by Francis Ray
His hand molded her hips against his hard arousal. She moaned into his mouth, unable to keep from pressing closer. She shifted, bringing her more deeply into the valley of his thighs. Instinctively she rubbed against the hard ridge.
Abruptly his dark head lifted. She wanted to drag his mouth back to hers, continue to explore the sensual hunger he created in her. Their labored breathing sounded harsh in the night.
“One night. Please give me just one night with you.”
Her eyes closed, her body ached for the release she knew Duncan could give them both. All she had to do was lift her face to his and he’d take it from there.
And then what? She had a feeling that making love to Duncan would create more problems, not solve them.
She also realized something else. She wanted the decision taken out of her hands and felt ashamed. Duncan wasn’t that kind of man. He might initiate the seduction, but in the end he’d want her willing, with no regrets.
Opening her eyes, she stepped back. “You have a strong code of honor.”
His hand drifted through her hair; she pressed her cheek against his hand. “And it seems I’ll have another long lonely night.”
“If it’s any consolation, mine will be the same,” she said. At least she could give him that. “I want you.”
“But not enough.”
She placed her hand over his heart, felt the erratic beat that mirrored her own. His hand clasped over hers, squeezed. He was so strong and yet so gentle. “You tempt me more than I ever thought possible. You want one night because you don’t believe in forever. I do.”
His hand fell. “People toss out words like ‘forever’ and ‘love’ to get what they want. It doesn’t mean anything.”
He was thinking of his ex-wife. “I admit some selfish people do, but not everyone.” Raven placed her other hand on his chest. “Just look at Faith and Brandon. Cameron and Caitlin couldn’t be happier.”
“And my parents couldn’t be more miserable,” he told her. “Even when people mean the words, it doesn’t work out.”
Her hands clenched. “So you’re afraid.”
He stiffened and then pushed her hands from his chest. “Maybe you should go to bed.”
Stubborn, proud, and running as fast as he could from the truth. “The next time you talk to Faith and Cameron, you might want to ask them if they had doubts, if there were moments they wanted to run in the opposite direction.”
“You can’t compare them to us,” he snapped.
His words sliced her heart. She cared for him and he wanted only a no-strings affair. “No, I guess not. They were in love. You just want a bedmate for the night.” She turned for the door.
An expletive sizzled from his lips. He caught her before she took two steps, dragging her back against him. “Maybe you should know something. I haven’t been with a woman in more than two years, and it hasn’t been because I haven’t had the opportunity. I want one night with you, but I’d barter a piece of my soul for more.”
“Duncan.”
He released her and stepped back. “Forever isn’t for me. I forgot once and suffered the consequences. I won’t forget again.”
Raven finally understood the promise of retribution in Faith’s voice when she spoke of Duncan’s ex. Raven wouldn’t mind having a “chat” with her, either. “I’m not like her.”
“No, you’re not. You’re everything she wasn’t, and it changes nothing.” His hand swept up and down her arm. “Why can’t you accept what I can give you, give both of us?”
“Because we both deserve more.” She went to the door. “Don’t stay up too late.”
“The same goes for you.”
She wondered what he’d do or say if she told him she never went to bed until she heard him come upstairs. “Good night, Duncan.” She slipped inside just as she heard him bid her good night.
Telling Rooster good-bye the next morning, Raven hurried out of the kitchen. She had a lot of work to do that day. Putting the sleepless night to good use, she’d tracked down the information she needed on cave drawings of female sex organs.
There were few caves where human forms were repeatedly seen. Humans were more often depicted by the sketch of an anatomical picture. She’d been stunned when she’d seen the drawing in the last chamber, McBride’s Wall of Panels.
For those with an educated eye, it wasn’t particularly difficult to identify the wall drawings. As expected, she didn’t find any drawings of male organs, because they were rarely depicted.
She blushed on recalling Duncan asking her about her latest discovery. There was no way she was telling him any of this. She ran down the steps and hopped into the front seat of the Jeep.
