He lifted a hand to the wild tangle of red curls that lay across his chest, smiling when he tried to picture her with hair the same shade of blond as the other sweet nest of curls. He’d thought about moving her—them—to the main house, but she was sleeping so soundly when he’d returned from his little mission, he’d been unable to resist sliding back under the thin blanket and wrapping himself around the warmth of her body. She’d curled right into him, and he’d fallen asleep without even realizing it. Until now.
His hands absently loosened one curl, then another, untangling them, then twining one around his finger. What in the hell was he going to do now? To say things were different was a laughable understatement. Only he wasn’t laughing. Never in his wildest dreams had he come close to imagining their joining would be so powerful, so consuming. The idea of walking away from her seemed beyond impossible now. He’d just found her, dammit.
As he lay there breathing in her soft, sweet scent, he realized he was trying to figure out a way to make it work between them. Even though he knew it was a fantasy. He couldn’t imagine her adapting to his lifestyle, and he wasn’t so far gone he could kid himself about trying to settle down in one place. What would he do? He knew only one thing; tracking people down. Hardly the sort of life Annie deserved.
Not that it made any difference. The second she found out why he’d come up there in the first place, about his connection to Sam Perkins … His stomach pitched.
As much as he’d like to keep her in this narrow, lumpy cot of a bed for about three days, he knew other forces were at work, and they didn’t give a damn about his time schedule. He had to tell her now.
“Hawk?” Her voice was a drowsy murmur against his skin.
He’d never get tired of hearing her say that. Despite his recent decision, his body responded as if the other agenda was still a possibility. A frown creased his brow as he wondered whether he’d ever hear her whisper his nickname again after he confessed. He shoved a hand under his head and tugged her a bit closer to his side. “What?”
“Mmmmmm,” was all she said.
He could feel her smile against his skin. The hand behind his head became a clenched fist. “Annie, we have to talk.”
TEN
She roused herself enough to lay her hand on his chest and prop her chin on the back of it. “About Perkins and the man who shot at you. I know.”
At least she didn’t sound any happier about the abrupt return to reality than he did. He drank in how naturally they had awakened to each other, as if they’d been doing it every morning for years. His stomach knotted with pain as he fought the need to tell her what that meant to him, how powerful their union was to him. But he knew—as she surely did—that there was no time for that.
“I slipped out earlier. No new prints.”
“And Sky Dancer?”
His muscles clenched along with his jaw. “No sign,” he muttered. “But I hadn’t expected there to be.” He let his gaze drift to the tiny window, then he shifted so he could see her face. He pulled in a breath, then forced it out. No time like the present.
“Did you ever go back to Fort Hall? I mean since your grandmother died? Don’t you miss having a home to go to?” she asked.
“What?” He’d been all prepared for his big confession, and her off-the-wall question took him completely by surprise. “Where did that come from?”
“I’ve been wondering why you made the choices you did. Why you took to wandering and never settled down.” She laid her cheek on her hand, turning her face away from him. “Never mind, I know it’s really none of my business.”
He pulled her on top of him so her chin rested square in the middle of his chest. “Ask me whatever you want, little sun.”
She smiled, the blush on her cheeks shy and sexy as hell. “Why did you leave?”
He was a little surprised when the pain didn’t come. Maybe because she’d tried so hard to hide her curiosity. Didn’t she know he could deny her nothing? He actually needed to tell her. It would all lead to the same ending. That he had become a bounty hunter. One most recently employed by a Mr. Samuel Perkins.
He swallowed hard, forcing his mind back to her question. “My mom didn’t handle single parenthood well.” That was a broad generalization if there ever was one. “She knew my father was never coming back, and that staying on at Fort Hall was her only chance to raise me.”
“But that didn’t keep her from hating it, did it?”
Kane’s chest tightened at her softly spoken words. “No, it didn’t.”
“Did she … spend time with your father in hopes he’d take her away? Marry her or something?”
“More than likely. Cloud Dancer, my grandmother, thought so. I only knew she resented the reservation and hated being pigeonholed as just another Indian. She wanted more. So much more.”
“Where is she now?”
“Dead.” He felt the shiver that raced through her. “She killed herself when I was six.” He took a deep breath, feeling somehow cleansed by the admission. “I didn’t understand everything, but I knew she’d have been happier somewhere else.” Without me. He cleared his throat. “Cloud Dancer tried hard to get me to see that the ways of our culture weren’t so bad. But all I knew was that it had been our culture that had taken my mother away from me. I was scared. And ashamed. I knew it was my fault too.” He sighed heavily. “I grew up very angry and resentful. I left as soon as I could. I was barely seventeen.”
“But you went back once.”
“Ten years later. When I found out Cloud Dancer was ill. I was too late. I have no reason to go there again.”
Neither of them said anything for a moment, and Kane felt his heart begin to pound. He’d never told a living soul the things he’d willingly confided in her. When she turned her face up to his, he didn’t even dare contemplate the emotions he found brimming in her eyes.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, honestly surprised.
“For giving me another part of you. I don’t imagine you discuss that part of your life all too often.”
