Witch Angel

by Trana Mae Simmons

  It humbled her to think she was woman enough to captivate a man like this, one who cared so deeply when he unleashed the power of his emotions. For these few, precious moments, she would deny all the obstacles—wrap the treasure he offered her in a package to store in a special corner of her mind. Should the day come when she only had her memories ...

  Cutting off her thoughts, Shain kissed her tenderly, with a longing she would remember across any span of time—with a yearning she answered with her own craving to belong to no one except him. Desire still lingered, but it melded with their shared admissions of love to form a wondrous mixture of feelings so complete, Alaynia couldn’t imagine anything more powerful on earth.

  Shain sipped a final kiss from her lips, nibbled a path across her cheek, and gently nipped her earlobe. “Tonight,” he confided. “Tonight we’re going to make love. Nothing is going to stop that from happening. I don’t know how much time we’ll have together, but from now on there’s not going to be a minute of it wasted.”

  “Tonight,” Alaynia agreed.

  Keeping one arm firmly around her to hold her close, Shain unwrapped the reins and snapped them on the horse’s rump. Alaynia snuggled against him as he drove, reveling in the feel of his hardened body contrasting with her softness, and sighing in delight each time he bent to drop a kiss on her nose or lips. When they came to the spot where Cole had shot the javelina, she sat up with a worried frown on her face.

  “Shain, isn’t that where the raiders dumped your cotton? Over there on the creek bank, where you found the baby pigs?”

  “Yes, but don’t worry about it ... “ Shain began.

  “Damn it, Shain!” Alaynia grabbed the reins and pulled the horse to a stop. After wrapping the straps around the brake shaft, she crossed her arms over her chest and scooted back away from him, glaring with disbelief. “How can you keep saying that?”

  “What?” he questioned in return. “For you not to worry? What good will it do for both of us to be upset? You’ve got enough on your mind right now. Besides finding yourself in a completely different world, you’ve taken on a pretty damned big job.”

  “It’s called sharing, Shain. That’s part of a relationship. There’re going to be days when I’ll be ready to tear my hair out over this project for Jake. I know, because I’ve had days like that before on projects not half this large. I’d like to think I could talk to you about it—ask your advice—maybe just get some frustration off my chest. How can I do that if I know you’re worrying privately about your own problems? That you won’t talk to me about them?”

  “I’ve always had to do it on my own,” Shain said. “My father made it clear that women weren’t to be bothered with a man’s difficulties.”

  “Your father probably never met a woman who could build a house, now did he?”

  “Nor one he ever wanted to share his very soul with,” Shain said in a voice that caressed her with warmth.

  Alaynia melted toward him, but Shain shook his head and leapt from the buggy. Before she could protest, he reached across the seat and swung her down beside him. Arm around her waist, he started toward the edge of the road. “I’ll show you where we found the cotton.”

  Alaynia tried to plant her feet, but her thin slippers gave her no traction. She stumbled forward a step, shaking her head vigorously. “Uh ... Shain ... wait. No. I ...”

  Shain paused and looked down at her. “What’s wrong? Don’t you want to share this with me? I’ll tell you what we found while we walk.”

  “There’s ... Shain, aren’t there snakes in there?”

  “Come to think of it,” he said in a musing voice, rasping a hand across his chin, “Cole and I did see a water moccasin in the creek that day. Probably was after one of the piglets—it had a mouth big enough to swallow one. But it’s probably gone off to find another meal by now.”

  Suddenly a nearby bush rustled intensely, and Alaynia screamed. Whirling, she scrambled back into the buggy, ripping her skirt hem on a splintered piece of wood. Shrinking back against the far side of the buggy, she frantically called to Shain, “Get out of there! Come on!”

  Shain cocked his thumbs in his waistband and stared at her with a puzzled look. “Aw, honey, what kind of man would you think I was if I ran off scared of a little sound like that? Besides, it can’t be a snake. Made too much noise for that. Snakes, even big ones, they travel pretty silently.”

