"A growing boy shouldn't drink coffee every day."
"I like coffee," Thad chirped, wiping a milky mustache from his upper lip.
"It's what my pa drinks."
"Fine. But whenever it's available, you should drink milk."
Cole wasn't aware of Jessie's startled look.
What a puzzle he was.
For a moment he almost sounded like a man who cared about such mundane things.
Cole sat on the ground and leaned his back against a saddle.
He wanted to offer a cup of milk to Danny, as well, but hesitated.
The boy was trying so hard to be a man.
All Cole had to do was say the wrong thing and they'd be right back where they'd started.
He accepted a plate of supper from Jessie, then surprised her again by asking for some of the milk.
"Milk? You don't want coffee?"
She'd watched him down gallons of coffee since they'd first met.
"Not when I can have fresh milk?" He drained the cup and turned his attention to Thad." Who milked the cows at home?
"Jessie, mostly. But I helped," the little boy said proudly.
"I'll bet you did."
Cole bit into the tender venison and wondered what Jessie did to make it taste so good.
He'd have to remember to ask her sometime.
"Did you and Danny help your father with the ranch chores?"
"Some. Pa was trying to teach Danny everything he needed to know to run a ranch of his own some day. But Danny'd rather sit under a tree and read his doctoring books."
Thad gave an affectionate glance at his brother and was rewarded with a rare smile from Danny.
It was obvious that the two brothers, so different, shared a bond of love and trust.
"So mostly it fell to Jessie. 'Specially when Pa went to town for supplies. Sometimes he wouldn't come back for a week or more."
Cole glanced at the girl who sat between her two brothers.
She stared pointedly at her plate.
It was obvious she didn't like being the object of discussion.
Cole bit into a warm biscuit.
"Good thing the Comanches didn't know you were alone at your ranch.
Nothing they like better than helpless women and kids."
"Jessie's had dealings with the Comanches," Danny said.
His voice held a note of pride.
Cole's Smile faded.
He turned to study the silent girl.
"What does he mean, 'dealings'? Nobody deals with the Comanches.
They take what they want."
"Not around Jessie."
Danny reached for the pouch and poured himself a cup of milk.
If it was good enough for Cole, he reasoned, it was good enough for him.
Cole pretended not to notice.
Wiping his mouth on his sleeve, Danny added, "The Indians keep a respectable distance from our ranch."
"Why? What hold do you have over the Indians?"
Thad and Danny exchanged a look.
Danny shook his head as if to caution Thad about saying more.
But the little boy loved talking.
Thad grinned.
"The chief of the Comanches wants Jessie for his wife."
"Two Moons?"
Cole was suddenly alert.
"Yeah. Two Moons. How'd you know that?"
Thad asked innocently.
"I know a little about the Comanches."
Cole knew also that Two Moons was shrewd, cunning and ambitious.
He was a chief who answered to no one.
The other tribes in the area feared and respected him.
"He offered Pa a dozen Indian ponies for Jessie."
"A dozen ponies?"
Cole set his plate aside.
With studied casualness, he rolled a cigarette and lifted a flaming stick from the fire.
Inhaling deeply, he tossed the stick on the fire and leaned back.
Through narrowed eyes he said softly, "The Comanches value their horseflesh.
They'd kill a farmer and burn his crops and livestock just to steal his horses.
They would consider it the highest honor to offer twelve in exchange for one wife.
' ' Jessie felt her cheeks burn, but continued to stare at her plate.
Whenever she thought about the Indian chief, she felt a flutter of fear.
He had made it quite clear that one day, either her father would accept his offer, or he would take what he wanted without permission.
Was this the reason she so desperately wanted to find her Pa?
Did she harbor the secret terror that once Two Moons found out that her pa had not returned, he would come to claim what he had already decided was his?
"What did your father say to Two Moons about the offer?"
The girl, he noted, had gone very still, lost in private thoughts.
Eager to share his store of knowledge, Thad chattered like a magpie.
"Pa told him he needed Jessie to help with the ranch. So Two Moons offered Pa a squaw to replace her. But Pa said he wasn't interested."
Danny stood.
From his agitation, Cole realized that the boy knew much more than he let on.
More than his innocent younger brother, who expressed no fear as his words tumbled out.
"You didn't finish your supper," Jessie called to her brother's retreating back.
"I'm not hungry."
Danny disappeared over the ridge, heading toward the creek.
"Can I go with him?"
Thad mopped up the last of his gravy with a biscuit and handed his tin plate to his sister.
"I guess so."
e took the plate from his hands and stood.
As the little boy disappeared from the circle of light, Jessie plunged the plates into a bucket of water over the fire, deliberately keeping her back to Cole.
When her brothers were around, she felt easy enough in Cole's company.
But when they were alone, she felt clumsy and awkward.