“No,” he said, his voice gruff. “Annie, there’s more. I have to explain what brought me here. What I do for—”
“Shhh!” she said suddenly, placing her hand over his mouth.
He stilled immediately, wondering if he was so far gone with guilt that all his instincts had gone to hell. He heard nothing. “What?”
“I heard something crackling. Wait a minute. Do you smell something?”
“Holy mother of—” Kane sat up, bringing Annie with him, then none too gently deposited her back on the tangle of sheets and blanket. He shot to the window, knowing before he got there what he would find. “The ranch house is on fire.”
Annie was on tiptoes behind him, trying to see out the small murky panes of glass. She gasped. “Oh my God—”
Kane turned and pulled her to him. “There’s nothing we can do.” He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her closer. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”
All he could think was that if it hadn’t been for her sneaking up on him the night before, for them giving in to the emotions that had been building between them since the moment he’d found her kneeling out in the field on those ridiculous sponges, she’d have been asleep in that old feather bed … He shuddered against the thought, banishing the mental picture. It hadn’t happened, she was okay. For now.
Elizabeth took comfort in Kane’s arms for a moment, letting the shock of what was happening and all it implied sink in. Then she got mad. Really mad. She yanked herself away from him. “He’s gone too far this time.”
Kane let out an incredulous laugh. “This time? Annie, what do you think he was trying to do with the pickup truck? Bump into you? Scare you?” He grabbed her shoulders. “Sweetheart, the man is trying to kill you. And tonight he damn near succeeded!”
“Well, I’m not going to sit here like a scared rabbit and wait for him to finish the job. I can’t sit and wait any longer.”
“
And what do you plan on doing?”
“Face him. Go back. Call the police, the FBI, whoever. Do what I probably should have done in the first place instead of running away.”
He shook her. “Annie, it’s too late for that. We’re trapped. Right now all we can do is keep ourselves alive long enough to find a way off this damn mountain.”
She tried to calm down, think rationally. She looked at Kane, at the man she’d just spent the most powerful night of her life with. Talk about life being unfair.
No! Not if she could help it. Not anymore. She’d reached the end of her endurance. It would end now. One way or another, but it would end.
“Kane, I know you want to help me. Lord knows you could have been hurt—even killed—yesterday, when that man fired at you. And your horse is gone …” She started to shake. “I can’t let you keep—”
“Annie.” His tone was a warning.
Her eyes burned. “If anything happened to you …” She couldn’t finish. In the next instant her face was pressed against his warm bare chest, his hands stroking her back as he spoke into her hair.
“Don’t you understand, little sun? It goes both ways. It goes both ways.”
There was a sudden crackle and hiss, then a loud crash as a beam or a wall in the old house gave way. Realizing the danger they were still in, Kane set her away from him and tilted her chin up.
“Listen, the house is going up like dry tinder. The propane tank sits far enough away so that it probably won’t blow. But the idiot who set the fire could be rigging that to blow right this minute.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asked, pushing her hair from her face and swiping at her cheeks.
If he’d doubted it before, he knew it was burned in his soul for eternity now. She stood there, damp cheeks and freckles, slender shoulders shaking but squared, splendidly, beautifully naked while she stared at him and calmly handed him her complete faith. He loved her.
The hell of it was, if the pyromaniac out there didn’t get him first, it was likely she’d finish the job when she found out the entire truth. But then, he’d never needed to be told that life wasn’t fair. From the very start, his own had been an outstanding example of that.
“I’m going to see if I can find his tracks.”
“But what if the tank blows—”
“Get dressed,” he interrupted, looking around the small bunkhouse. He scooped up his jeans, sliding his wallet back into his pocket, and stepped into them.
“And then?” she asked as she found her jeans and slipped them on.
He tugged on a dark T-shirt and tossed one of his dark plaid cotton shirts to her. “Do you think you could find your way up that trail? The noise from the fire should cover any sounds you make. Be careful, but move as fast as you can. The fire is lighting up the area as if it were high noon.”
“I can do it.”
He knew she could. Dammit, they were supposed to have more time. There was still so much he had to say. “Annie—”
“What are you going to do when you find him?”
She sounded so sure of him. Never had he hoped so much that she’d be right. “Depends on what I find.” He walked over to the window where she was standing. “Stay up there until it gets light out. If I haven’t come for you by then, grab some water from the spring …” He stopped long enough to rummage around through the mess on the floor. “Here, take this.” He handed her his canteen. “Then I want you to head down to Dobs’s. Stay off the road if you can. No need to hurry and don’t take any foolish chances.” He slid his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He fished around and pulled out a bent-up business card, then held it up to the light cast by the fire outside to check the writing on it. “Here. When you get to town, call Brody Donegan.”
“Isn’t that one of the men I contacted from your list?”
“Yes. Tell him everything. Everything. You understand?”
“Okay, but—”
“No buts this time, little sun. I’d trust Donegan with my life. He’ll help you. And he’ll help you nail Perkins too. After what you told me yesterday, I was planning on calling him anyway.”
