She offered a smile when the lines along his forehead deepened. Finally, he nodded, but he did so while frowning.
“How about the hand? That bandage looks like it got a good soaking.” Anna pointed at the injured hand in his lap.
“It’s fine,” he mumbled.
She reached for his hand, lifting it, but paused when he resisted. His eyes flashed a warning, which quickly dissolved into something closer to what she’d seen the other day when he’d apologized.
“You don’t need to fret over me, Miss Porter,” he said. “If you want to look at the arm, I’m gonna have to take off the shirt. I hope that don’t bother you.”
Anna swallowed. She dropped his hand and quickly shook her head. She cleared her throat.
“Why would it bother me?” Her pulse raced, the same reaction she’d had to seeing Ethan without a shirt on the other day.
He looked at her, his eyes searching, then he actually grinned. Anna stared. She couldn’t tear her eyes away even if she’d wanted to. His features transformed instantly from the hard, unfeeling brute he’d tried to portray to a ruggedly handsome man with kind eyes and so much hidden emotion.
He broke the spell by raising both arms and pulling his shirt off over his head. Anna blinked, still holding onto the glimpse of the man she’d just seen. A man Ethan kept well hidden behind his dark façade.
Her eyes widened at what he didn’t hide. Unable to look away, her gaze pored over his torso until Ethan had completely removed the shirt. The orange glow from the fire played off the well-defined muscles of his arms and along his shoulders. The heat in her cheeks matched the flames that flickered and danced in front of her.
“Miss Porter?”
Ethan’s brows rose with an expectant look. He’d already lowered his hands, holding his shirt in his lap. Anna shook her head, silently chiding herself for acting like a silly adolescent girl sneaking a peek at the boys when they went swimming in the creek back home in Ohio, as if she didn’t know what a man in the nude looked like.
Yes, but you’ve never been this close to a man without his clothes on before.
At least not a conscious man. She’d seen Nathaniel last summer, after he’d been shot, but she’d hardly had the time or the inclination to look at Cora’s husband while he hovered near death.
Thank goodness Ethan’s wound was on his arm, rather than his thigh. Anna’s face scalded some more with the images conjured up by that thought.
“Let me find the salve,” she said, her voice cracking. She turned her back to him, reaching for her satchel.
Her hand trembled as her fingers fumbled inside her sewing bag for the tin of salve. She pulled out several swatches of fabric to see if any of them might be of some use to her, and a few folded handkerchiefs she’d meant to embroider. One of them might be big enough to wrap around Ethan’s arm as a bandage to cover the wound.
Anna opened the tin. A strong medicinal odor wafted from the ointment, and she turned up her nose. Hesitating, she dabbed her finger in it before lifting her eyes to Ethan’s face. He sat next to her, his upper body slightly turned away. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder.
“That stuff smells nasty,” he said. “I sure hope it really is something for wounds. I must be out of my mind to let you put that stuff on me.”
Anna raised her chin to look at him. “It’s what Cora told me.”
Taking one of the pieces of cloth, she dabbed at the blood that had begun to dry around the gash in Ethan’s upper arm. He sat stiffly, his muscles hard and taut beneath her ministration. She hesitated, then touched her finger to his arm, applying the salve around the wound. His skin was warm, despite the chill in the air and the fact that he’d recently tumbled into the cold water.
Her focus drifted from the wound to the rest of his upper body. Several more cuts and scrapes, presumably from his altercation with the thorny bush by the creek, crisscrossed his back and shoulders. Wordlessly, he raised his arm away from his torso while she wrapped a handkerchief around his bicep, covering the wound.
“You have cuts all over,” she said quietly. Her finger reached out to touch one of them on his upper back. Ethan flinched slightly. Anna jerked her hand away. Her fingers trembled and her mouth had gone dry.
“Does it sting?” she asked.
“No,” he murmured, which sounded closer to a growl.
Anna adjusted her position behind him to get closer. She owed him her gratitude for coming to look for her. If he had stayed at home, he wouldn’t have added these additional injuries to his growing list.
