It seeped through her chemise, wetting her thoroughly. She stirred.
“Theodosia,” Roman said loudly, patting her cheek. “For God’s sake, wake up! Open your eyes! Look at me, Theodosia.”
Consciousness returned to her in fragments. A deep but distant voice came to her first, followed by the feeling of being wet and cold. She began to notice a pounding ache in her head and extreme soreness near her temple.
Eventually, she felt something big and warm next to her right side. A beat sounded in her right ear, a rhythmic noise she soon recognized as a heartbeat. Someone was holding her.
She couldn’t find the strength to open her eyes. Lying in the dark, she tried to understand what had happened and who was holding her. She remembered the sound of gunfire and feeling afraid and disoriented. Someone…a man had shouted her name. Beyond that, she couldn’t remember anything.
The beat next to her ear increased in tempo, sounding through her mind almost like a drum roll. The deep voice came to her again. Strong, long arms tightened around her.
“Roman.”
She’d yet to open her eyes, but when she whispered his name, Roman knew she was coming around. He continued to pat her cheek. “Wake up, sweetheart.”
The endearment escaped before he thought to say it.Sweetheart?he repeated silently. He’d never called a woman by that name in all his life! “All right,” he barked down at her, “enough is enough. Wake up!”
She opened her eyes and saw two Romans staring down at her. Blinking, she tried to adjust her vision, but a long moment passed before she could see clearly.
Roman’s eyes were the first part of him she saw. Chips of clear blue sky, she thought, managing a small smile and then looking at his mouth.
Her smile faded. If his lips were any indication, he was in a terrible frame of mind. “Roman? What hap—”
“Just be still,” he gritted out. “Don’t talk.”
“But I only want to—”
“You knocked yourself unconscious.” Now that he had proof that she would be all right, anger began to take the place of apprehension. “But first you left your bodyguard asleep in Singing Creek. Then you traveled alone all night. Of course, you had to pick amoonlessnight, so that your trail would be next to impossible to find. Then you tied your horse to a sapling as round as my toe and didn’t unhitch him from the wagon. You then went to sleep under the buckboard without bothering to make a campfire. After all that, you almost became breakfast for a damned pack of wolves, which had no reason to fear coming near to you because you didn’t make a fire. That’s when you finally knocked yourself unconscious. Best as I can figure, you sat up while you were under the wagon and hit your head.”
Her head reeling, she needed almost five whole minutes to understand completely. “But you called me sweetheart.”
He frowned. So she’d heard that, had she? Damn her! “What’s that got to do with—”
“How is it possible for you to think of me as a sweetheart and then be so angry with me?”
Gently, he laid her on the ground and rose to his feet. “I didn’t mean to call you sweetheart, got that? It—it’s one of those worried words. Those stupid words people say when they’re nervous. Well, hell, Theodosia, you had passed out, and you wouldn’t wake up! The word just slipped out. That’s all there is to it, so forget I ever said it.”
A shiver passed through her, causing her to realize she was wet and partially unclothed. Indeed, her bosom was clearly visible through the clinging chemise. “You pulled my dress down.”
He saw suspicion floating in her huge brown eyes. “Yeah, and then I ravished you. I’m wanted in five states for violating unconscious women.” He stalked toward the wagon to retrieve the Colt he’d thrown at the wolf. God, to think he’d thrown one of his precious weapons at a damned wolf! He’d never committed such an atrocity in all his days of carrying a gun.
And all because of a woman.A woman!Mumbling profanities, he reloaded both weapons and took one to Theodosia. “The last time you ate was yesterday at the fair. You need something in your stomach, or you’re going to get dizzier. I’m going hunting. I won’t be far, and while I’m gone, stay exactly where you are. If anything happens, fire two shots into the air. You do know how to shoot a gun, don’t you?”
She cocked the revolver, pointed the gun toward the sky, and pulled the trigger.
In the next moment, a slender branch fell on top of her, causing her to shriek with surprise.
Shaking his head, Roman left to find breakfast.
When he returneda shortwhile later, Theodosia was fast asleep. Her hand on her chest, she still held the gun, pointing it directly at her face.
“Oh, of all the…” Roman muttered, taking the gun and stuffing it back into his belt. “You don’t have the sense God gave a hammer.”
The smell of food soon awakened Theodosia. Opening her eyes, she saw Roman stirring a pot over the fire. “What are you making?”
“Soup. We’ve got provisions in the wagon, but nothing I can make fresh soup out of. I doubt you can keep down much more than this.”
Holding the side of her head, Theodosia sat up. A moment passed before the pain subsided sufficiently for her to speak. “What kind of soup is it?”
