by Carol Finch
“Probably,” Eva agreed. “But at least this time I’m wise enough to realize that what Raven feels for me is professional duty and responsibility.”
Lydia reached out to give her hand a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry, Eva. But now you have your eyes wide open and you can foresee the pitfalls. Unlike your crushing disappointment with Felix Winslow and my mortification with Gordon Carter, who isn’t even a real person, for God’s sake!”
“Raven is ready for transport,” Hoodoo called to her.
Eva wheeled away to check on Raven then she pivoted back to her sister. “Decide what you want to do with your ex-fiancé. We can have him jailed in Canyon Springs in a matter of hours.”
“We’ll take him to Denver,” Lydia decided. “By the time word of his kidnapping attempt and his ransom demands spread around town, my short-term association with him will be old news.” She shrugged lackadaisically. “Besides, he is a closed chapter in my life and I am anxious to begin my grand adventure.”
Eva walked off, making a mental note to outfit her sister with the doehide clothing that would conceal her gender. However, with Hoodoo and Blackowl as her companions she would be safe and protected. All Eva had to do was persuade them to accompany Lydia to Satan’s Bluff and transport the necessary equipment to the site to mine the gold ore.
Eva smiled impishly, wondering what the negotiations would cost her. Blackowl would invariably claim he didn’t want to spend more time with “palefaces” than absolutely necessary.
Raven awoke to the feel of miniature carpenters hammering at his skull. He felt so sluggish and lethargic that he couldn’t muster the energy to open his eyes. He lay there, trying to recollect the last thing he remembered.
After a long, confused moment, he recalled riding frantically toward Eva and Hoodoo before they prematurely sprung the trap for James. Damn, what had happened to Eva? Had she become James’s hostage again?
Scowling at his inability to recall the details, he massaged his throbbing head and inspected the bandage covering the wound. The back of his skull hurt like a son of a bitch. He touched the knot carefully then grimaced when he unintentionally triggered another sharp pain.
Several minutes passed before Raven decided to open his eyes to see how his headache responded to sunlight. Sure enough, his skull throbbed and blinding light stabbed at him. Shielding the top portion of his face with his hand, he surveyed his surroundings through cloudy vision. He was shocked to find himself lying on a frilly blue canopy bed in a palatial room fit for royalty.
“Where the hell am I?” he chirped.
Clearly, he had died and gone to heaven. No one had bothered to inform him of his change of address. He was floating in a lazy haze, lounging on a mattress as soft as a cloud.
When the door swung open, Raven stared blankly at Eva. “Oh, damn, you’re dead, too. I failed you again.”
She smiled at him as she all but floated into the room with a tray of food in hand. Her dark eyes sparkled impishly as she sank down beside him. “Dead? No, you aren’t that lucky, Jo-Dan. You are under my care.”
“So this is hell, not heaven,” he mumbled but he was smiling because she looked so damn appealing in her trim-fitting green gown. Despite the new splint on her broken arm and the telltale scrapes and bruises—souvenirs of her wild adventure in the wilderness—she looked positively radiant.
She leaned sideways to set the tray on his belly. “Hell is what you make of it,” she replied. “Be optimistic and enjoy your accommodations while you recuperate.”
He looked around the spacious room again. “Where are we?”
“In my room in Denver,” she reported.
“Your room!” he hooted as he shoved himself into a sitting position. “In Denver?”
Eva reached out to place her hand on his bare chest then pressed him back down, which was probably for the best because the abrupt movement made him light-headed.
“I’m a long way from my cabin, which is where I should be,” he grumbled, taking inventory of the elaborately decorated furnishings that made him feel completely out of place.
She grinned mischievously. “Not so far away when you consider your caregiver crammed peyote down your throat to knock you out for a day or two. As you did with me, might I remind you. But I had our family doctor give you a strong dose of laudanum to keep you sedated when you arrived here.”
