The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress (22 page)

He grasped her good arm then curled his hand around the back of her neck to draw her lush mouth back to his. “
I
did.”

He kissed her hungrily, deeply, and wondered how many kisses he could accumulate before the doctor gave him a clean bill of health and shooed him out of this incredibly comfortable bed in what looked like a fairy-tale palace.

“Ahem…” The physician, a black leather bag in hand, cleared his throat to make his presence known. Then he rapped his knuckles on the doorjamb. “May I come in to check on our local hero?”

“By all means, Dr. Fields,” Eva insisted as she withdrew.

Raven frowned, puzzled. “Local hero?”

“Quite the story in the newspaper,” the gray-haired physician remarked as he eased down on the edge of the bed to replace the dressing and bandage. “It all sounded quite exciting and perilous, but you sacrificed your own safety to save Eva from disaster. Very admirable, Mr. Raven.”

Raven said nothing, just wondered how many ways Eva had spun the facts to make him appear the hero for the week.

“Whoever sewed up the gash on your head did a fine job,” Dr. Fields praised.

“It was his cousin,” Eva reported.

Raven grimaced when the physician slid his hand behind his head to inspect the tender knot.

“If you're dealing with blurred vision I'm not surprised,” Dr. Fields said.

Raven was amazed James hadn't opted for a bullet in the back. If James hadn't wanted to avoid getting blood on his black shirt, when he exchanged it with his own, Raven predicted he would be looking down from that great Cheyenne hunting ground in the sky right now. Instead, James had knocked him senseless and bypassed a lethal gunshot that might have drawn unwanted attention.

“You can get out of bed this evening.” Dr. Fields remarked as he came to his feet. “Limited activity, of course. You have a concussion, Mr. Raven, so you should stay in bed as much as possible.”

Raven murmured his thanks to the doctor and watched Eva escort the gray-haired man into the hall. Although he planned to remain awake, his eyelids dropped to half-mast. He decided it would be a good idea to catch another nap so he could gain enough strength to walk out of Eva's life before he lost the willpower to get up and go.

 

That evening, Eva went in to check on Raven before she bedded down in her sister's room. She smiled ruefully, remembering that Raven had insisted on moving about after supper. They had taken a slow tour of the upstairs before dizziness forced him to lie down again. He seemed ill at ease and uncomfortable with the plush accommodations her father had designed for her mother—who had died before the mansion was completed.

Eva slipped quietly into the room to see Raven sprawled in her bed. He had announced that he had business to attend the next day and that he would be leaving Denver shortly thereafter. The thought tormented her to no end. She knew she had no lasting hold on him, but she had hoped he wouldn't be in a flaming rush to leave town. Other cases awaited him, of course, and he was eager to tend to business.

To him, she was a completed assignment and money in his pocket. To her, he was the beloved man she never expected to find after she'd lost faith in men.

Knowing this would be her last night with him, Eva quietly approached the bed to snuff the lantern. The impulse to lie down beside him one last time before he walked out of her life overwhelmed her. Shedding her nightgown, she eased between the sheets and felt instantly content.

Then she realized he wasn't asleep. His hand glided over her bare hip then moved up to cup her breast. Desire sizzled through her as he levered himself up on his elbow.

“I was wrong,” he whispered. “This is heaven, after all.”

And then Raven kissed her so tenderly that her heart turned over in her chest. She would never forget how he made her feel when he touched her, how desperately she wanted him. For all the lonely tomorrows to come, tonight would have to be a vivid memory that lasted a lifetime.

Eva wanted him to remember her for all times, as well. She couldn't speak the words trapped in her heart because she had promised not to tie him down or make selfish demands. But she could weave her love around him like a silken cocoon. He would know that he meant something unique and special to her, she promised herself. And perhaps someday he would return from his forays and stop by to see her for a few days. It was better than never seeing him at all, she consoled herself.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, careful not to clank her cumbersome splint against the knot on his head. But she needed to be as close to him as she could possibly get. She ached to memorize the exquisite feel of his masculine body pressed familiarly to hers, to savor his scent and his gentle touch, and experience the intimate emotions and sensations that he alone called from her.

She kissed him until she was forced to come up for a breath of air. “I don't think this is the limited activity Dr. Fields prescribed,” she teased.

“But it's exactly what I need,” he murmured as he spread a row of warm kisses along the column of her neck. “With you here, I'm feeling no pain.”

And it was true, Raven realized. Hungry need overshadowed everything else. He had awakened when Eva cuddled up beside him and he longed to share her passion before he did what was best for both of them—leave town the next morning.

When she expelled a wobbly sigh and arched into his caresses, Raven dipped his head to flick his tongue against her pebbled nipple. Then he suckled her gently, adoring the soft sounds of pleasure he provoked from her. With dedicated tenderness, he worked his way down her satiny body one kiss and caress at a time until she was writhing impatiently.

Although his need for her played hell with his self-control, Raven refused to rush through their last night together. It had always been like this with Eva, he recalled. She caused him to break every hard-and-fast rule he'd made about avoiding emotional involvements. She distracted him to the extreme and she aroused him until he was lost in a mindless fog that demanded sensual satisfaction.

“Raven, I—”

He shifted position to kiss her thoroughly and felt the urgent need in her embrace. Right or wrong, she wanted him and that pleased him to no end. He vowed to invent new ways to pleasure and excite her as never before.

He inched down her lush body again, memorizing every texture and contour by touch and by heart. When he glided his fingertips across her moist flesh, she quivered and he smiled in satisfaction. So much woman, he mused. So much indomitable spirit. So much incredible passion. She knew no equal, and for a time she belonged only to him and he belonged only to her.

