Brave the Wild Wind (8 page)

T
ROUBLE began soon after they rode into Cheyenne. They left their horses at the livery stable, and Jessie went on to the hotel to get a room. She hadn’t told Chase her plans, so he was obliged to follow her, wondering what she had in mind. They were barely speaking. Jessie told him where he could find a doctor if he thought it was necessary, and then she continued to ignore him. Her set features and angry stride told him she didn’t want his company, and he knew damned well that if he asked about her plans she would tell him it was none of his business.

At the hotel, Jessie signed the register, and then Chase started to do the same. But before he could even finish, the book was suddenly snatched out of his hands.

“It’s just like he said, Charlie,” the man next to Chase called over his shoulder, chuckling. “There’s a
K
in front of her name.”

“Do you mind, friend?” Chase said angrily.

“Oh, sure thing, mister.” The man shoved the register back in front of Chase. He grinned. “Just wanted to check something.”

As he walked away, Chase glanced at Jessie’s
name. Yes, there was a
K
in front of it. He then turned around to see that her path to the front door had been blocked by a squat, barrel-chested fellow. The lanky man who had just left Chase came up behind Jessie and slipped her gun out of her holster before she could stop him.

Chase waited for her reaction. It would be nice to see her let loose her terrible temper on someone else for a change.

But Jessie was just standing there, her back stiff, her hands on her hips, glaring.

“So Laton wasn’t joshin’.” Charlie laughed. “He said the name on the deed was Kenneth Jesse Blair. But I said no, old Blair must have a son somewhere. That’s who he’s left his ranch to. Couldn’t be no girl named Kenneth. Didn’t I say that, Clee?”

“Your exact words,” the lanky Clee agreed, nodding.

“But Laton was right as usual,” Charlie went on. “We got us a
bona fide
Kenneth here. Don’t she look just like a Kenneth?”

“Britches and all,” Clee agreed again, snickering.

“You’ve had your fun, mister, and I’ve had enough of you,” Jessie said in a low voice, looking at Clee. “I’ll take my gun back now.”

“Will you?” Clee grinned. “What for, unless you’re man enough to use it. Are you man enough?”

The men laughed, delighted at the jest. Jessie didn’t think twice before she threw a punch at Clee’s mouth. Her gun dropped out of his hand, and Charlie’s face mottled with rage. He kicked her gun out of reach and grabbed her arms.

Chase had seen enough.

“Let the lady go, friend,” Chase said, shoving Clee against a wall.

“You call this wildcat a lady?” Charlie growled.

He released Jessie, however, and she retrieved her gun. “Did Bowdre send you to harass me?” she demanded, facing Charlie squarely.

Charlie didn’t like this turn of events. Laton wouldn’t like to hear about this. If she went to him and made a fuss in front of others, he would be furious. Laton wanted to be sure no one would point a finger at him.

“Laton don’t want no trouble with you, gal. All he wants is his money. It was Clee’s idea to have a little fun with you. And we
were
only funnin’. You just ain’t got no humor, gal,” Charlie grumbled.

“Oh, I’ve got humor.” Jessie smiled unpleasantly. “I’d think it was real funny if I put a ball in your gut.” And then she said, “Just stay away from me, mister.”

“Real pleasant, ain’t she?” Charlie sneered as he and Clee watched her stalk out the door.

Chase caught up with her in the middle of the street. “Hold up, kid.” He had to grab her arm to make her stop.

“What do you want?” she snapped.

He looked at her incredulously. She was actually angry because he had interfered!

“I swear, kid, someone ought to take a stick to you. You can’t go around throwing your fists at anyone you please. Next time you might not be so lucky.”

“Who the hell made you my guardian angel, Summers?” she spat.

They were at a standoff—again. And she was right. He wasn’t her keeper.

He grinned. “I thought we agreed you would call me Chase.”

“I have a name, too, and it’s not ‘kid,’” Jessie said stonily.

He laughed. “Touché.” She continued walking and he fell into step beside her. “Where are you going now—if you don’t mind my asking?”

“To the sheriff’s office.”

“Because of what just happened?”

“Now why would I bother the sheriff about that?” She seemed truly puzzled.

“Then why?”

“Who would know better who’s in town, who’s just passing through, who’s looking for work? I’m hoping he’ll have a few suggestions so I can finish my business today and head back to the ranch in the morning.”

“Then I’ll just come along with you, if you don’t mind,” he said. “The sheriff should be told about our encounter with that Indian.”

Jessie stopped short. “Why?”

“There could be others in the area,” Chase replied. “Don’t you think he should know?”