He muttered under his breath and rubbed his jaw, noting that he had a thick growth of whiskers. “That’s a fine way to treat a man who was trying to save you from another shooting. What became of James, by the way?”
Eva offered him a spoonful of tasty soup. “When he tried to swipe the ransom money I whacked him with my splint and knocked him off his horse.”
Raven grinned. “A shame I missed that.”
“It was quite gratifying,” she admitted. “But it did my heart good to watch Lydia grab a makeshift club and pound James into the ground.”
“Sorry I missed that part, too.”
“Now Marshal Doyle has James locked up tight. He is chained to the bars, at my insistence,” she continued. “Our lawyer has charged him with kidnapping, attempted murder and extortion, to name only a few of his crimes. The story circulating around Denver is that I exposed him as the shyster he was and he retaliated against me. Lydia’s involvement with him is a mere footnote in the tale.”
“How is your sister holding up?” he asked between bites.
“Amazingly well.” She offered him a drink of milk. “I was able to retrieve the stolen money James had stashed in his saddlebags and return it to Lydia. She was greatly relieved, but now she’s too preoccupied with the new gold mine to care about her ordeal with James.”
Raven’s brows shot up his forehead and then he winced when he felt the twinge in his scalp. “She’s in Satan’s Bluff?”
Eva nodded her auburn head. “Hoodoo and Blackowl gladly agreed to accompany her, equipped with the necessities to determine what kind of yield to expect from the mine.”
Raven stared skeptically at her. “Gladly agreed? How did you swing that, hellion?”
Eva fed him another spoonful of soup. “I offered a generous fee for their trouble. Then I informed them that Lydia was instructed to transfer ownership of the claim to them and to you.”
Raven gaped at her and nearly choked on his soup.
She dug a letter from her pocket and waved it in front of his face. “I think Lydia has developed a tendre for your cousin, though she claimed she had also sworn off men forever. Her letter if full of ‘Blackowl said this’ and ‘Blackowl did that.’” She snickered. “Also, Hoodoo asked her to marry him twice. The fact that Lydia and I look alike has its drawbacks. Apparently, either of us will do. Since I’m out of sight I’m also out of Hoodoo’s mind.”
“Ah, well, you did tell me more than once that you had sworn off men for the rest of your life,” he reminded her.
Her smile faded as she brushed her hand over the tousled black hair that drooped over his forehead. “We have a slight problem, Raven.”
“Do we? Only a slight problem? Like breaking an arm? Getting shot in the head?” he quizzed her.
She glanced away, refusing to meet his inquisitive gaze. “Word has spread through town that we are married. Not that I care because it is a fine deterrent for adventurers who are eager to attach themselves to my fortune.”
He nodded pensively. “Yes, now Felix Winslows and Gordon Carters of the world will look elsewhere for an unsuspecting pigeon.”
“To regain your freedom you will have to get a pretend divorce to nullify our fake marriage,” she explained. “Divorce is nasty business, whether real or pretended, but it is my fault that your name has been linked to mine and the news has set gossips’ tongues to wagging. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
The prospect of having no attachment whatsoever to Eva left him feeling empty and dissatisfied. It shouldn’t have because he knew it was best for Eva to remain in her world while he returned to his own.
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“I’ll take care of the situation as soon as I’m back on my feet,” he assured her.
She turned away to fluff his pillow so he couldn’t gauge her reaction to his comment. He really wanted to know if she was relieved or slightly disappointed. However, he wasn’t about to ask, for fear he might do something stupid—like admit his aversion to letting her go and never seeing her again.
“The doctor will arrive shortly to check on you,” she informed him. “Perhaps he will dispense with the laudanum since you are coherent. How’s your headache by now?”
“Still there.”
Contentment stole over him when Eva leaned down to press her lips gently to his. It seemed like weeks since he’d kissed her, since he’d inhaled that unique fragrance he associated with her, since he felt her lush body brushing against his.
