Apache-Colton Series

by Janis Reams Hudson

  “Having a good time?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes. It’s a wonderful night.”

  Her smile lit her face with an inner glow, and Travis was unable to stop himself from reaching for her hand. He wanted her. It stunned him how badly. Wanted her here, now, always. “Walk with me?” he asked softly.

  When she stood, he placed her hand on his arm and led her around the vine-covered trellis and out of the courtyard. The air was fresh and clean, and as the music faded with the increasing distance, frogs and crickets sent up their own nighttime chorus beneath the cottonwood trees, only to hush when the humans intruded into their domain.

  They stopped beneath the branches of a huge old cottonwood at the edge of the creek. “I hear from Matt you plan on leaving tomorrow,” Travis said softly.

  “It’s time.” Daniella, too, spoke quietly, afraid to disturb the peacefulness in the air. Inside, she was anything but quiet. Her heart pounded so hard she was afraid he would hear. Would he kiss her? Please, Travis, kiss me.

  “Is there any way I can convince you to stay longer, until you’re fully recovered?”

  “I am recovered, Travis.” She looked up into his face, and his eyes seemed like black pools. Moonlight flickered through the leaves of the tree, sprinkling his golden hair with silver patches. She held her breath as he leaned forward, and his lips finally touched hers. The sensations aroused by his nearness and the warmth of his mouth were exquisite.

  “Dani,” he whispered roughly against her lips. His arms came around her and urged her closer, his kiss deepening as his breathing became ragged.

  Travis pulled her unresisting body fully against his own and felt the roundness of her stomach, but her breasts pressing against his chest overwhelmed all other thoughts, and he moaned deep in his throat. He’d wanted this for so long.

  When her mouth went slack beneath his, he wasted no time in invading that soft warm cavern with his tongue, taking her breath away. Slowly, shyly, her tongue met his. His heartbeat increased. His arms held her even tighter.

  Suddenly Daniella panicked. She was suffocating! His two arms became a dozen in her mind, tearing at her, pulling her down. She knew it wasn’t happening, but was powerless to stop the terror engulfing her. Dark leering faces swam before her closed eyes. She struggled to free herself from imagined horrors.

  Travis felt her body stiffen against his, felt her pushing him away. Not understanding what was happening, he held her even tighter, pressing her against the tingling warmth in his groin.

  Daniella felt that part of a man she had learned to fear rise up and harden against her. Sheer terror gripped her. She tore her mouth free. “No! No!” she cried hysterically, struggling to free herself completely.

  The terror in her voice penetrated the fog of lust enshrouding Travis’s brain and cooled him as effectively as a bucket of cold water. He loosened his grip and she tore herself away and tried to run, but tripped on the hem of her dress and fell to the ground.

  “Dani!” he cried. When he knelt beside her and reached for her, she tried to scramble away. “No, Dani…I won’t hurt you.” He managed to wrap his arms around her shuddering form and held her still. “Shh…it’s all right, Dani…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He tried to comfort her with words the same way he had when she was delirious with fever a few days ago.

  Daniella took in great gulps of air and finally realized where she was and who she was with. She went limp in his arms.

  “Are you all right now?” he asked tenderly, smoothing a stray curl from her face.

  She nodded, unable to speak, and pulled herself free of his warm, comforting embrace. She rose and rubbed her arms to ward off the sudden chill.

  “I’m sorry, Dani. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “I know that. It wasn’t your fault.” She was still shaken. Her voice quivered with emotion.

  “Look at me,” he insisted. Travis tilted her head up. Her eyes, silver in the moonlight, were full of pain and despair. “I’m sorry. It was my fault. I should have remembered…” He took a deep breath and silently cursed himself for a fool. “Come on. It’s late and you’re tired. I’ll see you to your room.”

  Daniella voiced no objections as he led her back to the house. They walked side by side, each with similar troubled thoughts. Avoiding the courtyard, Travis took her back to her room. He whispered a tender good night and placed a fleeting kiss on her brow before leaving her at the door.