“No,” she said emphatically. “Look, the sheriff would only laugh at you if you started jabbering about hostiles in the area. He knows better. But if other people heard you, it could cause a ruckus. Then you’d look mighty foolish, because Little Hawk was alone, and I’m sure he’s already gone back north.”

She walked on, but Chase didn’t follow any
longer. He stared after her with eyes like burning coals. She’d done it again, made him feel like a complete ass. Damned if she didn’t do it on purpose!

He found a saloon without much searching. After several drinks he was able to cool down. He even joined in a card game. It was a surprise to find himself introduced to Laton Bowdre, sitting in on the game. The skinny, mustached man with thin, wispy hair, sharp cheekbones, and a decidedly avaricious look about him was just what Chase had pictured. The day wasn’t going to be a total loss after all.

T
HE knock on the door caught Jessie as she finished pulling her boots on. It was Chase. She had decided to make an effort to be nicer to him, so she let him in with a “good morning” that was almost cheerful.

He looked terrible. His chin was darkened with stubble, his clothes were rumpled, and his eyes were red from too much smoke and not enough sleep. Maybe he hadn’t slept at all.

Chase wasn’t too tired to notice immediately the change in Jessie. Besides looking fresh and clean and lovelier than any girl had a right to look first thing in the morning, she was actually smiling.

He came to his own conclusion. “I take it you hired your hands and are pleased to be going home?”

“As a matter of fact, I only found one man worth his salt,” Jessie replied. “The other two I talked to didn’t know a cow from a steer.”

Chase chuckled. “City boys.”

“City boys,” she agreed, grinning along with him.

“So you won’t be leaving today after all?”

“I guess not, unless I get lucky this morning.
I sent Ramsey, the fellow I hired, on out to the ranch. No point in wasting him here, even for a day.”

“Are you sure you told him how to find the ranch?”

He was teasing her, showing her there were no longer any hard feelings about the day she had given him the wrong directions.

She grinned. “I reckon he’ll manage, since he’s from near here.”

It was pleasant to see her in an agreeable mood for once, and he said impulsively, “Look, there’s really no point in your hiring another man when I’ll be at the ranch, anyway. I might as well do something to earn my keep while I’m here.”

Jessie didn’t take him seriously. “You don’t know cattle,” she said, startled.

“Who says I don’t? I’ve driven cattle from Texas to Kansas.”

“How often?” she asked.

“Once,” he admitted. “I hired on for the trail drive just for the company, since I was heading in the same direction and I wasn’t in a hurry. Once was enough.”

She was amazed. “So you really know cattle? I never would have guessed it.”

“I’ll admit I’ve never done any branding, but I learned to handle a rope fairly well. And I can carry a tune passably. And I know the difference between a steer and a cow.”

She laughed. “Then I guess you’re hired—Chase.”

He smiled. “Give me an hour to freshen up, and we can start back together.”

She smiled again. “I’ll meet you downstairs for some breakfast.”

But Jessie shook her head as she watched him leave the room. She never would have believed it. He didn’t have to earn his keep at the ranch. Rachel had invited him as her guest. So why had he made the offer to help out?

Chase was wondering exactly the same thing. What made it especially confusing was that he had Thomas Blair’s note in his pocket. It had taken him all night to win it from Bowdre, but he had done it.

Why he hadn’t come right out and told Jessie about winning the note, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps he had the feeling she’d be angry with him—again.

He sighed. He wasn’t at all sure her worries were over, not as gracelessly as Bowdre had lost the note. Chase recognized that he might actually have made things worse.

They returned to the Rocky Valley late that afternoon. Jeb eagerly told them about the big pronghorn that had been dumped on the back-door steps sometime after Jessie rode to Cheyenne. No one had seen who brought the animal, freshly killed. No one knew who it might have been. If someone was going to give away fresh meat, he usually waited around for a thank-you.

But Jessie knew instantly who the mysterious provider was. It could be none other than Little Hawk.

As they bedded the horses down, she said to Jeb, “You remember the young Sioux I told you
about? Little Hawk? Well, we met him on the plains yesterday afternoon.”

“Is that a fact?” Jeb whistled. “He’s the one?”

“It looks that way.”

“Mighty nice of him.” Jeb chuckled.

Jessie glanced at Chase. He was rubbing down the golden palomino, pretending he wasn’t listening.

“I suppose you don’t agree?” Jessie asked pointedly.

He didn’t look up. “I’m sure you both have good reason for thinking it was Little Hawk. I’m just dying to know what his purpose was, that’s all.”

“You don’t know much about Indians, do you, young feller?” Jeb chuckled.

“I’m beginning to think not,” Chase answered without rancor.