“I’ll leave you to rest,” she whispered against his lips. “I’m dreadfully sorry you were injured because of my crusade. That’s why I struck off alone for Purgatory Gulch. I didn’t want to place you in danger. Even so, James got off a lucky shot then he took your clothes and horse. He tried to masquerade as you so he could swipe the ransom money from my sister, but I knew it wasn’t you and I alerted everyone.
“Now here you are, flat on your back. With a headache from hell, I suspect. Forgive me?” she murmured softly.
“If you’ll forgive me for failing you when James took you captive and you ended up with a gunshot wound and broken arm.”
“I didn’t hold you responsible.”
He grasped her good arm then curled his hand around the back of her neck to draw her lush mouth back to his. “I did.”
He kissed her hungrily, deeply, and wondered how many kisses he could accumulate before the doctor gave him a clean bill of health and shooed him out of this incredibly comfortable bed in what looked like a fairy-tale palace.
“Ahem…” The physician, a black leather bag in hand, cleared his throat to make his presence known. Then he rapped his knuckles on the doorjamb. “May I come in to check on our local hero?”
“By all means, Dr. Fields,” Eva insisted as she withdrew.
Raven frowned, puzzled. “Local hero?”
“Quite the story in the newspaper,” the gray-haired physician remarked as he eased down on the edge of the bed to replace the dressing and bandage. “It all sounded quite exciting and perilous, but you sacrificed your own safety to save Eva from disaster. Very admirable, Mr. Raven.”
Raven said nothing, just wondered how many ways Eva had spun the facts to make him appear the hero for the week.
“Whoever sewed up the gash on your head did a fine job,” Dr. Fields praised.
“It was his cousin,” Eva reported.
Raven grimaced when the physician slid his hand behind his head to inspect the tender knot.
“If you’re dealing with blurred vision I’m not surprised,” Dr. Fields said.
Raven was amazed James hadn’t opted for a bullet in the back. If James hadn’t wanted to avoid getting blood on his black shirt, when he exchanged it with his own, Raven predicted he would be looking down from that great Cheyenne hunting ground in the sky right now. Instead, James had knocked him senseless and bypassed a lethal gunshot that might have drawn unwanted attention.
“You can get out of bed this evening.” Dr. Fields remarked as he came to his feet. “Limited activity, of course. You have a concussion, Mr. Raven, so you should stay in bed as much as possible.”
Raven murmured his thanks to the doctor and watched Eva escort the gray-haired man into the hall. Although he planned to remain awake, his eyelids dropped to half-mast. He decided it would be a good idea to catch another nap so he could gain enough strength to walk out of Eva’s life before he lost the willpower to get up and go.
That evening, Eva went in to check on Raven before she bedded down in her sister’s room. She smiled ruefully, remembering that Raven had insisted on moving about after supper. They had taken a slow tour of the upstairs before dizziness forced him to lie down again. He seemed ill at ease and uncomfortable with the plush accommodations her father had designed for her mother—who had died before the mansion was completed.
Eva slipped quietly into the room to see Raven sprawled in her bed. He had announced that he had business to attend the next day and that he would be leaving Denver shortly thereafter. The thought tormented her to no end. She knew she had no lasting hold on him, but she had hoped he wouldn’t be in a flaming rush to leave town. Other cases awaited him, of course, and he was eager to tend to business.
To him, she was a completed assignment and money in his pocket. To her, he was the beloved man she never expected to find after she’d lost faith in men.
Knowing this would be her last night with him, Eva quietly approached the bed to snuff the lantern. The impulse to lie down beside him one last time before he walked out of her life overwhelmed her. Shedding her nightgown, she eased between the sheets and felt instantly content.
Then she realized he wasn’t asleep. His hand glided over her bare hip then moved up to cup her breast. Desire sizzled through her as he levered himself up on his elbow.
“I was wrong,” he whispered. “This is heaven, after all.”
And then Raven kissed her so tenderly that her heart turned over in her chest. She would never forget how he made her feel when he touched her, how desperately she wanted him. For all the lonely tomorrows to come, tonight would have to be a vivid memory that lasted a lifetime.
