King's Ransom (17 page)

He watched them run
out of rifle range and knew how closely he'd come to arriving too late. He
turned silently, took one long look at Jesse standing wet and bedraggled, threw
the rifle onto the edge of the grass, and pulled her into his arms without
saying a word.

She felt him
shudder, and heard him swallow several times before he pulled back and tried to
speak.

Jesse knew he was
angry with her because his dark eyes literally took her apart at the seams. He
kept running his hands carefully over her body, up and down her arms several
times, as if assuring himself she was still in one piece.

He wasn't going
to be able to stop the quick tears of relief that gathered in the corners of
his eyes, but didn't care if Jesse saw them or not. He'd been too frightened to
have time to get mad. Then when Jesse hugged him, he couldn't have worked up a
good mad if he'd tried.

Jesse sighed
wearily and leaned into him, too tired and worn out to worry about him getting
the wrong notion.

"What took
you so long?" she asked, trying to lighten the situation between them.

King cupped her
face in his hands. His thumbs lightly traced the sensual fullness of her lower
lip, as he let himself absorb the fact that Jesse was truly safe. He felt the
intensity of heat radiating from the skin beneath his fingers and sighed. What
he was about to do would probably set their relationship back even further,
but he couldn't help himself. He leaned closer, felt Jesse stiffen beneath his
touch, and saw her lips opening. She never got the opportunity to voice her thoughts.
King took her breath and thoughts away as he pulled her out of the water, off
her feet, and into his arms.

He felt hot and
cold at the same time, as the taste of Jesse's lips sent his sanity begging.
He'd known, somewhere in the back of his mind, that this would happen—that
touching her would be all fire, demanding and consuming, as she answered the
pressure of his kiss with a claim of her own. He couldn't think past the
softness of her mouth and the tiny, almost undetectable moans that he heard every
time he started to let her go. King held her against his body and felt every
muscle in him swell with wanting more. He needed to lay her down on the hard,
dry grassland and lose himself in Jesse's sweet warmth. But this wasn't the
time, or the place, to see how far Jesse would let him venture into uncharted
territory. He drew back reluctantly and stroked her lips with his fingertip,
needing the reassurance that she was still within reach and touch.

"Honey, you
scared me to death," he said huskily.

Jesse blinked,
trying to regain a measure of her equilibrium, but the sight of that
beautiful, demanding mouth, just inches away, that had nearly driven her mad,
and the touch of his fingers on her lips, made the world go around and around.
Finally, the soft whinny of the injured horse brought them both back to their
senses.

"The horse,
King! It's caught in a trot-line. I couldn't get close enough to help
him."

"Horse?"
he muttered, slowly coming to his senses. Then realizing what she was trying to
say, he turned toward the trapped animal. A string of muffled curses fell from
his lips as he saw the young horse's plight. King whistled for Tariq, got a
lariat from the saddle, and quickly made a makeshift bridle for the trapped
animal. Walking slowly through the water, until he reached the horse's side, he
carefully placed the bridle over the horse's head and ran his hands slowly down
it's neck and mane.

"Let me see
what you've done to yourself, fella," King said as he worked. He handed
the other end of the rope to Jesse, then carefully began to trace the course of
the nylon under the water.

The horse
nickered, recognizing a familiar smell and voice, and stood quietly as King's
husky growl and gentle hands quickly freed him from the trap of hooks and nylon
cord. Several hooks were imbedded too deeply, and King refused to touch them.
Instead he cut away the cord and left them for the vet to remove. He waded the
length of the pond neck, angrily pulling at the remaining rope and floats and
nearly had it cleared when the ranch pickup truck topped the hill above the
pond and started down the steep incline.

As soon as the
driver came near enough, King called out, sending them back to the ranch to get
a horse trailer for the injured animal. He wasn't about to walk the young horse
back in this heat after such a trauma.

He threw the
trot-line to one side of the grass to be picked up by his ranch hands, and eyed
the dead animals on the opposite hillside. The men could dispose of them, too.
He wasn't leaving Jesse or the horse.

She sat on the
grassy edge of the pond, pulling first one boot off and then the other, pouring
a stream of muddy water from each. She watched King lead the horse from the
water and tie the end of rope to a piece of deadwood. This horse was too young
and frightened to trust it not to run.

"Couldn't
wait to take off those boots, could you?" King teased softly, trying to
ease the tension growing between them. And then he frowned, becoming aware of
the increasing redness on Jesse's face and neck and down her bare arms.
"Looks like you took off more than shoes today, didn't you, Jesse Rose?
You're gonna be sick."

Jesse looked up
and smiled shyly before passing off an answer with a shrug of her shoulders,
then wincing at the movement.

King muttered under
his breath. He unbuckled his belt and pulled his shirt tail out of his Levis.

Jesse's eyes
widened. She managed not to stare as she sneaked delighted peeks at King's
impromptu striptease. Then she couldn't resist adding, "If we only had a
little music while you took it all off."

King's eyes
narrowed. He glared as he handed her

his shirt and
jammed his wide-brimmed Stetson on her head. "Shut up and put this
on," he ordered.

Jesse needed no
further urging. She sighed with relief as she covered her burning skin.

"We have to
talk," King said, "but now's not the time. I've got to get you, and
the horse, back to the ranch." Then his voice deepened and the ominous
tone scared Jesse to death. "There's something you need to know."

