Simply Heaven (39 page)

When he heard that he dared feel a glimmer of hope. "You do belong here. With me. And I'm no dream. I'm real, if you'll let me be, Raven."

"Listen to me," she cried, fury sweeping through her. "Even if you did care about me, you have a responsibility to Selena and her baby. God knows, I know better than anybody what it's like to feel abandoned by your own father. I could never live with myself if I had anything to do with your abandoning that child."

"But I'm not abandoning her. Amanda isn't mine. Lisbeth put Selena up to it. You've got to believe that. When I find Selena, I'll get her to tell you everything. The man who got her pregnant died before the baby was born. He was married. Selena didn't want to hurt his family, so she never told anyone the truth but me. I didn't care if Masson or anybody else thought I was responsible—till now," he added, reaching for her hand again.

Once more she withdrew, but not as quickly. He truly sounded sincere, and with love rocketing through her, she found herself praying that he might be.

"I don't know when it happened, Raven," he went on, misery etched all over his face, "but it did. All of a sudden, I knew I loved you, only you, and I could never want another woman. And not just for the pleasure you bring me, even though I've never known anything so good. I want you for my wife, the mother of my children—
our
children. And I'll never abandon you. With God as my witness, I swear I'll take care of you and love you till my dying breath.

"And God also knows, Raven"—his voice broke as he dismounted and reached for her to pull her down against him, there on the bridge, with the moonlight spilling over them—"I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to grow old with you. And when I die, I want to spend eternity with you. I never thought I'd say these things to any woman. Never even knew I could feel this way. But I do. You've got to believe me."

The trembling began deep within her. It came from her heart, then spread all over, inspired by love. And she knew somehow, in that moment, that she could never leave because she did love him, and that awareness, that affirmation, gave her the strength and courage to say, "I do believe you, Steve. And I want everything that you want... for always and ever."

"Thank God, sweetheart. Thank God." And with a laugh and a sob of joy, he showered her face with kisses. "I have to tell you I was scared there for a minute Starfire wouldn't let me ride him, but the funny thing is, I think he understood when I told him I only wanted to share his spirit, not break it." He sobered to add, "But even if he'd killed me, at least I would have gone to my grave knowing I tried: for you, for me,
for us."

She parted her lips to drink deeply of his sweet kiss, the kiss of avowal for a love not to be denied.

A shot rang out to shatter the stillness of the night.

Even before the whining echo faded away, Steve had grabbed Raven and taken her with him to the ground, rolling on top of her to shield her as he drew his gun, ready to fire back as soon as he could figure out where the shot had come from.

Then they heard a voice cry out in triumph, "I got him. Don't shoot. It's all right. It's all over. I got him."

"That's Julius," Raven said frantically, recognizing his voice as she struggled to get out from under Steve. He let her go, and she was on her feet and running the rest of the way across the bridge, with Steve right behind her.

Julius saw it was her and cried, "Lord, Raven. I didn't know it was you. I just saw him pointing a gun at two people out on the bridge, so I winged him."

She looked down to see Masson Leroux writhing on the ground in agony from a bullet in his right shoulder. "Masson?" She shook her head. It didn't make sense, any of it. Her eyes went from him to the still-smoking six-gun in Julius's hand. "That's no derringer," she said with a little gasp.

"I've been taking shooting lessons," he said, bursting with pride. "I finally realized what an idiot I've been, but I didn't want you to know till I was sure I was good. Today was the day. The man teaching me said I knew everything he did. So I was coming to tell you about it. And also to apologize for how I've treated you. I'd hoped to leave earlier, but I'm learning what it's like to work for a living"—he chuckled—"and I can tell you it's tough, but it feels good when the work is done."

Steve reached around Raven to shake Julius's hand. "I'm glad you were delayed, Julius. You saved our lives, and we thank you."

"But why would he want to kill you?" Julius nudged Masson with his foot. "Tell us, you scalawag."

Raven felt a shiver of alarm and pressed back against Steve. "What if this is also Lisbeth's doing?"

He clasped her shoulders reassuringly. "There's no way she had anything to do with this. It's a mistake, somehow, but we'll get to the bottom of it later. Right now, scalawag that he is, we need to get him back and take care of his wound."

"But what about Lisbeth?" Julius wanted to know. "Is there trouble? I'm going to talk to her."

"That won't be necessary," Steve said. "We'll tell you all about it on the way home."

"Home." Julius breathed the word with pleasure. "That sounds like heaven. You know, Raven, you were right. Halcyon is big enough for
all
of us.

"Right, Steve?" He grinned and slapped him on the back. Julius could see where Raven's heart lay, and if Steve became a real member of the family before long, that would suit him just fine.

Steve put his arm around Raven. "That's right, and we're going to see just how big we can make this one." Raven snuggled against him. "Then everything is all right?" Julius hung back, watching them as they walked across the bridge.

Raven and Steve looked at each other, smiled, and shared a tender kiss before Raven called back, "Everything is more than all right. It's
simply heaven.
"

The End

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Excerpt from

Say You Love Me

A Historical Western Romance

by

Patricia Hagan

New York Times Bestselling Author

Jacie did not want to wake up, but something was nudging her foot, hard. She forced her eyes to open, then instantly shrank back in horror.

The man was framed by the setting sun, a flaming red and gold halo streaming around him. He stood with fists at his hips, legs wide apart as he stared down at her.

Horrified to think Black Serpent had found her, his name instinctively escaped Jacie's lips, but when the man spoke, she knew it was her original nocturnal visitor.

"I am not Black Serpent. My name is Luke. And you needn't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

Her panic lessened but only a little, because she was still scared out of her wits. She thought of the knife she had stolen from Black Serpent, which she had tied to her ankle, but realized he must have seen it, for her skirt was tangled up about her knees.

He stepped to one side, and the sun was suddenly blinding in her face. She raised her hands to shield her eyes, then held them out to fend him off as he dropped to one knee beside her. "Don't touch me," she said hoarsely, angrily. "This is all your fault, anyway. If I hadn't thought Black Serpent was you, I'd never have walked out that door so trustingly."

"I can't help it if you mistook someone else for me. Now drink. You need water." He raised her head and held a canteen to her lips. She drank eagerly, but he withdrew after she had taken only a few sips. "Too much will make your stomach hurt. Now tell me how you escaped."

Suspiciously, she said, "You're one of them. Why should I tell you anything?" Then she noted how he was dressed. Though bare-chested, he wore army trousers tucked into knee-high boots. His hair hung all the way to his shoulders. An Indian in stolen clothes, no doubt. "Did you kill a soldier to get that outfit?" she asked sharply.

"Get something straight, Miss Calhoun. I'm not one of Black Serpent's followers. I'm an army scout... sometimes. And you can trust me. I swear it."

"And how is it that you know my name?"