Stacey Kayne Read online

  Hearing movement near the entrance of the teepee, she flipped onto her side, just before Jed entered.

  “Rachell?” He crouched beside her.

  She remained silent, refusing to face him while her face was wet with useless tears. It wasn’t his fault she’d become enamored with a man who’d already given his heart to another. And she’d been too caught up in the rush of new emotions to realize it.

  Jed straightened and moved away. He turned out the lantern, surrounding them with darkness, then sat on the edge of the blanket and unlaced his tall moccasins.

  Rachell’s breath caught at the sound of his britches being pulled from his long legs. Her mind visualized what she couldn’t see in the darkness. Jed lifted the blanket and slid beside her, before pulling her into the curve of his body.

  A violent shudder shook her body as the warmth of his skin surrounded her.

  “Relax. You’ve been sleeping in my arms for a full week.”

  She didn’t attempt to respond, certain her voice would be none too steady. She may have been sleeping in his arms during the past week, but he’d either been fully clothed or unconscious, and she’d not experienced the taste of his wild kisses or the intense pleasure of his intimate touch.

  And what had he done when she’d succumbed to his advances, but accused her of teasing him. Now here he was, curved around her, naked as the sunrise. Who was teasing whom? If he was confident enough to hold her without barriers, she would at least be comfortable.

  She twisted, turning toward him. His breath unraveled in a long sigh as she snuggled against him, her arm sliding across his waist.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a strained voice, his body stiff against hers.

  “Getting comfortable.” She shifted closer and discovered Jed might resent his attraction to her, but he was attracted. Rachell didn’t shy away, content to lie next to him with the proof of his desire pressed snugly against her.

  Jed cursed under his breath.

  “Good night, Jed,” she chimed, feeling a heady sense of victory and satisfaction.

  “Not so fast.”

  Rachell felt his fingers under her chin, and allowed him to tilt her face up, sensing his seeking mouth. His lips settled perfectly over hers. The undemanding caress of his tongue and gentle movements of his hand on her hip ignited an urgent hunger to have more of him. He kissed her until she throbbed inside. Much to her indignation, she released an involuntary cry of protest when he pulled away.

  “Sweet dreams, Rachell,” he said in a broken whisper, and rolled onto his back, folding his hands behind his head.

  She was sure he’d meant to punish her for brazenly snuggling against him. “You expect me to sleep now?”

  Jed chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, pressing her against his side as though to keep her from climbing on top of him. Rachell shifted and settled against him.

  Jed still struggled for control as he slid a hand under her hair and gently massaged the back of her neck. She trembled with a passion he’d never ignited so easily in any woman. If he had half a brain he’d shove her away and go bed down in the meadow with Sage.

  Tomorrow they’d have separate bedrolls. That assurance didn’t give him the peace of mind it should have. He liked the feel of her body next to his, her weight in his arms.

  That’s the problem, he reminded himself, just as her soft voice said his name.

  “What’s on your mind?” he asked with emphasized dread.

  “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Sugar, I don’t think we can get much more personal.” Not in good conscience anyway, his mind shot back, while thinking of just how personal he’d truly like to get.

  “I mean about Malika?”

  Jed swallowed a groan. He’d already talked more about Malika today than he had in the past eighteen years. He couldn’t think of any other reason for Malika’s name to have escaped his lips when he’d meant to say Rachell’s. Running Bear’s words still churned in the back of his mind. He needed to find a way to distance himself from Rachell, but not by hurting her.

  “I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I’m sorry for my blunder earlier, but I can’t help but think about her when I’m here among her family.” And lying with another woman who’s been bound to me against her will.

  He’d been a damn fool ever to touch her. Once she reached California and saw all the young men rushing down the mountainside ready to give their right arms to have a woman like her for a wife, she’d realize a thirty-nine-year-old drifter was a poor candidate for a husband.

  “You must miss her.”

  “Don’t you miss your late husband?” he asked.

