by Bobbi Smith
“You’re not intimidated by much, are you?” he asked, his respect for her growing.
“I miss Christopher. It’s worth any price to me to get to him as fast as I can.”
“In that case, we’d better get going.” Blade bristled at the mention of her fiancé. He didn’t have any use for a man who would let his woman travel this way unprotected. Had he been in love with a woman who lived back East, he would have gone for her himself. He would never have left her to fend for herself so that she ended up at the mercy of a man like him. Blade kept his opinion to himself, though, for as she’d aptly pointed out during their first meeting, he was working for her.
“Good.”
They cleared camp, and Blade and Lucky saddled the horses. Angel watched as Lucky worked side-by-side with him. It was only their second day together, and she could see a change in the boy already. While he’d been quick to pick up what she could teach him, he was even more avid to learn from Blade. Whatever Blade told him to do, he willingly made an earnest attempt. And if he had any trouble, the gunfighter was immediately there, explaining what he’d done wrong and showing him how to avoid the problem in the future.
It was exactly what Lucky needed—a man’s guiding hand. She was glad Blade was so kind to him. How, she wondered, could he be so nice, so gentle, and yet make his living as a hired gun?
Lucky had just finished saddling his own horse and had his foot in the stirrup when it happened. Blue gave a sideways leap, startled by a movement in the grass near his hooves, and sent the boy tumbling to the ground. Lucky thought it was his own clumsiness that had caused him to fall. Embarrassed, he started to get up when Blade’s voice rang out cold and clear.
“Don’t move.”
The boy froze in place, and the shot that immediately followed accurately parted the eighteen-inch distance between the boy and the nervous horse’s legs. It hit the poisonous snake as it was about to strike Lucky. The bullet smashed into the slithering, deadly creature with such force that it tossed the three-foot reptile into the air.
“Oh God!” Any thought of her own discomfort was struck from Angel’s mind as she raced to Lucky. She dragged him into her arms and clutched him to her. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Lucky managed, shivering uncontrollably in the aftermath of such a close call, but feeling completely safe in Angel’s arms.
Angel lifted her frantic blue-eyed gaze up to the gunfighter, and Blade saw how frightened she was. “How did you know?”
“I was lucky enough to see it in time. That’s all,” he answered, checking the body. It was unquestionably dead.
“That was some shot!” Lucky blurted out. From the haven of Angel’s arms, he could see the snake that Blade held up for his inspection. He was in awe of Blade’s perfect aim. “You’re good!”
“Sometimes it pays to be fast.” Blade slid his gun back in his holster; and, tossing the snake aside, he gave the boy an affectionate pat on the shoulder.
“Will you teach me how to shoot like that?” Lucky asked excitedly, moving away from Angel to follow him as he went to settle Blue down. “I want to learn how to shoot just like you. Where did you learn? You must have been using a gun for a long time to be that fast and that good. How old were you when you first—”
“Whoa!” Blade stopped him, not at all happy with the rosy picture the boy was painting of gunplay. “Knowing how to shoot a gun is important out where I come from, but a sidearm is not a toy. It can kill more than snakes, you know.”
Lucky looked up at him with great respect. “When did you get your first gun?”
“I was a little older than you. I needed it for hunting.”
Angel remembered the story she’d heard the two gossips relate and she wondered what it was he’d been hunting at such a young age—food or revenge?
“Could you show me how to shoot just a little?” Lucky toned down his excitement, trying to convince Blade that he wouldn’t be wild with a gun.
“There’s no such thing as shooting ‘just a little.’ You either know how to handle a gun or you don’t.” Blade eyed the boy, seeing his excitement and his intelligence. “Once we’re out in the wild, away from people, we’ll see.”
“I’ll be careful, Blade. I promise.”
“Being careful is important, but you also have to be smart.”
“I can be smart,” Lucky wheedled.
“You have to think before you pull the trigger.”
“I’ll try.”