She dabbed more ointment on the larger cuts. Ethan’s rock-hard muscles seemed to melt beneath her touch, encouraging her to continue. The tips of her fingers slid along his skin, applying the healing salve to even the tiniest of scrapes.
The tingling feeling grew stronger the longer she made contact with him, rushing through her fingers and up her arms. Her breathing slowed while her heart began to pound faster. Anna jerked her hand back when a loud crack of thunder made her flinch.
“I think that’s all of them,” she whispered.
Ethan didn’t move, except for his chest expanding when he drew in a breath. He fumbled with his damp shirt to pull it back over his head. He shifted his position next to her to where his back was no longer turned.
“Perhaps you should allow your shirt to dry by the fire for a while,” she suggested, avoiding eye contact. She cringed at her inappropriate words. She dared a quick glance at his face. A faint smile formed on his lips. To hide her embarrassment for making such a bold suggestion, Anna responded with a smile of her own.
“I’ll be fine, but thanks for doctoring me up.”
“It’s the least I could do. I’m sorry that, because of me, you’re in more pain.” Anna glanced at his hand.
“Make me some more of that broth you gave me yesterday, and we’ll call it even.”
She nodded. Their eyes met. The transformation in his features was astounding when he softened his stare and had that boyish smile on his face. Cora had told her that Ethan had once been a lot like Travis, and for the first time, she could almost believe it. His hesitant smile held a hint of his younger brother’s mischievous attitude.
Ethan shifted again, setting his injured hand in the dirt for support. He instantly flinched and cursed under his breath. Anna’s hand reached out to steady his arm.
“I keep forgetting about that damn hand,” he growled. The softness in his features vanished again.
“Mr. Wilder, please let me see to your hand,” Anna pleaded. “Your bandage is wet. That can’t be good for the wound.”
His frown was back, but he seemed to agree, holding out his hand for her to remove the thick bandage Aimee Osborne had applied.
“I believe I have enough cloth to wrap your hand again, and it should hold at least until we get back to the cabin. Your brother or Caroline can apply a better bandage.”
The wound looked clean. Hopefully there would be no lasting damage from such a cut. Anna carefully applied some of the ointment around the stitches, the tips of her fingers gliding over his calloused palm. The warmth and weight of his large hand in her lap sent her heart beating faster again.
“I’m afraid I’m not very good at this.” She glanced up at him, smiling uneasily as heat crept up into her cheeks. As quick as she could, she wrapped a clean piece of cloth around his hand.
Her heart must have skipped a beat as her eyes met his. He was looking at her, his gaze more intense than anything she’d seen before. It was almost a predatory stare, but nothing that would cause her to be afraid, at least not in a way that would make her fear he might harm her. Quite the opposite. There was no anger in his eyes, no contempt, yet something just as strong drawing her in.
“Seems to me you’re doing just fine,” Ethan said, his voice low and almost sensual.
Anna fought to move a breath of air past the constriction in her throat. She blinked and pulled her eyes away from his, then scooted back and away from Ethan. Their
faces had been so close, much too close.
She fumbled to return all the items she’d taken out back into her satchel. She had to direct her focus elsewhere. Ethan’s stare was simply too unsettling. At this moment, it would be better if he yelled at her and called her witless. Too many tumultuous feelings and sensations coursed through her, and none of them made any sense.
“Looks like the rain has stopped,” she said, looking out beyond their natural shelter. “We can be on our way back to the cabins. No doubt everyone is worried about where we are.”
She scrambled to her feet, brushing twigs and leaves from her skirt. Ethan struggled to stand, leaning heavily on his rifle for support. He still favored his right leg.
“Are you well enough to walk?” Anna asked tentatively. She should have offered to look at his ankle, but a sudden need to get back to the cabins rushed through her. This entire encounter with Ethan Wilder was too unsettling and confusing.
“I’ll be fine.” He kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out, then stepped up to her. “Once my hand is healed, I’ll take you as far as Fort Hall, Miss Porter,” he said, then limped off into the forest.
