by Rebecca York
He looked back down the road. “It’s not that bad a hike back to the river. If worst comes to worst, we can follow the shoreline. And eventually we’ll make it to civilization.” He gave a short laugh. “Maybe we’ll even get rescued by the border patrol.”
“In that case, I vote for crossing back to the American side as soon as possible.”
“Yeah. But right now, we’d better figure out the lay of this land.”
She nodded, watching as he walked around the rocks, inspecting the area. When he disappeared from view, she propped her hips against the truck, waiting for him to return.
He’d said some revealing things to her today. Not as much as she wanted to hear but enough to give her hope.
When he reappeared, his voice made her jump.
“This is as safe a location as we could hope for. And there’s a spring coming out of the rocks up that way. I wouldn’t drink the water, but it’s fine for washing. You want to get cleaned up?”
“Yes.”
She followed him back the way he’d come, into a narrow canyon, seeing the signs of water immediately in the relative lushness of the vegetation. The ground was damp underfoot, and he led her up a path covered with tracks—deer and other animals’—to a spot where water tumbled from a crevice in the rock into a small, clear pool bordered by grass and some purple flowers. It was a beautiful setting, one that they never would have discovered under ordinary circumstances.
And there was more.
“Look.” Luke pointed to the wall on the other side of the pool.
Hannah followed his gaze and found herself staring at a series of drawings on the rock. The bodies depicted there were almost rectangular, and the rendering stylized. Yet she saw the unmistakable outline of human forms, with arms outstretched and some kind of plumes rising from their heads.
“What are those?”
“Shamans. The drawings have religious significance. Or magical. Take your pick. Nobody knows for sure because the people who drew them disappeared thousands of years ago.”
“How do you know?”
He shrugged. “I just do.” His expression turned suddenly angry. “All the general knowledge is there. Tons of useful skills and useless facts. It’s just the personal stuff that’s vanished. It’s like in that book by Stephen King. The Dead Zone. About a guy who was in a coma and woke up with chunks missing from his memory. It turned out he had a brain tumor.”
“You don’t have a brain tumor.”
“I have some pretty weird gaps in my gray matter. It’s like selective amnesia. If it has anything personal to do with Lucas Somerville, it’s AWOL.”
“It’ll come back. You just need the right trigger.”
“You mean like meeting the woman who raised me after my mother ran away? Or like spending the night in the house where I grew up? You’d think if anything was gonna do the trick, one of those experiences would have.”
“Obviously your childhood was painful. I don’t blame you for blocking it out.”
“Painful, yeah. Like whatever happened out here in the desert. I don’t want to remember that either. I must hate myself so much that I don’t want anything to do with Lucas Somerville!”
The words and the tone of his voice pierced her. Somehow, in this quiet canyon, he’d managed to say what he’d bottled up inside himself for so long.
She ached to reach for him. But she saw a closed look shutter his face and knew he was regretting his outburst.
The emotions were too raw to share with anyone, especially her.
Probably if he’d felt free to do so, he would have left her standing there. But not when they were stranded in the middle of the desert.
So she helped him out by turning away and walking toward the pool. Cupping her hands under the small waterfall, she washed the dust off her face and neck. Her motions were smooth and mechanical, but her mind was churning with a sudden compulsion. Raising her eyes, she looked at the ancient drawings painted on the canyon wall.
Luke had said they were magical.
Ancient magic.
Thousands of years ago people had believed that this was a place of power. And now she felt the potency enfolding her.
Back in Baltimore she would have felt foolish calling on ancient, primitive forces. Now she mouthed a plea under her breath. “Help him,” she begged. “If you have any power left, help him unlock the secrets he’s hidden from himself.”
After she’d said it, she did feel foolish. Was she really asking help from medicine men who had lived thousands of years ago?
Stepping away from the water, she said in a neutral voice, “Your turn.”
He walked to the water, pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans and set it on a rock. Then he washed the dust from his hands before wetting his face and neck the way she’d done.
“Probably it would feel good on your back and shoulders, too,” she advised.
“Yeah.” He stripped off his shirt, tossed it onto a rock and leaned into the flow of water, angling so that it sluiced over his broad back.
He looked primitive and magnificent, she thought as she watched the play of muscles across his shoulders. He stayed with his back to her for a long time, the rays of reddening sunlight burnishing his skin.
He was such a strong man, even if he didn’t realize it. Terrible things had happened to him, things that would have crushed a lesser individual. Even when his brain had locked away memories that he needed, he had forced himself to work around the excruciating disability. Lord, he must feel as if he was trapped inside a surreal painting—and there’s no way to claw his way back to the outside world.
And worse than that, he was afraid he was a criminal. Even when she knew to the depths of her soul that it couldn’t be true.
She clenched and unclenched her hands at her sides as she thought how alone he must feel. And how determined he was not to drag her in there with him.
“Luke?”
“Um?”