Blade and Lucky regarded each other seriously, brown eyes meeting gray without guile. Blade saw in the boy the eager innocence he’d possessed at that age, and he felt an even closer affinity. Lucky saw in Blade the caring male authority-figure he’d lacked for so many years. This was a man deserving of his respect. He was brave and had just saved his life. Lucky thought he was wonderful and intended to do everything he could to learn to be just like him.
Blade broke the spell by handing Lucky the reins to his horse. “Your sister’s going to be after us if we don’t get on our way. Want to try mounting up again?”
Lucky flashed him a wide grin and almost vaulted into the saddle. “Was that better?”
“Much.” Blade patted Blue on the rump and went to Angela, who waited and watched.
“That was close,” she commented in a strained voice.
“Everything’s all right. The snake’s dead, and Lucky’s fine.”
“Thank you.”
For a moment they just looked at each other, then Blade answered her. “You’re welcome. He’s a good boy. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”
“Neither would I. I love him very much.” Angel realized as she said it that it was the truth. Lucky had claimed a place in her heart.
“Need some help mounting?” Blade offered, gesturing toward her waiting horse.
Angel grimaced as she tested her legs and found that her thighs were still stiff and sore. “I’m afraid so,” she admitted, glad for his help.
They walked to her horse and he lifted her onto its back. The feel of his hands at her waist was familiar now and reminded her of his soothing touch the night before. Heat shot through her, yet perversely, she shivered.
“Thank you,” Angel said. Avoiding eye contact, she forced away the memory of his gentle massage.
Blade handed her the reins, then swung up on his own horse. After gathering up the leads to the pack animals they headed north along the river again.
“Blade? Were you very good at shooting when you got your first gun?” Lucky asked. They rode side by side.
“No. I was terrible.”
“You must’ve practiced a lot to get this good, huh?”
“I did.”
“Do you still have to practice?”
“Yes. But being a quick draw is no measure of a man’s worth, Lucky.”
The boy frowned as he considered his words. “You don’t like being quick with a gun?”
“I’ve made my living by the gun. There is no glory or honor in it,” Blade said. “Remember, don’t draw on a man unless you’re prepared to kill him. As ugly as it is, if you’re using a gun, that’s the only way you can survive.”
“Can’t you just scare ’em off?”
“There’s always someone trying to beat you whether you want to fight or not. They won’t let you walk away.”
“You can’t just quit?”
“That’s what I’m planning to do just as soon as we get to California,” Blade answered, not wanting to disillusion the boy by telling him the ugly truth about his life.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m buying a ranch in Texas and settling down. It’s a place where a man can put the past behind him and start over again new.”
“Do you like it there?”
Blade nodded. “It’s where I belong. My mother’s people live there. The sky is as clear and blue as the land is beautiful—lots of rolling hills and sweet grass.”
“Where do they live? Have you still g
ot family there? Do they own a ranch, too?”
Blade smiled at the boy’s naivete. “My mother’s people are the Wichita Indians,” he answered with pride.
“You’re an Indian?” Lucky was impressed. “I never met an Indian before. You sure don’t look like one.”
“My father was white, and I was raised as a white man.”
Lucky’s curiosity was running rampant. “What’s your mother like?”
“Lucky, maybe you shouldn’t ask so many personal questions,” Angel interrupted. She remembered the gossip she’d heard and wasn’t sure how Blade was going to react.
“No, it’s all right.” Blade put her fears to rest. “My mother’s dead. She died when I was just a few years older than you, but I still remember everything about her. In English her name meant Summer Dawn, and she was a very beautiful woman.” He paused, thoughtful. “My father passed away at the same time.”
Talking with Lucky stirred memories of his childhood, and Blade recalled clearly how pretty his mother had been and how her loving touch and kind words could cure any hurt. He remembered the sweetness of her song and how it felt just to be with her. He had adored her and her gentle ways. Suddenly remembering too much, Blade’s mouth twisted in bitterness, but Lucky didn’t notice the change in him.