  Alaynia’s fright diminished, and she glared at him suspiciously. The bush rustled again, and a sorrel horse she recognized as the one Cole Dubose rode stuck its head out from the underbrush, reaching for a clump of grass on the roadside. “You knew Cole was waiting here, didn’t you?” she demanded.

  “He wanted to look the area over one more time,” Shain admitted. “See if we missed anything yesterday.”

  “Oh,” Alaynia said in a small voice. “Well, I guess something as large as a horse wandering around in that brush would scare off any snakes. Help me down again, will you, darling?”

  Chuckling under his breath, Shain held his arms up. Bracing herself on the floorboards, Alaynia shoved him backwards. Shain sprawled in the dirt, and with a quick flick of her wrist, she unwrapped the reins and snapped them smartly.

  “You and Cole can have time alone to discuss men’s concerns while he gives you a ride back to Chenaie!” she called over her shoulder as the horse broke into a trot.

  “Damn it, Alaynia! Get back here!”

  She glanced behind to see him scrambling to his feet in the dust the buggy left. All at once, she broke into laughter and pulled on the reins, slowing the horse to a stop. It tossed its head and craned its neck to look around at her, wrinkling its upper lip. She giggled again, then guided the horse in a circle. Keeping it at a sedate walk, she fixed an innocent look on her face and headed toward Shain.

  Instead of the scowl she expected, Shain greeted her with a wide grin as he brushed at his rear. “Where’d you learn to drive a buggy?” he asked. “Thought you drove things like that car in your time.”

  “One of my clients used to love dressing up in old clothes and driving in the Fourth of July parade in Boston. I thought it might be fun to know how to drive a horse, as well as ride.”

  A gleam of jealousy flickered in Shain’s eyes. “So he taught you, huh?”

  “She and I wore the same size,” Alaynia replied with a smirk. “And she loaned me a different outfit each July, so she’d have company in the parade. Her father raised harness horses, and she’d been driving them in races all her life. She won quite a few, too.”

  “Good God,” Shain muttered. “Women house builders and women harness race drivers. And you said the day I met you that women in your time don’t even need a man to have a child. Tell me, witch angel, is there anything a woman needs a man for at all in your time?”

  “For love,” Alaynia said solemnly. “Nothing will ever replace the love a man and woman have for each other.”

  When Shain lifted his arms this time, she slid down willingly into his embrace. Parting her lips in invitation, she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss. After he raised his head, she laid her cheek on his shoulder and sighed with contentment. “We’ve still got a lot of things to talk about and work out, Shain.”

  “Yeah. We’ll start tonight.”

  “Tonight ...”

  “Excuse me,” Cole said so near Alaynia’s ear that she jumped. “But I’d like to show Shain something a little earlier than tonight.”

  He flashed her that devastating smile when she turned on him, but it had absolutely no effect on Alaynia. “Your damned horse makes more noise than you do,” she told him with a glare. “Maybe you ought to spend some time teaching it how to sneak up on people.”

  “Don’t see how you can call it sneakin’,” Cole said with a shrug. “Not when I’ve been standin’ over there ever since the two of you stopped here ten minutes ago, waitin’ for Shain to notice me.”

  Alaynia blushed, and Cole immediately looked contrite. “‘Polo
gize, Miss Alaynia,” he said with an abashed shrug. “If it wasn’t important, I would’ve waited to talk to Shain later. Wouldn’t blame him a bit if he kicked my rear end for botherin’ him when he had someone as pretty as you willin’ to kiss that ugly mug of his.”

  Shain pulled Alaynia in front of him and wrapped his arms around her waist, crossing his hands over hers and pulling her tightly against him. “Jealous?” he inquired.

  “Hell, yes,” Cole responded with a wink at Alaynia. “You got yourself a woman who’s not only the prettiest thing to show up in this parish in twenty years, but she don’t take no guff from you when you try to scare her skirts off. And she can handle a buggy right well. Be a comfort to you in your old age, when you get all crippled up and can’t drive yourself around.”

