Cherished (19 page)

Hours passed, long, bone-crunching, scorching
hours, and still they rode in silence, with his muscular body,
solid as the rocks around them, pressed against her weary spine,
his powerful arms encasing her slender frame as he held the pinto’s
reins.

At last, when deep gray shadows had nearly
obliterated the rose and gold of the sunset-painted sky, they
halted. They were in a wide grassy valley beneath an overhang of
granite rock. A stream of water tumbled into a shallow basin of
smooth stones. Beside this pool was a stand of blue spruce that
rolled away to their left, disappearing into dark forest. A rabbit
scurried away beneath a
piñón
, grouse circled overhead, and in the distance,
Juliana, raising her weary head, saw an elk silhouetted for a
moment upon a bald plateau before it bounded away into the
shadows.

Rawdon swung down from the saddle with ease,
then pulled Juliana down beside him. Her sore legs sagged beneath
her weight and she groaned, nearly collapsing. With one arm around
her waist supporting her, he frowned down at her flushed, weary
face. “You’ll get used to it” was all he said.

“Another day like this will kill me. You’ll
never get your filthy reward money if I’m dead,” she muttered.

“Don’t count on it. I could always bring back
your scalp for proof.”

“My ... scalp?” A sick, weak feeling churned
through her stomach. “You’re ... joking, of course.”

“Think so?” He studied her a moment, then
turned away and began the business of making camp.

Juliana shuddered uncontrollably. She should
at this moment be on the stagecoach getting nearer to Wade and
Tommy every mile, instead of at the mercy of this impossible man
who hunted human beings for a living. He was a monster, she
thought, watching him tend the horses with the competent movements
of someone who had done this all a thousand times before. He had no
feelings, no human compassion, no morals whatever. Had he shown one
ounce of emotion after shooting those men back in Cedar Gulch? Had
he shown the least bit of concern or even common decency for her
throughout the torturous past hours when she had ridden without
rest across this savage land? Suddenly, staring at him, she was
overwhelmed with hatred of this man—and of John Breen, who was
truly responsible for her plight. She vowed to herself never to go
back to Denver, no matter what. She would get away from Cole Rawdon
somehow, anyhow. Sooner or later. He would have to sleep, to let
his guard down sometime. When he did, she would be ready. And, she
thought, straightening her shoulders unconsciously, she would do
whatever was necessary to get clean away.

Rawdon turned suddenly and looked at her. For
a moment, while the sky blazed overhead, he studied her with a
penetrating look that made her feel he could read her thoughts.
“Forget it,” he said, with a light, mocking grin that chilled her
blood. “You’ve failed twice already.”

It was all she could do to keep her mouth
from dropping open. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she
said after only a moment, her chin lifting.

His grin deepened.

“Sure you don’t, lady,” he drawled. “And you
never stole anything in your life.”

With that he hunkered down to start a fire.
Juliana sank down upon a rock under an overhanging cottonwood, as
far from him as she could get. Glancing about the secluded clearing
with its tufts of brown grass, cactus, and wilting wildflowers, she
debated the wisdom of bolting while his back was turned. But much
as she was tempted to put as much distance as she could between her
and Cole Rawdon at the earliest opportunity, common sense told her
such a move would be plain stupid right now. For one thing, she was
exhausted and weak from thirst, and her muscles burned with pain.
She wouldn’t get far, and even if she could get a head start, elude
him, and hide herself in the wilderness, she would probably die of
starvation in these mountains without ever seeing another human
face. No, she would need a horse and supplies if she was going to
get away and live to tell about it. That might take some time and
planning. But she could wait, Juliana told herself, glancing darkly
at Cole Rawdon’s broad back as he worked to start a fire.

