wondered if the bullet wound had gotten infected. He'd cleaned his pocket knife with fire before he dug the bullet out of Eddie's shoulder, and for a while he'd thought things would be okay. But with each passing day, Eddie grew weaker and his fever climbed. And the last time Russ had taken a look at Eddie's shoulder, it was swollen and badly discolored.

  Russ knelt beside Eddie and gently grasped his unin­jured shoulder. "Look, you need help. You need a doc­tor."

  "I'll b-be all—all right." Eddie's teeth chattered as he trembled uncontrollably.

  "No, you won't be all right. Not without a doctor. So, I'm going to leave you here, and when I get to a phone somewhere I'll call your folks and tell them where you are."

  Eddie reached out and clutched Russ's shirtfront, but he was so weak that he couldn't hold on. "Don't leave me. I'll be okay. I promise. Just give me a drink of water and then I'll sleep some more."

  What the hell was he going to do? Russ wondered. How could he leave Eddie when his friend had pleaded with him not to? But how could he stay when he couldn't do anything to help Eddie? He had finally realized that if Eddie didn't get help soon, he might die.

  Joe inspected the area thoroughly for any signs that someone had recently passed this way. Andi watched him, occasionally searching the ground herself, wondering if she'd be able to spot any clues. Joe stopped so suddenly that she almost ran into his back. She watched with cu­riosity as he knelt and inspected a flat rock partially buried in the earth.

  “Have you found something?'' she asked.

  "Looks like dried blood on this rock," he said.

  "Does that mean—"

  “It means dried blood and nothing more. It could have come from an animal."

  Joe made his way toward a grove of bushes and rickety pines. Andi had the oddest sensation that the boys were close. But how could she possibly know? Just another of her odd premonitions?

  "More dried blood." Joe once again knelt and exam­ined several dark spots dotting the scrub grass. "And look there—the limbs on that bush have been broken. An an­imal didn't do that. It would have had too much sense to stumble through."

  "Russ and Eddie came this way," Andi said. "I just know it."

  "From what I can tell, I'd say that one of them was practically dragging the other." Joe rose to his feet, then surveyed the surrounding area. "I believe that from here the boys would have gone down that gully and continued following the creek." He pointed in that direction with the rifle he held in his hand. "That way they would have water whenever they needed it, and cliff overhangs would offer some protection from the elements. They had to find a safe place to sleep last night. Maybe a cave."

  “What time is it?'' Andi knew that the twenty-minute head start they had, thanks to Bill Cummings' warning, would mean nothing if they didn't reach the boys before the search party arrived on the scene.

  Joe told her the time, then brushed his hand across her cheek. "We'll find them. One of them is badly hurt and they're scared, but as a result they've been careless and left a clear path."

  Russ tried his best to get Eddie to eat something, but his friend refused. “Come on, eat just a few bites. You need something in your stomach."

  "Sorry, bu-but I—I can't."

  Russ squeezed Eddie's hand reassuringly. "It's all right. You can eat later."

  Eddie closed his eyes as another series of tremors racked his body. Russ knew that he couldn't wait much longer. He had to do something, and soon. Glancing into the flames of their campfire, Russ realized that they needed more wood. He had to keep the fire alive in order to help Eddie stay warm.

  "Hey, I'm going to get some more wood," Russ said. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

  Eddie lifted his eyelids and nodded. Russ offered him a tentative smile, then turned and all but ran out of the cave. He'd gather the wood, build up the fire, and then tell Eddie that he was going to leave him, find a phone and call to get him some help. Even if Eddie put up a fuss, Russ had to do what was right. Just because he chose to stay on the run didn't mean Eddie had to die proving his friendship. Besides, what good would it do Eddie if he escaped the law and the killer just to die from an in­fection?

  Within five minutes, after gathering enough sticks to replenish the fire, Russ headed back to the cave. That's when he saw them. Two people making their way along the creek, not far from the cave where Eddie waited help­lessly. Since he'd lost the rifle on their mad dash out of the uranium mine the other day, the only weapon he had was his knife. Not much protection from a gun, and he noticed that the bigger guy was carrying a rifle. Russ crept closer to the shallow creek bed, hiding as best he could in the growth of paloverde trees and prickly pears. He barely concealed a gasp when he recognized the two trackers. Andi. And Joe Ornelas!

