Kid Calhoun (36 page)

“We’re never going to find Claire,” Jake said disgustedly.

“Not if Wolf doesn’t want her to be found,” Anabeth replied in a quiet voice.

“I’m not giving up.”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“Let’s go.”

“Where?” Anabeth asked. “The last tracks we were following disappeared up into the mountains.”

“To the source of that smoke signal.”

“There won’t be anyone there.”

“There’ll be a sign,” Jake snarled. “Someone’s going to make a mistake sometime, and I’m going to be there to see it.”

Anabeth didn’t argue further, just mounted up and followed after him. They made it to the far mountain by dusk. There was too little light for Jake to see whatever trail might have been left. The air was cool, but not cold. And it was quiet. Too quiet.

Jake searched the countryside with wary eyes. The hair prickled on his neck. Someone was out there. Not too close, but close enough. “We’ll camp here tonight,” he said.

“All right.” Anabeth was exhausted. It had been a long day, but she had endured longer days over the past few weeks they had been on the trail without feeling so tired. She wasn’t about to admit her weakness
to Jake and give him the excuse he needed to take her back to the ranch.

“I’ll gather some wood,” she said.

Jake unsaddled the horses, rubbed them down, and picketed them close in. Anabeth hadn’t yet returned, so he made a circle of stones for the fire and set out ground sheets and blankets for bedding. When she still hadn’t returned, he went searching for her.

Jake found Anabeth unconscious, an armful of firewood by her side.

“Kid? Anabeth?” He shook her, but her eyes remained closed. His heart skipped to his throat. He looked quickly around for evidence that someone had attacked her, but there were no moccasin prints on the sandy ground. He scooped her up into his arms and hurried back to camp, where he laid her down on one of the pallets he had prepared. He left her long enough to dampen his bandanna with water from the canteen, then returned and pressed it to her brow.

When that had no result he picked her up and rocked her in his arms. “What’s wrong, Kid?” he whispered. “What happened?” Her face was pale, lifeless, her pulse thready.

He thought then of snakebite. He looked her over from top to booted toe, looking for some sort of wound that would explain what had happened to her. He wet the bandanna again and pressed it to her lips, forcing her to swallow a few drops of water.

Finally her eyelids flickered. She shook her head from side to side, and her hands came up to push away the cloth he was once again using to cool her brow.

“Jake?”

He stared into eyes that were confused and a little frightened. “I found you unconscious. What happened, Kid? Did you fall? Were you attacked?”

“No … I …” She had bent over to pick up a
piece of wood and had gotten dizzy and then … she must have passed out.

“Kid?” Jake’s voice was impatient, anxious. “What happened?”

“I … must have fainted,” she admitted.

“Why? Did something frighten you?”

Anabeth tried to rise, tried to get away from Jake’s perceptive gaze, but he held her captive in his arms.

“I want an explanation, Kid.”

“I don’t know!” she said. “I leaned over and I felt dizzy and I fainted.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sick? You look awful pale to me.”

“A little upset stomach,” Anabeth said. “It must have been something I ate.”

That seemed to satisfy Jake, and he heaved a sigh as he loosened his hold on her. “Be careful what you eat from now on,” he said gruffly. “Are you hungry now?”

Anabeth felt famished. “Yes. I’ll help make supper.”

“You’ll sit and take it easy,” Jake ordered, easing her out of his arms and into a sitting position on the blankets.

“I most certainly will not—” Anabeth tried to stand too quickly and almost fainted again.

Jake was at her side in an instant. “Dammit, Kid.” He shoved her head between her knees. “I want you well enough to ride tomorrow, so you’ll do what I say and rest tonight.”

Anabeth’s answer was muffled because her mouth was hugging her knees.

Jake pulled her upright by the scruff of her neck. “What did you say?”

“I said all right!”

Jake kept a close eye on Anabeth while he cooked some venison and beans for supper. To his amazement
she ate a huge helping and asked for more. Apparently whatever had caused her upset stomach wasn’t bothering her anymore.

Anabeth insisted on helping with the cleanup after supper. “I’m fine now, really.”

Jake gave her a good looking over, but all he saw was a young woman in the peak of health. Her cheeks were like roses, her eyes sparkled, and she was wearing a beguiling smile. He couldn’t help feeling relieved.

