He wondered whether Randall knew who was causing him problems.Rafe was not ready to reveal himself, for then Randall might turn more cautious.
Another reason he couldn’t let the woman go.Yet.
He lowered himself to the ground.He would let her sleep.
Shea opened her eyes and shivered slightly.A cool breeze had replaced the warmth of the sun, only a portion of which still remained above the western peaks.Pines were swaying slightly above her.The sky directly overhead was still vivid blue, but at the crest of the mountains it was streaked with crimson and violet.Wispy clouds now took on robes of scarlet.For a moment she was enraptured with the peace of it.And then her gaze shifted to Rafe Tyler, and she remembered everything.
He was sitting cross-legged, like an Indian, and he was as still as one.But his glance went quickly to her, as though he sensed immediately when she’d awakened.
He put a gloved finger to his lips and rose soundlessly, making his way over to her and offering his hand.She hesitated, and his eyes narrowed.He shook his head in warning, and she knew he was telling her to obey and be silent.Reluctantly, she reached out and took the hand, realizing as she did so that much of her reluctance resulted from the tingling that ran throughout her body whenever he was close.
Even through that leather glove, his hand seemed to burn her as he helped her off the rock, led her along the pool, and up an embankment to another group of rocks.He stopped and motioned for her to lie flat on the ground, then took a similar position beside her.She followed his gaze toward the pool and waited.She knew there was a reason for this, just as there seemed to be a reason for everything he did.She didn’t know how long they waited.The birds continued to warble, a squirrel chased another, leaping across trees.And then she saw them: a black bear approaching the pool, followed by a frolicking cub.
The bear seemed hesitant, standing up on two back legs and sniffing the air cautiously; it waited a moment, then grunted and waded into the pool, staring intently into the water.Shea watched as the bear, one moment so still, suddenly jerked its paw with a speed Shea could barely comprehend, and a fish came flying out of the water, landing directly in front of the cub, which proceeded to play with it before gobbling it up.Three more fish emerged from the pool in the same quick sequence of motions, the big bear keeping the last two for its own dinner.
Both bear and cub then drank from the pool, rolled contentedly in the dirt, and lazily sauntered off.
Rafe waited for several minutes, then sat, a slight smile on his lips.He was very attractive that way, Shea observed, much more so than when he wore his usual sneer.
Shea wondered if she was as wide-eyed as she felt.“Didn’t they know we were here?”
“I come here often.They’re used to my scent,” he explained.“I’ve watched them several other times, sometimes even closer.”He was quiet for a moment, then added, “I think they know when someone wishes them no harm.”
Shea felt disquieted.It seemed as if he were trying to reassure her in a certain way and, in doing so, was revealing something of himself he usually kept private.She didn’t like the sudden warmth that stole into her, the liking she felt toward him.How could she?An outlaw.A convict who had made no secret of his bitter quest for revenge.
She turned away, trying to hide her eyes from him.He always seemed to see too much.After a moment of silence she’d sorted her feelings back to where they should be.She swallowed, trying to think of something to say to break the tense silence between them, and turned back to him.“The cub is … enchanting.”
He nodded.“But don’t ever try to approach it.Mother bears are notorious about protecting their young ones.Just one of the dangers in these woods.”
A warning again.
“I’ve never seen a bear catch a fish before.”
“There’s some deer that water here too,” he said.“Even some fawns, but they usually visit around dawn.”
For an instant she forgot she was his captive and he her captor, and exclaimed, “Can we come and watch?”
She saw a muscle flex in his cheek.He hesitated, then nodded, his eyes showing the first warmth she had seen, but it disappeared so quickly, she wondered whether she imagined it.
He stood and turned away, this time not offering his hand but obviously expecting her to follow.Shea stood, brushing away dirt and leaves from her clothes, and retrieved her sketchpad from where she had left it next to the rock.
He was several feet ahead now.Disappointed and angry, she trailed behind him.He had seemed so human for a moment, so approachable, so … attractive, and then he’d turned back into a relentless outlaw, expecting her to be at his heels like a trained dog.
He kept doing that to her.Disarming her with a small slice of magic and then rebuffing her as if she were lower than a … a slug.All his contradictions confused her, that appreciation of animals and his hate for Jack Randall; his tolerance for her, and then his rejection.She didn’t understand any of it, and she hated him for the constant turmoil it created in her.
She should hate him.Shedidhate him, she told herself as she struggled to keep up with his long strides, resenting with every step the fact that another emotion also simmered deep inside her.
Clint Edwards carefully adjusted his string tie and ran a hand through his dark hair.
He wasn’t sure going to the dance this evening was a wise idea, but then he had never been cautious.Living from day to day had become a way of life.
But since he had met Kate Dewayne, he had occasional thoughts that some peace might be nice for a change.
Courting the sheriff’s daughter was not a way to accomplish that particular goal.Anycourting now was definitely not wise.He had been playing with fire since he joined the Union Army twelve years ago, but now he was jumping in the middle of it, just begging to be consumed.
But like a moth, he couldn’t keep away.
Pretty Kate.