She heard an engine and saw Duncan coming up the road behind her. Her heart did its usual flutter despite his unsmiling face. “Good morning,” she greeted him when he pulled up beside her. “I was just about to leave.”
“That’s not possible.”
Shock and worry swept through her. “Did something happen at the cave?”
Switching off the ignition, he climbed off the ATV and went to her. “Pete spotted a mountain lion when he was chasing strays this morning.”
The event that Raven feared finally had happened, but she had no intention of letting it ruin her plans. “How far away?”
“Close enough.”
Raven studied him. To Duncan’s way of thinking, that could mean one mile or twenty. “I have bear spray, and I’ll go back in the house for my portable radio.”
“Getting a radio station can be hit-or-miss, but it doesn’t matter because you aren’t going anyplace,” he said, his voice final.
Raven climbed out of the Jeep, undaunted when he didn’t step back. “You can’t do this.”
“We both know I can.”
“Duncan, don’t do this, please,” she pleaded. “The cat might never come near the cave, and if it did, there is nothing to indicate it might present any danger.”
His eyes narrowed under his hat. “This is not open for discussion.” Turning, he started back to the ATV.
She grabbed his arm, felt the muscled hardness, the warmth and strength. “Please reconsider.”
“We agreed to take one day at a time, that you’d follow my orders or I’d call Mrs. Grayson to send someone else,” he told her, studying her. “Is that what you want me to do?”
Her fingers unclamped. She stepped back. “You’d do that after . . .”
“You’d be safe in Santa Fe.” He got back on the ATV. “I don’t want you going anywhere near the cave until I give you permission.”
How could this unbending man be the same one who had held her last night, kissed her, turned her world upside down?
“Raven, give me your word or I’m calling Mrs. Grayson,” he said, his words flat.
Raven felt her dreams in jeopardy and, as the last time, a man was the reason. “I loathe you.”
His expression didn’t change. “Your word.”
“I won’t go to the cave.”
Starting the motor, Duncan pulled away. He didn’t look back.
Angry and hurt, Raven snatched her satchel out of the Jeep and returned to the house, slamming the door. “He makes me so angry!”
Rooster came rushing into the room. “What’s all the commotion? I thought you were leaving.”
“The great Duncan McBride has decreed that I can’t,” she said. “Pete saw a mountain lion.”
Duncan’s voice came on Rooster’s radio: “Raven is staying at the ranch house today.”
Rooster’s gaze locked on a fuming Raven as he picked up the radio from his belt. “She just told me about the cat.”
“We’ll discuss it later. Out.”
“Out.” Rooster hooked the radio under the dish towel, his concession to an apron.
“How can he dictate to me like that?” she asked, her voice trembling. “It’s not fair!”
“It’s been my experience that a lot of things ain’t fair, but I’ve never known the boss to
be anything but,” Rooster told her. “You’re a friend of the family, and even if you were some greenhorn stranger, he wouldn’t let you roam over the ranch when you could put yourself in danger.”
“But he has no way of knowing I’d be in danger,” she argued.
“You have no way of knowing you won’t be,” Rooster came back. “A friend of ours tangled with a cat and has the scars to prove it. The boss cares about all of the people on this ranch, some more than most. Mad or not, you’re safe. I got washing to do.”
Raven watched Rooster walk away and, with him, her anger. She hadn’t missed his statement of “some more than most.” If even the hint of danger was there, Duncan wouldn’t allow her to continue. Ruth’s four sons would feel the same way about their wives. Raven shuddered to think of what Blade would do to anyone who threatened Sierra; his fury would have no equal.
Of course, Duncan didn’t feel the same way about her that those men did about their wives, but he did care. He’d protect her even if it meant earning her anger.
And she’d just hurt him. Misery knotted her stomach. She went in search of Rooster, finding him in the middle of sorting bath towels, sheets, and clothes, with a bewildered frown on his face. “I’d like to call Duncan on the radio.”
