by Bobbi Smith
Blade’s patience came to an abrupt end. They were crossing a swiftly-flowing creek and had to climb a muddy bank on the opposite side. Angel had gone first and made it safely to the top, then Lucky was to follow on Blue. Starting up the incline, the horse lost his footing and stumbled. Lucky, numb from exhaustion, had been almost asleep in the saddle. When Blue started to go down, he was caught by surprise.
“Angel, help!!” The boy was halfway in the water, clinging to the pommel and in danger of being swept away.
“Lucky!!” Angel shouted. She threw herself from the saddle and staggered through the mud toward him, but Blade was beside Lucky in an instant. Charging across the rushing waters, he hauled him to safety across the front of his own saddle only to spy Angel sliding down the bank in an effort to help.
“Dammit, woman! Get back up there before I have to rescue you, too,” he snapped, fearing that she would slip into the fast-moving current. She responded immediately, scrambling up the bank. Guiding his mount to the higher ground, Blade stopped a safe distance from the stream and let Lucky down.
“Thanks, Blade,” the boy gasped. He was wet and chilled and frightened.
Angel ran to them and hugged the half-drowned child. “Are you all right?”
“I guess.” Lucky shivered violently, and his voice trembled.
Even Blade was shaken. Both Lucky and Angel could have been killed! Furious, he swung down from the saddle and turned on Angel. His face was set like stone and his eyes blazed.
“We’re making camp for the night. Here. Now!”
Awash with fear and filled with respect for Blade’s decisive handling of the emergency, Angel nodded assent.
The clouds began to lift in the late afternoon, and by sundown the rain had stopped. Lucky recovered quickly from his scare, but he was still worn out. Blade managed to get a fire going for a hot meal. Lucky, too tired to eat, went to bed early. The long, miserable hours of riding in the rain had taken their toll on him.
Blade and Angel sat on opposite sides of the fire. Neither had much to say. Blade was still too angry, and Angel knew the accident today had indirectly been her fault.
“I guess I’ll lie down,” she announced, uncomfortable under his gaze.
“It’s time you and I had a talk,” he said, his tone imperative. He had acceded to her wishes for too long, nearly costing two lives.
“Talk?” Angel was defensive.
“Let’s get away from here. I don’t want to wake Lucky.” He led her toward the creek.
“All right.” Angel followed him to the trees near the bank and remained standing a short distance from him. Tension etched every line of his powerful body, and she grew nervous as she waited for him to speak.
“From now on my better judgment will be followed without question. Do you understand?” His words were a command.
“Yes.”
“Good.” But he couldn’t let it go at that. “Do you realize how close you came to losing your brother today? Not to mention your own life.”
“I know,” she confessed in a tight voice.
“Knowing is easy after the fact, Angel.” He paused, then plunged forward. “Tell me what you’re afraid of. What’s so important in California that you’re risking your life to get there? What is it, Angel? Tell me. Trust me.” Blade waited for the truth.
Angel was torn. Everything Blade had said was right. But could she confide in him? Could she trust him with her life? “I can’t.”
“Angel, you had enough confidence in me to hire me, didn’t you? You entrusted me with your lives for the trip. Trust me now.” Curbing his anger, he tried to reason with her. “You should know by now that I’d never let anything harm you.”
“I’m paying you to take us to California, Blade. Don’t try to convince me that you’re doing this for any more noble reason than money.” She hurled the words at him, but then felt her guard drop as she remembered how he’d saved Lucky from the snake and chased off the two men who might have harmed them. He’d rescued them from danger again today, danger that she was responsible for.
Blade took a step closer, stung by her words. “Yes,” he admitted. “I did take the job for the money. I wanted that ranch, and you made it easy for me to get it. But now . . .”
“If money’s so important to you, what’s to stop you from selling yourself to the highest bidder now?” Angel challenged, her green eyes darkening as she imagined the worst: Michael paying Blade to return her to Philadelphia.
