“Take it while you can,” he warned her. “Trust me, in Sioux country, things will change.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Absolutely.”
He left the room. Skylar was capable of being very quick—and she knew him well enough to take his threats to heart. The road might well be full of hardships, and she was certain she was as prepared for them as she boasted.
In fifteen minutes, she was downstairs with him in perfect repair, even her hair combed and simply tied back at her nape by a scarf. She thought that he might offer a glance of approval. H offered her eggs if she could finish them in another fifteen minutes. She gave him a smile in return, ordered eggs, bacon, ham, biscuits, and grits. She managed to eat somewhat daintily—and finish the entire plate within the time he had allotted her.
“Let’s move. I want to catch up with Willow and Sloan before nightfall.”
“Don’t you have to go for the horses?”
“They’re waiting outside.”
“Our bill?—”
“Is on account. May we leave?”
They rose to leave the Miner’s Well, assuring Mrs. Smith-Soames on their way out that their accommodations had been excellent. Skylar was certain that the woman was still talking to them when Hawk drew her outside, nearly throwing her atop her roan.
“Come on,” he said.
“Damn you, Hawk!” she grated to him. “You’re in the most terrible hurry in the world until you decide to stop. You were rude to that poor woman?—”
“I wasn’t rude. I was on my way.”
Dear God, but he was different by morning. Games were over. Playtime was done. She was furious. She wanted to protest his behavior anew. Now he was like the warrior, the stranger who had abducted her from the stagecoach. His mood and manner were wild.
He could hold her, and she could feel so close to him. So secure.
She could believe that he could keep all monsters at bay.
But now…
She didn’t know him. He was different. He was a different breed.
Before she could offer another protest, though, he gave the roan a slap on the rump and they were suddenly racing out of the raw, tiny village of Gold Town as fast as they had come into it.
She looked back and shivered.
Aware that it was the last of civilization she might see for a very long time.
She was entering a savage land…
With a savage man.
Her husband.
CHAPTER 15
By early afternoon, they caught up with Willow and Sloan.
They didn’t pause long for any greetings but spent the rest of the day riding very hard.
In addition to the horses and the cattle, there was a mule in their traveling party that carried all the equipment they needed to camp out in the hills.
Skylar became acquainted with the stubborn creature not too long after sunset when Hawk and Sloan agreed to stop for the night. They were both familiar with the region, knew right where to find a beautiful, bubbling little brook with flatlands right around it sheltered by low-dipping trees.
