Worth the Trouble (26 page)

And she had liked him...
had even started thinking she might be falling in love with him.  She had respected him, thought he was a hero even. 

Boy, had she been mistaken.

But those fledgling feelings weren't easy to turn off, no matter how mad she was at him, and that made her madder still.  Even now, all he had to do was flash that smile and turn up that playful volume on his personality to have her panting. 

Disgusting
.

Thunder rumbled overhead again and she looked up and saw a single lightning bolt streak across the darkening sky.  "Hmm, looks like the weatherman and mother nature need a conference," she said.

The radio at her hip crackled, and she took it off and turned up the volume to hear what was being said.  She had turned it down, because that crackle had gotten on her nerves and made Reed antsy after they left.  She supposed Ethan had done the same thing, because she hadn't heard his at all.

"Front moving in...thunderstorms...shelter in place," the male voice on the radio told them.  Rocky raised her eyes to Ethan's and saw worry there.

"We need to head back," he told her, then took Diamond's reins in his hands and grabbed the saddle horn.

"Where's your radio?" she asked.

"I accidentally left it in the truck," he told her, then added, "And I was already mounted, you were after me to hurry up, so I just left it.  I knew you had yours."

"
So, it's
my
fault?!?" She hooted then slapped her thigh.  Now this was the man she was starting to hate.  That Ethan was always lurking back there, she needed to remember that.  She was surprised when he spun around on her, his fists clenched at his sides. 

"No, it's not your fault, it's mine
," he grated then finished, "Stop reading things into everything I say to you, Rocky.  You did that the other night..."  He stopped mid-sentence, and she wished he would finish, because she was damned curious what he would say.

He said nothing more, so she turned to walk back toward Reed and tossed over her shoulder, "
And I was right, remember?"

"You weren't right, dammit
!  But I--"

"You couldn't come up with a good enough excuse
or lie at the spur of the moment," she filled in for him then put her foot in the stirrup and swung up into the saddle.  "I told you, I get it.  Now let's do what we're here to do, find that girl."

Thunder sounded again, a second before a lightning bolt sizzled through the sky making the air crackle around them.  "Let's go before we wind up
fried like bacon," she said waiting for him to get back up in the saddle.

He wasn't paying attention to her, Ethan was studying the sky as if all the problems of the world could be solved there. 

"Shelf cloud, this storm is gonna be bad," he warned, and as soon as he did Rocky saw the mesas fade under a blanket of steam or rain or something, and more thunder rumbled, then the air suddenly got really humid.

"We need to find somewhere to hold out, and we need to get out of this damn gully.  That creek is going to rise," he told her then shook out each leg, before he took a deep
breath and put his foot in the stirrup.  She was impressed when he bounced a few times then managed to throw his leg over the saddle and stuff behind it.

She didn't know where he thought they were going to 'hold out', because there was nothing between here and the rock walls of the mesas, but open ground, and even she knew you do not
ride out in the open, or hide out under trees during thunderstorms.

"Where?" she asked and turned Reed toward the mesa.  "We can
't ride out in the open to get to the mesa and find a cave.  Lightning will strike us."

"We've at least got to get to higher ground," he told her and passed by to head toward the creek.

"I thought we were getting out of the creek," she said in confusion.

"We are, but we're going up the other side of the bank, it's higher ground."

Rocky didn't reply, she just followed him back to the creek, and led Reed into the water behind him.  They traveled down through the creek bed, with the only sounds breaking the silence being the splash of the horses trudging through the water and the buzz of frantic conversation over the radio, overshadowed by the increasingly frequent thunder claps.

Ethan
led Diamond out of the creek and Rocky followed him, then let her eyes travel up the face of the slope beside the bank.   It wasn't a gentle rise, it went almost straight up.  Evidently this is the spot he intended for them to get out of the creek bed to get to 'higher ground'.  Climbing this steep and craggy hill would be a challenge even for her, an experienced rider.  For him?  In all likelihood he would wind up back in the creek bed with Diamond on top of him.

