Expedition of Love (24 page)

Stephen stared dumbfounded after him. Antonio had obviously been more upset by her abduction and her insane behavior than he let on. She didn't love him. At the moment she didn't even like him.

After loading the other man onto his horse, Antonio mounted and pulled up to where he stood. “I imagine the others will be here before dark to retrieve the fossils, Doctor, once I give them directions."

"No, please tell them to wait. We'll return tomorrow for the crates after everyone's had a chance to calm down. I wouldn't want to damage the fossils any further by trying to hurry and retrieve them before dark."

Antonio nodded then smiled broadly. “I will tell them, and maybe by then you can convince the little mule to behave."

Before he could reply, the gaucho waved and led the rustlers away. He watched them disappear in the distance, then turned to locate Kristina, but she'd successfully disappeared.

Again.

"Now what?” Grumbling, he went in search of her, calling her name a few times as he walked around a small outcropping of rock. “Where the devil is that woman?"

Rounding the low ledge, he heard a soft moan. A sickening wave washed over him.

"Let her be all right,” he murmured. He'd had enough scares to last him the rest of his life.

Closing in on the sound, he found her lying atop loose stones and surmised she'd taken a fall. “Don't move."

Stephen began a careful examination of her condition. He checked her head, then slowly ran his hands over her body, first her shoulders, then down her arms, and across her torso. There wasn't any blood, which was a good sign.

She groaned as she lifted her hand to her head.

"Lay still, Miss Peterson.” He continued searching her for injuries, probing her ribs gently.

"Would you stop?” She shoved his hands away. “I'm fine."

"Let me be the judge of that.” He returned to checking her ribs, then moved to her legs.

With a deep growl, she sat up.

He pressed his hands to her shoulders. “I said, don't move!"

"I'll move when I damn well feel like it! Now stop poking at me like a lab specimen and help me up."

With a disgusted sigh, he carefully helped her to her feet. But as she put weight on her right foot, she quickly grasped the low wall of stone beside her. She tried to hide her hiss of pain, but he heard it all too clearly.

"Lean on me,” he said, sliding his arm around her tiny waist.

"I'm fine.” She pushed against his chest, tottering on one foot.

"You are not fine. Now stop being a stubborn female and let me help you."

"No. And I am not a stubborn female."

Fed up with her irrational behavior, he lifted her into his arms, and headed back to the campsite.

"Put me down!"

Stephen ignored her, but mostly because he feared he would say or do something totally inappropriate. She felt wonderful molded against him, and he found it difficult remembering she was hurt, and had just experienced a close call with some dangerous men.

"You should've kept the beard. It went so well with your Neanderthal personality,” she said through clenched teeth.

He felt like a Neanderthal, and he wanted to carry her off and—he let go of that thought before it was too late and he lived out the fantasy.

Grumbling, he came to a stop beside the fading campfire where she'd sat earlier. “Of all the harebrained things to do. What possessed you to go chasing after those men?"

"I said I followed one. I didn't know there were two."

"You should've told me. We would've formed a group to go after them."

"And wasted valuable time. I did what I thought was best."

"I'm the judge of what's best for this team. Each member is my responsibility.” He sat her down on a large rock then went to his pack for his medical kit.

"Oh! I am so sick of hearing that tired old speech. I can take care of myself."

He cast her a withering glance, which temporarily stopped any further rebuttal on her part.

After spreading out his blanket at her feet, he fell to his knees in front of her and removed her boot.

"What are you doing?” she demanded.

"What does it look like?"

"I can do it.” She reached for the bandage in his hand.

"Sit still."

She fisted her hands on her hips and glared at him. A pose he was becoming all too familiar with. He placed a firm grip on his temper. She had to be the most maddening woman on the planet, and yet he wanted her with every cell in his being, glaring stares and all.

Satisfied he'd won another struggle of wills, however temporary, he gently removed her boot. Even her feet were dainty. Feminine and beautiful down to the tips of her toes. He quickly turned his thoughts back to her injury and carefully examined her foot.