Chapter Ten
“You’re absolutely sure this is what you want to do? You can still change your mind.”
“Yes. I have to do this.” Anna glanced up from folding the last of her dresses and packing it in the traveling trunk. Looking into Cora’s hopeful eyes, she offered a weak smile to her friend, who stood a few paces away, holding several folded blankets. Anna stood and held out her hands to take the items. “We’ve been over this so many times.”
“I know, but it doesn’t hurt to ask again.”
The loud banging of a fist on the cabin door saved Anna from offering a response. It was bad enough that she’d had second thoughts about leaving everyone she considered family behind and heading off into the unknown. Something inside her told her it was the right thing to do, that she would find out who she truly was if she made this journey. Here in this wilderness valley she would never fill the emptiness and loneliness in her heart.
“Come in,” Cora called. The door swung open as if a strong blast of wind had pushed it, sending in a cloud of dust. Travis and Trevor stood under the frame. Travis moved first to step into the room.
“Ethan’s acting like the entire day’s wasted already, and the sun hasn’t even been up more than an hour. He’s asking if everything’s ready to go.” He grinned at Anna. “You sure you want him to take you to Fort Hall? Trevor and I can be ready to leave in five minutes.”
“This is the last of my things.” Anna placed the blankets in the trunk and closed it. She smiled at Travis. “Thank you for your offer, but I think I’ll be all right.” She pointed at the trunk. “You can take this to the wagon. Please let Ethan know I’ll be ready to leave in a moment.”
The twins each lifted an end of the trunk and disappeared out the door, Travis mumbling something under his breath. Anna smiled and shook her head. While the two brothers might be more entertaining company on her way to Fort Hall, Ethan was, no doubt, more trustworthy. Not that Travis and Trevor weren’t experienced men in their environment, but their youth made them impulsive, especially Travis.
Everyone had been surprised three weeks ago when she and Ethan had returned from the woods and he’d announced that he would take her to Fort Hall. He’d used the excuse that someone needed to go for supplies, so he might as well take Anna along. Harley had simply chuckled and smiled gleefully, while Travis had complained that it was his turn to go to the supply depot this summer.
Ethan had been silent for most of the walk out of the forest that day, and Anna hadn’t pressed him to speak. He’d clearly been in pain the way he’d favored his right leg, which probably hadn’t done much to improve his mood. She’d had her own thoughts to contend with at the time. Her nearly intimate encounter with Ethan Wilder under the rocky overhang had been much too unsettling.
Everyone had seen her return from the forest with him. Back in Ohio, gossip would have brought her morals into question for being alone with a man in the woods. Here, no one cared, although Josie had looked at her with a worried expression on her face. Anna had smiled at the girl to ensure her that everything was all right. Harley had looked rather pleased about something.
“Are you absolutely sure that you want to be the one to take me to Fort Hall?” Anna had asked Ethan before they’d parted ways that day.
“I said I would take you, or would you rather Travis and Trevor escort you?” Ethan had looked at her with raised brows, a challenge in his eyes. To her great surprise, there had even been a faint hint of a smile on his face.
Anna had stared back at him, still unable to fathom the change in his appearance. Without his constant scowl, he was a surprisingly handsome man.
“I just don’t want you to regret your decision, Mr. Wilder.” She’d raised her chin. She’d seen a different side of Ethan Wilder that day than the man he liked to portray to everyone else, and it gave her courage to challenge him. “Like you said, I might be detrimental to your health. You may not live to tell about your adventure.”
He’d stared back for several silent seconds, his eyes sharp and focused on her face, as if he couldn’t comprehend her light-hearted remark. Those eyes had darkened the longer he looked at her, not in anger, but in the same way he’d looked at her when she’d administered the salve on his hand. An inexplicable shiver of pleasure had run down Anna’s spine, leaving her even more unsettled and her mind reeling with thoughts she didn’t understand. Nathaniel and Harley had reached them at that moment, breaking their eye contact.
