Spellbound Trilogy: The Wind Casts No Shadow, Heart of the Jaguar, Shadows in the Mirror

by Jeanne Rose

  With a sense of destiny, she settled over him – knees spread around his thighs, ankles bound together inside his calves – sighing when his flesh parted hers, melded in ecstacy and made them one.

  This was as it should be.

  "I've waited so long for this," Sam whispered with a groan.

  Louisa merely smiled, rapture – and Sam – filling her.

  She felt as she did when seated on a wild horse. Reckless. Daring. Happy. She rode Sam as she would the stallion, her hips moving to an inner rhythm, her thighs tightening around his hips. He moved, too, and stroked her in every place he could reach, one hand finally settling on a breast, the other at their joining. As he found and stroked her creamy hidden flesh, quickly creating a most pleasurable pressure.

  Louisa moved faster. Panting. Trying to satisfy the urgency he created and built in her. Her gaze settled on his face, at once hard and achingly vulnerable. When his body stiffened and his features convulsed, she convulsed as well, a ripple effect starting from her center where they were joined and spreading to every inch of her being.

  His fingers never stopped stroking her until she gasped and cried out, "No more, please!" for the pleasure had become too intense.

  Then, while she was in this weakened state, Sam rolled her over onto her back, somehow maintaining the coupling while taking command. He was kissing her neck, her face, her lips, murmuring her name over and over.

  And Louisa closed her eyes, satiated and yet not. How could she ever get enough of the man she loved?

  They lay there, locked together for what seemed like forever but must have been only a few minutes before Sam started moving in her again. Louisa's eyes flashed open in surprise to meet his arrogant grin.

  "Something wrong?"

  Breath already coming in quick spurts, she shook her head and joined the foray, moving as much as she could while digging her nails into Sam's back and buttocks, urging him to bliss yet again.

  "Uh-uh," he whispered. "This is one time when I want you to cross the finish line first."

  To that end, he traced a fiery trail from her neck to her breasts with a very clever tongue. While his teeth worried a nipple that instantly hardened, his clever fingers found their way back between their bodies so he could stroke her with the seed he had spilled in her. Louisa burned and her body filled with pressure even faster than before. Her back arched of its own volition. And before she could stop herself, she cried out loudly as he brought her to a shuddering climax more intense than the first.

  Only when he seemed content that he'd brought her the ultimate satisfaction did he speed up his own movements, at the same time kissing her deeply. Once more Louisa found herself digging her nails into his buttocks to urge him on. Within seconds, his breath exploded into her mouth as his body first went taut, then collapsed on top of her.

  They lay together, bodies slicked with sweat despite the cool mountain morning. Gradually, little things intruded on the focus Louisa maintained on Sam. A scrabbling in the nearby brush. An unhappy neigh coming from across the canyon – El Tigre – an answering snort from Defiant who still stood nearby, his back discreetly to them.

  With a burst of renewed energy, Sam rolled onto his back. He laughed, the sound pleasant though tinged with no small irony.

  "What's wrong?" Louisa asked, pulling up her camisole.

  "Just look at us," he said, as they both straightened their clothing. "We didn't even take time to undress properly. Next time I want you completely naked."

  He leaned over and gave her a smacking kiss.

  That he assumed there would be a next time eased Louisa's fears a bit. She tried to appear more relaxed than she was feeling when she said, "Sounds like you plan to stick around a while. What about that assignment? That madman?"

  His too casual, "I guess I'll have to go soon," didn't exactly satisfy her. "Major Anderson came to see me yesterday and suggested I've had enough rest and recreation." He grinned. "I suppose I have now."

  He was ready to go now that he'd bedded her?

  Jerking her pants together at the waist, she tersely said, "I'm sure you'll do your duty, as always." And no doubt would steal away without telling her he was leaving like he had before.

  Seemingly unaware of her growing outrage, Sam teased, "You really are a hellion and a heartbreaker just like I heard." He got to his feet and finished buttoning his pants. "Of course I also heard you were a virgin goddess."