Eva wanted him to remember her for all times, as well. She couldn’t speak the words trapped in her heart because she had promised not to tie him down or make selfish demands. But she could weave her love around him like a silken cocoon. He would know that he meant something unique and special to her, she promised herself. And perhaps someday he would return from his forays and stop by to see her for a few days. It was better than never seeing him at all, she consoled herself.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to clank her cumbersome splint against the knot on his head. But she needed to be as close to him as she could possibly get. She ached to memorize the exquisite feel of his masculine body pressed familiarly to hers, to savor his scent and his gentle touch, and experience the intimate emotions and sensations that he alone called from her.
She kissed him until she was forced to come up for a breath of air. “I don’t think this is the limited activity Dr. Fields prescribed,” she teased.
“But it’s exactly what I need,” he murmured as he spread a row of warm kisses along the column of her neck. “With you here, I’m feeling no pain.”
And it was true, Raven realized. Hungry need overshadowed everything else. He had awakened when Eva cuddled up beside him and he longed to share her passion before he did what was best for both of them—leave town the next morning.
When she expelled a wobbly sigh and arched into his caresses, Raven dipped his head to flick his tongue against her pebbled nipple. Then he suckled her gently, adoring the soft sounds of pleasure he provoked from her. With dedicated tenderness, he worked his way down her satiny body one kiss and caress at a time until she was writhing impatiently.
Although his need for her played hell with his self-control, Raven refused to rush through their last night together. It had always been like this with Eva, he recalled. She caused him to break every hard-and-fast rule he’d made about avoiding emotional involvements. She distracted him to the extreme and she aroused him until he was lost in a mindless fog that demanded sensual satisfaction.
“Raven, I—”
He shifted position to kiss her thoroughly and felt the urgent need in her embrace. Right or wrong, she wanted him and that pleased him to no end. He vowed to invent new ways to pleasure and excite her as never before.
He inched down her lush body again, memorizing every texture and contour by touch and by heart. When he glided his fingertips across her moist flesh, she quivered and he smiled in satisfaction. So much woman, he mused. So much indomitable spirit. So muc
h incredible passion. She knew no equal, and for a time she belonged only to him and he belonged only to her.
He dipped his head to flick at her with his tongue and tease her with light caresses. When he slid his finger inside her damp heat, he swore he was burning alive. He wanted nothing more than to be inside her, to become a part of that wild flame that burned down the night and erased all rational thought from his mind.
“Come here, damn you,” she panted. “I want you now.”
When her hand folded around him and she stroked him, urging him closer, he couldn’t deny what she wanted, what he wanted so much that he shook with need. He braced himself on his hands and looked down into her enchanting face illuminated by the moonlight that sprayed through the bay window.
As he eased her thighs apart with his knees she curled upward to kiss him as if there were no tomorrow and he was her last breath. The searing impact of emotion that coursed through him sent his senses reeling. When he sank into her welcoming warmth, he became a living, breathing part of her and she became a vital part of him.
They moved in perfect rhythm, drifting in a world of rapturous sensations that defied description. Wild tremors consumed them as they soared to previously unattained heights of ecstasy then plummeted into a reckless free fall of mind-boggling rapture.
Eva gasped when intense pleasure bombarded her repeatedly. She held on to Raven for dear life, struggling to draw breath. When he shuddered above her then clutched her tightly in his arms she savored the sweet intimacy of the moment, committed the feelings and sensations to living memory.
The words she longed to say ached to fly free but she bit them back, for fear they would spoil the moment and make Raven uncomfortable—just as he had retreated emotionally and physically after they first made love and he discovered who she was.
Every kiss and caress she offered him in the aftermath of unrivaled passion was a silent I-love-you. If Raven couldn’t translate her affection for him then it wasn’t because she hadn’t tried to communicate with every beat of her heart and the soundless whisper of her soul.