“Okay, I will.” She paused a beat, looking up at him with a thousand questions in her eyes. “Thank you,” was all she said.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Lord, what a tangled mess his life had become. “Come here,” he said softly, feeling incredibly blessed when she moved into his arms without question. He lowered his mouth to hers, needing to taste her, absorb all that was her into him. Knowing that even if they came out of this in one piece, he’d never have her in his arms that way again.
The instant she opened her mouth under his, the sweet tender kiss he’d intended turned into something hot and hungry. Needy and demanding. And from the way she clung to him, held his head tightly in her hands, he wasn’t the only one fighting the sudden inferno.
Another roar from outside broke them apart. On a harsh breath, Kane whispered raggedly, “I’ll make sure you get past the open area to the edge of the trail.” He cupped her chin and kissed her hard and fast. “Wait for me.”
He ducked out the door, flattening himself to the wall, not certain, with the rush of sound coming as the house suffered its last death throes that he had heard her quiet response.
“Forever, Hawk.”
Forever. Hawk. He cleared his mind and moved to the corner of the bunkhouse, carefully peering around the edge. In the false brightness he quickly scanned the grounds. No one. Without looking behind him, he motioned for her to take off. He spared a quick glance to make sure she was in fact heading for the cover of the trees at the base of the trail. She was hardly more than a dark blur. He swung around and kept his eyes glued to the Danteesque scenario in front of him, alert for any movement beyond that of the crumbling pile of ash.
Elizabeth stumbled up the last ten yards of the trail, flopping down as soon as she was behind the shrub cover near the ledge. She could hardly believe she had been there that afternoon. It seemed as if she’d experienced more in the hours since than she had in her entire life.
“Come on, Hawk,” she murmured as she flattened onto her belly and shimmied closer to the edge. She found herself half hoping he didn’t find anything. She’d gone over his instructions a thousand times while climbing the trail. And as soon as she saw him, she planned to do everything short of kidnapping him to get him to go down the mountain and contact this Donegan person with her.
She had long since come to the conclusion that the situation was far beyond her control. And she knew now that waiting for Matt to show up was a luxury she couldn’t—
A hand clamped over her mouth, sending her thoughts flying in a thousand directions and her heart rate soaring. She instinctively began to struggle, knowing without conscious thought that it wasn’t Kane’s hand. She kicked and thrashed, trying to scream. She managed to get her mouth open a bit and was preparing to bite down, when the man’s voice penetrated her haze of self-protective rage.
“Go on and bite me, you little bitch. Ain’t nothing gonna stop me now.”
Elizabeth’s blood ran cold. She turned her head as far as she could—and looked directly into the eyes of her killer.
Her first instinct was to ask what had happened to Kane, but she quickly clamped her lips together. If Kane was hurt or worse … there was nothing she could do about it. But in case he wasn’t, or her attacker didn’t know his whereabouts, she wasn’t about to clue him in.
“He’s not gonna save you this time. You’re mine.”
Her confidence in being rescued took a swift nosedive. She forced herself to maintain eye contact, wanting him to think she wasn’t intimidated. However, no amount of self-control could keep her limbs from trembling. “Is he …?” She couldn’t get past the hoarsely spoken words.
“Dead?” The man laughed. It was a lifeless, menacing sound. He dragged her roughly to her feet, pulling her hard against his body. “Don’t much matter. Unless he’s halfway to Canada by now, he’s as dead as
you’re gonna be shortly.”
He pulled one arm painfully backward, then upward until her fist was between her shoulder blades. She sucked in air as needles of pain shot through her shoulders, fighting the burning behind her eyelids. Think, think! she commanded herself. But her mind wasn’t cooperating. Jumbled thoughts of Kane talking to her, kissing her, making love to her seemed to race through her mind simultaneously. Dear God, if she was about to die, then she hoped her killer’s words were prophetic and somehow Kane had escaped.
He jerked her arm roughly, and she couldn’t stem the tiny yelp of pain. Shoving her in front of him, he started to move toward the tiny trail leading down from the ledge. She stumbled blindly for several steps then something inside her snapped. Why am I going along like a sheep to its slaughter? In the next instant she sprang into action. Putting her weight on her left foot, she stomped down with her right, hoping to catch his shin—and him off guard. She accomplished the first and was rewarded with a bellowed curse. However, when she turned into his body and tried to knee him in the groin, her body tangled with his and they both went tumbling to the ground. She landed on the bottom, and the blow drove the air from her lungs in one big whoosh. Even gasping for breath, she didn’t lay still. She squirmed, jerked, fighting and clawing like a wild animal to get free.
“Dammit to hell, lie still.”
The shouted curse was immediately followed with a hard backhand to her face.
Her ears were ringing, and she was having a hard time making her eyes focus, but it didn’t take more than a second to realize she was staring down the barrel of a rifle. Kane’s rifle, she thought dazedly.
“Stupid bitch, we could have had some fun first, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you punch and claw me while I’m at it.”
“You thought I’d lie still and let you rape me!” she demanded. An idea leapt into her mind, and she instantly gave voice to it. “Sam’s paying you, right. Whatever it is, I’ll double it, triple it. I even have contacts that can get you out of here, safe.”
He shoved his sweaty stubbled face close to hers, and her stomach lurched at the smell of his foul breath.
Bounty Hunter Page 14