“I told you I’d take you to California, and I will—if that’s what you really want.” He waited for her reply.
“What if someone came along and offered you twice what I paid you to betray me, would you do it?”
“Betray you?” His gaze hardened as he realized she thought him capable of such treachery. “You think I’m that low that I’d turn on you for money?” He could see the uncertainty in her expression, and he lifted one hand to caress her cheek. His smile was bittersweet. “You don’t know me very well, love. I’d lay down my life for you if it would take away the terror I see in your eyes. Trust me.”
“It’s not that simple,” she insisted, trembling at the touch of his hand.
“It is that simple,” Blade countered. He took her by the shoulders and pulled her to him. His eyes were burning with an inner fire. He wanted her. He loved her as he’d never loved before, and yet he could feel her slipping away from him. How could he prove to her that he cared? That he would never hurt her? “Look at me, Angel! Look in my eyes! Can’t you tell how I feel about you? Don’t you know that there isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you?”
“Blade, . . . I . . .” She lifted shimmering emerald eyes to stormy gray ones that revealed the depth of his feelings for her. Another of her carefully constructed defenses shattered. He was battering them down one by one and leaving her vulnerable and unprotected. She wanted to keep resisting him; she didn’t know how.
“Angel.” Blade groaned her name as his mouth sought hers with unerring accuracy. Although a kiss right now might destroy what little existed between them, he could think of no other way to reach her.
With firm, but gentle persuasion, his lips moved over hers. He showed no force or passion that might frighten her in his embrace, only a coaxing, tenderness that awakened the desire she’d been trying so frantically to deny. As his tongue parted her lips and sought the honeyed sweetness within, her passion erupted in explosive wonder, and another of her shields against him was vanquished.
Her defenses were devastated—not by his power, but by his gentleness. Angel clung to Blade, matching him kiss for heated kiss. The truth of her desire was revealed, not only to him, but to her; and it frightened her even as it thrilled her.
“Blade, don’t do this to me,” Angel begged when she broke away from him. She was breathing hard. High color stained her cheeks, and her eyes were clouded with conflicting emotions. She had to clench her hands into fists to still their shaking.
“Don’t shut me out, love. Tell me that you’re feeling what I feel when I kiss you.” He reached for her again, but she eluded him.
“I don’t know how I feel!” she insisted.
“I love you, Angel,” Blade said softly.
She stared at him, bewildered. “Don’t say that! I can’t love you!”
“Why not?” Blade stiffened as, at her last words, a terrible possibility reared its head and he faced it squarely. Angel might desire him, true, but he was a half-breed. She might think him good enough to work for her, but that was all. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d encountered prejudice.
“There are . . . obligations I have that . . .” The shadow of worry crossed her features.
“Christopher.” Though her words eased his one fear, he practically spat out the name of his despised rival.
“Yes, Christopher!”
“Don’t you realize that Christopher doesn’t give a damn about you?!” Blade attacked the unseen man who stood between them. “He doesn’t love you! If he did, he
would have come for you, not left you to fend for yourself! You deserve someone who will take care of you.” His voice deepened with intensity as he gambled one more time to win her. “Forget Christopher, Angel. Be honest with yourself. You want me just as much as I want you. Let me show you what love really is.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want.” She dropped her gaze from his with a defeated shake of her head.
“You would deny what we feel for each other? Why does this man have such a powerful hold over you? Why are you so afraid? Let me fight your battles.” He pulled her into his arms again and kissed her passionately. “Tell me the truth, Angel,” he demanded harshly.
She tore herself away from him. “You know the truth!” she cried. “I love Christopher!” It was a meager defense against the overwhelming power of his love.
“How can you say that when you respond to me the way you do?” Reduced to begging, he cast his pride aside and reached for her, drawing her to him once again. She was fragile. He tried to cradle her against him to comfort her, but she resisted. Pain stabbed him. It would always be that way. He loved her, but she didn’t want him.
