Cherished (42 page)

“Juliana?” Gil’s voice recalled her to the
cabin, to Gray Feather and Yancy absorbed in their checkers game,
to Skunk repairing his saddle, to Wade and Tommy looking at her as
though she were drifting on a sea a thousand miles away. And to
Gil, dear Gil, waiting for his dance.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, meeting his
gaze directly. Sorrow filled her heart. She wished she could return
his feelings, she wished she didn’t have to hurt him. “I don’t feel
up to dancing anymore.” She made a decision. “I need some air.”

Wade smiled. Tommy regarded her through
narrowed eyes.

“Excuse me ...”

And she was gone, flying through the cabin
door and out into the star-frosted night. Letting her eyes adjust
to the dark, she moved off toward the gully. Down the trail, past
the clump of rocks, beyond the rise where the
piñón
s stood like sentinels and the ground
dipped, she worked her way through the darkness until she saw the
faint glow of his campfire up ahead.

Cole was on his feet at the first sound of
her approach, gun drawn. When he saw her slender figure, her yellow
organdy gown shimmering in the moonlight, the breath caught in his
throat. She came toward him like a ghost in a dream.

The gun went back in his holster. “You
shouldn’t be out here,” he said. What he really wanted was to seize
her in his arms.

Juliana forced a smile. “That isn’t for you
to decide.” She couldn’t resist adding, “I’m not your prisoner
anymore, remember?”

“Wade should have more sense than to let you
wander around in the dark alone. Hell, even Tommy should have more
sense than that.”

“I make my own decisions,” she reminded
him.

“Then maybe you should be sure they’re the
right ones.”

She let that hang in the air between them for
a moment, then whispered, “I am sure, Cole.”

A muscle worked in his jaw. He was fighting
the impulse to kiss her. If he started, he wouldn’t stop. And all
his resolutions—made for her own good, as well as his—would go up
in smoke.

“Where’s Keedy?” he asked in a hard voice as
he hunkered down cross-legged before the fire once more. Joining
him, arranging her skirts prettily upon the blanket she sat on, she
saw that he had been doing another carving, similar to the horse’s
head she had seen in his pack that other time. This horse was a
beauty, too, a replica of the white stallion they had watched
together. With a regal flowing mane and proud neck, the chiseled
figure, though incomplete, showed promise of graceful, powerful
lines.

“What did you say?” she asked absently,
absorbed by the fine work he had done.

“I said, where’s Keedy?”

“I don’t really know—or care.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

A flame of hope leapt to life within her,
glowing in the very center of her heart. He was jealous, after all.
Maybe. Maybe she wasn’t making a complete idiot of herself, then,
coming out here like this, ready to throw herself at him. Just
maybe, he wanted her here more than he could admit.

“Have you thought of a plan to get
McCray?”

“I’m working on it.”

“As far as I can tell, there’s no one around.
You can tell me ...”

But in glancing facetiously around the small
clearing where he had made his camp, her gaze fell on his saddle
pack just behind him, faintly illuminated by the glowing flames of
the fire. Protruding from the pack was the lacy edge of a blouse.
What in the world ...

Juliana reached back and pulled the pack
forward, staring into it in amazement. When Cole groaned and made a
move to take it from her, she pushed his hand away and then
withdrew the creamy blouse and bright Mexican skirt folded inside.
As she did so, a small rawhide pouch spilled out, and she heard a
jangle from within.

“You might as well see it all,” Cole said
between clenched teeth, and dumped the contents of the bag into her
palm.

A gold bracelet, and blue and red hair
ribbons. What was all this?

“Cole—is there a naked woman lying in the
brush waiting for me to leave?” she demanded, only half joking.

The look he gave her made her heart quake
with fear that it was true. “Come on out, Maria,” he called, then
burst out laughing at her dismayed expression.

“Don’t be an idiot, Juliana,” he told her,
running both hands through his hair. Part of him wanted to laugh at
her crazy assumption, and the other part wanted to curse the fact
that now he’d have to tell her the truth.

“I lied the other day when I told you I
didn’t get that surprise I promised you. I did get it. Only
...”

