by Helen Conrad
She whirled, glaring at him, refusing to look at the bed, even though she could see the blonde hair, still spread out across the pillow, out of the corner of her eye. “You know very well who I’m talking about,” she said evenly. “And this time I’ll say what I came to say right in front of her!”
“Him,” David’s eyes were sober, but that devil was gleaming in them again.
“Him?” she asked suspiciously, sure he was pulling something over on her. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s a him, not a her,” he said pleasantly, his hands on her shoulders again, massaging gently. “Just correcting your grammar, that’s all.”
He was teasing her, and she was furious. She wrenched herself out of his grasp and turned fully to face the woman on the bed. The blonde hair moved slightly and one small, bugged eye peered out from beneath, blinked, and closed again.
“Hank!” she breathed in shock. “It’s that dog of yours!”
“Of course.” He grinned wickedly. “Who did you think it was?”
She stared at him in confusion. He’d tripped her up again, destroying the urgency of her anger. She couldn’t let it be diffused. “You . . . !” she began angrily, but he waved her to silence.
“Let’s do this in private, shall we?” he suggested. He scooped up the dog, who still pretended to be asleep, deposited him gently but firmly out on the hall carpet, and closed the door to his bedroom. When he turned back to her, his eyes were glittering in the gloomy light.
“Now,” he said silkily, “What was it you wanted to see me about so early in the morning?”
He was walking towards her, the light robe barely tied about his waist, exposing a deep slash of well-tanned chest. She fumbled for the curtain cord, wanting to open the thick curtains and fill the room with new sunshine. Somehow, she thought that might protect her.
“You broke your promise,” she said at the same time. “You lied to me. You never intended to keep your end of the bargain.”
“What do you mean?” He reached her before she found the cord and pulled her into the room, his hands on her upper arms. “You’re babbling, Shawnee. I don’t have a clue as to what you’re so upset about.”
“The men!” she cried, anger flooding back. She stared up at him, tears shimmering in her eyes. “The surveyors. They arrived this morning, ready to mark off my grandfather’s land and put a road through the middle of his soul.”
“You knew that was inevitable,” he said, pulling her slowly closer. “I never said he could keep that land.” He shrugged in what seemed to her a callous way. “The agreement is up and my commitment to my father is overdue.”
“But you promised!” she cried, staring up into his dark eyes.
“No. I never promised that.”
“Then what was your ‘bargain’ all about?”
“Come here.” He drew her towards the bed and she followed, slightly dazed, not really paying attention to what he was doing, only to what he was saying. “I’ll explain it all.”
“You said you’d do what I wanted most, if I would do what you wanted.”
He nodded, running a hand down the length of her bare arm. “That’s right,” he agreed huskily. “You wanted your grandfather taken care of, protected. Isn’t that true?”
She took a deep breath, shivering under his touch. “What I really want is for him to have Rancho Verde back,” she reminded him. “But I am a realist. He’s lived on that little slice of the ranch for forty years. He should at least be allowed to die there.”
“Don’t talk about dying,” David said, frowning. “Let’s give him something to live for.”
She shook her head, trying to read his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ve bought him a ranch of his own,” David said simply. “It’s on the other side of the valley, near Clear Springs. It’s small, but it’s a working ranch with a full crew of hands and a manager, a nice little ranch house with a full staff of servants. He can run things to his heart’s content, and when he doesn’t feel like running them, he can leave it to the manager I’ve hired.”
For a long moment she was sure he must be teasing her again. What he’d outlined was insane, totally unworkable. Did he really expect her to believe he’d done such a crazy thing?
“You’re not serious.”
“I’m very serious. He can move in right away.”
“Why …. . why would you do something like this? It must have cost you a fortune.”
His grin was lopsided. “Santiagos have fortunes to spare. Aren’t you always telling me that?” The grin faded as he realized she wasn’t smiling back. “Besides, I wanted to prove to you that it isn’t the money that’s involved here. I know my family can afford to leave your father where he is for years to come. But that’s not the point. My father had plans to develop that side of the valley, and his dreams must go forward.” His gaze darkened, and he grimaced, forcing back emotions of his own. He cleared hi throat and went on. “The last thing he said to me on the night he died was, ‘David, I leave the valley project in your hands’.” He looked away for a moment, blinking rapidly. “I can’t fail him.”
She closed her eyes. Was there no hope, then?
“I’ll help you get your grandfather moved this afternoon.”
She shook her head slowly. “No,” she whispered. “He won’t go.”
“Sure he will.”
“No. Don’t you understand?” She looked at him bitterly. “It’s not having a ranch. It’s not ordering a bunch of men around. It’s living on a piece of land that’s full of your own sweat and blood. Take him away from his land, and he will die.”
David frowned. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was afraid that she was probably right. He’d known all along this would be a long shot. And in truth, he’d done it more to prove to her that his heart was in the right place than anything else. So if it blew up in his face, who was the loser?
He was. Oh yes, he was. And he knew it.
“I think you’re being a bit melodramatic.”
