Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (10 page)

"Why at night?"

"Because we'll be harder to track if anyone is
following us, and we'll be out of Comanche territory by dawn."

"You wouldn't be worried if I weren't with
you, would you?"

"Not as much," he admitted. "Now get some
sleep."

Saber was too weary to argue, and lay back on
her blanket. She dreaded the thought of riding
all night, but she was more afraid of meeting up
with a Comanche war party. She closed her eyes
and felt Reese place a warm blanket over her.
She was safe now that Reese Starrett was looking after her!

It was a bitterly cold morning, but the air was
sharp and clean. Saber loved riding and always
had, but being in the open and exposed to the
cold took the enjoyment out of it. She felt guilty
again because her thoughts were not often of
Matthew, but of Reese. Her arms were clasped
about his waist, and she pressed her face against
him. She could feel his taut stomach muscles
and each intake of his breath.

When they began backtracking she knew he
was worried that they might have been followed.
Suddenly he rode behind a thicket, cautioning
her to be quiet. His hand rested on his gun, and she knew he could have it in his hand in an instant.

Saber laughed when a herd of deer moved
past their hiding place. "Don't worry, Mr. Starrett. I'll protect you from them," she said, laughing so hard she could hardly catch her breath.

He glanced back at her, his eyes glinting with
amusement. "I feel comforted by that, Miss Vincente. Let's ride on."

They rode in companionable silence for most
of the day, stopping often to rest the horse, since
the animal had to carry them both. Late in the
afternoon they ate a quick meal of dried meat
before mounting up and riding on once more.

As evening advanced, a serene quietness settled over the land. Reese halted the horse and
spoke softly, as if any noise were an intrusion on
the tranquillity. "It's going to be colder tonight,
so I have to find shelter or we risk freezing."

"If you hadn't let Quanah take our pack mule
with the blankets, we'd have something to keep
us warm."

He gritted his teeth. "At the time it seemed the
right thing to do." He shifted in the saddle and
glared at her. "Do you see those dark clouds?"
He rushed on without giving her a chance to answer. "A blizzard is heading our way."

Even as he spoke, snow began to fall. In no time at all they couldn't see beyond the horse's
head.

"Are you always right?" she said with a pout
on her lips.

"Almost never since I met you," he mumbled.

"I'm cold."

He rubbed the back of his neck while he pondered the best thing to do to save her life. "I
know of a place that might offer us some protection. It's only the remains of a burned-out
squatter's cabin, but it's the closest place to us."

He guided his tired mount down a small hill,
hoping he could find the ruins in the blinding
snow. After they had been riding for over an
hour, he halted the horse.

"There," he said, pointing to the dark ruins
that seemed to have emerged out of nowhere. "I
was afraid I would miss it in the snow. We can
hole up there until the worst of the storm is
over."

He lifted Saber to the ground and led her toward the shelter. As luck would have it, one
whole wall, part of the roof, and the stone fireplace were still standing. Reese seated Saber and
draped his coat about her. "There's certainly lots
of wood to start a fire," he said, beginning to pick
up charred logs.

Saber knew she should help him, but her teeth were chattering, and she was shaking from the
cold.

In no time a small fire was burning, but it
seemed to Saber that it gave off little warmth.

"Should we be afraid of the Indians or the
Millers?"

"The Indians already know we're here, and
they seem to have granted us the right to pass
through their land. As for the Millers, they hardly seem the sort who would go after anything in
this kind of weather."

"No," she said, holding her shaking hands to
the flames. "We're the only fools out tonight."

He staked the horse behind the shelter of the
wall and left the horse blanket on the animal to
keep it warm. "If we lose him, we walk. And
when you're forced to walk out here, you're
dead."

"What will we do for cover?" she asked.

"I'll try to keep the fire going, and we'll just
have to share the one blanket and my coat."

She nodded when he took the blanket from
her. She shook with cold as he held the blanket
to the fire to warm it. He then placed it about
her shoulders, and blissful heat worked its way
through her body. She sighed with contentment,
but then she saw that Reese was in his shirtsleeves.

She held out the blanket. "You said we'd
share."

"Not until I have stacked plenty of wood up to
last through the night." He proceeded to gather
logs that had survived the fire. At last he sat
down beside Saber, and she drew the blanket
about him.

"What happened to the house, do you know?"

"Yeah. The Dickersons lived here until they
got burned out by the Comanche."

Saber shivered. "Were they killed?"

"They weren't at home at the time. But if they
had been, they would have been killed."

"That's monstrous!"

"If you build on Comanche land, you can expect retribution. It would be no different if some
squatter built on your brother's land."

"I'd like to think he'd be more understanding."

"No, he wouldn't. A man's land is his life out
here. No squatter, homesteader, or whatever
they want to call themselves has a right to take
it over."

"I suppose, if you put it that way." She yawned
and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Here," he said, spreading his coat on the hard
ground and laying her down close to the fire.
Then he warmed the blanket again and placed
it over her.