“My parents are dead, too,” he told the older man.
“It’s been almost a year now,” Angel hurriedly added, hoping Blade wouldn’t think it odd that he said “my” instead of “our.”
Blade noticed, though, and wondered at it. “So you have no family left?” He addressed the question to Lucky; and, when he saw how the boy deferred to Angel to answer, his suspicion that there was more to their background than he’d been told was revived.
“Just our Aunt Blanche in Philadelphia,” she supplied.
“Is that where you’re from originally?”
“Yes.” Angel could see no reason to lie. It was far easier to tell the truth whenever she could.
“You’ve come a long way.”
“And we’ve still a long way to go.”
“Well, considering where you started, when we reach Texas you’ll be better than half-way there.”
“I’m going to like Texas,” Lucky spoke up, thinking of what Blade had said about settling there and starting over. He’d been wondering about what he would do once he and Angel parted in California—and they would part, he knew, because she’d told him she was only hiring him for the trip. It was a reality he had to face eventually, and now he knew what he would do when the time came. He would go to Texas, just like Blade. He’d have the money she’d promised to pay him, and he’d start a new life on his own. The idea gave him something to hold onto, for the thought of being parted from Angel was too much to bear right now.
Chapter Fourteen
Blade knew Angel was still sore, and he had intended not to push her too hard that day. To his surprise, she actually seemed to be sitting a little easier in the saddle. Once his initial concern about her faded, he set a steady pace. They paused only long enough at midday to eat a cold meal and let the horses rest, and then they were riding again. Near sundown, Blade found a secluded spot on the riverbank for them to make camp.
“How far did we go today, Blade?” Lucky asked as he struggled to pull his heavy saddle from Blue’s back.
“Nearly forty miles.”
“No wonder I’m so tired,” he said with a grunt as he gave another fierce tug and the saddle came sliding off. The weight of the leather padding nearly knocked him to the ground, and it was a strain for him to heft the contraption out of the way. That done, he finished tending to Blue’s needs.
Angel was busy setting up the campsite as they worked with the horses, but she could hear them talking. It pleased her to learn they had covered so much territory in just one day—the more distance between them and New Orleans, the happier she was.
Though she was thrilled at the number of miles they’d traveled, she was paying the price for it physically. The numbness that had claimed her earlier in the day had worn off, and now every inch of her body felt like it was on fire. Blade had warned her that today would be her worst, and he’d been right. At this particular moment, she honestly believed death would have been a blessed relief. At least when you were dead, she reasoned, you couldn’t feel anything.
Certain that if she stood still in one place too long she would never walk again, Angel kept moving. They needed firewood, so she limped from the clearing in search of kindling. She spied some good-sized sticks and was bending down to pick them up when a vicious cramp pinched the back of her leg and she nearly fell. The aches and pains of the night before seemed relatively minor compared to the raging muscle-seizure that attacked her calf and rendered her immobile.
Dropping to the ground, Angel began to rub the painful area, but touching it made it worse. She was tempted to call Blade, but decided against asking for help. She would handle this herself.
Blade had looked out for Angel all day. He hadn’t deliberately meant to, but for some reason he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her. He’d tried to convince himself that he was watching her only to make sure she wasn’t in any trouble. But, in truth, she was beautiful, and he hadn’t wanted to look away. The memory of the massage—of his hands upon her—had made it nearly impossible for him to think about anything else. Now, as he was seeing to the horses with Lucky, he glanced up just she stumbled. Instantly dropping everything, he raced to her side.
“Blade? What’s wrong?”
“Your sister’s fallen,” he called back to Lucky as he ran, and the boy came running, too.
“What happened? Are you all right?” Blade reached her first.
“It’s a cramp,” she admitted, her plan to remain stoic failing miserably as the muscle tightened even more and she grimaced.