A sadness filled Blade, dulling the furious edge of his frustration and coloring it with sorrow and loss. She would never be his. As before, the complete baring of his soul had only led to rejection. He began to harden himself so he could face what was coming next without revealing the pain he knew would be his.
“You don’t understand,” Angel said with great weariness.
“You’re right. I don’t understand, and I never will,” he replied in defeat. He cupped her face with his hands and pressed a final, tender-soft kiss to her lips. It was over. Ended. He would never touch her again.
Angel had fought her love for him. She had denied it at every turn, but Blade’s last loving kiss proved the killing blow to her battle. All resistance went out of her, and a sob caught in her throat. When his lips brushed hers, she relaxed against him, craving the haven of his embrace. Blade was safety. Blade was protection.
When the kiss ended, Angel wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his chest, hoping to draw strength from him. The heavy, steady beat of his heart eased her, and the relief that swept through her was immense. Tears filled her eyes. She would trust him. He’d proven himself to her over and over. No one could have given more. The struggle against him had been so hard and so senseless; the defeat so simple and so wonderful.
Unaware of her turmoil, Blade felt he had to get away from her. He couldn’t hold her this way and remain unaffected. He grasped her arms and held her from him so he could see her face. Crystalline tears coursed down her cheeks and touched his heart.
“Angel?” Her name was a choked, husky whisper that revealed the hope and confusion roiling within him.
Angel looked up at Blade and saw revealed in his strong, handsome features a passion so intense and so raw that it frightened her even as it reassured her. Her heart swelled with love for him. She’d been a fool not to believe in him.
“Christopher has no hold over me—no power over me except love,” Angel explained, her voice thick with emotion. The words couldn’t come fast enough, and she saw pain flicker in Blade’s eyes. When he suddenly released her and stepped back, she realized what he’d thought and rushed on. “Blade! Wait!” In desperation, she grabbed his arm. She couldn’t let him go, not now. She took the last, irreversible step and confessed, “I love Christopher, true, but not the way I love you. Christopher is my nephew, and he’s only nine years old.”
Blade had believed it was over. He’d believed that the next four weeks would be pure, unadulterated hell. He’d believed that he would have to eat, sleep, and breathe next to the woman he loved but could never have. And if that weren’t difficult enough, he was going to have the torture of delivering her into the hands of a man who didn’t deserve her and then walk away and never look back. It had been a painful prospect, but one he knew he would do no matter what the cost. He stared at her, repeating in his mind the words she’d just said. I love Christopher, true, but not the way I love you.
“Angel?”
“I love you, Blade.” The barriers were down, and Angel smiled at him. Her eyes still shimmered with tears, but now they were tears of happiness instead of sorrow. When she saw the look of joyous disbelief on Blade’s face, she boldly crossed the short distance between them and looped her arms about his neck. “I love you.”
“I never thought I’d hear you say that,” he murmured, crushing her to him. He buried his face in her neck, savoring the feel and the scent of her. She loved him. It wasn’t over.
Angel drew him to her and kissed him freely. It was a rapturous exchange, and her heartbeat quickened as he held her close. She pressed against him, no longer wanting to deny her feelings. She wanted to be near him.
Blade reveled in the change in her. There was nothing he wanted more than to make love to her, but the need to know the full truth still tormented him. He ended the kiss.
“Talk to me, Angel,” he murmured softly, drawing her beside him on the lush grass in the protection of the trees.
“Where should I start?” she asked, turning her troubled gaze to him.
Blade couldn’t resist another kiss. His lips brushed hers in a sensuous yet controlled caress. There were questions he needed answered; a truth he needed revealed. “Start at the beginning,” he urged.
“In Philadelphia,” she told him, setting the scene, and the horror of the past weeks came tumbling out. She told him of Elizabeth’s death and their fearful flight from Michael. She explained how she, Sarah, and Christopher had parted in St. Louis to make it tougher on Michael and how she’d met Lucky strictly by accident. She explained her bargain with the boy.