“Indians don’t like to be indebted to anyone, especially to a white. Little Hawk took Jessie’s food and shared her fire without givin’ anything in return.” Jeb cackled. “That must have rankled him. So now he’s paid his debt and then some. Generous of him, too. That big pronghorn would’ve fed his whole tribe.”

“Now you see why he was so far south,” Jessie added. “He had to let me see him, or I’d never have known he had paid his debt.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t explain the rest of what happened yesterday,” Chase said shortly.

Jessie laughed as she approached him and put her hand on his arm. “Come on. I’m sure Billy will love to hear how you were attacked by a savage Sioux and lived to tell about it. And I
promise not to interrupt you if you embellish the tale.”

She was teasing him, but he didn’t mind. In fact, what they were talking about went right out of his head the moment she touched him. Her touch seemed to burn his arm, even after she had moved away.

E
XHAUSTED though he was, sleep still eluded Chase that night. His mind wouldn’t let him rest. What the hell did a man do when he found himself desiring a girl who was off limits?

Jessie was just a kid. Well, maybe not a kid. But she was Rachel’s daughter. So even if she were willing, he couldn’t have her without marrying her, not Rachel’s daughter.

Chase wasn’t anywhere near ready to settle down. He was only twenty-six, and there were too many things he wanted to do first. Finding his real father was one thing. He had put it off for quite a few years after he’d had no luck in California, where his mother claimed to have met Carlos Silvela. Perhaps now was the time to continue the search. Should he go to Spain, where his father’s home was supposed to be? Anyway, it was better thinking about that than about an eighteen-year-old woman-child he had no business thinking about.

But it didn’t work for long. Nothing did. He kept seeing those bright turquoise eyes, that pert nose and stubborn chin, that softly rounded bottom.

“Damn!”

He jumped out of bed as if he’d found her there. He needed some air, some cool air, maybe even a swim in the stream that ran behind the house.

Throwing on some clothes in the dark, Chase stepped out of his room, only to have the cause of his turmoil step right into his arms. For a second, he wondered if he was dreaming. But the warmth, the smell of her was real. Then he saw that her falling into his arms had been an accident. She pushed away from him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t see you.”

“It’s so dark here,” Chase managed to reply, having no idea what he was saying.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Jessie explained. “I thought I’d go for a ride. The moon’s bright enough.”

“I’ve been having the same problem. Why don’t we go together?”

“If you like,” she said, walking on toward the kitchen without waiting for him.

Chase didn’t more. He wanted to wring his own neck. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why he had offered to go with her. That was the last thing he wanted. He needed to get away from her. Then Chase pulled himself together, chastising himself for being afraid of a slip of a girl. He couldn’t very well let her go off alone, anyway.

Jessie led the way up into the lower hills of the mountains, rather than out over the plains, prodding her horse upward to a spot that offered a beautiful view of the valley. It wasn’t too long
before they reached the place. Trees parted on a ridge before a view so breathtakingly beautiful, especially in the moonlight, that both were entralled.

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” he said softly as they dismounted.

“The stream looks like liquid silver in this light,” she answered, pointing. “And over there you can see several more creeks. There’s one farther up where I like to swim, a nice sunny area that’s completely secluded.”

“You’re not thinking of swimming now, are you?” Chase asked in alarm.

Jessie laughed softly. “Of course not. It’s too cold at night.” She looked at him carefully and frowned sternly. “Look at you. Why didn’t you bring a jacket?”

“I didn’t think about it,” he said lamely. “But I’m fine, really.”

“You are not.” She went to get the extra blanket she always kept in her saddlebag. “Here. You can wrap yourself in this for the ride back.”

She leaned close to him to drape it around his shoulders. That closeness was just more than he could bear. She was only inches away. His arms acted of their own accord, circling her, gathering her to him. His lips sought hers. He was powerless to obey his better instincts, so he left it up to Jessie, silently begging her to fight him off. Maybe she could bring him to his senses.

But Jessie had no thought of fighting him. She was caught off guard and considered nothing except the sensations fluttering in her belly and the warmth spreading through her. The
pressure of his lips increased, and with it her yearning grew.

His tongue forced its way between her lips next, and she opened her mouth to accommodate him, liking the new assault. She moaned softly and pressed closer to the hard, muscular length of him. She could feel the evidence of his desire and was extremely excited by it. Chase gave up his silent battle and succumbed. She would be his. There was no further thought to the consequences.

He pulled her down to the ground, the blanket spreading out under him. He managed to keep her in the same position, so that she lay on top of him, her legs between his. The full weight of her pressing on him was a lightning shock. He rolled over, placing her beneath him. There was a frantic urgency to his movements.