  “As a husband, no. But I do miss James. He married me to protect me from the army who’d hanged my father for treason. He went back to his command post the day after we were wed. We couldn’t have spent a full week together in the year I lived with his family.”

  Well, that explains her limited experience. But, hell, he wouldn’t have needed a week to bring her to passion. One full night of lovemaking would have been plenty. They wouldn’t have slept until he’d fully explored and tasted every square inch of her smooth skin. He’d find every sensitive spot of her body that caused her to cry out in abandon and test the fiery limits of her hidden desire.

  Jed’s body stirred violently beneath the blankets, rising high like a white flag, ready to surrender to the promise of his thoughts.

  Damn. The direction of his thoughts wasn’t doing his body any favors. Neither was Rachell. Her fingers fiddled with the top edge of his bandage, continually grazing his skin, raking the fire already blazing in his body.

  “Stop doing that,” he said with a harshness he hadn’t intended.

  She instantly removed her hand from his side and lifted her head from his shoulder. “Sorry. Your side must be sensitive.”

  “Criminy sake! My whole body is sensitive when I’m lying with you like this.”

  A moment later Jed swore he could feel the warmth of her smile radiating against his skin like sunshine.

  Running Bear’s words echoed through his mind. I see light to brighten your spirit and bring you peace.

  Running Bear didn’t know what he was talking about.

  Although Rachell had awakened alone, the warmth of Jed’s body still surrounded her. It couldn’t have been long since he’d risen.

  Voices filtered in from outside the teepee, just before the door flap opened and sunlight poured inside. Rachell tugged a blanket over her eyes, shielding them from the intrusion of light.

  “Rise and shine, sugar,” Jed said as he stepped inside.

  Rachell sat up, rubbing at her eyes.

  “You sure as hell don’t need any more beauty sleep.”

  Jed turned away and collected his saddlebags then walked back toward the opening. He paused before stepping outside, giving her a questioning gaze.

  He looked incredibly handsome, wearing his dark duster, his black Stetson pulled low on his brow.

  “Didn’t I speak English?” he asked. “Slip your sweet hide back into those buckskin britches.” He nodded toward the pile of folded clothes she’d worn the previous day, then winked at her before disappearing into the blinding sunlight.

  Two compliments in one morning. He’d certainly awakened in a cheerful mood. Or…perhaps he was only happy to be on the move again. The closer they came to Shadow Canyon, the closer he was to being rid of her.

  She released a deep sigh as her spirits plummeted. She shoved her disheveled hair away from her face. Lord, but the man was confusing.

  And punctual.

  She sprang to her feet. She quickly dressed and braided her hair. The soft buckskin clothes and warm moccasins were pure heaven against her skin. No wonder Jed hardly wore the stiff leather boots she’d seen in his pack. She stepped outside into the warm sunlight of a beautiful spring morning.

  “Imp.”

  Rachell turned at the sound of Running Bear’s voice. He and Snow Flower walked across
the camp to greet her.

  “For you,” he said, holding out a tan floppy hat and a beautiful pair of leather gloves with beaded cuffs. She recognized the red-and-yellow flower on each cuff. The same flower as the one on the wide sash she’d worn the previous night.

  “Thank you,” she said, accepting the gifts. She tugged the hat onto her head then looked closer at the gloves. She ran a finger across the smooth beads covering the wide cuff. She’d never seen such a fancy pair of riding gloves. “They’re so beautiful,” she said as she pulled them on.

  “We meet again soon.”

  “Oh, I doubt that,” Rachell said, sure that once she reached California, she’d stay within its borders. “But thank you. I’ve enjoyed meeting you and your family.”

  “No. I thank you,” Running Bear said, taking her hand in his. “You bring light to my camp and to my brother’s spirit. My home will be your home.”

  Moved beyond words, Rachell clamped her arms around Running Bear’s large body. His strong arms returned her hug without hesitation. Snow Flower was treated to an equally affectionate embrace.