His voice was low, blending with the sounds of the night.
"Would you ever consent to be the bride of Two Moons?"
"Not if I get a choice."
She bit off the words.
Now why should that statement please him?
He released a sigh and watched her stiff angry movements as she washed the dishes and dried them.
"Have you told your father how you feel?"
She turned.
Cole's face was in shadow, outside the circle of firelight.
In the darkness she saw the red glow of his fig-arette, then smelled the hot acrid smoke as it dissipated into the night ak.
"Pa said not to worry. He'd find me a husband when it was time."
He noticed that she avoided answering with a simple yes or no.
"Whose time? Yours? Or your pa's?"
He saw the way her eyes rounded before narrowing in anger.
Apparently he'd hit a nerve.
"My pa wouldn't sell me for a dozen Indian ponies."
"And a squaw," Cole added softly.
"Not even for two or three squaws. He gets along just fine with what he has. I can do the work of any squaw."
His voice, coming out of the darkness, sent a shiver of fear along her spine: "There are things a squaw can do that a daughter can't."
With great effort she lifted the kettle from the fire and dumped the contents into the nearby grass.
In the darkness Cole could hear the hiss as hot water met cool earth.
He broke the uncomfodable silence.
"We could have used that Water."
She shot an angry look in his direction, then Picked up the empty bucket and swung away.
"I'll go to the creek and get more."
"Jessie."
Before she took three steps, Cole was at her side.
With a hand at her shoulder, he stopped her.
"I understand your need to be busy."
His voice was deep, s
oothing.
"No, you don't. You don't understand anything."
She tried to pull away, but was no match for his strength.
"Did your father say that when he returned he was going to find you a husband7" She felt her heart contract.
She lowered her head, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Pa warned me that if I waited much longer, I'd be too old to be worth anything to a man."
As Cole opened his mouth to speak, she looked up and said quickly, "But he promised me that as long as he was around to protect me, he wouldn't let Two Moons have me unless I agreed."
And now it was out.
The truth.
The terrible, awful truth.
If her father never came back, she would be at the mercy of the Comanches.
And for the sake of her brothers, she knew what she would have to do.
"Do the Comanches know?"
"That Pa's gone?"
She nodded her head.
"They came by after Pa left on the drive. I told them that unless they left us alone, I'd tell Pa, and Two Moons would never get his chance to have me."
"What did they say?"
He felt her shiver.
She stared down at the ground.
"Two Moons said that until my pa returned, my brothers and I were under his protection."
"And you trust him?"
She looked up into his eyes and nodded.
"I have no choice. Besides, he's never broken his word-to us. I figured that Danny and Thad would be safe while I was gone. The Comanches would never disobey their chief."
"Maybe."
Cole's eyes narrowed.
"But the Comanches could decide to take all of you into their tribe in order to keep you safe."
"Would they do that?"
He shrugged.
"You've had dealings with the Comanches?"
He laughed low and deep in his throat.
"Enough."
When he offered no explanation, she took a step back.
"I'll get the water now."
He took the bucket from her hands.
"I'll carry it. From what Thad said, you've had your fill of chores.
Sounds to me like your ranch would fall apart without you."
"We all do our share."
She walked along beside him, matching her steps to his.
"Some people always seem to carry a bigger load than others."“ I don't mind hard work.
Ma used to say, 'It isn't hard, it's just life.
To survive, we all do the necessary.
'" Cole smiled at her words." You seem to do more than the necessary.
"Pa has a lot on his mind, with Ma dead, and the herd straying, and the ranch needing so much of his time. I don't mind being needed."
"Neither does a pack mule. Unless he's pushed beyond his limit.
Then he just sits down in the middle of the trail and refuses to go another step."
"I'm not a pack mule."
"Sounds like someone forgot to tell your father."
Bristling, she stopped and balled her hands into fists at her sides.
"Stop blaming Pa.
And don't believe everything Thad says.
He's just too little to understand.
The chores I do around the ranch are the same things everybody else does.
"I don't know too many women who'd willingly take on all the things you do."
"And I'm sure you know lots of women."
In the moonlight, her eyes blazed.
"I've known enough."
His voice had grown dangerously soft.
"I suppose all the women you know wear frilly dresses, and their hands are soft, and they smell good."
"Some of them."
Standing this close to Jessie, he couldn't remember a single one.
She felt a shaft of pain in her heart.
What did she know about being a woman?
Look at her.
She wore her brother's clothes, and her hands were rough and callused, and she smelled of sweat and horses.
Some of the pain was evident in her voice.
"Maybe Pa's right. Maybe I ought to consider Two Moons' offer."
She gave a hollow laugh.
"It's probably the only one I'll ever get."
He let out a hiss of anger.