As daylight fled, a bleak, cold loneliness
seemed to descend over the valley. In every direction, all Juliana
could see were towering jagged peaks stretching upward like giant’s
fingers toward the vast, purple sky. Leaves rustled in the sweeping
north wind, which swirled through the clearing in sudden, sharp
gusts that made the embers of the fire dance wildly. The air was
laced with pine and its mournful wail echoed through the crevices
of the surrounding rocks. Beyond the campfire, unseen creatures
scurried in the brush, making Juliana distinctly uneasy as she
huddled before the flames, eating the wild grouse Rawdon had shot
and plucked and shown her how to cook. She would not look at him,
but stared instead into the flickering flames, wondering if he
would tie her to him again when it was time to sleep. She dreaded
it, but there was little she could do against him. He was too big,
too strong. And something told her that once he made up his mind
about something, he didn’t relent easily. The only thing in her
favor was that he had so far shown no sign of trying to hurt her.
She could only pray that would continue.

Juliana knew one thing. She would not beg for
mercy or show any sign of weakness in front of him. She had nothing
left now to use against him but her pride and her wits, and she
would cling to those with all her strength.

Chewing the last juicy morsel of the grouse,
Cole studied her across the fire, a queer feeling in his gut. It
was as if he was hypnotized by the sight of this slender,
fair-haired beauty with the haunting green eyes sitting so close to
him in this lonely clearing. What the hell was wrong with him?

His eyes narrowed as she hugged her arms
around herself, and he saw her shiver. Damn. This wasn’t turning
out to be as simple as he had first thought. The more time he spent
with her, the more she got under his skin. Like this morning, he
thought, feeling anger and self-contempt surge through him again.
How had he ever let himself get to kissing her—and then get so
caught up in it that he hadn’t even heard those prospectors coming
up on them until it was almost too late?
We could’ve both been
killed,
he reflected, stung by his own carelessness.
If
I’d been in my right mind, I’d have heard those hombres long before
they got within shooting distance of the cave entrance. What the
hell is she doing to me?

No woman since Liza had ever had this kind of
effect on him. It wasn’t healthy. A man could get killed thinking
about yellow hair and dazzling eyes, about a woman’s mouth so
sweet, he couldn’t draw himself away from her ...

“Going somewhere?” he asked as she rose and
brushed off her skirt, then stepped purposefully toward the
shadowed stand of spruce.

“I require a few moments of privacy,” Juliana
retorted, gritting her teeth at the indignity of having to discuss
such intimacies with him. As if she needed his permission! “I
assure you I have no intention of trying to run off.”

“Glad to hear it.” He nodded. “You might have
more sense than I gave you credit for.”

She stalked away from him, staring straight
ahead, and made her way deep into the pines, well away from Cole
Rawdon. When she had finished tending to the needs of her body,
reveling in the few moments of total privacy, she became aware of
the sound of rushing water to her left and, turning, discerned
through the growing darkness the wider path of the stream that fed
the basin of water near their camp. She started toward it, her
skirts gathered in one hand, determined to wash the day’s dust and
grime from her face and perhaps in doing so, revive her flagging
spirits. But she had no sooner dipped her hands into the icy water
than a sound quite close to her made her quickly turn her head to
the right.

She screamed, the bloodcurdling shriek
echoing through the forest in a crescendo of pure terror.

Cole heard her scream as he was tossing
another branch on the campfire. He swung toward the forest, every
muscle taut.

Damned woman, what the hell has happened
now?

With his gun drawn he sprinted toward the
sound that had chilled his blood. There had been nothing but
silence after that one shrill cry, and Cole didn’t know what that
meant. He moved silently through the brush and trees, every sense
alert, not knowing if he was going to meet up with Apache or
outlaws, not knowing if she was already dead, killed in her tracks,
or if someone was going to spring at him out of nowhere ...

He heard her voice then, high-pitched,
frightened, coming from the direction of the stream, but he
couldn’t make out her words. At least she was still alive. He ran
soundlessly through the trees until he reached the water, then
stopped short at what he saw.

Juliana Montgomery was clinging to the limb
of a tree, while below her, pawing at the trunk, was the largest
black bear Cole had ever seen.

“Get away,” she was ordering the creature
while holding to the tree limb with arms, knees, elbows, and bloody
fingers. “
Shoo
. Go back wherever you came from and
leave me alone
.” Then, “Aaaaa ...”

