by Susan Fox
And though his feelings toward her were more stormy and primitive than ever, he now knew exactly what he wanted from Rio Cory.
The wire was so tight, and it hurt so much. The colt was frantic. She tried to keep him calm, to hold the reins so tight he couldn’t get up, but the bits of leather were slick, defying her effort to hang on to them. And the bull was charging toward them, faster and faster, closer and closer…
Rio cried out, the horror of the dream making her jerk as she flung up her arm to protect herself. It was several moments before she realized that she was lying in a hospital bed and that the big hands manacling her wrists were trying to help, not hurt.
A huge sob sent pain shooting everywhere. The familiar traces of Kane’s after-shave made an impression before the low, gruff sound of his voice did. “Kane?”
“It’s me, baby. You’re safe.”
“The bull was—” She belatedly cut herself off. The nightmare lingered, but reality was flooding back. Relief made her wilt against the pillow and Kane’s grip on her wrists eased. The dim light coming from behind him made it difficult to see his face.
“What about the bull?” The terse question alerted Rio. She remembered then that she hadn’t told anyone exactly how the accident happened. All they knew was that she and the horse she was riding had got caught in barbed wire.
Her concern for the colt made her ignore his question. “What about the colt? Is he all right?”
Now that her eyes were adjusting to the dimness, she saw the harsh lines of his face ease. “I talked to Boz this evening. The colt is about as cut up and battered as you, but he’s okay.” Kane’s expression went grim again. “Though for two cents I feel like selling him, or better, sending him to the meat packer.”
Rio was instantly alarmed. “What for?”
“For being enough of a bubble head to tangle you both in several feet of barbed wire. What’d he do, take off in a bucking fit and try to go through the fence?”
Kane’s assessment of the circumstances of the accident stunned her, but the consequences he seemed so anxious to carry out upset her.
“No—you can’t do that, Kane. He’s a good little horse,” she told him quickly.
“And you’re too softhearted and sentimental,” he growled.
Rio shook her head, then winced at the pain. “It wasn’t his fault.”
Kane’s expression was stony. “Then whose fault was it?”
“It was the new bull.” The moment she said the words and saw the impact they had on Kane, she wished she’d found a much less blunt way to tell him. Kane not only placed a high value on the animal, he’d spent a fortune for him. The dangerous gleam in his eyes suggested that he was furious suddenly. The fear that Kane was angry with her—again—made her heart sink. Rio pressed her lips together, reluctant to tell him more.
“So what happened?” Kane was brisk with her, all business, and his steely tone made her dread his reaction more than she already did.
“We were riding along the fence. I didn’t know the bull was in the next pasture until I heard him coming up behind us from the other side of the fence.” Rio told him the rest, quailing inwardly at the dark anger on Kane’s face. And because she was anxious to be certain the colt wouldn’t somehow be blamed, she added, “The colt probably handled it as well as a more seasoned horse, given his inexperience. He was frightened and he was in pain. I don’t know how much time passed, but he stayed on the ground a long time. I either passed out or fell asleep at least once. He could have taken advantage of that.”
She went silent. There was no need to say more. Besides, she’d never seen the kind of anger—no, rage—she was seeing in Kane’s eyes now. He couldn’t be that angry with the colt, so it had to be her he was furious with. He was probably thinking she could have been more alert to the bull’s approach, or that she should have been able to keep the colt from panicking and falling into the fence.
Years of not measuring up, of loving Kane and knowing he was forever beyond her reach, brought a suspicious fullness to her eyes. She’d failed again in his sight, and she was so exhausted and uncomfortable and heartsore over losing Sam that this new failure was more than she could bear.
She put up her right hand and covered her eyes, mortified that she was on the verge of bursting into tears. Her hoarse, “I’m really tired, could you leave now?” ended on a sob that sent sharp pain through her bruised ribs.
Kane plucked her hand from her face the very instant the tears began to seep over her lashes. She glanced up into his harsh face before her eyes shied from the strange dismay in his.