He dipped his head to flick at her with his tongue and tease her with light caresses. When he slid his finger inside her damp heat, he swore he was burning alive. He wanted nothing more than to be inside her, to become a part of that wild flame that burned down the night and erased all rational thought from his mind.

“Come here, damn you,” she panted. “I want you now.”

When her hand folded around him and she stroked him, urging him closer, he couldn't deny what she wanted, what he wanted so much that he shook with need. He braced himself on his hands and looked down into her enchanting face illuminated by the moonlight that sprayed through the bay window.

As he eased her thighs apart with his knees she curled upward to kiss him as if there were no tomorrow and he was her last breath. The searing impact of emotion that coursed through him sent his senses reeling. When he sank into her welcoming warmth, he became a living, breathing part of her and she became a vital part of him.

They moved in perfect rhythm, drifting in a world of rapturous sensations that defied description. Wild tremors consumed them as they soared to previously unattained heights of ecstasy then plummeted into a reckless free fall of mind-boggling rapture.

Eva gasped when intense pleasure bombarded her repeatedly. She held on to Raven for dear life, struggling to draw breath. When he shuddered above her then clutched her tightly in his arms she savored the sweet intimacy of the moment, committed the feelings and sensations to living memory.

The words she longed to say ached to fly free but she bit them back, for fear they would spoil the moment and make Raven uncomfortable—just as he had retreated emotionally and physically after they first made love and he discovered who she was.

Every kiss and caress she offered him in the aftermath of unrivaled passion was a silent I-love-you. If Raven couldn't translate her affection for him then it wasn't because she hadn't tried to communicate with every beat of her heart and the soundless whisper of her soul.

“Stay the night, Evangeline,” he murmured as he eased down beside her. “I don't want to let you go just yet.”

She kissed his cheek then nuzzled her head against the crook of his arm. “Since you asked so nicely, Jordan Daniel.”

She smiled as he draped his arm over her hip and sighed deeply. If she had a lifetime to spend cuddled up beside him it still wouldn't be enough, she decided. But it would be a start because she had never been anywhere in her life that felt as much like the place she belonged than when she was with Raven, like this.

 

The next morning Eva came awake and stretched leisurely in her bed. Her eyes flew open when she realized she was alone. A gigantic sense of disappointment flooded through her as she glanced around her room. Raven's saddlebags weren't on the marble-top dresser where she had placed them. The money she had paid him to take this case sat on the nightstand and Raven was nowhere to be seen.

Emptiness swallowed her alive. She had known this day was rapidly approaching. She had tried to prepare herself mentally, but losing Raven still tormented her. There should be a rule written down somewhere that the man you love had to love you back to the same intense degree. If that were so, Raven would never leave her again.

Rising, Eva freshened up then dressed in her breeches and shirt. She went downstairs to have breakfast in the empty dining room. Lydia usually livened up Eva's days but she was still away from home. Eva wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. She had never had trouble filling her days with activity. But when Raven left without a word, she was at loose ends and she couldn't muster the enthusiasm to do much of anything but mope about and feel sorry for herself.

Her deflated thoughts trailed off when she heard the front door open and close unexpectedly.

“Eva? Are you here?” Lydia called out.

Eva was on her feet in a single bound to seek out her sister. They nearly collided when she rounded the corner to dash into the foyer. “What are you doing back in Denver already? Is that a good or bad sign? And how did you get here so quickly?”

“It's a very good sign and Blackowl and I made part of the trip by train,” Lydia reported.

Blackowl on a train? That surprised Eva.

“All three of us have been digging at least twenty ounces a day from the pit,” she added excitedly.

Eva smiled in satisfaction when she calculated the earnings at five hundred dollars a day per person.

“Your accidental discovery is going to make the three men enough money to live comfortably,” Lydia predicted as she veered into the dining room to help herself to what was left of Eva's breakfast.

Eva scrutinized her sister, whose delighted expression faded into a melancholy smile. “Now what's wrong? Did you meet with trouble in that raucous mining town?”

“No,” Lydia replied as she munched on the toast. “No one knew I was a woman since I was wearing your cap and buckskin clothing. I was just wondering how soon after I swore off men for the rest of my life that I might change my mind.”

Eva did a double take. “You are seriously considering Hoodoo's proposals?” she chirped.

Lydia flicked her wrist then grinned wryly. “You and I both know that Hoodoo proposes for practice. He's building his self-confidence. But you're right. He is a dear, delightful man and he would make a fine husband.”

Eva was pleased to note her sister's perceptiveness. She had grown up quickly the past two weeks.

“I was…um…thinking of Blackowl,” Lydia said confidentially before sipping coffee.

Eva sank down in a chair across from her sister. “Don't set yourself up for another heartache, Lydia. Blackowl says he's not particularly fond of palefaces. Has he taken advantage—?”

“No,” Lydia interrupted. “Nothing much has happened.”

“Nothing much?” Eva repeated, staring intently at Lydia. “How much,
exactly,
is nothing much?”

Lydia waved her hand dismissively. “Don't fret. I can take care of myself. I'm nineteen, after all.”

Right. She owned the world.
“I'm going to have a heart-to-heart talk with Blackowl,” Eva muttered.

“No, you aren't. I have allowed you to run interference and overprotect me since we lost Papa. It's high time I began taking care of myself.” Lydia smiled proudly. “Venturing into that mining camp and digging for gold has allowed me to fend for myself, even if Blackowl and Hoodoo were nearby to intervene if I had serious problems. I intend to be just like you, Eva.”