"Not a good idea, Ethan," she told him firmly.  "We need to keep going and find a less steep incline."

"That storm will be here in about five minutes, Roxanne.  If we don't get out of here now, we're gonna be in trouble.  Climbing out of here won't even be possible then, this will be too slick."

She swallowed hard and felt electricity charge the air again, before a loud boom sounded and rumbled inside her chest. 

He was right, they needed to get out of here.

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

"Let's trade horses," she told him quickly, then swung down off of Reed. 

Her horse was stronger, bigger and would be able to carry him up that hill better than Diamond.  Reed would take care of him and make sure he got up there, his feet were sure and he was smart.
   Diamond was a good horse, but she wasn't young and strong, she was gentle and small.  She could tolerate Rocky's weight better and have more of a chance with her astride to make it up that hill.

Ethan looked at her strangely, then said, "I can make it."

"Well, Diamond can't, not with you on her back, now hurry up!" 

Ethan's eyes widened, then he threw his right leg over so he was sitting on Diamond's back like she'd shown him before. 

"Good point," he told her then rolled to his stomach and slowly slid down to the ground.  "I'm not sure I can get up on Reed though, he's pretty tall," Ethan said and turned to face her.

"So are you, you'll be fine.  I'll help you," she told him then they walked back over to her horse
where she cupped her hands to give him a leg up onto the saddle.  Once he was settled, she handed him the reins and told him, "When you're going up, don't sit up straight, lean forward over his neck and move with him.  He'll get you up there, you don't have to do anything."

"Yes ma'am," Ethan replied
with a salute and a smile.

She shook her head
then walked back over to Diamond and mounted.  Leading her to the front, Rocky scanned the hill for the easiest place for them to climb.  When she found what she thought was the least difficult place, she started Diamond moving forward.

"
Hiyah
!!" she yelled as she whipped her on the rump with the reins. 

Diamond
bolted up the hill, grunting and breathing hard.  When they were halfway up, Rocky wanted to look back to check on Ethan, but didn't.  It wouldn't do any good, if he was in trouble, she couldn't help him.  He was on his own now, and whether he made it to the top of the hill was all up to him.  But one thing was sure, if he hurt her horse and wasn't already dead, she would kill him.

Rocky swung her arm back again to slap Diamond with the reins
again to keep her pushing up the hill, but instead, she hit the radio clipped to her waist.  It popped off of the clip, hit her leg, then clattered all the way back down the hill.

"
Hiyah
!!" Rocky hissed and smacked Diamond's rear again. 

The horse dug in and surged upward, and Rocky could see they were
almost at the top of the rise now.  She knew she had to keep pushing Diamond, because if the small horse slowed down even the tiniest bit, she wouldn't have enough momentum to get over the top.

When they finally
crested the hill, Rocky let out the breath she'd been holding, then turned Diamond so she could check on Reed and Ethan.  They were about a third of the way up, and looked to be doing okay, but Reed definitely wasn't pushing hard enough.

"Lean over his neck and yell at him, Ethan," she shouted.

"
Hiyah
!!" she heard him yell and saw Reed rush forward.

"Stay low over his neck
!" she yelled when Reed stumbled and Ethan lifted up.  Endless minutes ticked by as she watched both horse and man work to get to the top.  By the time Reed heaved up and over the crest, her heart was in her throat and pounding hard enough to choke her.

Scrambling off of Diamond
, Rocky ran over and threw her arms around Reed's neck then gave him a big smacking kiss on the jaw.  Smiling up at Ethan she told him, "Ya'll did good together."

"Do I get a kiss too?"
Ethan drawled in that big bad wolf voice, his green eyes glittering with humor and much more.

Rocky just stared at him, her mind frozen in place, until l
ightning struck a tree about a hundred yards away, then thunder loud enough to deafen her followed right behind it. 