“You might be right, Miss Porter,” Ethan had said in a low tone. “Guess I’ll just have to keep my wits about me.”
“Wits?” Travis had sauntered their way, glancing suspiciously from his oldest brother to Anna. “Didn’t know you had any.”
Ethan’s scowl had returned as he’d glared at his brother.
“You’d best see to his hand, Trevor,” Anna had quickly interjected, before the brothers’ exchange erupted into a full verbal spat. “It may need a better bandage.” She wouldn’t mention the wounds he’d sustained because of his mishap in the creek in front of everyone. It would have simply raised questions Ethan surely didn’t want to answer, especially with his brothers in attendance.
“You gave us a scare, Anna,” Cora had said. “Caroline came to find me after Ethan set out to look for you. When it started to rain, I almost sent Nathaniel out to look for both of you. Why didn’t you tell us where you were going?”
Anna had shrugged. “I needed some time to myself. I suppose I got lost. I have Ethan to thank for finding me.” She’d smiled at Cora. Her gaze had darted to Ethan for a second and her heart sped up when he’d looked at her. Had that penetrating stare always been there and it was something she’d simply become aware of after what had happened earlier, or was it new? Anna had forced her eyes to Cora again.
“I’d best change out of these clothes. They’re still damp after the rain.” She hadn’t looked back as she’d excused herself and scurried to her cabin.
Cora’s assessment that Ethan was not the kind of man he tried to portray to everyone had become more evident that day. A man who didn’t feel anything or care about anyone wouldn’t have come looking for her when he’d thought she’d been lost, especially when he was still recuperating from his near-poisoning. Clearly, something about his past haunted him enough that he preferred to keep a cold demeanor, even with his family.
He’d returned to his sullen quietness as soon as they’d returned to the cabins. For the next three weeks, he’d been polite whenever they’d crossed paths when everyone took their meals together, or during the few occasions when they’d happened to be in the main cabin at the same time.
She’d caught him looking at her from across the yard a few times, but he’d rarely sought her out to talk to her except to discuss details about the upcoming journey. The day after they’d returned from the woods he’d let her
know again that he wasn’t going back on his word and would take her to Fort Hall. He’d anticipated his hand would take a couple weeks to heal, and if they planned to leave in three weeks, there would be wagon trains arriving at Fort Hall by then, so the timing would be in her favor. Cora had offered her the wagon and her team of mules.
“I can’t accept the wagon,” Anna had quickly declined.
Cora had taken her hand and stared at her in a way that left no room for argument. “You will take the wagon. I have no use for it anymore. And we don’t need the mules, either. Besides, how else are you going to get to Oregon? Your chances of being accepted by one of the wagon outfits will be much greater if they see you have a good rig and team to pull it. At the very least, you might be able to sell them in exchange for passage.”
Anna’s attempt to decline again had been met with a firm finger raised to silence her.
“All right. Perhaps Ethan can bring it back,” she’d mumbled. Arguing with Cora was pointless when she was that set about something. Having a wagon for the journey to Fort Hall had eased her worries of how she would manage to ride a horse the entire time. She’d driven the wagon much of the time last year, and she’d drive it all the way to Oregon if she had to.
After Cora’s announcement that Anna would be taking the rig, Ethan, along with Nathaniel and the twins, had made any necessary repairs to the wagon and gotten it ready for travel.
“Well, I suppose it’s time to go.” Cora sighed next to her in the cabin while Anna still gazed around the small room she’d shared with Caroline and Josie for the last six months. Her pulse increased and she wrung her sweaty palms in front of her. She blinked and mentally shook her head. She had to do this, but would she be as nervous about leaving if Nathaniel escorted her rather than Ethan?
She glanced at her bed in the cabin one last time. It was time to go. She drew in a deep breath and blinked away the sting in her eyes. Her decision not to stay in this wilderness had been made ever since she’d first arrived here last year, and she wasn’t going to back out now.
Anna's Heart (Wilderness Brides Book 2) Page 9