  At ease with their bantering, Alaynia joined their laughter. She looked up at Shain’s face, relaxed now in the camaraderie flowing between him and Cole, and he returned her gaze with a quiet look of love. Then it hit her how long Cole had said he’d been watching them—the entire ten minutes they’d been there. And he’d obviously heard every word they said. Trepidation filled her mind, and Shain frowned in concern.

  “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “He heard us talking,” she murmured, with a quick glance at Cole, who averted his eyes and pretended to be totally interested in a mockingbird in a nearby treetop. “Remember what we were saying?”

  “Darling, tonight’s our business, not Cole’s. He ...”

  “No,” Alaynia insisted. “About ...” She lowered her voice even more. “About my time.”

  Cole stepped closer and touched Alaynia’s shoulder. “Look, Alaynia, don’t be upset. Maybe Shain hasn’t told you, but Tana and I’ve been friends all my life. There’s not much we keep from each other. She and Little Jim are all I have left from my life before the war—along with my friendship with Shain and Jeannie, of course.”

  “She told you then?” Alaynia asked.

  “Yes. At least, as much as she understands herself from the vision she had. She seems to think you’ve come here from another time—for some reason or purpose that’s not clear yet. And, yeah, I heard what you and Shain were sayin’. It pretty much confirms what Tana thinks.”

  “Did Tana mention her vision to you at Chenaie the other day?” Shain asked Alaynia. “You didn’t say anything to me.”

  “She alluded to a lot more than just her vision, Shain,” Alaynia replied. “And you haven’t exactly been available for me to talk to—at least, about the things you’re willing to discuss with me.”

  Shain’s face closed up and Alaynia quickly twisted in his arms, reaching up to stroke his cheek. “Please. I’m sorry. You’ve had so much on your mind—the fire, as well as the other problems at Chenaie. My presence has only complicated things for you.”

  “Your presence has been the best damned thing that’s happened to Chenaie since I was born there thirty-two years ago,” Shain growled, his face softening and a slight smile on his lips.

  Cole stuck his hands in his back pockets and began whistling a tune, rocking back and forth on his heels while Alaynia flushed with pleasure. No one had ever treated her as tenderly as Shain—holding her, touching her, and speaking to her with such deep tones of love in his voice, unconcerned with who overheard.

  Still ignoring Cole, Shain tipped her face up and kissed her gently. “From now on,” he said, “I want you to come to me whenever you need to talk about anything at all, no matter how petty you think the problem is.”

  For a moment, she considered telling him what she and Jake had been discussing—the possibility of spiritual intervention in her time trip—but she couldn’t bring herself to shatter the mood between them. She already knew how he felt about any talk of spirits at Chenaie—how he refused to acknowledge the rumors he’d alluded to before. Besides, Cole was still listening to every word. There would be time for that discussion later.

  “Hmm.” She flicked her skirt hem. “I seem to have a tear in my skirt. What should I do about it, darling?”

  “Order you a new dress, sweetheart.”

  Alaynia laughed and shook her head. “You do make decisions easily, don’t you?”

  “At your service, sweetheart.”

  Cole cleared his throat. “You two lovebirds have the rest of the day to chat. Think I might talk you out of at least a few minutes of ‘darlin’s’ time right now, Alaynia?”

  “If you must,” Alaynia said with a mock sigh. “Sometimes business does have to come before pleasure.”

  “I promise I’ll make short business of this,” Cole said with a teasing wink. “Won’t cut into your pleasure time too much.”

  Flushing once again, Alaynia ducked her head, and laughter rumbled in Shain’s chest. Lordy, it was going to take some getting used to—this unabashed jesting. She might have to dust off her own comeback skills. She was definitely on the losing end with these two men. But Shain’s arms, still locked tight around her, told her he felt no lack in her, at least not right now.

  “Guess you’ll have to wait in the buggy, Alaynia,” Cole said after a second. “We need to go over to the creek for me to show Shain what I found.”

  Alaynia stared at the underbrush, then stiffened her shoulders. “I’ll go.”

  “What about ssssss?” Shain hissed.