She shrieked like a banshee as her grip on
the branch slipped and she nearly toppled from her perch.

“You do have a penchant for trouble,” Cole
remarked, watching her struggles from a distance of ten feet.

At his voice, Juliana tore her petrified gaze
from the bear and stared at him in frozen fear. “D-do something!”
she gasped. “I c-can’t hang here much longer, I’m s-slipping
...”

The bear swung toward Cole, a growl in his
throat and his black eyes shining. He reared up on his hind legs
and appeared to be wavering between whether to rush Cole or stay
with the prey he had trapped in the tree. His growl ripped through
the falling darkness of the descending night.

“Don’t shoot him,” Juliana ordered, gasping
as she concentrated on maintaining her hold. “Just ... get rid of
him ... somehow ...”

“Seems to me you’re not in a position to be
giving orders,” Cole drawled, noting the interesting picture she
made with her skirt hitched up around her thighs, revealing long,
slender legs. “You sure as hell could’ve told me you were meeting
up with a friend. Maybe I should just leave you two alone.”

“Don’t you dare make fun of me at a ... time
like this!” Juliana gave a shriek as the branch she was clutching
began to crack beneath her weight. “Oh, dear Lord ...”

The bear glanced up and swung a giant paw
upward toward the girl hanging almost directly over him. Juliana
screamed again.

“What’s the connection between you and the
Montgomery gang?”

“
What
?” Juliana couldn’t believe her
ears.

“You heard me.”

Her fingers were raw with splinters from the
branch, and every muscle in her arms burned with the effort of
holding herself aloft. “This is ... hardly the time ...”

“Can’t think of a better one. If you don’t
want to dance with that fellow, you’d better talk fast. And make it
the truth.”

“Cole ... please!”

“What’s the connection?”

“They’re my brothers—but they have nothing to
do with—”

“Tommy—that’s your brother?”

“Yes, yes—one of them—now please ...”

The bear started to shinny up the tree.

“Cole!” Juliana shrieked.

“Why did you faint outside the Gold
Dust?”

Her hands were slipping. She clutched
desperately, pressing with her knees, elbows, fingertips,
everything she had. Less than ten feet away the bear snarled,
showing her its teeth.

“For God’s sake ...”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t bear the sight of blood! But
I’d gladly shed yours right at this moment! Now get this thing away
from me, but ... don’t shoot him ... unless you have to!”

“Maybe you’d like me to dance with him,” Cole
remarked. He raised his gun.

The bear, as if sensing his intentions, swung
down from the base of the tree and faced Cole on all fours, eyes
shining.

Cole fired past the bear’s head.

The animal swerved sideways with a growl. He
seemed to be gathering himself for a lunge forward. Cole fired off
another shot, and sprang directly toward the creature, letting out
a piercing Cheyenne war cry. Startled, the bear rumbled deep in his
throat, swung about, and lumbered off through the trees as quickly
as his legs could carry him, disappearing into the inky shadows
cast by the twilight.

Cole slipped his gun back into its holster
and strolled forward, wondering why he hadn’t just killed the
animal. The bear could have charged him, instead of running off.
Fool woman.
Don’t shoot him
. And he had listened. He
scowled at her, not sure if he was more annoyed with her, or with
himself; “Well, Miss Montgomery,” he drawled as he gazed up at her
in her flushed, disheveled state. “Now I know you can ride, steal,
and
climb trees. I’m learning more about you all the time.
The question is, can you say thank you?”

“G-get me down from here,” Juliana gasped. “I
think ... I’m going to fall—”

Even as she spoke the branch snapped and she
tumbled downward, but Cole caught her neatly in his arms. Her hands
were scratched and bloody from scrambling up the tree, and he
guessed her knees and arms were the same, but her face, bright red
and furious, was almost comical in its dismay.

“Ohhh! Let me
go
,” she demanded as
she felt the strength of his iron grip about her body. “Let me go
this instant!”

“Anything you say, ma’am.” Cole dumped her
into a pile of pine needles without ceremony.