Bobbi Smith (23 page)

Hawk knew Randi was worried about Jack, and he was, too. He hoped Jack had reached the ranch safely. Right now he knew Wade had no idea whether he’d caught up with Fred and Randi or not. He figured the foreman would be playing it safe, biding his time at the ranch. The danger was going to come when they did return. He would have to be ready.

For now, though, he was just going to wait and watch over Randi. He was going to make sure no harm ever came to her again.

Randi stirred and came awake. For a moment she felt lost and confused by her darkened surroundings. Then she saw Hawk, stretched out on a blanket across the tepee from her, and she relaxed, knowing everything was all right as long as he was there.

Randi was amazed by how much better she felt already. The potion the medicine man had given her to drink had worked. The throbbing in her head had eased greatly, and she could actually move without any agonizing pain or discomfort.

She turned on her side to watch Hawk as he slept. Her gaze traced over his handsome features, the lean line of his jaw, the firm set of his lips, then moved lower to visually caress the broad, hard-muscled strength of his wide shoulders and chest. Hawk was a strong man in both body and soul. He had had to overcome great odds to make his way in the white world, and he had done it. She had never known anyone like him before.

Randi longed to go to him and kiss him again, but she held herself back. Instead she took the time to enjoy the peace and privacy of the moment.

This was Hawk, and he was the man she loved.

Finally, unable to resist the temptation he offered any longer, Randi moved nearer. With great care she leaned over him and pressed her lips to his.

Hawk awakened with a start at her unexpected kiss, but then immediately relaxed, prepared to thoroughly enjoy himself.

“You’re better?” he murmured against the sweetness of her lips.

“Yes, but I thought kissing you might heal me even more,” she told him in a soft, seductive voice.

“I’m no medicine man.”

“Are you sure?” Randi asked invitingly.

Ever so gently, Hawk took her in his arms and drew her down to him. They lay together, her breasts crushed against his chest, her hips nestled against his. They were totally physically aware of each other. Her soft womanly curves fit perfectly against him, and she reveled in that sensual contact.

Hawk kissed her, softly at first, but when he felt her response, he deepened the exchange.

Randi clung to him, returning his kiss with complete abandon.

When at last they broke apart, Hawk smiled at her.

“Do you feel better now?” His voice was husky with desire.

Randi lifted one hand to caress his cheek.

“A little, I think,” she answered, a note of teasing seduction in her voice. “But I think you may need to kiss me again.”

Hawk was more than willing to oblige. He had found his heaven in her embrace. His lips sought hers in a hungry exchange that told her all she needed to know about his feelings for her.

Randi was caught up in the pure delight of his embrace. She wanted him. She needed him. When she’d thought he was dead, her torment had been endless. Now he was here with her, and she knew that nothing else mattered but loving him.

Hawk gloried in the pure pleasure of holding Randi close. She was a firebrand upon him, and he was hard-pressed to control himself. He wanted her desperately. He wanted to love her, to be one with her. He never wanted to let her go.

What little semblance of logic there was left in Hawk warned him to move away from her. He knew he should get up and leave the tepee now, while he still could. Randi was an innocent, and he shouldn’t take advantage of her. Calling on every bit of inner strength he had, he ended the kiss and moved out of her embrace to sit up. He faced away from her, for she was too much of a temptation to him.

“Hawk?” Randi was devastated that he’d stopped kissing her.

“I need to leave you now,” Hawk said, his voice gruff with emotion.

“But why? What’s wrong?” Randi was bereft, believing he didn’t want her.

She sat up, too, confused and hurt by his seeming rejection.

Hawk heard the confusion in her voice, and her true innocence touched him deeply. He managed a wry half smile as he glanced over at her, struggling to bring his raging emotions under some semblance of control.

“I must leave you now, because if I don’t, I will never leave you.”

Suddenly empowered by his confession, Randi smiled seductively back at him. “Don’t ever leave me, Hawk. I want you with me—always and forever.”

She went to him and took his hand to draw him back down upon the blanket with her. She looked up at him with all that she was feeling for him shining in the depths of her gaze. “I love you.”

At her words, the dam of his self-control broke. Hawk kissed her, telling her without words just how much she meant to him, too.

Wrapped in each other’s arms, they shared kiss after passionate kiss. The fire of their desire for each other ignited and flamed out of control.

Caught up in the firestorm of their need, Randi moved instinctively against him.

She wanted him.

She needed him.

She gave herself eagerly over to him.

When Hawk began to caress her, Randi surrendered willingly to his touch. Nothing else mattered but showing Hawk just how much she loved him.

Hawk was lost in the glory of his love for Randi. He began to unbutton her blouse, and she quickly moved to help him. They wanted no barrier between them. They stripped away their clothing and came together. With each kiss and caress, the power of their need for each other grew.

Hawk kissed her hungrily, then trailed arousing kisses down her throat to her breasts. A thrill of excitement trembled through Randi, and she arched against him in love’s age-old offering.