And aroused.

“Time to get some shuteye,” he said. He turned away from her, hiding the proof of the effect she had on him—had been having on him ever since they had left Window Rock. It was hard to stay angry with her when she kept him so … hard.

He had kept his distance from her on the trail, but the need he felt hadn’t abated one whit. His body ached for her morning, noon, and night.

“Jake?”

He kept his back to her. “What?”

“Thanks for coming after me—for caring.” She came up behind him and put her arms around his waist and hugged him.

“Kid …” Jake could feel his self-control slipping.

“Ummm. You’re so warm.”

He was warm, all right. Hot to the core. “Kid …” He put his hands over hers, intending to loosen her grasp. Instead he slowly shoved them down across the hard length of him.

Jake made an animal sound as he felt her hands moving under his. He spread his legs to give her better access to him, then reached around to grasp her buttocks in his palms and pull her snug against him.

Anabeth loved having the freedom to touch Jake as she pleased. She felt her body tighten when she heard
his guttural groan of pleasure. He was thick and hard beneath her hands. She reached for his belt buckle.

“Don’t start anything you don’t plan to finish,” Jake grated out.

By then she had his belt unbuckled. Her hands were trembling as she reached for the buttons on his trousers. Jake’s whole body tightened as she released the buttons one at a time. She made a V with the flaps of denim and reached her hands down inside his long johns to touch bare flesh.

A harsh groan broke from Jake’s throat. “Kid, I can’t stand much more of this.”

“You don’t like it?” Anabeth whispered.

“Don’t you dare stop,” he said with a soft male laugh. He was willing to endure this heavenly torture for as long as she was willing to punish him.

Anabeth relished Jake’s sudden gasps, his sensual moans as she explored the feel of his hard male shaft, the crisp thatch of hair and the softness of the sac below.

Finally Jake couldn’t take any more. He freed himself from her touch and exchanged places so that she was in front, and he had his hands around her. “Turn about’s fair play,” he murmured in her ear.

Anabeth made a soft noise in her throat as Jake cupped her breasts in his hands, fondling her tender nipples through cloth until they became hardened buds.

Jake hadn’t the patience to unbutton her shirt. He grabbed a bunch of flannel in each fist and yanked until the buttons popped free. He rubbed his hips against her at the same time he caressed her naked flesh with his palms. His body tautened as her breath sucked in sharply.

“Your turn, Kid,” he said as he slid the buttons on her trousers free.

“Jake, I—” Anabeth cried out as Jake spread her
legs wide with his hands. She angled her head back to look up into his eyes. They were lambent with desire. “Jake—”

Jake’s mouth found Anabeth’s, and he swallowed her groan as he slid his hands down inside her long johns. He teased her with his fingers until she was writhing with pleasure in his arms.

“Jake, please,” Anabeth pleaded.

Jake felt her delicate shivers as he eased his hands back up the length of her. He lifted her into his arms and carried her to the pallet he had made for them. He stripped her of boots and jeans, then did the same for himself before mantling her body against the cool night air.

Anabeth made a thick sound of pleasure when Jake thrust inside her. Her hands threaded into the dark curls on his chest, and her fingernails scraped across his warm skin as she arched her hips into his.

Jake found her mouth with his, tasting her with his tongue, thrusting in rhythm with the movements of his hips.

Anabeth knew now what she was seeking, knew what was happening when her body tightened like a bowstring. She grasped her lower lip in her teeth, but it wasn’t enough to hold back the whimpers of pleasure being wrenched from her throat.

“Come with me, Kid,” Jake murmured. “Come on. It’s all right. Trust me, Kid.”

Anabeth stopped fighting the waves of pleasure rolling over her. She pressed her face hard against Jake’s throat as her body erupted in waves of ecstasy.

Jake was not far behind. His climax was so powerful it left him gasping. He dropped his forehead onto hers for a moment, then slipped to Anabeth’s side and pulled her into his embrace.

He couldn’t understand what it was about this woman that made him want her—need her—so
badly. He didn’t understand why he felt whole with her. He only knew he did.

Anabeth kissed Jake’s mouth lightly, then kissed his half-lidded eyes closed. “Rest now,” she said. She brushed her fingertips across his furrowed brow. “Don’t think. Sleep.”