  “Why, darling,” she drawled, batting her eyes at him. “What snake in its right mind would bother me with two big strong men protecting me?”

  “One big strong man’s enough to protect a woman,” Shain said with a laugh, sweeping her up into his arms. “Lead on, Cole.”

  “Me?” Cole took a step back, his eyes wide in feigned panic. “Why me? You’re the big, strong protector. You go first. You just said there’s snakes in there.”

  “I did, didn’t I?” Shain mused. “Maybe we should let Alaynia go first then. She’s not as large as us, but she’s still bigger than a snake—big enough to scare them off.”

  Alaynia giggled and tightened her arms around his neck. “Not me!”

  With a grunt of teasing scorn, Shain walked toward the underbrush with her in his arms. A few yards down the path, he murmured, “Guess men are good for a few things, huh?”

  “I can think of one or two,” she replied, nuzzling her nose against his neck. “Give me some time, and I might come up with some more.”

  “Well, I’m still interested in this procreation without a man’s help.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” Cole said from behind them.

  Alaynia glanced over Shain’s shoulder into Cole’s teasing eyes. “I’ll tell you both about it—some day.”

  All too soon, they came out onto the creek bank, and Shain set Alaynia down. She stared in dismay at the piles and piles of ruined cotton. As Shain had said, the raiders had dumped the cotton bolls on the muddy banks and into the creek. Most of the cotton was trampled into the mud, and the rest of it lay in water-logged clumps, with the creek water running over it sluggishly.

  “It’s horrible,” she said.

  “Yeah,” Shain said in a grim voice. “When I get my hands on whoever did this, they’ll wish they’d never seen a cotton boll in their life.”

  Cole walked over to an area of the bank and knelt down. When he rose, he handed half a horseshoe to Shain.

  “This is what I found,” he said. “And I didn’t run across the other half of it anywhere on the trail to town. Someone was cruel enough to force his horse to carry him all that way with a hell of a sore foot. And he must’ve been smart enough to ride in front of whoever else was with him—so his prints would be wiped out.”

  Shain studied the half of horseshoe briefly, then gave it back to Cole. “You planning on checking with the blacksmith?”

  “Tomorrow,” Cole said with a nod. “And I’ll turn this over to the sheriff.”

  “It won’t hold up in court,” Alaynia put in.

  When Cole and Shain glanced at her in surprise, she shrugged and said, “I like to watch shows with court trials on TV. CSI’
s pretty good at teaching a person to pick up clues, too.”

  The men continued to stare at her in mystification. “What don’t you understand?” she asked. “Court trials or clues?”

  “TV,” they both answered.

  “Oh. Well, I’ll let Jake explain that to you, since he understands it better even than I do. But what I meant about the horseshoe is that you’d still have to prove that actual horse and rider were here on the night of the raid. The owner might claim he’d been riding around here some other time.”

  “If he had that shoe repaired the day after this raid,” Shain said logically, “it’d be pretty damned good evidence in my book.”

  “Circumstantial,” Alaynia said. “He can say someone borrowed his horse without his knowledge—that he found him like that in his own stable the next day.”

  “I think I’m losing my jealousy,” Cole told Shain. “Don’t know as I could handle life with a woman smarter than me.”

  “She’s right, though,” Shain replied. “So I guess we’ll have to get a bigger pile of circumstantial evidence, or catch that bastard in the act.”

  * * * *

  “Yeah,” Basil mused from his seat on the tree limb.

  “Yeah, what?” Sylvia asked. “Yeah, you agree Alaynia’s right?”

  “That, too,” Basil conceded, disregarding Sylvia’s satisfied smirk at his admission of Alaynia’s feminine mental talents. “But what I meant is, whoever’s sabotaging Chenaie won’t stop now. With the three of us, we can keep watch better—catch him or his hired hoodlums when they come around again.”

  “Too bad we don’t have Frannie’s computer here,” Sylvia said.

  “Computer?”

  “It’s an electronic piece of equipment Frannie uses to keep track of all of her angels when we’re at home,” Sylvia explained. “We could program in our suspects and have it keep watch on them.”