“These are for me?” Delight swept across her
face. Even in the firelight, her green eyes glowed with pure
feminine wonder. “Oh, Cole, they’re
beautiful
. But why
didn’t you tell me? Why did you lie?”

Embarrassed, he turned back to stare into the
flames, unable to meet her gaze another moment. “I ...” Damn, his
voice sounded as hoarse and choked as a strangled prairie dog’s. “I
didn’t think you’d want ‘em. They’re nothing much compared to those
things your brothers gave you.”

Suddenly she understood. “But they’re
beautiful,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t trade them for diamonds
and silks. How could you keep them a secret from me?” She held up
the skirt, the bright folds sifting through her fingers like a
kaleidoscope of gorgeous colors. “This is so lovely. And the
lacework on the blouse is exquisite.”

She jumped up and began working at the long
row of pearl buttons on her dress.

“What are you doing?” he growled. He came to
his feet, regarding her in shock and a good deal of fascination as
she began stripping off the fancy dress, wriggling as it slid down
her arms, to her waist, over her hips.

“I’m going to put them on.”

His eyes narrowed. He knew that too sweet air
of innocence. She was trying to drive him mad, that’s what she was
doing, standing there in her chemise, bold as brass, that
delectable smile curving her lips. He could see the rosy tips of
her nipples beneath the filmy chemise. Her skin glowed with the
pearly luminescence of the moon itself as she stood before him,
daring him to touch her. His heart galloped in his chest. As she
gazed up into his eyes, her expression was so hopeful, so loving,
that his insides turned to fire, and all his resolve withered like
old bones in the dust.

“Unless you have a better idea,” she
whispered.

He pulled her up against his chest. “I just
might ... Juliana.”

He snaked his arms around her waist so
tightly, she gasped, but he silenced her with his mouth. He kissed
her hard and thoroughly, saying with his mouth what he could not
put in words, his arms clamped around her as if he was afraid she
would disappear into the clear, cold air in a puff of smoke. But
she was soft and real in his arms, and she smelled of lilac.

He never stopped kissing her until her mouth
was sore and swollen. He felt her trembling as he gathered her
close in his arms, and buried his face in the rippling, scented
waves of her hair.

“Oh, Cole, make love to me,” she whispered.
Her mouth burned from his kisses, and triumph made her dizzy. Her
heart rose as she saw the yearning in his eyes, the tenderness that
she had feared she’d never see again. There was doubt, too,
tempering his passion, and she knew suddenly, instinctively, what
he was thinking, what was holding him back.

“I don’t care about tomorrow—don’t think
about it,” she begged. “Let’s just have tonight. One night—for us,
Cole. I love you. Please, let’s have one night just for us.”

“One night won’t be enough,” he said, his
voice so low and fierce it sent shivers down her spine. His mouth
was hot against the pulse at her throat. She could feel his breath,
the pounding of his heart against hers. “Juliana, you would tempt a
saint.” He laughed suddenly, an exultant, tortured sound caught
between savagery and tenderness. “And if there’s one thing I’m not,
it’s a saint.”

I love you
. That’s what she’d said.
He ought to send her packing and then ride as far as he could go.
But he only held her tighter.

His eyes were dark, silvery blue in the
moonlight. Glinting with a desire Juliana could not mistake. But
beneath the desire, she saw the longing, the gentleness that she
had never seen when he looked at anyone else.
He needs me
too
, Juliana realized,
as much as I need him
.
Overwhelmed by an almost painful rush of warmth and love, she
melted against him, cupping his face in her hands, kissing him with
all the fervent love in her heart. That he wanted her as much as
she wanted him was all that mattered. There were the two of them,
the stars, soft earth, and the wild Arizona night.

They needed nothing else.

* * *

Hot kisses. Sweet, sweet words.

Snow-puff clouds drifted overhead through a
sky dark as blood, while beneath the towering shadow of the
mountain, deep within the velvet-grassed gully, Cole and Juliana
spoke the language of lovers in a poem as timeless as the earth
itself. The air was cold, sharp with the biting tang of pine, but
their passion was hotter than the scorching plains of the
desert.