Rooster scrutinized her features, then handed her the radio. “We’re all on the same frequency so the boss knows what’s going on.”
In other words, be careful what you say. “Thank you—for everything.” She turned on the radio. “Duncan, come in, please. Over.”
“Duncan,” came the terse answer.
“You were right. I’ll be helping Rooster today. Over,” she said, accepting he had a right to be a bit put out with her.
“Thanks for the call. Over.”
“Over and out,” she said, and handed the radio back to Rooster. “Let’s get this laundry sorted; then I have to make a phone call.”
Chapter 10
Sorting laundry with Rooster hadn’t lasted long. The first time Raven picked up Duncan’s T-shirt, Rooster had declared he could do it himself. He’d actually blushed. She’d made a huge chart on how to sort whites from dark and on water temperature, made sure he knew how to measure detergent. Then she’d gone to her room to call Blade Navarone. She paced as the phone rang, once, twice.
“Blade.”
“Good morning, Blade. Raven La Blanc. . . . I’ve run into a situation here. There’s a possibility of a mountain lion in the area of the cave. Duncan put it off-limits this morning.”
“As well he should have.”
Raven had expected the answer. “I’m aware of the expense you’ve already incurred, but I wondered if you were able to contact someone who could set up a perimeter around the cave to alert me if a large animal approached the mouth of the cave. I could work inside, and Duncan wouldn’t worry.”
“Have you discussed this with Duncan?” Blade asked
“No, I wanted to see if it was possible first,” she said, already knowing it was. A billionaire and powerful man like Blade had to have top-notch security. She’d learned a lot more then just self-defense from her brother, who was an Army Ranger.
“I wouldn’t like it if anyone made a security decision for my property without consulting me.”
Duncan wouldn’t, either. She’d accept the veiled reprimand if it would allay Duncan’s fears and get her back into the cave. “I’ll talk to him when he returns to the ranch house, but that might not be until late.”
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather talk to him. If he has any questions, I can answer them.”
She’d been pushed out of the loop. Men. She idly wondered if he tended to push his wife, Sierra, out of the loop. Probably not. Sierra wasn’t the kind of woman to be pushed, not even by the man she loved. “Of course. I’ll get his cell phone number and call you back.”
“I’ll look for your call.”
“Thank you, Blade. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Raven hung up the phone and headed downstairs to get the information from Rooster, hoping he wasn’t in the midst of sorting Duncan’s briefs. She paused on the stairs thinking maybe he wore boxers. Shaking her head, she continued. No, Duncan was definitely the briefs type.
If she and Duncan kept being at odds with each other, the chances of her ever finding out if she was right were slim to none.
A short while after Duncan spoke with Raven, he watched his cattle graze contentedly. The bone-chilling, snowy winter that had made life so difficult a few months back had also provided water from the snow melting in the mountains and helped the lower grasslands flourish in the summer.
When winter arrived again, the hay and alfalfa he’d planted would see the livestock through. He’d planned for every contingency in his life, except one. Raven La Blanc. She was passionate, stubborn, and fiercely independent.
She probably didn’t realize how much the call from her meant. Her angry words to him at the ranch house had cut deeply. No matter how hard he tried, he hadn’t been able to get the stinging announcement that she loathed him out of his mind. His hands clenched on Black Jack’s reins, causing the stallion to sidestep. Reaching down, he patted the horse’s strong neck in reassurance.
“We both know how a female can mess up your day, heck, your life.”
Duncan wasn’t sure when it had happened, but her opinion of him mattered. He cared about her. The realization didn’t disturb him as much as it once might have.
Caring about a person didn’t mean that there wouldn’t be upheavals, words spoken in haste. Some were able to get past it; others went their separate ways. He understood that better than Raven. Whatever it was between them wouldn’t endure the many unexpected obstacles life placed in their paths.