Jake heaved a tremendous sigh that evidenced both his confusion and his satisfaction. Moments later he was sound asleep.

As tired as she had been all day, Anabeth was now wide awake. How she loved the man who held her in his arms! She longed to tell him how she felt, but felt certain if she did that he would run like a deer in flight. But if he was going to turn her over to the law in Santa Fe anyway, why not tell him? At least then he would know. At least then there might be a chance …

Maybe tomorrow she would tell him.

Anabeth was lying there trying unsuccessfully to sleep when she heard her name being called. Her Apache name. Jake grunted as she slipped out of his embrace, but he didn’t wake.

A moment later Anabeth had pulled on her jeans and boots and tied her torn shirt into a knot that halfway hid her breasts. She headed away from the fire in the direction of the voice in the darkness.

“Wolf? Where are you?”

“Here.” He appeared right in front of her.

Anabeth crossed her arms over her chest when she saw the way his eyes raked over her.

“I see you have chosen a mate, Stalking Deer,” he said with a sardonic curl of his lip.

She lifted her chin. “I have,” she replied in a steady voice. “How are you, Wolf? And how is Claire?”

“What right have you to ask?”

“Are we not still friends?” Anabeth asked.

The tension seemed to drain out of Wolf. “I had
once hoped to be more than your friend, Stalking Deer.”

“But you do not desire me anymore.” She stated it as a fact, and he didn’t deny it. In fact, she watched two interesting flags of color appear on his cheeks. Anabeth smiled. “So you have found a mate as well, my friend?”

“I have,” he said.

“And you will return Claire to her brother now?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I have taken the white woman as my mate,” Wolf said. “She is the woman I desire.”

Anabeth looked into Wolf’s dark eyes and saw a flicker of unease. “Why did you seek me out, Wolf?”

“I wished to speak about … about …”

“About Claire?”

He nodded curtly. Stalking Deer had been his friend when others had turned aside from him. He had not realized how much he would miss the closeness they had shared. He had sought her out because his heart was full, and because he did not know where else to turn for the answers to his questions.

“I’m listening,” Anabeth said.

“Do you think … is it possible the white woman can come to care for me?”

“Oh, Wolf …” How could she answer him? She didn’t know herself why she loved Jake or even how she had fallen in love with him. How could she offer hope that Claire would come to love Wolf, when the emotions she felt herself seemed to have so little rhyme or reason? She didn’t think Wolf could make Claire love him. For Claire to love Wolf, she would have to see in him the man of her dreams. And really, what were the chances of that?

Anabeth took a step toward Wolf, then another that took her into his strong arms. It was an embrace of
long friendship. They both sought comfort and gave it freely. But there was no desire between them. Their hearts had been given by each of them to another.

“Did you ever dream when we were children of what our futures might be?” Anabeth murmured against his chest.

Wolf snorted. “The white woman I pictured in my wickiup was you, Stalking Deer.”

“Isn’t it strange how things turn out?”

“Are you happy, Stalking Deer?” Wolf asked. “Do you want to come away with me now to my village—as my friend?”

“I don’t think that would work,” Anabeth said in a strained voice. “I wouldn’t make a good Apache woman, Wolf. I would always want to be doing what you’re doing.”

“But—”

Anabeth put her fingertips to his lips. “I’m glad you have Claire, Wolf. I hope you’ll both be happy. I’ll try to make Jake understand—”

“What is it you’re going to make me understand, Kid?” Jake said in a dangerous voice.

“Jake!” Anabeth tore herself guiltily from Wolf’s embrace.

“This is cozy,” Jake said.

“It’s not what you think!” Anabeth protested. She put herself between Wolf and the Colt Jake had aimed at the Apache’s belly.

“Get out of the way, Kid.”

Anabeth saw a killing rage in Jake’s cold gray eyes. “Let me explain!” she cried.

“I’ve got eyes, Kid. I can see what’s right in front of me.”

“You saw two old friends hugging each other. That’s all it was. Wolf is my
friend
. Nothing more.”

“Not because he wouldn’t like to be more,” Jake said.

“That’s not true. Wolf—” Anabeth stopped herself because she had been about to say that Claire had taken her place.