“You’re not going to tell me you have to stand guard duty tonight,” she said in a voice that sounded far more steady than she felt.
“What was true last night is still true.”
She shook her head, focusing on an assessment of the danger. “Last night we were at a specific house at a specific ranch. Tonight we could be anywhere along a hundred-mile stretch of road. Well, not on the road, actually. We’re hidden from view.”
His features hardened. “All that’s true, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay as far away from me as you can get.”
The look in his eyes might have frightened her if she hadn’t come to understand him so well since those first nights when they’d checked each other out in the Last Chance Bar.
Then she’d known he was attracted to her. Now she knew that he needed her more than anyone had ever needed her in her life, even if he kept putting barriers between them. His mistrust of her. His mistrust of himself. They were all rolled up in the same package.
“I’m not running away from you,” Hannah whispered. “And I’m not letting you run away, either. Not from me.”
Pretending she wasn’t shaking inside, she took a step forward and reached for him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Her breath caught and held in her throat as she waited to see what he would do. When his arms came up to enfold her, some of the terrible uncertainty eased out of her.
For a long moment they simply stood clinging to each other as the light faded around them. From somewhere above came the sound of a bird calling, but it was far away. The whole world was far away. There was only her and Luke in this private place where the power of ancient spells gathered about them.
The power awed her, energized her.
“Do you think the shamans did magic rituals here?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he answered with absolute conviction.
“You and I have our own magic.”
He stared down at her. “What do you mean?”
“Against all odds, we fou
nd each other. And we found this place. It would be a shame to waste it on anything trivial.”
She didn’t know if he took her meaning. She was telling him that if the two of them made love, the act would carry power far beyond the mere physical union of two people. She felt it. In the depths of her soul. Perhaps he felt some of the magic, too, because they moved at the same instant. She reached up, and he lowered his head so that their mouths met and held in a kiss that was sweeter than they had exchanged before.
Sweet, yet building to a steady, insistent passion that swamped her senses. Dizzy with it, she tried to show him how she felt with her lips, her tongue, her teeth, her hands sliding possessively over the naked skin of his back and shoulders.
They clung together, swaying on their feet as though they were both too giddy to stand without holding on to each other.
He took a step back, propping his hips against the wall, splaying his legs to equalize their heights, then gathering her to him.
As she moved against the rigid flesh behind the fly of his jeans, white-hot sensation shot through her body.
He had taken control now, kissing her with a driving need that fueled her passion. When his fingers found the hem of her shirt and pulled it upward, she angled her torso back so that he could pull the shirt over her head and toss it away. Then he worked the catch at the back of her bra, sending that garment after the shirt.
When he took the weight of her breasts in his hands, she drew in a quick, gasping breath. Then his fingers crested over the tips, and the breath turned into a sob.
She wanted to tell him how good it felt. But it was impossible to say more than his name.
“Luke.”
“Darlin’ Hannah.”
He touched her, kissed her, worked the snap of her jeans and then the zipper so that he could stroke the heart of her, and she felt his touch with the force of a storm roaring through her.
“Lucas, I need you,” she breathed, knowing now that the need was something she had never experienced before. It was so different from what she had felt with Gary. Then she’d been running away from emotions she couldn’t handle. Now she was running headlong toward something precious—joining with the only man who could make her whole. And only she could do the same for him.
“Yes,” he growled, though she suspected he still didn’t fully understand what making love with her would mean. But he would.
He was starting to pull her down to the sandy ground when he stopped abruptly, raised his head and cursed.
As his hands left her heated body, her eyes blinked open, and a kind of terrible panic seized her.
“Luke, please. Don’t stop. Not this time.”
“I— We can’t do this here. Not here.”
She had been lost to everything but the deep sense of connection with this man. Now the time and the place filtered into her consciousness: the desert, with night fast approaching. Not a good combination.
“Come on. We have to get back to the SUV before we get lost in the dark.”
A shiver traveled over her skin as the words sank in. Looking around, she searched for the clothing they’d discarded. There was still enough light to spot her white T-shirt and bra. Hastily she pulled on the shirt and stuffed the bra into her pocket.
Luke didn’t bother with his shirt. Grabbing his gun, he led her rapidly back the way they’d come. Hannah hurried to keep up. The magical little canyon had overwhelmed her and now her heart was thumping. She moved to Luke’s side, glad of his strong arm around her as they retraced their steps, her eyes scanning the ground and the rocks above them for anything that slithered or rattled or hissed.
Some of the tension dissipated as they reached the mouth of the canyon. But before they’d taken half a dozen steps, she saw a gray, menacing shape gliding through the darkness, then another and another. Animal shapes—the size of large dogs, with bristled fur and long snouts.
She stopped still in her tracks, and the gray shapes did the same.
The thought flashed in her mind that she’d been wrong all along. These were demons materializing out of the desert to claim the canyon for their own.