     
              EIGHT

King watched the
veterinarian drive away from the ranch and started into the house, only to be
stopped by Maggie's arrival with a carload of groceries. By the time
pleasantries had been exchanged and all the groceries carried inside, half an
hour had elapsed. King was worried about how to tell Jesse that the attack had
been more than attempted murder. He didn't know how to tell her about the
kidnap attempt without frightening her more. Maggie's advice gave him no easy
way out.

"Just tell
her, King," Maggie ordered, as she moved about the kitchen, putting away
the day's purchases. "She's tougher than you give her credit for. And,
when you go," she added, pulling a small, white sack from her purse,
"give her this."

King took the
sack and started toward Jesse's bedroom. He was more than halfway there before
it dawned on him that he was delivering a prescription. His first thought was
that Jesse was sick and hadn't told him. But the flat, round shape inside the
sack could only mean one thing. Feelings went off inside him like a four-alarm
fire. He'd seen those packets inside more than one woman's purse. Birth control
pills!
Why
is the thought so upsetting to me?
he wondered. He knew it was modern, wise,
accepted. But he didn't like the idea of Jesse needing to be protected. That
meant being exposed to the possibilities of pregnancy, and that meant a man
involved with Jesse in a manner that made his blood pressure rise. By the time
he got to her room and walked through the open door, he'd worked himself into a
silent rage.

Jesse heard
footsteps, knew they were King's, and sighed miserably, as she lay face down on
her bed, as near naked as possible yet still retaining a measure of decency.
There wasn't an inch of skin anywhere on her body that had escaped sunburn, and
she was in no mood for a lecture about her methods of saving horses.

"Maggie said
to give this to you," he growled, and slammed the sack on the pillow
beside her face.

Jesse took one
look at the sack and smiled to herself in spite of her misery.

"Thank you
very much," she said in an off-hand manner.

"I don't
even know you, do I, Jess?" King muttered, trying to ignore all the bare
skin in plain view. There wasn't much to the bath towel, nor much left to the
imagination. Keeping Jesse covered was proving to be vital to King's sanity.

"You never
paid any attention to me before, or you'd know I've taken these since I was
seventeen. They correct a very miserable medical problem that's none of your
business," Jesse said sharply. She groped toward the nightstand for her
sunburn lotion. "If you want to know about my current medical history,
smart ass, try rubbing some of this aloe vera gel on my back. My sunburn is
killing me."

King turned as
red as Jesse's back and was glad she couldn't see his face. He yanked the tube
of lotion from her hands and sat down on the side of the bed, trying to ignore
Jesse's body. He was more disturbed by what was not visible than by all the
bare skin he
could
see, and hesitated momentarily before he
unscrewed the cap on the tube of lotion. The gel was a cool, clear green as
King squeezed it into the palm of his hand. But it quickly liquefied into a
clear film on Jesse's hot skin.

"Oooh,"
Jesse sighed with relief, as the aloe quickly took away the miserable burning
sensation. "That feels wonderful," she mumbled into her pillow. King
smiled to himself and continued to apply the gel with long, gentle strokes.

"I should
have remembered. You have a great set of hands," Jesse teased, and grinned
into her pillow as she felt his hands instantly cease movement on her body.

King practically
vaulted from the bed, slapping the plastic tube back on the nightstand within
Jesse's reach.

"Damn you,
Jesse," he muttered. "One of these days you'll push me a little too
far."

King was furious
with himself as well as with Jesse. He let her bait him and then fell neatly
into every pothole of the conversation with his usual lack of grace.

It had been difficult
enough having to touch her in such an intimate manner, knowing full well that
he wasn't going to do a thing about it. It didn't do his blood pressure any
good to know Jesse was as aware of it as he was.

"I need to
talk to you," he said, pacing the floor by her bed, nervously trying to
sort out his thoughts.

"Look,"
Jesse began. "I'm sorry I took a chance you didn't approve
..."

"No,"
he interrupted. "It's not about that. It's about the phone call I got when
you left to go riding." Then he couldn't stop from adding, "And
decided to play Annie Oakley instead."

"What about
the phone call?" she questioned, not liking the turn of conversation, or
King's tone of voice. She carefully turned to face him. The bath towel slipped
and she pulled it quickly back in place as she turned, then winced as the
bedclothes collided with her tender skin.

"For God's
sake!" King whispered, watching in horror as the towel covered even less
of her front. He grabbed a soft, cotton robe from her closet, then practically
threw it at her. "You're going to have to suffer for a few minutes. I've
had just about all I can take from you today, Jesse Rose."

His words were
short and clipped, his voice gruff, and Jesse knew he meant it. She grabbed at
the robe and shrugged into the arms, belting it loosely around her while King
stood with his back to her bed.

"You can
turn around now," she said, and tried not to grin. The look on his face
took the laughter out of her voice.

"Shockey
called," King blurted out, unable to find any easy way to say this.
"They found Lynch's house. But he'd already gone."

"Great,"
she muttered. Frustration and disappointment overwhelmed her. She combed her
hands through her hair in short jerky movements. She'd been counting on his
arrest. She was so tired of being afraid.

"That's not
all they found," King said, and then squatted down beside Jesse's bed,
needing eye contact to finish his message. "Honey . . . they also found a
ransom note."

Her shock was
obvious; her reaction extreme. She bounded from her bed as if trying to escape
from the implications that went with King's announcement.