  Louisa frowned. "Virgin goddess?" She didn't like his smugness. "Nobody knows exactly what I've done or with who."

  He gazed at her for a moment, his voice tightening just a tad. "So you're saying it's not true?"

  Louisa narrowed her gaze at him and rose, ignoring his offer to help. "You of all people know the answer!"

  "I know what happened six years ago and now," he returned much more soberly, his gaze intent on her face. "What about in-between?"

  He was asking her about other men? Now that made Louisa furious. "What about it?" His assuming he hadn't been the first had driven a wedge between them six years ago, and now he was

  questioning her again.

  "You haven't, have you?"

  But he didn't sound sure, making Louisa steam. Not wanting him to have the upper hand, especially when she wasn't reassured about his commitment to her – and considering she was certain he hadn't remained celibate – she said, "You don't know what you're talking about."

  "I think I do." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself when he said, "You haven't been with another man or you wouldn't have been so wild in my arms just now. Admit it."

  Louisa would rather be bitten by a rattler than admit any such thing. "Don't fool yourself, Sam Strong. Even I'm not stupid enough to sit around mooning over a no-account for six years."

  "You didn't think I was a no-account then," he said, suddenly sounding too sure of himself for Louisa's comfort. "You told me you loved me."

  "So I was young and stupid. I grew up."

  He considered that for a minute, then said, "I don't think so."

  "I'm not a child any longer!" And she was sick and tired of people treating her as if she were.

  "I meant, I don't think you've been with other men," he clarified.

  "Really. Then where did I learn to pleasure you with my mouth?" she asked, purposely leaning in to taunt him by puckering her lips provocatively. "You didn't teach me that." And she was livid that whatever she might have done in his absence was an issue of some sort.

  Try as he might, Sam couldn't prevent his expression from tightening. Satisfied that she'd gotten to him, Louisa turned her back on the snake. What did it matter who she had or had not been with anyhow? She hadn't known he would return for her. And she was with him now, for heaven's sake. He didn't have the right to ask for more than that. Aware of Sam's gaze burning into her, she first returned the saddle she used on the stallion to its shelter, then returned to Defiant and patted his neck affectionately.

  "Hey, there, old boy, ready to get back before someone misses us?" she asked as if Sam weren't even present.

  Defiant bobbed his head, hitting her in the shoulder. She kissed his velvet nose and, gathering the reins, prepared to mount.

  "Louisa, you can't just leave like this."

  "Oh, can't I?" she asked coolly, though inside, she was seething.

  She wanted Sam to rip the reins out of her hands, throw her down to the ground and make love to her yet again, all the while telling her he didn't care how many men she'd been with and promising never to leave her. Waiting a moment, she gave him his chance. When he didn't take it, she swept up onto Defiant's back and glared down at Sam.

  "You'll have to leave, too. El Tigre doesn't know you and I don't want him upset."

  "Damn it all, woman, I'm upset!"

  Good! Louisa smiled sweetly and indicated the canyon's entrance. Sam took his cue.

  Only after he was outside the gate and mounted on the roan, did he demand, "You want to tell me what the hell just went on here?"


  "Sam, honey, if you don't know, I'm sorely disappointed in you." She wanted him to accept her, want her, need her, never leave her, but saying so would be humiliating, especially if he couldn't or wasn't willing to do all those things. So instead, she got even for some of the hurt she was feeling by taking a shot at his male pride. "I thought you were more sophisticated than that. We had a great little tryst, but nothing to get in a lather about. It was fun, and I might be interested in trying you again sometime."

  She might think Sam's outraged expression funny if the situation weren't so emotional.

  "When hell freezes over!" he vowed, cursing under his breath and giving the roan a good kick. Squealing in surprise, his horse took off at a lope.

  And Louisa turned her back on him, glad she didn't have to pretend she was sophisticated and uncaring anymore. To her fury, however, twin tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Sam Strong had a way of bringing out the worst in her. Too bad she couldn't up and forget him.