  Was she destined to humiliate herself in front of him every time they were together? First her disreputable clothes, then her nightmares on the trail, the time she’d broken down and cried all over him, the trouble in town, morning sickness from her detestable condition, and now this. Lord, what must he think?

  As tired as she was, she refused to sleep that night. After acting like a maniac over a simple kiss, she had no intention of waking the entire household in the middle of the night with screams. She’d been lucky so far. No nightmares had plagued her during her recovery. She didn’t intend they start now.

  She changed into her borrowed nightgown and paced the length of the room and back for hours. As dawn lightened the sky, she dressed in more borrowed clothes—an embroidered skirt and white blouse, and waited until time to go to breakfast.

  When voices carried down the hall and she was sure the household was awake, she opened the door and stepped out into the darkened hall, only to stop short at the sight that greeted her.

  Two doors down, Carmen stood in front of her open bedroom wearing a pale, thin nightgown, her arms wrapped around Travis’s broad shoulders, her lips pressed tight against his mouth. Travis’s hands gripped Carmen’s bare shoulders.

  “Mi quierdo,” Carmen whispered harshly against his lips. Holding her breath lest she make a sound, Daniella moved silently back into her room and closed the door. She leaned back against it and let out her breath. A trembling seized her from head to toe. To see him in the arms of another woman was more painful than anything she could imagine.

  But she wasn’t really surprised by what she’d seen. Carmen was a beautiful, desirable woman who undoubtedly knew how to please a man. Daniella would bet her last pound of sugar that Carmen didn’t panic in his arms and try to run away. No, she invited him with her hot, black eyes and soft, red lips. She wasn’t afraid of men.

  And she didn’t have a hideous streak of white in her hair, either. Nor was she looked upon with pity and scorn for carrying a half-breed bastard in her womb.

  Of course Travis would prefer Carmen. What man wouldn’t? Swamped by despair, Daniella moved to the bed and sat down.

  Her original idea of going east to have the child now took on a note of desperate importance. She’d go immediately. As soon as she figured out how to get to the nearest stage.

  She waited a few minutes, then, with every ounce of courage she possessed, she opened the door a crack and checked the hall. It was empty. Relief flooded her. As quietly as possible, she avoided the front of the house and slipped out the back way. She met Tucker and Simon as they came out of the barn, where they’d slept.

  In as few words as possible, she told them she was heading home immediately. Tucker studied her sharply for a moment, then gave a jerky nod of his gray head and started hitching the team to the wagon.

  “What about the boys?” he asked.

  Damn. She’d forgotten about them. She couldn’t very well leave them with Travis. Taking them home complicated her plans for going back east. Yet what choice did she have? Rescuing them had been her idea, so they were her responsibility. “They’re coming with us.”

  Travis took his place at the head of the table and reached for the cup of coffee next to his plate. It was the closest thing at hand to wash the taste of Carmen’s kiss from his lips.

  He wanted to swear. He wanted to hit something. A man his age should be flattered when a beautiful woman accosted him—that was the only way he could describe what Carmen had done a few minutes ago in the hall—she’d accosted him.
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br />   But damn, he wasn’t flattered. He was disgusted. And angry. To have the bittersweet memory of Dani’s eager, inexperienced response last night—eager at least until her mind had played tricks on her—overshadowed by Carmen’s unwelcome attentions made him madder than hell.

  His desire for Dani was growing into a gnawing hunger. He felt a smile starting. He’d just have to wipe out Carmen’s kiss with another one from Dani.

  After breakfast he’d get her alone in his study on some pretext or another. Only this time he’d go slowly and not scare the wits out of her. He nodded to himself. It was an excellent idea. Right after breakfast.

  So where was she? Dani should have been here by now. She was an early riser, he knew. Matt, too, was late. Were the two of them together? As if thinking of his son conjured him up, Matt walked in just then and took his place at the table. With eyes lowered, the boy started filling his plate.

  “Good morning, son.”