  How could she have teamed up with that bastard? Didn't she remember what he'd done to their father? Or­nelas couldn't be trusted. Their father had found that out the hard way. Ornelas had no doubt done a snow job on Andi, which wouldn't have been too difficult. There had been a time when she'd been crazy about the guy. Joe Ornelas might have fooled his sister, but he didn't fool Russ.

  At least, with them showing up this way, one major problem was solved. They were heading straight toward the cave. They would find Eddie and get him the medical attention he needed. And with them distracted by finding Eddie and realizing his condition, Russ would have time to escape. He didn't know where he'd go, but he could figure that out later. Right now, he just needed to get away as fast as he could. No way was he going to give himself up to Joe Ornelas. He's just as soon surrender to the police than put his fate in that son of a bitch's hands.

  Andi followed Joe, rock-hopping across the stream. Water splattered their feet and ankles, dampening their shoes and jeans. As she breathed in some fresh air, Andi smelled a peculiar, rather tangy odor, and mentioned it to Joe.

  "It's the scent of fermenting sycamore and cottonwood leaves," he explained.

  "Oh." His knowledge of nature never ceased to amaze her.

  They stopped on the far side of the creek, as Joe searched for signs of a trail. Off in the distance a coyote howled, its mournful cry blending strangely with the sound of flowing water.

  "There—" Joe pointed "—see the footprints dried in the mud."

  "Yes. Yes, I see them."

  They picked up the pace as they followed the obvious signs, Andi only steps behind Joe.

  "This trail is leading right to that cave." Joe broke into a run.

  "Wait," she cried. "If Russ has a gun or a knife—"

  Joe didn't slow down. Andi's heartbeat ran wild at the thought that her brother might be armed and wouldn't think twice about defending himself. She ran as fast as she could and caught up with Joe just as he reached the entrance to the cave. She grabbed his arm. He halted, turned and glared at her.

  "Please, let me go in first," she said. "If Russ sees me first, I can talk to him and explain why you're with me and tell him that he can trust you."

  “Do you believe he can trust me?'' Joe asked.

  "He can, can't he?"

  "Yes." Joe stepp
ed aside and allowed her to approach the entrance first. "Call out to him and see what hap­pens."

  "Russ? Russ, it's me, Andi. Are you in there? I'm com­ing in to talk to you."

  Joe gripped her shoulder. "Be careful." "Russ won't hurt me."

  She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and walked into the dark, cool cave. For a couple of seconds the blackness blinded her, but shortly her vision returned, and she saw a small fire burning a good twenty feet away.

  "Russ?"

  Silence.

  "Russ, it's me, Andi," she repeated.

  She heard a soft moan, like that of a hurt child.

  "Russ, please answer me."

  "Andi. . ."

  When she heard the weak voice, her heart lodged in her throat. It didn't sound like Russ's voice, but if he were wounded, sick, hurt. . .?

  She made her way toward the fire. There, huddled at the back of the cave was a boy. Eddie Whitehorn! She rushed to him, knelt beside his shivering form and ran her hand over his perspiring brow. He was burning up with fever.

  "Oh, Eddie." She scanned the cave's interior and saw no sign of Russ. Where was her brother? "Eddie, where's Russ?"

  "Gone."

  "Joe!" Andi screamed. "Come in here. I've found Eddie."

  With rifle in hand, Joe made his way into the cave and over to her side within seconds.

  "Russ isn't here," she said. "And Eddie's burning up with fever. He must be the one who got shot."

  Hovering over his nephew, Joe shook his head. "We've got to get him to a hospital as quick as we can." He handed Andi the rifle and then lifted Eddie into his arms. Eddie groaned. "Sorry if I hurt you." He glanced over his shoulder at Andi. “Did he say where Russ is?''