"We need to get out of here," she said shakily, then ran back and remounted Diamond.
  Kissing Ethan Cassidy was
exactly
what she wanted to do right then.  His words had zapped through her body just like the lightning had through that tree. 

With him, that's all it took, he had that kind of effect on her, whether she wanted him to or not.  Even knowing what kind of man he was,
remembering the callous words he said to her, she
still
wanted him.  Rocky was just a pathetic, weak woman unable to control herself around him. 

What she needed to do was remove herself from the temptation.  Get away from him.  Ride back to camp as fast as her horse would carry her.  Then she would demand that Wes find her another search partner, or she was leaving.  End of story.
 

With this storm moving in though, she was stuck with him.

Kneeing Diamond, Rocky clicked and she started forward.  Yelling over her shoulder, she pointed and told him, "See that overhang over there by that pile of rocks.  That should be good enough cover, until the storm passes."

Rocky didn't wait for a response, she increased Diamond to a canter
.  Sprinting across the open field, she listened for hoof beats behind her to know that Ethan was following her.  When she got within ten yards of the rocks, lightning hit about fifty yards from her and Diamond sidestepped, then reared, her eyes wide and frightened and her ears pinned back. 

Rocky knew that the horse wasn't fond of thunderstorms, and couldn't blame her for acting up.  This storm was extreme
, and she had been through a lot today. 

Knowing t
hat didn't help her though when the horse remained on her hind legs, dancing backward, and Rocky felt herself sliding out of the saddle.  Standing in the stirrups, Rocky leaned forward over her neck trying to push her front end down, but it wasn't happening, because right then thunder boomed loudly again.  Diamond reared back further and threw her head almost hitting Rocky in the nose. 

Rocky knew the horse was going over on top of her, if she didn't get off.  If twelve hundred pounds of horse landed on her, she would be crushed.  Slipping her feet from the stirrups, Rocky dove right and pushed the horse left
.  Diamond fell over backwards then scrambled back up to her feet and took off across the field, saddle and all.

Stunned, Rocky lay on the ground with her arm thrown over her eyes, and if losing her horse couldn't make things worse, the sky opened up right then and a sheet of rain drenched her.

"Oh, God, are you okay, baby?" Ethan asked in a gruff concerned voice, leaning over her to shield her from the rain.  "You scared the shit out of me."

"I scared the shit out of me too," she told him then peeked up at his frowning face from beneath her arm.
  "Only thing hurt is my pride," she told him then sat up and swiped the rain from her face with her wet sleeve. 

Her heart was pounding in her chest from the adrenaline coursing through her body and her blood ran at freight-train speed through her veins.  Rocky sucked in a deep shuddering
breath trying to calm herself.

"You sure?" he asked then pushed her shoulder.  "Lay back down and let me check you out," he
suggested, but she shook off his hand.

"I'm fine, Ethan, really," she assured him.  "Just shaken up."
  Damned shaken up. 

She got thrown often
when working with young horses, but she hadn't ever been reared on like that by a horse who had been under saddle as long as Diamond had been.  She was going to have to work with Diamond on more sensitization training, use a sheet of tin to simulate thunder.  Even at her age, it would probably help.

He huffed out a breath.  "Yeah, me too...that was too damned close."
  Rocky could see the fear in his face, hear it in his voice.

Involuntarily,
Rocky's eyes slid longingly over his wet, white t-shirt shirt, which was now transparent and deliciously plastered to the well-defined muscles of his chest.  Water slicked his dark hair to his head making it black as sin, then streamed down his face wetting his long eyelashes into clumps, accentuating the intensity in his green eyes. 

The desire to lick that water from his wet skin made her tongue tingle.  Making love in the rain had always been a
secret fantasy of hers.  Making love to Ethan Cassidy in the rain would be the ultimate fantasy. 