Without a word, Blade scooped her in his arms and cradled her against him.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“I’m going to carry you back to camp,” he explained patiently, as if he were talking to a small child.
“No.... don’t. I can walk,” she protested a little too frantically, for her body reacted instantly to the intimate contact with the solid wall of his hard-muscled chest. Her pulse quickened, and her breath caught in her throat. His massage the night before had been enthralling; but, until this moment, she’d managed to convince herself that she’d only liked it because it had eased her pain. She realized now that she’d been fooling herself. This man’s nearness affected her like no other’s. There was something elemental and powerful about him that threatened her composure. Angel wanted to defend against it, but she’d never known anything like it before and wasn’t sure how.
“On one leg?” Blade asked, giving her a derisive look. “Relax, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I didn’t think you were,” she countered, not wanting him to think she was afraid.
“Good. Then put your arms around my neck and hold on so I don’t drop you.”
As ordered, Angel linked her arms around Blade’s neck to ease his burden, and the motion brought her even more fully against him. Her heart jolted as one breast was crushed against him. She lifted her gaze to his to find him staring down at her. His eyes burned with an intensity she’d never seen before, and she was captured easily.
Angel’s world suddenly narrowed to the two of them. She was aware of the day’s growth of black beard on his lean jaw and how it added a rakishness to his appearance. She had a great desire to touch his cheek and feel the rasp of the dark coarseness against her fingers. The heat of his chest burned against her breast. Her body longed to get closer to him. Her mind shouted for her to beware. A war waged within her, and she wasn’t sure which side would win.
Blade stood unmoving with Angel in his arms. The moment their eyes had met, he’d been lost. He’d intended only to help her back to camp, but the moment she’d willingly put her arms around him logical thought had vanished. All he could think of was how soft the m
ound of her breast was as it seared his chest and how he’d seen the beginning slope of that sweet orb the night before. In his mind, he lay her down upon the lush grass, stripped the blouse and camisole from her and bared that silken flesh to his avid caresses. He was on the verge of indulging his fantasy and doing just that, when Lucky’s voice rang out in fear and jarred him back to his senses.
“What’s the matter? Is Angel hurt bad?” Lucky ran to them.
Blade recovered his wits and answered, silently lecturing himself as he did so, “The boss has got a bad cramp in her leg. It’s nothing serious, but I’m going to need the bottle of liniment that’s in my saddlebag. Will you get it for me?”
“Sure.” He raced off.
When Blade reached the campsite, Lucky was waiting for him by Angel’s bedroll. He lay her down—a fragile, precious treasure—and then, without bothering to ask permission, he pulled off her boots and socks.
Angel was upset. She didn’t understand the wild emotions that wreaked havoc on her senses. Blade Masters was a gunfighter she’d hired to guide and protect them. He was there because she paid him. If a better offer came along, he’d be gone in a minute. He accompanied them for money, not for any great moral purpose like helping or liking them. The memory of his attitude in the saloon before she’d explained the business she had with him, still stung. Reminding herself of the facts of their relationship helped a bit, and she managed to regain some mastery over herself.
Blade had imagined that Angela’s legs were lovely and seeing them now reaffirmed his guess. Long, slender and shapely, they were a man’s dream. As uncontrollable as his thoughts had been, Blade found himself wondering how it would feel to lie between them.
“What are you going to do?” Lucky asked, breaking into Blade’s reverie again as he held out the liniment to him.
“I’m going to rub some of this on her legs to help take the ache out,” Blade explained as he took the bottle from him.
“Oh.” Lucky plopped down on the ground beside Angel to watch, unaware that they found his tension-breaking presence both a blessing and a curse.
Angel glanced up at Blade from beneath lowered lashes and was surprised to find his gaze still upon her. She quickly looked away, afraid that he might see too much of her confusion revealed in her eyes. She shifted her position, wanting to distance herself from him so she could think more clearly, but it was a mistake. Wrenching pain jolted through her leg and left her gasping.