  CHAPTER NINE

  TEZCO WAS FINDING Louisa Janks to be unforgettable, Xosi realized as they led their band through the ruins of the ancient pueblo so named Aztec, because legend had it built by Indians related to the Aztecs of Mexico. They carefully picked their way around dirt and scrub-covered mounds that held who knew what secrets of a past life. Hard to tell anyone had lived here at all.

  "Perhaps I will go back for Louisa," Tezco suddenly announced, making Xosi's heart fall.

  "It would be madness to return where we took other captives," she said, reminding him of the two men they'd stolen from one of the pueblos near Santa Fe. Even now their prisoners rode in the middle of the flank, each with his own guard.

  "I told you about the golden-haired soldier who is after Montgomery."

  Knowing he'd overheard such a conversation on the dance floor, she asked, "What of it?"

  "I don't want to fight the man. If I take Louisa, maybe I can use her to keep him away."

  More than likely her brother was using this as an excuse to have Louisa for himself. But realizing his mind was made up, Xosi didn't try to talk him out of this foolishness.

  "There, ahead!" Tezco suddenly said, pointing to a rounded area in the midst of a great open plaza-like space.

  Not for the first time, some unnamed fear fluttered through Xosi as they continued riding through this canyon of ghosts with its silent ruins standing sentinal over them. She could almost feel the spirits of the dead rise to watch them as they stopped at what looked like the sealed kiva Montgomery had told them about. The spiritual center of every pueblo, the kiva could only be entered through its roof via a ladder.

  Tezco dismounted, giving orders to the others to do the same.

  "I wonder if we will be forced to wrest our portion of the disk from the spirits," Xosi murmured, getting a distinct chill.

  By early evening, they had managed to unseal the kiva's entrance and had slipped a ladder of tree branches and rope down into its depths, but the two Pueblos refused to join them in entering the sacred space.

  "We will not commit such sacrilege!" the first cried.

  The second added, "Anyone who dares to rob the sacred kiva of Aztec is cursed!"

  Annoyance crossed Tezco's features. "Tie them up and secure them so they can't go anywhere," he told his men. Then he lit the first of several torches they had made and descended.

  Xosi followed, ignoring her discomfort.

  The Aztec kiva was antechambered and multi-leveled. Huge masonry columns supported the heavily beamed if rotting ceiling, and built-in benches curved along the walls. The thieves spread out and found hidden niches that yielded beads, necklaces and pottery, but to Xosi's disappointment they found nothing of real worth. In the floor was a round, navel-like notch of the sipapu, symbolic as to where humans emerged from the earth and which gave spiritual access to still another world deeper below.

  Something stopped Xosi from wanting to enter. A draft shot along her spine, making her wary. "Perhaps we should force the captives to go down there and look," she suggested.

  "Ghosts can't hurt you," the practical Tezco maintained.

  But an apprehensive Xosi wasn't so certain. She waited until Tezco was all the way down, until he gave a shout of triumph before she joined him. Reluctantly, she descended, forcing her feet to her bidding. Tezco stood at a stepped altar, in the center of which lay a portion of a large golden disk stamped with an ancient design.

  "Beaufort Montgomery may be crazy, but he is no liar!"

  When he lifted the disk portion and showed it to her, a draft of cold, mold-laden air swept through the underground chamber. Xosi knew she should be awed by the gold. Instead, she was concerned about the spirit tunnel she knew would be secreted behind one of the walls. Stepping back, she looked around fearfully for its entrance, fingering the chain of her necklace, accidentally releasing the clasp.

  The little mirror clattered to the hard earthen floor.

  "At least it's not broken." Tezco placed the gold piece under one arm and squatted to pick the necklace up. As he rose and handed it to Xosi, his eyes widened.

  As did hers. A face that resembled Tezco's stared out at them -- a face with Tezco's features but crowned by a strange headdress and flanked by huge round ear plugs. The face's ferocious gaze burned.

  "Ah-h!" As if the mirror were on fire, Xosi dropped it again. "What was that?"

  "Nothing." Tezco set his jaw stubbornly. "We just thought we saw something. There are shadows down here."

  But Xosi recalled Montgomery talking about Tezcalipoca and sighting what was hidden. "It was more than a shadow."