“Melodramatic? I’ll show you melodramatic!” She turned on him in fury. “Don’t you understand the kind of love he feels? Don’t you know anything about that sort of passion?”
“Maybe not.” He took hold of her. “Maybe I’m blind in that area.” His eyes were smoldering with a fire she’d never seen there before, startling her. “But there’s a type of passion I do understand. And I think you do, too.”
She knew what he was talking about and her heart, already pounding from her anger, began to drum to a new beat, a tune that sang with excitement. She was angry with him—in a way, she almost hated him for what he was doing to her grandfather. And yet, another part of her loved him. She’d admitted it to herself, and knew it was something she was going to have to learn to live with. She loved him, and with that love came a powerful yearning for his touch, his closeness, his love in return.
She ached for him. How could she ever resist his lovemaking?
She thought she wanted to avoid his kiss, but when his mouth lowered to hers, she was waiting, breathless, as though she’d been waiting this way all her life. And maybe she had.
She hadn’t meant to let this happen—this wild ascent into the danger zone. In fact, when she’d first come, she would have said there was no way it could occur at all. That her defenses were strong, much too strong for any sort of sensual assault David might plan. But she would have been wrong.
It was no use telling herself that she hated him, that she was angry and determined to fight. His warm mouth was caressing the tender skin of her neck and her heart refused to hear her protests. It listened instead to the persuasive music of his ragged breath in her ear, his thundering heartbeat against her chest.
His large hands moved across her with hypnotizing certainty, numbing her fears, stirring her senses. She gasped at the unerring accuracy of his quest for her most sensitive spots, gasped and turned in his arms, opening herself to his embrace.
She hea
rd the zipper of her sunsuit slide down as far as it would go, and then the two sides were open, peeling back like the skin of some exotic fruit, displaying the tempting delicacy hidden underneath. She was lying on the bed now, and David was beside her. As though in a dream, she put out her hand and watched his robe fall away at her touch. His body was long and lean, black-edged with silver in the dim light of the still-curtained room, a jungle cat gathering strength for a plunge into the mysterious darkness.
And then she couldn’t see anything any longer. Her eyes were closed, her head was thrown back, and every other sense was alive to the movement of his tongue across her skin, teasing her nipples into taut peaks, tickling the valley between her breasts, filling her navel with warm delight.
“Oooh, David,” she moaned, digging her fingers into his thick hair. “Hold me, hold me.”
“I’ll hold you, my Indian maiden,” he whispered, his voice low and husky with desire. “I’ll hold you so tightly, you’ll never get loose again.”
He touched her nipples again, making her writhe, then his hands fell and cupped her bottom, pulling her close into the heat of his hips, pressing her nakedness to his, throwing his head back and groaning as his own passion rose.
“Tell me you love me,” he whispered huskily, very close to her ear.
“What?” She tried to look at him was the red heat of desire was filling her gaze and she was all hunger, all confusion. “What?”
“Tell me you love me. Say it.”
Of course she would say it. There wasn’t anything in her but love for him. That was all she was, all she wanted. She would live for him, die for him.
“Oh, I love you! I love you. I need you. Oh please…”
He came inside her with a strength and a slashing flair, like a pirate taking over a tall ship and she arched high, accepting him with wonder. He groaned, his breathing a rasp against her ear as he shuddered in a rhythm of love, moving in a crescendo of exquisite sensation that sent her spiraling into a starry sky of ecstasy. "Oh!" she cried out with a fulfillment she’d never felt before. She’d waited so long, and now that she had him, she would never let him go. She would hold him and caress him and love him and pleasure him forever and ever and …..
Her mind was hardly conscious, a mere jumble of color and sound. But slowly, as her writhing stilled, the events of the morning came back to haunt her, one by one. She was dimly aware that she’d lost sight of her purpose here. Like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, she was lost, tumbling, head over heels, into an alien land. If she didn’t do something to stop her fall, she might never find her way to the top again. She pushed at him, staring blearily. She wanted him to hold her forever—but she couldn’t reign in her anger. This was all his fault. She closed her eyes and tried to make sense of it all.
“David! Are you awake?”
There was a loud pounding on the bedroom door that almost bounced them off the bed. Shawnee’s eyes flew wide open and suddenly everything was all too real.
David’s muffled curse held not a hint of humor. “Not now, Allison,” he called out. “Go away.”
“I don’t want to disturb you, but don’t forget that the Californio Days board breakfast is at eight.” Allison’s footsteps retreated down the hall and David reached for Shawnee again, but this time she was ready to fend him off.
Allison’s voice had brought it all back, all the pain and the talk about “bargains” and the inevitable suffering Granpa Jim was going to be facing. And all alone, too, if she didn’t get back before he woke up. And here she’d been….
Oh! She couldn’t believe what she’d done.
“No,” she told him firmly, rolling away and pulling on her sun suit and pulling up it’s long zipper at the same time. “I came to tell you how much I despise you, and I end up in your bed.”
Her glare seemed to be enough to stop him for the moment. He lay back watching her, his eyes unreadable. “You don’t despise me, Shawnee,” he said quietly. “You want to be in my bed as much as I want you here. Come back.”