"Your foot seems to be okay, but your ankle is not. I don't believe it's broken. Sprained, most likely.” He proceeded to wrap her ankle, ignoring how soft her skin felt beneath his fingers. “Once we return to camp we'll see about getting you to a doctor."

"I'm not going back to camp,” she said.

He lifted his narrowed gaze to hers. “What did you say?"

"I'm not going back to camp. Now that those men are in custody, I plan to have some time alone. I'll use what's left of their supplies. I'll be perfectly fine here."

"Several of those men are still roaming this territory. You will go back to camp. Today."

She crossed her arms and thrust her chin into the air. “No, I will not. I'll go back tomorrow, not a minute sooner. The others won't do anything while their leader is in jail."

"And when did you become such an authority on criminals?"

"I had the misfortune of spending time with them."

Stephen winced at her words. The things that could have happened would plague him for the rest of his days.

"And I overheard Antonio say he would be collecting the others this afternoon,” she continued. “So, I'll be perfectly safe."

He raked his fingers through his hair. “You are the most stubborn woman I have ever known."

"You aren't the first to say so."

Biting back his temper for the hundredth time, he cooled the heat in his voice. “Why do you need time alone, if I may ask?"

"That's none of your business."

Turning, he put his medical kit back into his pack, and decided it was no use arguing with her. He would simply have to provide her with certain details, exaggerated details, and hope the logical scientist he knew her to be would see the ridiculousness of her demand.

"Edwin will most likely send out a wagon once Antonio explains things."

"Good. Then they can retrieve the fossils. I, however, will remain here until morning."

He let out a heavy sigh as he sat down on the blanket beside her. He was no match for her stubbornness. “Fine. We'll stay here tonight and leave at first light.” If he survived. She literally drove him insane. How could he want to take her over his knee one minute then kiss her the next?

Kristina growled low in her throat. Why was she not surprised? He was determined to protect her, and from what? She'd done well against those men. Hadn't she proven, once and for all, that she could take care of herself? And spending the entire night alone with him was not a good idea. Well, he just had to go.

"I'd prefer it if you left,” she said. “You could wait for the wagon, or leave now. Yes, now would be best."

"I will not leave you out here alone."

Wonderful. Duty, honor—hogwash. “I've camped alone many times."

He glanced at her ankle then gave her a dubious glare.

"I just happened to take a bad step. I'm quite all right, and can manage by myself.” She sneakily fingered the bump on her head when his gaze returned to the distant mountains.

Not too bad, although it hurt like the dickens. Why couldn't he just go and leave her alone? She couldn't go back to camp. There were too many things she needed to think about, Geoffrey Walters being one of them.

"I'll return to camp first thing tomorrow. I promise. Go back to your fossil, Doctor. I'll be fine. Just fine and dandy."

Unable to sit beside him any longer, the ache inside her building to an unbearable level, she stood. But the minute she put weight on her foot, she crumbled to the ground landing on the blanket. Cursing, she massaged the bandage, doing what she could to ignore him and his incredulous stare.

"I am not going anywhere without you. Now, would you kindly tell me why you insist on remaining here overnight?"

Kristina ignored him, biting the truth before it could slip off her tongue.

Snarling, Stephen jumped to his feet. “Why are you being so stubborn? You have an injured ankle and a lump on the back of your head the size of an egg."

She opened her mouth to deny it, but grudgingly closed it beneath his narrowed gaze.

"And your father is worried about you, yet you insist on staying out here."

"Is he all right?” She couldn't keep the anxious tone from her voice. She could only imagine the horrible things that must have gone through his mind when they discovered her missing.

Stephen's scowl faded as he resumed his seat on the blanket and leaned back against the rock, his arms braced on his upraised knees. “Yes, he's fine. He was worried, of course. As we all were."

She could feel the warmth of his body next to hers and wanted to move closer. The weather seemed to be turning cooler, or at least that's what she told herself. If only her body would stop humming from that impromptu touching session earlier.

"As you said, I'm sure Antonio will tell them I'm all right."