  Matt heaved a sigh and picked at his food. “Morning.”

  “Why the long face?”

  Matt kept his gaze on his plate and sighed again. “I just wish Dani didn’t have to go, that’s all. And I wish she didn’t have to take Shanta and Chee with her.”

  “We haven’t decided what to do about Shanta and Chee yet. There’s no need to worry about it so soon.”

  Matt’s head snapped up. His wide brown eyes settled on Travis. “Well somebody decided, cuz she took ‘em home with her.”

  “What are you talking about?” It was a stupid question, because Travis already knew the answer. Dani was gone. That’s why she wasn’t at breakfast. She was upset about last night, so she left. Without a word. Damn it.

  “I’m talking about Dani. Her and Tucker and Simon and Shanta and Chee left.”

  Travis let out the breath he’d been holding. His gaze caught Jason’s frown, and for a brief instant, a look of smug satisfaction in Carmen’s eyes. “When?” he asked Matt.

  “A few minutes ago.”

  “Did you see her? Did she say anything?”

  Matt shrugged. “She just said she was all well now and it was time to go home. I wish she’d stayed.”

  Me too, son. What he wanted to do was ride after her and bring her back. She had no business going home now, with a child on the way and only Tucker and Simon to help her.

  It was all he could do to keep from jumping up, riding after her, and bringing her back. But knowing Dani, bring isn’t what he’d have to do to get her back here. He’d have to drag her.

  And after last night, she’d probably shoot him before she let him get near her.

  No, he couldn’t go after her. Not now. He’d give her a day or two, then he’d pay a visit.

  Damn, but it wasn’t like her to sneak out without a word. She might be upset about last night, might even be a little afraid of him because of what happened, but she was no coward. So what had sent her running?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Carmen knew she couldn’t just prance her horse down the middle of Tucson asking everyone she met if he knew Billy Joe Crane. Word would surely get back to Travis if she did something so bold and foolish. And Travis must never know.

  So she skirted the edge of town and came up behind a row of four crumbling adobe huts where a group of children played. For a silver dollar, the oldest boy agreed to find out if Crane was in town and if so, to bring him to Carmen.

  Dios, it was hot. She tugged at the high neck of her blue velvet riding habit. It was most certainly too hot for velvet, but one must dress properly for each occasion. And if she was right, this meeting with the gringo named Crane, the one who had reason to hate the Blackwood bitch nearly as much as Carmen did, would be one of the most important occasions in her life. Daniella must leave the territory. And if the girl was reluctant, Carmen was counting on Crane to persuade her.

  The scant shadow behind the adobes, where Carmen sought what relief there was from the unrelenting desert sun, grew several inches longer before she saw the boy returning. She pursed her lips at the sight of the man with him.

  She’d known, of course, that Crane was a gringo, but not that he was quite so unkempt, so big, or so dirty. As he came closer, she added, or so stupid looking.

  “Boy, if you’re aleadin’ me down the garden path, I’ll bust your backside,” the redheaded giant threatened.

  “No, señor, see? Aquí, aquí.”

  Crane paused a moment. His eyes raked her from head to toe.

  Curious eyes, narrowed in thought. Or just against the glare of the sun? No, Carmen thought. He’s not stupid at all. An unexpected shiver of excitement slithered down her spine.

  When he and the boy stood before her, she tossed the boy his promised dollar. “Gracias, muchacho. Run along.”

  The boy let out a whoop of delight and caught the shiny coin in the air. He spun on his bare heel and ran off toward his friends.

  Carmen and Crane stood staring at each other. “You are the one called Billy Joe Crane?”

  He snorted. “Who wants to know?”

  She stood beside her horse and trailed a gloved hand along the animal’s neck. “I am Carmen Martinez. I understand you have a…shall we say a quarrel with a certain young lady who does not like trespassers on her property, and who has a fondness for young Apache boys.”

  Crane angled his head and looked at her with one eye. “Could be.”

  “I, too, have a quarrel with the girl. Is there a place we can go, a place that is private, where we can talk?”