“And I’m sorry. Again,” she blurted, then clenched her teeth together to get control of herself. She tried to pull her hand from his, but his firm grip made it impossible. Frustration made the tears come faster. “D-damn it—will you let me go and leave me alone?”
Kane released her hand and Rio quickly used it to brush impatiently at the hot tears cascading down her cheeks. The bed jerked a bit, and she realized that Kane had lowered the side rail. She was about to edge away when he leaned over her and braced his hands on either side of her head to come close, his lips a hand span from hers.
Rio pushed her hand against his chest to force him away, but he was immovable. She read his intent in the hot gleam of his eyes before his lips closed the distance and toyed softly with hers.
“Don’t do this, Kane, please,” she got out as she tried to turn her face from his. His hand on her cheek kept her from evading him while his lips continued to flirt with hers. She groaned, then slipped her fingers up to press over his mouth to keep it from touching hers.
“I can’t take this, Kane,” she whispered brokenly. “I can’t make my heart hard like you can, I can’t make myself stop—” She cut herself off before she made another foolish confession of love.
But she dissolved into tears anyway, unable to suppress the weak, wounded sobs that sent stabbing pains into her bruised side for those first few moments. Kane sat on the bed and gathered her carefully into his arms. She was too weak physically and emotionally to fight him any longer, and so she clung to his shirtfront and cried.
It was heaven and hell to be held by him, just as it had always been heaven and hell to be anywhere near him. She was too exhausted to grapple with the insanity, too broken to try to analyze it. Kane knew her most important secrets anyway, so he had surely detected the pleasure/pain of her feelings for him.
By the time the crying jag had spent itself, she was limp in his arms and so weak she could hardly move. Kane laid her back on the pillow, then grabbed a tissue from the side table and blotted her sunburned cheeks.
Rio didn’t open her eyes. She lay still for a few moments after he finished, then felt him lean toward her. His minty breath gusted softly over her face before his lips again settled on hers.
The firm caress of his mouth as it moved masterfully over hers sent a reviving heat through her. Rio’s eyes came open, then fell shut as his mouth moved demandingly on hers. Her fingers found the hand he’d braced beside her head. She slid her palm beneath his and felt their fingers lace together.
The pressure of his lips eased and he pulled back slightly to rasp, “I’m going to have you, Rio. Soon. Today changed things between us, and I’m done fighting the urge.” He brought a hand up and trailed a finger along her jaw. He let the finger drop to the front of her gown and traced a line to her breast. His eyes were like blue flames. “You get well, Rio Cory. You get strong.” His lips descended swiftly to hers and his kiss left her breathless. He withdrew slowly. Rio’s eyes opened and clung to the fiery intensity of his. He pulled his fingers from hers and raised the bed rail.
“Sleep tight, baby. I’ll be back before breakfast.”
And then he was gone.
CHAPTER NINE
RAMONA had been frantic to find the book. She’d secretly read about it in Sam’s letter to Rio, so she knew what was supposed to be in it. Now that she’d finally found it, she was beside herself with excitemen
t. Quietly, she lifted it from its resting place in the bottom drawer of Sam’s dresser.
She’d searched all over for the key to the damned drawer—the last place in the house where the book could possibly be. She must have gone through every pocket, shelf and potential hiding place before she’d found it. It had been hanging by a string among Sam’s collection of ties. She never would have noticed it had she not got frustrated with the search and slapped spitefully at the ties to muss them.
The moment she’d discovered the key was the moment that her daring plan was assured of success. Ramona felt good about this, clever, superior. In the past few days she’d become quite good at going through the private papers of others to find what she wanted. Not even the witch sisters, Ardis and Estelle, had been able to catch her at it.
Ramona set the book carefully on the bed. It was stuffed so full of dead flowers and papers and photos that it would never lay flat, and that annoyed her. How could you find one specific thing among such a collection of garbage? Only someone pathetic enough and sentimental enough to examine each page would ever find anything specific.