Even as the idea formed she knew it was nonsense. Her brain told her she was looking at a small herd of incredibly ugly flesh-and-blood creatures. But reason did nothing to stop the scream that tore from her throat as she reached for her gun. When they heard the sound, the beasts turned and ran. At the same time, Luke grabbed her hand, stopping her from shooting.
“Don’t!”
“But—”
“Those are javelinas. Wild pigs. They live in the desert. They were coming to the canyon for water.”
She leaned weakly against Luke, her pulse pounding, trying to collect her scattered wits.
“Pigs? In the desert?”
“Yeah. The only native pigs in North America. This is their territory. I’m sure we scared the spit out of them showing up unannounced at their watering hole.” He wrapped her hand in his and moved forward. “Come on. We’d better get back to the SUV.”
He started off again, and she followed him across the sandy ground, hoping he knew where they’d left the vehicle, because she had no idea.
She was about to ask him if he was sure of the direction when the dark shape of the truck loomed in front of them, moonlight glinting off the painted surface.
“Stay here,” Luke commanded, speaking under his breath.
She stopped, waiting as he left her side and moved cautiously toward the vehicle, his gun drawn.
Pulling open the back door, he stood for a moment with the gun covering the interior, then turned back to her.
“All clear. Come on.”
She looked up at the glorious canopy of stars sparkling in the black velvet of the sky and felt caught once more by the magic of this place. A line from an old Eagles song drifted through her mind—a line about making love in the desert with the radiance of the stars shining down.
Were they going to make love?
Or had Luke come to his senses? At least she thought that was the way he’d put it, even if he was wrong, so very wrong.
Straightening, she joined him. When she reached his side, she said, “Fold the seat down.”
He stood regarding her in the moonlight. “Somebody could have heard you scream.”
She kept her voice even. “Are you using that as an excuse to back away from me?”
“I should.”
She managed a shaky laugh. “What’s your alternative? Spending the night outside with the snakes and the pigs?”
Without answering, he slipped behind the wheel and turned on the engine long enough to roll down the front windows several inches. Then he folded down the backrest, making a wide, flat surface.
Hannah climbed inside, propping her back against the front seat and stretching out her legs as she waited to see whether Luke was going to join her—or climb into the front seat instead. When he slipped into the cargo area and closed the door behind him, she felt some of her tension ease.
The moon and the stars gave her enough light to see the stark lines of his profile. Reaching out a hand, she stroked his cheek, turned his face toward her.
“Hannah…you don’t know what you’re getting into with me,” he said in a gritty voice.
She had conquered her own doubts in the magic canyon, and gone far beyond those doubts. But she understood the uncertainty that tore at him.
“I know as much as I need to. Stop beating yourself up because you can’t remember your past. I know you’re waiting for it to come back and bite you. But if you had half as much faith in yourself as I have in you, you’d give the two of us a chance right now.”
She saw naked need in his eyes but knew he wouldn’t be the one to ask for what he craved most.
Smiling, her eyes never leaving him, she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it into the front seat. Then she pulled off her boots and worked the snap at her waistband, discarding her jeans and her panties at the same time.
“Hannah.” Th
e way he said her name made her heart stop, then start again in a fast, erratic rhythm.
Gathering her to himself, he kissed her. It wasn’t a tender kiss. It was hot and wild, transporting them both back to where they’d left off in the canyon.
LUKE BROKE AWAY long enough to kick off his own jeans and boots, then swept her naked body against his, holding her as he devoured her mouth, then slid lower to kiss her neck and shoulders.
Had he ever needed a woman as much as he needed Hannah? If he had, he couldn’t imagine it. All he knew was that he had felt a deep connection to her from the moment he had seen her.
And now there was no denying the passion roaring through him.
When he dipped his head and drew one of her pebble-hard nipples into his mouth, she moaned her pleasure, the sound pouring into him.
He forgot where they were and how they had gotten there. Forgot any sense of caution. Forgot everything but the piercing ecstasy of being with her. Finally.
When his fingers stroked down her body and delved into hot, slick feminine flesh, she sobbed as she arched into the caress.
He might be a man without conscious memories. But he discovered one good thing about himself that night. He knew how to please a woman. And he silently thanked God for that skill as he pushed her higher and higher still until she was quivering in his arms, her fingers digging into his shoulders.
“Luke, please. Now.”
It was a plea he was helpless to deny. His body covered hers, claimed hers, stunning him with a kind of intensity beyond his imagining.
He made a hoarse sound deep in his chest, unable to express in words what he was feeling. How much he was feeling.
Thankful for the moonlight and the canopy of stars above them, he stared into her face. She gazed up at him, reached to gently touch her fingertips to his cheek, his lips.
“Finally,” she whispered.
For heartbeats, he was still, poised above her, the two of them joined but quiescent. Then the longing to move his hips became more than he could bear. As he thrust into her, their mutual need flared.