She wanted independence, her dream. He wanted her safe and accepted that her dream meant she’d leave at summer’s end. When that time came, he just hoped they wouldn’t part in anger.
His cell phone rang. Unclipping it from his belt, he wished again that they made an earpiece that would let his Stetson fit his head properly. “Duncan.”
“Hello, Duncan, this is Blade Navarone.”
A frown darted across Duncan’s brow. He’d briefly met Blade when he and Sierra attended Cameron’s wedding. As he knew Blade wanted, neither had spoken of Blade’s intervention in helping Duncan obtain the loan from the bank to buy the Double D.
The day Duncan had gone in to sign the papers, he’d overheard the president of the bank tell the loan officer to give Mr. McBride unlimited credit and that Mr. Navarone wanted his name kept out of it. Duncan had known immediately that Faith was behind Blade’s involvement.
They’d been in her office at the hotel the day before when the bank had called to tell Duncan his loan had been denied. He was heartsick. He didn’t have any other options to obtain the money. He certainly wasn’t going to let Faith take a loan out on the family hotel.
The next day, he’d received a call from the chief loan officer saying the bank had reevaluated his application and his loan had been approved. At the time he’d been too grateful to question his good fortune. Arriving at the bank, he thought they were falling over themselves to be nice to him because of the size of his loan.
He owed the real estate mogul a huge debt of gratitude. “Hello, Blade.”
“Through Mrs. Grayson I became Raven’s sponsor for her to authenticate the cave drawings on your property. She contacted me this morning to tell me that a mountain lion was spotted in your area, and your very appropriate way of handling the situation,” Blade said.
Duncan’s grip on the phone eased. He had been waiting for Blade to say he had overreacted so he could tell him that he didn’t run his ranch, but there had to be more to the phone call. Blade Navarone didn’t do chitchat. “And?”
“I’d like to propose a proven way to ensure Raven’s safety, which will allow her to continue working on the cave,” Blade said.
“She doesn’t want anyone watching over her,” Duncan said, although he was considering
the possibility. He didn’t think Raven would comply with staying at the house for more than a couple of days. Then all bets would be off.
“Strong, independent women don’t like depending on a man, and luckily for us in this case, a man won’t be needed after everything is in place,” Blade said.
“Everything?”
“With your permission, I’d like to send my head of security out to set up a secure perimeter around the cave. The wiring will be hot, but not enough to injure, just deter. If anything over fifty pounds touches the wire, an alarm will sound that will be heard as well as registered in the cave.”
It sounded high-tech, elaborate, and expensive. “I’ll foot the bill.”
“I appreciate the offer, but it’s part of ensuring Raven has what she needs to authenticate the caves,” Blade responded. “I understand you have a landing strip. We can be there by this afternoon and get started immediately.”
“You’re coming as well?”
“With Raven’s permission, I’d like to see the cave. Naturally, Sierra is coming with me, and Ruth would disown me if I didn’t let her know so she can come. I’ve a feeling that Luke might want to come, and thus Catherine,” Blade said casually.
Duncan had counted five people at a minimum. But what really stuck in his mind was that Blade and Luke expected and wanted their wives with them whenever possible. Both men were blessed and they knew it.
“I’ll pick you up at the airport in Billings,” Duncan said, heading toward the ranch. He wasn’t sure what kind of shape the bedrooms were in. He was sure that Raven hadn’t prepared enough in her slow cooker to feed that many people.
“We’ll take the small jet and fly directly to your ranch, then off-load the equipment and drive to the cave,” Blade explained. “I estimate our arrival time around six. Ruth has a class this afternoon.”
“That won’t give you a lot of time to work before dark.” Duncan topped the rise and saw the ranch house and buildings.
“We work best in the dark. See you at six.”
In a much better mood than when he had left, Duncan shut off the cell and continued down the hill. He owed Blade another debt of gratitude. He couldn’t wait to see Raven’s expression when he told her.