  “Your brave is impatient,” Running Bear said, looking past her.

  Rachell turned to see if Jed was coming and found her face pressed against his chest. “Jed! Someone should tie a bell around your neck,” she snapped as she lifted her head to look up at him. His easy smile didn’t help to regulate her pulse.

  “Ready?” he asked with a low rumbling laugh.

  “You shaved,” she blurted out, stunned by his handsome, clean-shaven face. His smug grin made her regret the comment. Rachell stepped around him and walked toward his horse and two others loaded with supplies.

  The man was full of himself. And why shouldn’t he be? her mind retorted. She was the fool who fell to pieces every time he looked at her.

  “I’ll help you up,” Jed said, coming up behind her as she approached Sage.

  She noticed his stirrups had been shortened, for her. She smiled up at the large buckskin she’d befriended in the past week. “I’m riding Sage?”

  “I wouldn’t dream of putting your tender hide on that rowdy mustang,” he said, motioning to the black horse a few yards away.

  Jed watched Rachell glance at the horse then back at him with an impish glint in her eyes.

  “Rachell—”

  He was too late. She marched past him and grabbed the reins along with a fistful of the horse’s black mane. She leapt from the ground as though she truly had magical powers, gracefully gliding onto the horse’s bare back. The mustang sidestepped, dipping his head as if he had to adjust to her little bit of weight. Rachell tugged firmly on the reins and kicked her heels against the horse’s sides. She shot across the meadow as though she’d been raised riding bareback on wild mustangs.

  Jed tensed with annoyance at the rumbling sound of Running Bear’s low laughter.

  “I like Imp,” Running Bear said, clamping a hand onto Jed’s shoulder.

  “So I heard.” Jed glanced at his friend who was watching Rachell with eyes that shone with admiration, as were those of the crowd that had gathered to see them off. His own gaze was drawn back to the buckskin-clad woman confidently taking charge of a horse who still had a thing or two to learn about who was giving the orders.

  Damn it all. Jed liked her too damn much. He shook his head as he walked toward his horse to lower the stirrups.

  Finished, he stood beside Sage with his arms crossed over his chest. Rachell reined in beside him, her chin high, her sweet lips stretched into a tight smile.

  Heaven’s mercy, she’d never been more beautiful to him than she was now, full of confidence and sass.

  “Show-off,” he grumbled. “Where’d you learn to sit atop a horse like an Indian?”

  “Back home. I practically lived in the stables.”

  Jed was unable to hold his scowl while watching her eyes shine with delight as she patted the horse’s dark mane. He didn’t want to like this woman, but she made it impossible. The more he saw of the real Rachell breaking free, the more he liked her.

  She’s Buck’s twenty-three-year-old sister-in-law, he reminded himself for the hundredth time since he’d awakened with her sleeping soundly in his arms. Now that they’d have separate bedrolls, he wouldn’t have a problem keeping his hands off her.

  One more state, he thought as he stepped toward her horse. They only had to cross one more state. If they cut through the right passes, they could reach Shadow Canyon in little more than a week—or two.

  “Hop down, honey. They’re gonna rig him with some Ute tack.”

  “You don’t think I can ride without a saddle?” she asked, her eyes narrowing with irritation.

  He gripped her small waist and lifted her from the horse. “I don’t think anything of the kind. I’ve no doubt you’re a woman who can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”

  Green eyes sparkled, pink lips smiled.

  Dear God. This was going to be a long trip. Undoubtedly the longest of his life.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Heaven help me. It’s wide as a lake.

  Rachell couldn’t pull her eyes away from the vast stretch of moving water.

  “I know the width is intimidating,” Jed was saying as he swung back into his saddle after untying the lead to his pack horse. “But it’s not too deep. The horses can get across.”

  Rachell’s mind fully trusted Jed’s assessment of the swollen river, but her body had thoughts of its own. She sat upon the horse she’d taken to calling Storm Cloud, clenching the reins so tightly they were biting into her flesh through her leather gloves. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her pulse and find enough muscle control to urge Storm Cloud forward, but her legs had become stone.