  The mirror had landed shiny side down. Tezco used a boot toe to turn it over. "Look, nothing but our reflections."

  But Xosi thought he handled the necklace gingerly when he picked it up the second time. Her hand trembled as she took it. Another current of cold air raised her hackles as she slipped the chain about her neck and slid the mirror into the safety of the opening of her shirt.

  Xosi only hoped the captives hadn't been correct and that their stealing from the kiva would place a curse on them all forever. She also hoped the face they had sighted in her mirror hadn't been an angry god.

  SAM FIGURED HE was cursed to be alone for all time and therefore happily renewed his friendship with the liquor bottle after he left Louisa. He'd started before noon and had been drinking half the afternoon. Whiskey made a man feel better, never questioned his intentions, had no way of filling him with a horrible and unreasonable jealousy that sickened him inside.

  "Bartender, my glass is empty." He banged it against the

  surface of the bar for emphasis.

  "I thought you were going easy on the hard stuff," Jack Smith said, silver eyebrows raised in what could only be interpreted as admonishment.

  Sam glared at the man through bleary eyes. "Aren't you supposed to sell as much of this swill as you can?"

  "Belle gives me some discretion in that area. She don't like trouble."

  "I'm no trouble. Just need another drink so I can go upstairs to my room and pass out." He'd barely slept the night before, and when he had he'd dreamed of Louisa...making love to some faceless cow-puncher.

  Muttering under his breath about men who didn't have the good sense to know their own limit, the bartender was about to pour him another when a man spoke up. "He's had more'n enough." Jack Smith immediately pulled the bottle away from the glass and backed off.

  And Sam turned his glare on Chaco Jones, who stood close enough to punch for his interference...and whose intent gray gaze spooked him a little.

  "What do you want?" he asked, trying not to flinch under what appeared to be an accusing stare.

  "A coupla words with you. Someplace a little more private." Chaco indicated a table toward the back of the bar area, away from the few afternoon patrons sparsely populating the place. "Now."

  There was no arguing with the former gunslinger, who looked as dangerous as any man, especially with the Colt strapped to his thigh. Ma
ybe if he were sober. And armed, of course. But not when he was heavily leaning on the bar to support himself after downing enough whiskey to numb him. Chaco could easily humiliate him by forcing him to it. With a sigh, Sam heaved himself toward the table in back, and with difficulty managed to make it there in a semi-straight fashion. He threw himself into a chair and Chaco took the one opposite.

  "So what is it you want to talk about?" Sam asked, figuring Louisa had something to do with this unforeseen visit...not that he would be the one to bring up her name. "Here to offer me a job?" he taunted.

  Chaco's expression hardened. "You and I both know why I'm here."

  "Plan to horsewhip me?"

  "Maybe I should've done that the first time."

  Sam stared at Chaco. "How many men have you roughed up in her behalf?"

  "None."

  "Then why me?"

  "Because she loves you."

  Sam laughed. "Me and how many other men?"

  Chaco wasted no time in lunging out of his seat and grabbing Sam's shirtfront, easily hauling him out of his chair. "You watch your mouth if you want to keep those pretty teeth of yours," the former gunslinger growled. "There are no other men. Never have been."

  "But she said –"

  "Probably a lot of fool things." Contemptuous, Chaco threw Sam back into his seat. "Louisa's got a mouth on her the size of a canyon. But her heart is even bigger. You broke it once and now it looks like you're aiming to do it again."

  "She told you that?"

  "She didn't have to."

  Caught by Chaco's gray gaze again, Sam remembered the talk about him. That he was di-yin, subject to the visions of an Apache medicine man. And he was related to Geronimo. The skin at the back of Sam's neck rose. Did Chaco know what part he'd played in capturing his uncle along with the last of the free-roaming Chiricahuas and boarding them on a train headed for the Florida swamps?

  If so, Chaco hid his hatred well. His contempt for Sam sat on the surface, however, when he said, "I don't know what Louisa sees in you."

  "Not much."

  "Like hell."