  A slow grin disturbed one side of his bushy red beard. “Private? Sure.”

  He took the reins and led her horse behind the last adobe, there tying it to a low clump of brush. Carmen was both surprised and amused when he extended his arm in a semblance of gentlemanly conduct and escorted her across the cracked, sunbaked ground. They went up an alley, cut between two squat, crumbling houses, and up a rickety set of stairs to a dark, musty room.

  The only window was covered by a moth eaten blanket. A small table, held upright by three legs and a rusted rifle barrel, bearing a mismatched pitcher and bowl with matching cracks, stood next to an ancient, stained feather tick spread out on the floor. The rest of the room, barely enough space for the two of them to stand, was empty.

  “Now,” Crane said, “what’s on your mind, señorita?”

  “I will be blunt with you, Señor Crane. I want to get rid of the girl. I think, perhaps, you want the same thing.”

  The man scratched at his beard with a beefy, work hardened hand and moved to lean against the wall. With the toe of his boot, he kicked the door closed. The only light left was a few narrow beams coming through the moth holes of the blanket over the window, and a narrow crack around the door.

  “What’d ya have in mind?”

  “Well.” Carmen licked her lips and strolled the cramped confines of the room, sending her velvet clad hips swaying. “I’m not really sure. All I care about is that she leave the territory.”

  “Why? Why do you want her gone?”

  “She is an obstacle. I want her removed. She is too close to the Triple C and its owner.”

  “You mean Colton.”

  “Yes. I mean Colton. Travis belongs to me, and I intend to marry him. But the girl and her problems have distracted his attention.”

  Crane did nothing but look at her. She forced herself to relax her hands to keep from fidgeting under his steady regard.

  “So why’d ya come to me with your story?”

  She tossed her head and gave him a slight smile. “I understand you’re a prospector, that you occupied El Valle de Esperanza for some time. Did you find anything worthwhile there? Perhaps you would like a longer look?”

  His eyes narrowed to slits. “Meaning?”

  So. She had his interest. There was something in the little valley he wanted. “I propose we strike a bargain, you and I. If you get rid of the girl, run her off her land and out of the territory, I will marry Travis Colton and ensure that you have no trouble from the Triple C wh
en you take over El Valle.”

  “What makes you think I want El Valle?”

  Carmen let her eyes roam over the massive size of him suggestively. She didn’t need to feign interest when her gaze settled on the telltale bulge in the front of his pants. That tingling excitement that struck her when she first saw the spread of his shoulders rose to a fever pitch. He was huge and strong, and had a look about him suggesting meanness, even a hint of cruelty. Her smile widened.

  “Come now, señor. A man like you would not distance himself from the excitement and…pleasures…to be found in town, not without a reason. A very good reason. I think perhaps you found something in that valley that interested you. I care not what it is. Whatever you find is yours. All I want is for you to get rid of the girl. Are you interested?”

  She let her gaze drift slowly down his body again, deliberately lingering on the very real evidence of his interest. She felt her breasts swell in response.

  “I could be, if you’d be willin’ to, ah, sweeten the pot a mite.”

  Reluctantly, she pulled her gaze back up to his face. Her tongue came out slowly and stroked her upper lip. When his eyes widened and his breath grew ragged, she dropped her gaze again and gasped. He had to be near bursting! She felt her knees go weak as moisture pooled in heated desire between her legs.

  Being deliberately provocative, she slowly pulled the gloves from her hands and let them drop to the rough plank floor. “What,” she said, her voice suddenly husky, “did you have in mind?”

  With a low growl, Crane sprang forward. “This.” One huge paw grabbed her breast and squeezed. Carmen made no pretense about not wanting him. This was no time to be coy. She’d been too long without a man.

  Daniella sat sideways on the bed, feet stretched out in front of her, and leaned back against the cool adobe wall. She stared out the window across the room, determining the window’s location by its different shade of black from the wall surrounding it. A cricket chirruped somewhere just outside.