And that's what it would remain, because as much as she wanted him, there was no way she was going to let herself go there
with him again.

"Keep looking at me like that and I'm gonna kiss you,"
Ethan warned, his voice gravelly, as he extended his hand to help her up.  She took it and he pulled her up to her feet, but didn't release her hand.  He studied intently for a minute, before he yanked her against his chest and stared down at her.

She looked up into his eyes and
they were filled with longing, but confusion too. 

"I
am
going to kiss you, Roxanne," he whispered as if he couldn't help himself, before his lips lowered toward hers.  Anticipation of feeling his wet lips slide over hers shot through her.  Just one kiss, she thought, there wasn't anything wrong with that.  One last taste of heaven was all she was going to allow herself.

When
she finally tasted his lips on hers, Rocky moaned and melted into his arms, soaking up the hot, wet desire that ran through her.  She frantically sipped the sweet rainwater from his mouth.  His hands moved tentatively to her hips and pulled her closer, while hers slid up his wet chest, to loop at the base of his skull.

Ethan sealed his mouth over hers and she reveled in the force of nature that was Ethan Cassidy's kiss. 
The rain poured over them, thunder rumbled overhead and lightning cracked, but none of that compared to the electrified kiss.  It rocked her to her core, tossed her over a sea of heated desire, then swirled through her making her feel like she was floating.  The storm swirled around them, the slow, wet kiss went on, and the banked fire inside of Rocky raged to an inferno. 

Her second fantasy surfaced
and Rocky embraced it deepening her pleasure.  Ethan was hers, he was a good man, someone who loved her, someone she could just be herself with.  Around him, she could forget her insecurities, because he loved her just like she was, didn't want to change her, or use her. 

Emotion filled her chest, because
that fantasy was a lot more farfetched than making love to him with the storm raging around them.  He wasn't that man, and she wasn't accepting less. 

Reed neighed then snorted and brought Rocky back to reality. 
Breathing hard, her heart pounding in her chest like a runaway train, Rocky forced herself to pull away, before she did something stupid.  Again.

"We need to get under that overhang," she told him
, and started toward the rocks.  Her legs felt spongy beneath her, as she staggered toward the rocky overhang, then dropped to her knees and crawled through the water and mud to get underneath.

Pulling her knees to her chest she hugged them, expecting Ethan to crawl under with her, but she saw he was leading Reed toward the trees, trudging through the running water that now cover
ed the field.

She wondered if the little lost girl had found shelter too. 

The thought of her being cold and wet, in addition to being scared, caused Rocky's heart to squeeze in her chest.  That little girl was what was important here, what they were here to do was find her, she reminded herself, not make out in the middle of a storm. 

Resting her chin on her knees, she watched
Ethan walk back toward her with his arms full, carefully splashing his way back across the filed.  It was getting darker now, the sun was almost down, and the temperature had dropped at least fifteen degrees.

An icy cold blast of wind swept under the overhang and Rocky shivered, hugging her knees closer.  Now that she wasn't moving around, her body
temperature had dropped too.  The wet clothes she wore stuck to her skin making it worse.

Ethan
stopped at the base of the rocks and dropped the items in his arms, then knelt and started unpacking things, stopping every now and again to swipe the rain from his face.  After organizing the things, he unzipped a sizeable square package then pulled on one corner and like magic a small tent opened up.  Standing, he found a flat spot on the rocks and sat it there, then weighted corner ties down with large rocks. 

E
ven though they left base camp believing they would return at dark, he had packed the tent.  Evidently, it must have fallen from the saddle during her struggle with Diamond, because Rocky knew the rest of his supplies were in the saddle bags on the runaway horse.  She knew the tent wasn't hers, she hadn't thought to bring it, had left it inside the tack compartment of the horse trailer.

Ethan
really was a boy scout, she thought thoroughly impressed with his forethought.  The fact that he had forgotten his radio, made her feel a little better, but a lot worse at the same time.