She couldn’t look at him any longer. She rose from the bed and stood facing away from him, her stance wide and challenging. “You Santiagos, with your ‘bargains’ and your ‘deals’! You think you can buy the world.” She reached out a shaking hand to push her hair into a semblance of order. “Well, you can’t buy me with your counterfeit security for Granpa Jim.”
He closed his eyes and groaned. “You’ll reconsider after you’ve had time to think it over.”
She whirled and stared down at him, sadness edging out her anger. She’d just made love with this man—and she loved him. He knew that now. She had no place to hide.
“No, David. It won’t work. I wish it would. But it won’t.”
His eyes were unreadable but his mouth twisted in a slight smile. “You’ll be back. I’ll be waiting.”
“For what?” She threw open her arms in exasperation. “You’ve got Megan. What do you want me for?”
He shrugged. “Megan has nothing to do with this. She’s a different case entirely.”
The cold edge of truth cut deep. Megan was indeed different. She was the one he planned to marry. Shawnee was only a conquest to be won over, then discarded. How could she despise the man and love him so strongly at the same time?
She took a few steps towards the door. “I’m going now, and I’m never coming back.” She pulled the door open and turned to look back at him, “And I’m going to beat your sister at the horse-show, too.”
He didn’t move a muscle. After one long last look, she closed the door and started towards the stairs. They were all there as she came down, Megan and Allison and even Horst, all staring at her, their mouths hanging open. They could see where she’d come from, but none of them seemed to be able to believe it. She forced her chin up and was proud that she didn’t have any inclination to blush. She hated them all. She wouldn’t crawl before them. No one said a word and she walked through the hall like a queen, then continued out on to the long front porch and into her raggedy car.
“Good riddance,” she whispered as her car roared out through the gate. But there were tears in her eyes.
Her grandfather was still asleep when she got back. When he woke, she managed to concoct a credible story about government mapping to still his fears of what the surveying team was up to. But she knew that was only a stop gap measure. Each day that went by brought them closer to facing eviction.
She made the mistake of telling Lisa about David’s offer to put Granpa Jim on his own new ranch.
“How perfect!” Lisa had cried, not understanding at all.
Shawnee set her straight, and she had to admit Shawnee was probably right, that their grandfather wouldn’t go for it for a moment.
“We could move him while he’s asleep,” Lisa suggested impishly. “It would take him years to figure out what happened.”
Shawnee didn’t dignify that nonsense with a rebuttal. The foreman of the surveying team had warned her that work would begin in exactly three weeks. And Reid had finally convinced her that suing the Santiagos wouldn’t work. There was heartbreak ahead, and all she could offer Granpa Jim for consolation was a win in the horse-show. She trained harder and harder each day, determined to be the champion.
“We’ve got to prepare him,” Lisa would say, exasperated with her sister. If you won’t take David up on his offer, you’ll both have to move in with us. There’s no other way.”
“Not yet,” Shawnee answered. “Not until after the horse-show. It’s only one week away now. We can wait that long.”
David didn’t call. Not that she expected him to. Every thought of him brought an ache to her heart. How unfair to have fallen in love with the man she had to fight! The man who didn’t love her at all.
As the time before the show dwindled down, training gave way to exercising, keeping Miki fit, but rested. There was a trip to the farrier to have him shod with new shoes and to have special studs inserted for added traction. There was the trip to the vet for
a health certificate. Luckily the man was an old friend of her father’s and though he detected the blindness, she swore him to secrecy and he managed to fill out form in a way that he didn’t have to lie to clear Miki for the competition.
And there was every bit of leather to oil and clean, and silver ornaments to polish.
Finally, Californio Days arrived. The celebration was a week long and run on the lines of a county fair. There were booths and rides and agricultural contests, as well as athletic contests and musical shows and, of course, the horse-show.
The competition was in the Western riding style and covered two days. On Saturday the riders would compete in classes in the show-ring, showing the judges and the crowd how nimbly and quickly each horse could pass the various obstacles. On Sunday came the trail ride where each horse was given four hours to complete a prescribed twenty-mile journey over difficult terrain, testing horse and rider for soundness, condition, and general horsemanship.
“Nervous?” Lisa asked as she and Granpa Jim helped with the last-minute preparations in the stall where Miki was assigned. All up and down the long building, other horses were going through the same ritual.
“What do you think?” Shawnee put a hand on her sister’s arm to let her feel how she was trembling.
“You’ve got hours to wait,” Granpa Jim said. “You need to get your mind off it. You two go on and watch the parade. I’ll stay here with this big fella.”
He was being remarkably bright and lucid. Shawnee thought it must be because of the horse-show. At last there was something in the present that interested him as much as the past.
She followed Lisa out to the curb of the road to watch the local talent stream by. The high-school band passed, then the Californio Days queen on her flower-strewn float, followed by the hot-rod club in their shiny machines. The mayor was in a flashy convertible, waving to the crowd, and then came the descendants of the early settlers in their Spanish regalia, with David leading the way, Allison and Petra close behind him, as well as other neighbors of early extraction.