Morning stole in, shell-pink radiance dusted
with lavender and gold, and caught them entwined, sleepy,
sated.

The world looked different somehow.

They awoke, sat up, stared at each other.
Juliana wished the dawn away; she’d have given anything to live the
night again. Her words from the evening before came back to haunt
her. Thinking of them, she chewed her lip.

“Well,” she said, almost to herself, “it’s
over.”

He reached for her, trapping her hand between
both of his. “What is?”

“Our one night.”

“Looks like it is.” Cole sent a sardonic
glance at the lightening sky, the creatures beginning to stir
around them.

“Yep, it’s over.”

He realized too late what that sounded like.
She jumped up, her cheeks bright pink, brighter than the dawn. “I
... I’ll go back now ...”

She shook. Embarrassed. No, humiliated. What
had she done? Thrown herself at him, promised it would mean nothing
afterward. She had vowed to leave him alone and never bother him
again—not in precisely those words, but that’s what it had meant.
Just for tonight, she had said. How could she have been such a
fool? She wanted to stay with him forever. But in the cold, clear
light of day it seemed impossible that he could want the same
thing.

Naked, he was even more ruggedly beautiful
than he was with his clothes on. She found herself staring as she
always did at his muscled, dark-furred chest. She reached for her
chemise. No. Time to go. Time to preserve what was left of her
pride, her dignity.

There wasn’t much left worth preserving.

Cole fought the urge to catch her in his arms
and make love to her all over again. Lord, she was beautiful. And
so sweet, a sweetness that was real and honest and whole, that came
from the very core of her soul. He wanted to grab her, hold her,
tell her she was stuck with him forever ...

But he had to think. He didn’t want to make a
promise he couldn’t keep. And he couldn’t keep any promises if he
was dead. He didn’t know if he’d live long enough even to try to
make it all work, so better to say nothing.

Come live with me and be my love.
Words from a poem, half remembered, danced suddenly through his
brain as the sun washed the sky with sunlight and Juliana tugged on
her gown. His mother had read that aloud to Caitlin many years ago.
The words had always stuck in his mind, probably because he had
never ever thought they would apply to him.
Come live with me
and be my love
.

He wanted suddenly, fiercely, to say them to
Juliana, to beg her to stay.

He’d have to deal with McCray—and eventually
John Breen. If he survived that, then maybe ...

She deserved to be loved. Protected.
Cherished. If he ever thought he could give her the life she
deserved, he would do it in a moment, but Cole wasn’t sure he’d
ever get a chance at that kind of life. That kind of happiness was
for other people, not him.

She was on her way before he realized it,
half running from the gully, a slip of a girl whose every movement
tore at his heart.

He could have caught her easily, but he just
stared after her. If he survived what lay ahead, maybe they’d have
a chance—if she still wanted him. If he could make her happy.

But first he had to settle things with
McCray.

He did have a plan, and it was time to share
it with Wade Montgomery.

Cole set his mind to the dangerous task ahead
and tried not to think about Juliana. It wasn’t easy. The woman was
a thief, after all.

She had stolen his heart.

Silence filled every corner of the hideout on
Stick Mountain as Wade finished outlining the plan.

“Questions?” he asked, letting his glance
fall briefly on each person in the room.

Juliana rose. “I have one. Why can’t I go
with you?” Meeting her determined gaze, Wade sighed, but it was
Tommy who answered.

“Because, little sister,” he said from the
bench at the little pine table, “we’re not letting you risk your
neck in the heart of this battle. And that’s that.”

“So I’m supposed to sit here doing nothing
all day while the rest of you are risking your lives?”

“Yep.” Tommy’s grin received no answering
response from the tight-lipped girl.

“You and Skunk will have to keep an eye on
Josie. Make sure she’s all right. Besides,” Wade pointed out,
coming to her and putting his hands on her shoulders, “if something
does go wrong, you and Skunk and Gil are going to have to take care
of Josie and Kevin—and all of you are going to have to get to New
Mexico pronto. Skunk and Gil know the best trail.”