Blade smiled at this news. He’d been curious about the boy. “He’s a good little actor.”
“He’s smart as a whip. Clever, too.” Angel praised him, then added, “You know, I really do love Lucky. He’s come to mean a lot to me.”
“He doesn’t know about Christopher?”
“No. I didn’t want to tell anyone. All I wanted to do was try to draw Michael’s men away from Sarah and Christopher. I did, too!” She told him of her close encounter in New Orleans, and suddenly he understood why she hadn’t wanted to sail.
“You’re some woman, you know that?” he told her, his eyes aglow as he looked at her. He was proud of what she’d done. “There aren’t many people around who would do what you did.”
She shrugged away his compliment. “He’s a sweet little boy, and I love him. How could I not help him? I just wish I’d known what my sister was going through so I could have helped her before it was too late.”
He heard the very real regret in her voice and tried to comfort her. “You couldn’t have known if she didn’t tell you.”
“I know,” she sighed. “But it doesn’t make it any easier.”
“Well, you’re not alone anymore.” There was a steel edge to his words. “You’ll never have to deal with Michael again. I’ll do everything in my power to help you, your sister, and your nephew.”
Her heart was in her eyes as she gazed at him in the muted moonlight. “Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
He reached for her then, and Angel went to him. There was no longer a need for words. They had breached the barrier of Angel’s fears and there would be no more half-truths and deceptions between them. They trusted. They loved.
Chapter Seventeen
Sheltered by a canopy of low-hanging branches, Blade and Angel came together. The ugliness of the past and the danger of the future faded for the moment in the glory of their newfound love.
“I love you,” Blade whispered in wonder, still not believing Angel was his. Moments before he’d thought her lost to him forever.
Joy filled him and it was so intense it was almost painful. His mouth claimed hers and her response told him that she felt the same way. She parted her lips in in
vitation and he eagerly accepted. Blade deepened the kiss, his tongue delving into the dark sweetness of her mouth to challenge hers in a sensual duel that left them both breathless.
When they broke apart, Angel’s emerald eyes were shining and a passionate blush stained her cheeks. She gazed up at him, seeing for the first time a softness in his features. No longer was he the arrogant, hard gunfighter. She knew him now. He was the man who loved her, the man who would go to hell and back for her, the man who had won her heart by being as stubborn as she was. She framed his face with her hands and stood on tiptoe to press a gentle kiss on his lips.
“I love you, Blade Masters. You’re the most wonderful man I know.”
Reverently, Blade accepted her precious kiss. He hugged her close never wanting to let go. He buried his face against her neck and kissed her. Lovingly, he turned her in his arms so her back was to him.
“What are you going to do?” Angel asked.
“I’m going to fulfill a fantasy of mine,” he told her huskily as he unfastened the clasp that held her hair in captive restraint.
“I’ve wanted to do that since the first night you walked into the hotel bar,” he admitted in a hoarse voice, combing his hands through the golden tresses, freeing them from the braid’s twining prison.
“You like it down?” Her eyes drifted shut. His fingers sleeked through her hair in an unexpectedly erotic caress.
“I love it down,” Blade growled.
Her hair was as soft as he’d imagined, and he took great pleasure in feeling it slip between his fingers in a silken caress. The curls cascaded down her back, and Blade marvelled. Brushing her hair aside, he kissed the nape of her neck, and when she shivered and leaned back, he boldly slid his arms around her, his hands coming to rest just beneath her breasts.
Angel’s breath caught in her throat, and she arched instinctively back against him. Blade wanted to go slow, but she was nearly making it impossible for him when she responded so freely to his caress. Withdrawing from that near intimacy, he let his hands skim over her, retracing the same paths he’d taken that first night when he’d massaged her neck and shoulders. Desire, hot and demanding, began to pulse through her slender body. She turned to him and wrapped her arms about his neck, kissing him passionately.