Fortunately, Rio Cory was pathetic enough and sentimental enough. And because she was, she was certain to find out the ugly truth in the book all by herself. Ramona only had to make sure that the truth was there before Rio got the book.
Kane came back before breakfast that next morning as he’d promised, but the doctor didn’t come to examine her until midmorning. By then, the floral delivery man had come by. her room and left her a dozen red roses in an expensive Lalique crystal vase. Rio had assumed they were from Kane until she read the card.
Kane’s face had been rock-hard when she’d glanced up from reading it. His gruff, “Who’s the romantic?” made her hesitate to tell him.
She said nothing, but passed him the card. Kane took it, and to her chagrin, read it aloud. “‘Glad you’re all right. Will make it up to you. Ty.’” He virtually sneered the name before he glared over at her. “Sounds like I need to make sure everyone knows you’ve been cut out of the herd.”
Rio’s gaze fled his. She loved Kane with all her heart, but what he’d proposed the night before shamed her. The thrill of his declaration to “have” her died the moment she realized that no declaration of love or proposal of marriage had followed it. He’d said he was tired of fighting the urge. Urges were more lust than love.
She deliberately ignored his statement and instead gazed at the roses. “How did he know I was in the hospital?”
“I told him when I offered him the bull back.”
Rio glanced over at him, surprised. “What?”
“I offered him the bull. On the hoof for a price, or over a barbecue pit for Labor Day.”
Rio was shaking her head before he finished. “That bull is too valuable. You’ll never get your investment back if you sell him at a loss—and it will be a loss. It will also be a waste to slaughter him.”
Kane’s gruff “Money doesn’t matter, he could have killed you,” gave her heart a pang. She knew Kane was upset that she’d been hurt, but hot because he was madly in love with her. Suddenly bitter, she gave him a cynical look, angry at herself for loving him so foolishly and angry at him for not being able to love her.
“You don’t have to grandstand,” she told him quietly. “You don’t need to worry about my health, either. I’ve already seen a lawyer and made a will. If I should die, my half of Langtry will go directly to you. If I become disabled somehow, and I’m not able to fully participate as your co-owner, I’ve signed papers that give you the authority to act for me. Sam’s will won’t have been violated, you won’t have an animal rights group on your back, and you can live happily ever after.”
Kane’s face had gone dark. He was furious. “What the hell’s the matter with you?” he growled.
Rio expelled a weary breath, but her gaze didn’t waver from his. “Maybe I’m wising up.” She’d already considered what she wanted to say. Now was the time to say it. “So you’ll need to keep fighting that ‘urge’ you mentioned last night. Exciting as it might be, I won’t have an affair with you. You already have my love, and you might always have that, but I won’t give you what’s left of my self-respect.”
The sadness she felt made her look away from the blue flare of outrage in his eyes. Fortunately, the doctor strode into the room. A nurse shooed Kane to the hall, and the doctor made his examination.
The nurse helped her dress in the clean clothes Kane had brought, gave her two bottles of medications plus prescriptions for more should she need them. She brushed and braided Rio’s hair, then helped her into the wheelchair. Rio held the crystal vase of roses on her lap as the nurse wheeled her out.
By the time Kane got her settled in the car, she was worn out. Kane was still furious with her, the air between them was turbulent with it. He only spoke to her when necessary all the way to Langtry.
When they arrived, Rio tried to get out of the car by herself, but she was so stiff and sore she’d barely got the door open before Kane came around to her side of the car. Despite her protest, he carefully slid one hand behind her back and one under her knees before he lifted her out.
Rio couldn’t help but notice that his profile was rigid with bad temper. Neither of them spoke as he carried her up the walk, then in the front door that Estelle held open for them. He ignored Ramona and Tracy, who’d come out of the living room as he stalked past, his no-nonsense glare keeping them all silent.