Jessie felt him opening her belt and tugging at her shirt. His hand moved up under her shirt and reached her breasts, and little sounds of pleasure escaped her, driving him wild. He was too inflamed to be gentle, but so was she. She ripped a button from his shirt, trying to reach his bare flesh. His skin was hot, burning her, and the muscles on his back were hard and tense. She dug her fingers into those muscles, clasping him savagely.

A little voice inside her head asked her what the hell she was doing, but she ignored it. She moved both hands to his chest, running her fingers through his hair, reaching his shoulders, his thickly corded neck, grasping his hair.

His lips were devouring hers now, bruising her, but she urged him on. He tugged at her
pants, and she helped him push them down to her feet. But when he moved to fight with her boots so as to remove her pants completely, she stopped him. She was on fire. She couldn’t bear to have him move away from her even for a moment.

She caught his hair and pulled him down on top of her. “I want you now,” she whispered huskily. “Now.”

His lips seared her throat, moving to her ear. “But I want to feel all of—”

“Now, Chase!”

His desire to have her skin molded to his, to look on all of her in the moonlight, was not as strong as her urgent plea. He undressed in an instant, and she brought her knees up on both sides of his. Her moist warmth made it easy for him to enter her, but Chase restrained himself, holding back for one delicious moment, wanting to savor that first thrust. And then he found his way blocked by the last thing he had expected to find.

“Oh, my God,” he gasped, never more miserable in his life. “I’m sorry, Jessie.”

She paid no attention, thrusting her hips upward insistently. Jessie gasped. No one had ever told her there would be any pain. But it faded, and then it was gone, the urgent need returning and washing through her like a flood.

He was moving in her, and she delighted in the full length of him. He was gentler than she would have liked, slower, but she found the exquisite torture had its rewards, intensifying her need, prolonging the craving. And when she
hurtled over the crest, the explosion that followed went on and on.

A few moments later, when Chase collapsed and was still, Jessie hugged him to her tenderly. “Wonderful,” she murmured dreamily.

He raised his head. “More than you realize,” he said softly.

His lips caressed hers with a feathery touch and moved down to her neck, her ear. He laid his head on her shoulder with a deep, contented sigh. Chase had never felt more relaxed, more blissful. Sleep beckoned, but he fought it, wanting to savor the feeling of her clasping him.

She was like no woman he had ever been with. Such intense passion from a woman was unknown to him. She had been as wild to have him as he was to have her. Even her virginity hadn’t restrained her. Her virginity! Ah, he had forgotten. Damn! He was done for now!

Jessie felt him tense suddenly. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied too quickly.

Jessie frowned. “You’re sorry we did this, aren’t you?”

“Aren’t you?” he countered.

“Why should I be?”

“You were a virgin!” he said painfully.

Jessie smiled. “Of course I was. Did you think otherwise?”

He was feeling trapped. “Well, you weren’t behaving like a virgin the first day I saw you.”

“Oh, that,” Jessie scoffed remembering. “That was nothing. I just wasn’t aware of what Blue was doing.”

“I suppose you’ll say that about what happened here tonight.”

Jessie grinned, thinking he was jealous. “I was quite aware of everything
you
were doing.”

He was silent, which began to confuse her.

“I don’t understand what you’re upset about,” she said.

“You were a virgin! I had no right…I would have stopped.”

“I know,” she said softly, remembering when he had indeed stopped. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”

“You made sure I wouldn’t, didn’t you?”

She giggled.

“I don’t see anything funny about this, Jessie.”

“I don’t see what the problem is. I wanted you, too, you know. If I’m not upset over what happened, why should you be?”

“You’re not going to expect…anything…because of this?”

He rolled over even as he asked the question and began dressing.

“What do you mean, expect anything?” she asked warily.

“Come on, Jessie, you know what I mean. I’m sure you’re not like most virgins, who give themselves up just to trap a man, but if Rachel should find out about this she would insist—”

“We marry,” Jessie finished for him, her eyes blazing with sudden and complete understanding. “And of course I’m not good enough for you to marry.”

“I didn’t say that.”

She slapped him then with all the fury grow
ing within her. “Bastard!” she hissed, getting to her feet. “It didn’t matter while you were getting what you wanted, but afterward you started fearing the consequences, didn’t you?”

“Jessie—”

“Damn you, I hate you! You’ve made me feel dirty and calculating and deceitful. But I’m not like that! I hate you for it.”

He could have cut his tongue out. “Jessie, I’m sorry,” he began contritely, but she was walking away so as to dress apart from him. Once dressed, she grabbed her blanket and mounted.

“You’ve ruined what happened, and nothing can change that,” she called to him. “I wouldn’t marry you if you begged me. So you needn’t worry I’ll tell Rachel about it. I don’t need her reminding me of something I’m going to forget.”

Jessie rode off. At least he knew better than to follow her.