He nodded, looking out over the plateau. “Thank you for finding the fossils."

"You're welcome."

A long silence fell between them, and she was beginning to feel a little guilty. Because of her, he would be sleeping on the cold hard ground with only a few blankets for warmth. Perhaps he deserved to know why he was sacrificing his limited comforts.

She opened her mouth to tell him the truth, then decided on revealing only part of it. “Geoffrey Walters."

His head snapped to the side. “What about Mr. Walters?"

She rubbed her arm, nursing the bruise the man started and Raul finished.

Twisting beside her, Stephen gripped her shoulders, apparently concerned with her lengthy silence. “What did he do? Did he touch you? Did he hurt you or threaten you?"

The fury radiating from his eyes sparked the golden flecks with fire so bright she didn't need her spectacles to see them. But she ached to see them spark with something else.

She swallowed as an odd sense of despair settled over her. Her feelings for Stephen were growing with every passing day. She wanted him to make love to her, to be the only man to ever make love to her, but he didn't want her.

Oh, blast it all to perdition! What was she going to do? She didn't want these feelings.

He softened his grip, and his grim frown faded as he lifted his hand to her face. “What did he do?"

She bit back her tears, silently cursing them. He didn't understand. How could he, when she didn't understand it herself? Swallowing hard, she said, “He saw us."

His brow furrowed a moment before understanding dawned.

She hurried on to explain the rest. “He said he would tell my father, no doubt embellishing the facts quite a bit, if I didn't walk with him one night. Alone."

Stephen lurched to his feet. “That bastard,” he ground out. He paced frantically back and forth, then stopped. “I'll deal with him when we return. You don't need to hide here tonight."

"No! You mustn't. If he speaks to my father—"

"He won't speak with Edwin about this. I'll see to it."

"I'm still not going back."

With a muttered curse, he marched off.

She sat numbly staring after him. As much as she wanted to believe he could handle the situation, she still feared her father would learn what happened between them. Something she wanted to happen again. And more.

If only he wanted her.

No, no, none of this was right. They were friends now, but that didn't stop the want, the overwhelming need to make love to him.

Her heart stopped with that thought for a moment. When had she begun to think of being intimate with him as making love? In the past she'd always referred to sex in clinical terms. How odd—and frightening. Something was changing inside her.

Stephen reappeared, interrupting her internal pondering, his arms laden with dry brush and wood. She watched his strong hands adjust the kindling on the ground, noted the firm set to his jaw, the narrowed look of his eyes. He was definitely not happy about Mr. Walters and the mess she'd caused, and rightly so. She should never have kissed him.

"I'm sorry I've made such a mess of things,” she said.

He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets looking out over the rough terrain. Turning to the side after a moment, he looked at her. “It wasn't your fault, Miss Peterson. It was all mine. I kissed you that night."

She dropped her gaze and rubbed at her arm. “Yes, but I kissed you back. Several times, in fact."

He walked to the edge of the blanket. “Still, I shouldn't have let it happen."

Locking her hands in her lap to still their shaking, she refrained from looking up at him. He had no idea, nor did she until that moment, how much his words hurt. His rejection had hurt that night too, but not as keenly as now. Why?

"I shouldn't have let you come on this expedition in the first place.” He sighed and dropped down beside her. “A woman doesn't belong out here."

Her anger flared to life, burying her puzzling questions. “The problem isn't because I'm a woman. The fact is Geoffrey Walters happens to be a reprobate, and I'll kindly ask you to remember that. I'm an exceptional photographer, and a better paleontologist than any of your precious graduate students. If anyone should have stayed behind, it's Geoffrey Walters."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you're a woman and don't belong out here."

"Bull. You can't give me a single, solid reason why I shouldn't be here. I know fossils, cameras, Spanish.” She ticked off her reasons on her fingers. “I know more about the wildlife in the area than most Argentineans. I can shoot as well as a man, rope as well as a man, and ride as well as a man. Just because some fool decides I belong on his list of accomplishments, isn't good enough. You'll have to do better than that, Doctor."