She was still shaking so badly that he lay down beside her, drawing her into his arms. She snuggled against him, sliding one arm around his
waist. He began rubbing his hand firmly up and
down her back, trying to warm her. After a while
he heard her sigh, and she fell asleep.

Reese watched the snow sifting through the
cracks, glad that the roof nearest the fireplace
had been strong enough to withstand the fire.
Saber snuggled her head against his neck, and
he caught his breath, willing himself to think of
her only as a warm body and not as a desirable
woman.

He carefully removed his gun from the holster
and laid it within easy reach. His horse stomped
and whinnied; then, after a while, all was quiet
except for the crackling of the fire.

It was a long time before Reese fell asleep.

He jerked awake, his senses alert. Something
had brushed against his face. He automatically
reached for his gun, then realized it was only
Saber's hair. He stiffened when he realized that
she had crawled on top of him and was snuggled
there.

He groaned as she cuddled closer to his
warmth, grinding her breasts against his chest.
He swallowed deeply when she shifted again
and his painfully swollen erection fit snugly between her legs. He dared not move, and he
hoped she didn't either, because every move ment only heated his blood more and made him
want to slide inside her to find relief. He tried to
think of anyone but the woman who was driving
him slowly out of his mind.

He reached up to brush her hair out of his
face, but instead, when he touched the silky texture, his fingers moved through it. Her mouth
was so near his that if he turned the slightest bit,
his lips would touch hers. And he wanted tohe ached and throbbed to kiss her until her lips
parted for him. He wanted to unfasten his trousers, rip hers off and-

Oh, hell, he thought when she moved again,
this time sighing against his ear.

He remembered Matthew, his friend, and attempted to beat down the desire that threatened
to dishonor him and the woman he had sworn
to protect.

He eased her off him, wrapped the blanket
about her, and stacked more wood on the fire.
While she slept, he watched the flames play
across her face, and he felt a deep, burning need
start in his loins and move to his heart. She had
awakened something in him that went beyond
desire.

Saber Vincente had touched his heart.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't suppress the desire that coiled inside him, and he tightened the corded muscles that made his
trousers damned tight and uncomfortable.

Saber slept blissfully, not knowing that she was
affecting Reese in any way. It was hours later
when she heard the horse stomping and opened
her eyes. Reese had already saddled the animal
and was loading their meager supplies.

She stretched her arms over her head and
yawned. "I slept the whole night through. I
wasn't a bit uncomfortable, were you?"

He glanced at her and turned away. "Put my
coat on and wrap the blanket around your
shoulders."

"But you'll be cold. You keep your own coat.
I'll be just fine with the blanket."

"Miss Vincente, do as I said."

She angrily shoved her hands into the sleeves
and held out her arms so he could see that the
sleeves were far too long. "Are you satisfied?"

"I have never been less satisfied in my life," he
mumbled under his breath. "It's easy to see that
you are accustomed to getting your own way,"
he said so she could hear.

"Really." Her hands went on her hips, and her
eyes sparkled with blue fire. "What part in all
this is my design? If I had my way I'd still have
my horse and the blankets."

Reese smiled to himself, not daring to let her see his mirth. She was ungracious in defeat. After last night he'd never think of her in the same
way again. Not only did he desire her; he was
beginning to like her more and more. She was
quite a woman and would make a fine wife. Matthew would never know a dull day with her beside him.

But Reese knew that he wanted her for himself, and that that would never happen. Being
denied what his body craved suddenly made
him cross, and he nodded toward the horse. "It's
time to go."

"I'm ready," she said in an irritated voice.
"You don't have to speak to me like I am a child."

His annoyance grew until it was full-blown
anger not with her, but with the situation he
found himself in. He turned away from her, but
not before she saw the corded muscles in his
neck, and his clenched teeth.

Why was he acting so strangely? she wondered, watching him walk away. She felt as if a
moment of understanding had been lost, a moment when he would have confided in her but
the moment had slipped away.

The half-moon shed enough light so that Reese
could see ahead to avoid hazards that might
cause their horse to stumble. He felt Saber's
head slump against his back. "You need to stay
awake, Miss Vincente."

She nodded and raised her head, feeling so
weary.

"My brother told me that horses don't have the
best eyesight at night. This fellow could step in
a hole, and then where would we be?"

"That's why I need you to help me watch."

She straightened her spine. If Reese could go
on, then so could she. The night seemed endless,
and riding astride was causing her to ache in places that had never ached before. There were
times when she thought she couldn't stay on the
horse, and twice she nodded off. But a harsh
word from Reese brought her back to consciousness.

"Can't we stop?" she asked.

"We don't have the protection of being on Comanche land now, so if you want to put miles
between us and the Millers, we have to keep
moving, Miss Vincente. You can sleep tomorrow-at least half a day."

Wordlessly she watched the trail ahead of
them, wondering what power and strength
pushed Reese. She guessed he'd stayed awake
most of the time while she slept in the squatter's
shack. How could he keep going like this without sleep when she was so utterly exhausted?