  Jed reined in close beside her. Her gaze stayed fastened on the swirling, rippling movements of the water streaming by.

  “Sugar,” he said with annoying tenderness, “why don’t I put you in my saddle with me?”

  “No. I can ride across,” she insisted, talking mostly to herself. She fought the shivers in her spine as she tapped her heels against her horse. She closed her eyes, trying to block out the sight and sounds of the moving water. Suddenly, two large hands gripped her waist and she was straddling only air.

  “Jed! I said—”

  “I know what you said.” He positioned her on his lap, facing his chest, her legs draping over his thighs. “I also know you have too much stubborn pride to ask me for help.”

  “I could have crossed it,” she insisted, not wanting to give in, but knowing in the back of her mind, she’d have been struggling to draw a breath before her horse’s hooves had even touched the water.

  “Maybe I’ve been looking for an excuse to get you into my saddle,” Jed said.

  She quickly looked away. “You don’t want me anywhere near your saddle.” In the past few days he’d barely brushed her elbow. “You’re just being sweet by trying to make me feel less of a coward.”

  Jed placed a gloved hand under her chin, tilting her face up, forcing her to meet his intense gaze. “The only sweet thing in this saddle is you, and you’re not a coward, Rachell. Surely there’s a reason you tense up around rivers.”

  “My brother drowned,” she said.

  “You were with him?”

  She nodded, closing her eyes as the warm hand on her back helped to ease her shivers. “He wasn’t far from me. He went under, and he never came up. He was twelve. I hear the rush of water, and I remember Isaac carrying Andrew from the river. They said he’d been caught by an undertow.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Nine. It’s silly to still be so frightened.”

  “We all have fears, Rachell.”

  She glanced up at the warm gray eyes gazing down at her. “You don’t.”

  “The hell I don’t.”

  “Name one.”

  “Rachell Doulan,” he said with a slight smile.

  Rachell couldn’t help but return the smile. She stiffened as Sage started f
orward.

  “Hold tight.”

  She didn’t need to be told, already doing her best to crawl inside Jed’s shirt.

  “Relax.” His hand moved across her back in long soothing strokes. “I’ve crossed this river thirty times or more and never once had to swim.”

  Rachell closed her eyes, trying to draw his courage into her body. Listening to the beat of his heart and the soothing sound of his voice helped to drown out the roar of the river, until Sage jarred to one side, dipping her foot into the cold water, shattering her tranquility.

  “Jed!”

  “Shhh,” he soothed, his arm holding her securely against him. “Sage knows what he’s doing.”

  He must have, for a few moments later, Sage was cantering across dry land, with Storm Cloud and their pack horse following behind. They rode away from the river before Jed reined in.

  “Was that so bad?” he asked, briskly rubbing her arms.

  “Yes,” she insisted, tilting her head up, expecting to find laughter in his eyes. His gentle smile sent a surge of warmth straight to her heart. Instinctively, she reached for his face and drew him to her lips.

  Jed released a low groan, telling himself to pull away even as he lowered his head. It had been three days since he’d held her in his arms. One little kiss wouldn’t hurt, right?

  But one kiss called for another, and another, until their mouths were locked in a wild mating of tongues. His body shuddered as she rocked against him, the sweet heat of her feminine core burning him through the double-barrier of buckskin. His hands captured her hips, ceasing the torture, only to have her legs clench against his, pressing her tightly against his aroused body.

  Jed bit out a curse. He grabbed her knees, prying her legs from his hips.

  Stunned by her wanton behavior, Rachell pressed her face against his chest. They were sitting in a saddle, for goodness’ sake!

  “Sorry,” she breathed into his shirt. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  “Rachell, if you don’t get out of this saddle right now, you’re gonna find yourself being made love to on horseback.”

  She sat back, staring up at him with wide eyes. “We couldn’t possibly.”