Tension and dread distracted Rio from the discomfort of being moved around as Kane carried her up the stairs. A confrontation was coming, that was certain. More heartache would follow, that was also certain.
When they reached her room, Kane got the door open, then carried her in. He paused to kick the door shut before he walked over to her bed. He sat her gently on the bedspread, then towered over her. Impatiently, he reached up to yank his hat off and toss it toward a chair.
“So you don’t want an affair, huh?”
Rio looked up at him. Kane Langtry was a ruggedly handsome, virile man. The longing to have him make love to her was suddenly so sharp that she almost reached for him then. Her body hungered for whatever he could give her for as long as he wanted to give it, but sadly, she knew her heart could never withstand physical intimacy without love. She’d never survive the pain when he tired of her and pushed her out of his life. Her eyes stung. “I love you, Kane, but enough is enough.”
He hunkered down in front of her and she had to make herself meet his solemn gaze. He touched her hand and she eased it away.
“I reckon I deserve for you to think that I’m a complete S.O.B.,” he growled. “I’ve acted like one long enough to qualify.” He lifted his hand and slid two fingers into his shirt pocket. When he brought them out, something bright sparkled between his fingertips. “But I’m in love with you, Rio Cory. I don’t want an affair with you, either. I want you to be my wife.”
It took a moment for her to realize that Kane had proposed marriage. He rolled the band of the ring between his thumb and finger so that the huge diamond winked boldly at her, drawing her attention. The ring was magnificent. What it represented made her breathless, but heartache brought her back to earth and she forced herself to look at him.
“But you hate wanting me,” she whispered sadly. “You said yourself that I’m the last woman you want.”
“I’ve had too much control over my life to appreciate losing my head over a woman. None of the others ever made me feel anything I couldn’t walk away from, so I hated it when I realized you had some special power over me.”
Rio glanced away, not certain she could believe what she was hearing. Perhaps the accident had somehow pushed her over the edge and she was imagining this as she’d imagined Sam coming to her. Kane placed a finger under her chin and silently coaxed her to look at him. It took her a moment to find the courage.
“You were nineteen when I started comparing other women to you,” he said, his voice husky and low. “But none of them had
eyes like sapphires or hair so long and thick that a man aches to wrap his hands in it. None of the others was as beautiful or as loyal and smart as you, none of them made my heart race and made me dream wild dreams.”
Rio was stunned. Oh, God, what he was saying was a miracle, but she was terrified of being disappointed.
Kane ran the back of his knuckle gently along her jaw as his look grew somber. “I almost lost you yesterday, baby. I found out then that there are scarier things than what I feel for you.”
Joy burst in her heart but Rio’s gaze fell from his as she automatically tried to conceal it from him. Everything he was saying to her was wonderful, but they’d lived at odds for too long for her not to be wary.
Kane’s softly spoken, “Rio?” made her look at him again. “If it’s not too late for me—for us—then marry me, honey. You’ll never regret it”
She looked deep into the dark blue of his eyes, searching for love, searching for the truth. All she could see was the utter sincerity of the man she’d loved for nearly half her life, the man whose heart was too hard won to doubt. She lifted her. hand and placed it on his hard jaw, terrified, nonetheless.
“We’ve both been through a lot lately, what with Sam…” She had to pause a moment because it was still hard to verbally acknowledge his death. “And then the accident shook us both up.” She watched Kane’s expression grow hard as she went on, “I know you Texas men are loathe to consider it, but maybe our emotions aren’t what we think they a—”
The sudden advance of Kane’s mouth cut her off. His lips fastened on hers with a fervency that stole her breath. When he finally withdrew, she couldn’t think straight.
“You’ve loved me for a long time and I’ve loved you,” he growled. “It didn’t start yesterday or last week or last month. I doubt very much that either one of us will ever wake up one day and decide that what we feel now was some kind of emotional overreaction or a byproduct of grief for my father.”