"Don't sell yourself short, Jessie."' She felt the sting of his hot breath against her cheek. i Before she could react to his angry outburst, he tossed the bucket aside and framed her face with his big hands. Her eyes widened at the intimate contact.
"You're some kind of .woman, Jessie."
He lowered his face until their mouths were touching.
She felt his breath warm, and his lips moist, as he breathed.
"Some kind of beautiful, desirable woman."
For a moment she went rigid, letting the words he'd just whispered wash over her.
The mere touch of him left her paralyzed.
But as his lips closed over hers, her body refused her commands.
Her arms slid around his waist.
She clung to him, thrilling to his lean muscled strength.
This time he wasn't gentle.
His kisses weren't tender.
His kisses took her on a wild ride of emotions, by turn soaring through the skies, then plummeting wildly to earth.
Her heart had become a tumbleweed, churning inside her breast as if it would break loose and fly away.
"Cole."
She meant to push away, but when he lifted his head, she found herself drawing him closer.
He loved the sound of his name on her lips.
Her voice was soft, breathy.
It was the kind of voice that a man dreamed of on long lonely nights beneath the stars.
He kissed the corner of her lips and laughed when she tried to draw his mouth back to hers.
Instead he pressed kisses to her cheek, her temple, the tip of her nose.
When she closed her eyes, he pressed his lips to her lids and felt the soft flutter of her lashes against his skin.
"You taste so good, Jessie."
His lips plundered her mouth, taking the kiss deeper, then deeper still, until both of them were lost in it.
His hands moving along her spine were so strong.
And yet they caressed with a tenderness that surprised her.
She leaned into him, loving the way his body seemed to mold itself to her softness.
As his lips moved over hers, his tongue invaded the intimacy of her mouth.
After a moment's hesitation, she followed his lead.
He tasted dark and mysterious, with a flavor like nothing she had ever known before.
His mouth was tempting.
Too tempting.
With great effort she pushed away, taking in great gulps of air.
"I need more of you, Jessie."
He dragged her against him and run openmouthed kisses along the sensitive hollow of her neck.
He felt her tremble and knew that he needed to go slowly.
But needs, hard driving needs, made him bolder.
His mouth moved lower to the soft swell of her breast.
He heard her suck in her breath.
Her hands pushed against his shoulders, straining to break contact.
"What's wrong?"
His words were whispered against her throat.
"You--shouldn't touch me like that."
She was surprised at how difficult it was to speak.
"It's how a man wants to touch a woman, Jessie."
His hands gripped her shoulders, drawing her so close she could feel the imprint of his hard body on hers.
"It's how I want to touch you. Like this."
He pressed his lips to her throat, then lower until his lips encountered the hardness of her taut nipple through the rough fabric of her shirt.
She gasped as spasms jolted through her body.
Somewhere deep inside she felt a tightening, as though her entire body w
as being pulled by strings.
Strings controlled by Cole's lips and fingertips.
She knew she should end this now, before it went any further.
But never, never had she felt such needs.
Needs that clouded her mind, took over 'her reason.
Cole was stunned at the depth of his passion.
He'd intended merely to comfort her.
But the minute she was in his arms, the minute he'd tasted her lips, he'd lost control.
He wanted her.
God in heaven, how he wanted her.
But a voice in some dark corner of his mind called out a warning.
It was too soon.
He was taking this innocent too far, too fast.
He lifted his head and pressed one last kiss to her mouth.
He felt her breath tumble from her lips and mingle with his.
With his hands on her shoulders, he forced himself to lift his head and take a step back.
Feeling strangely disoriented, Jessie struggled to stand very still.
Gradually the ground beneath her feet settled, becoming firm once more.
Slowly, ever so slowly, her ragged breathing became steady.
When she was certain she could speak, she said, "I'll let you get the water. I think I'll be safer back at camp."
He caught her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his steady gaze.
"You won't be safe from me anywhere, Jessie."
At his words she felt a little thrill.
Fear?
Or anticipation?
Without another word she turned and made her way back to the camp fire.
He watched as she bent to pour a cup of coffee.
Then he picked up the fallen bucket and headed toward the creek.
He was sweating, he noted, and it wasn't because of the heat of the night.
Chapter Nine
Cole was still smiling as he headed into the darkness toward the creek.
The bucket swung in loose easy movements by his side.
He was thinking about Jessie, about the way she tasted fresh and slightly wicked.
And about the way she felt in his arms, soft, so damned soft.
It would be easier if he quit fighting these feelings for her and just accepted them.
If they just gave in to the temptation to love, all the tension between them would dissolve.
He thought about lying with her in the tall cool prairie grass.
A frown touched his lips.
Once wouldn't be enough.
Or twice.
He knew, just from the way she tasted, that he'd never have enough of a woman like Jessie.
She'd take him clear over the top of a mountain and send him soaring through space.
Texas Heart Page 11