Hawk could wait no longer to be one with her. With utmost care, he moved over her to make her his own. Randi opened to him like a flower to the sun. He sought the sweet depths of her.

Randi gasped as he breached the proof of her innocence.

Hawk went still, fearful that he’d hurt her. He raised his head to gaze down at her.

“I love you,” he told her in a soft voice.

She looked up at him, seeing the man she loved above all others, the man who had rescued her from the horror of her captivity, the man she wanted to be with for all time.

“I love you, too,” Randi returned.

At her words Hawk could no longer deny the need to make her his in all ways. He claimed her lips in a passionate kiss as he began to move deep within her.

Randi held him close and began to move with him. She matched his rhythm and was caught up in the ecstasy of his possession, the heaven of loving Hawk.

Together they sought the perfection that was their love. Each gave totally to the other. They surrendered their hearts and their souls to the promise of endless devotion.

When at last the rapture of their need swept over them, they clung together, one in spirit and one in body. Afterward they lay together quietly, savoring the beauty of what had just passed between them in their loving union.

“I didn’t know it would be so wonderful,” Randi finally whispered to Hawk.

“You’re wonderful,” he said as he raised himself off her and kissed her again.

When the kiss had ended, she gazed up at Hawk, seeing the warrior who had claimed her heart, the man she would love forever.

They passed the night together, holding each other close, never wanting to be separated.

After Jessie, Hawk had believed he would never love again, but Randi had proved him wrong. He loved Randi, and he would never let her go. They would be together always.

Jack had been lying down, resting in his room, when he heard the sound of riders coming in. He got up eagerly, hoping Randi was back. He made his way to look out the window, only to see Wade, Rob, and the others returning. There was no sign of Randi with them.

Jack grew desperate and furious. Though he was still feeling weak, his anger and his concern for his daughter strengthened him. He hurried downstairs and went outside on the porch to watch the riders approach and to wait for them to reach the house.

“What the hell are you doing back here without Randi?” Jack demanded. “Where is she?”

Wade spoke up, “We were on the trail when a bad storm came up. By the time it had stopped raining, their tracks had been washed away. We looked around, but we couldn’t find the trail again.”

“You gave up?”

“There was no trace of their tracks anywhere.”

“So you quit? You just quit? I told you to find my girl!”

“There was nothing more we could do.”

“What about the posse the sheriff sent out?” Jack demanded. “Did you see them? Are they still looking for her?”

“We ran into them on our way back,” Wade told him. “Once we told them what had happened, they turned back, too.”

Jack was beyond fury as he yelled at his men, “Sheriff Johnson was out to see me. He told me he thinks Fred is the one who pulled off the ambush and kidnapped Randi. Now you’re all telling me you aren’t good enough to track down Fred? It looks like it’s going to be up to me to find her. Go on—get out of my sight.” He turned his back on them and started inside.

The men began to ride away, but Rob dismounted and went after Jack.

“Boss, we tried. We really tried,” Rob told him as the others stopped and looked back. They couldn’t believe Rob was trying to reason with the boss. When Jack was like this, they knew there was no talking to him.

Rob faced him on the porch.

“If you tried, you’d have her back here now!” Jack raged. He was ready to ride out after Randi himself. If he had been able to ride with them in the first place, they would never have abandoned the search for her. They would have kept looking no matter how long it took to find her. There could be no quitting where Randi was concerned.

“Boss, we really did do our best,” Rob insisted.

For an instant as Jack glared at him, he saw the look in Rob’s eyes and realized what the ranch hand was doing. He was pushing his point in order to get a private word with him.

“Your best wasn’t good enough, was it?” he snarled, turning his back on Rob and heading inside.

“Boss,” Rob went on, acting as though he was trying to calm Jack as he followed him indoors.

Wade and the other hands were looking on.

“Rob’s fighting a losing battle,” Wade said with a shake of his head.

The men went on out to the stable, leaving Rob behind and thinking him a fool for even trying to talk to Jack in the mood he was in.

Jack stomped back inside the house. He waited until Rob had closed the front door behind him; then he faced the cowboy.

“Let’s go in the study,” Jack directed. His anger had impelled him this far, but his physical weakness finally took its toll. What little strength he had was gone. He grew dizzy and swayed a bit. He reached out to prop himself up. Rob was quickly there at his side to help him.

“Are you all right?” Rob worried.

“Hell, no, I’m not all right. Not as long as Randi’s in danger!” he swore as Rob helped him to sit down at his desk. Once he was seated, he looked up at Rob. “All right—what really happened? Tell me everything.”

Rob quickly described their search.

“What about Wade? Did you keep an eye on him? Did he do anything unusual?”

“Early on, when we first reached Black Canyon, he rode right past the entrance to the secret passageway. I found it easily from your directions, but Wade was leading us, and he just kept riding. I had to call him back and show it to him.”

Jack nodded solemnly. “Go on.”

“Then after the rainstorm hit, he was ready to turn back right away. He didn’t even want to bother to try to look anymore. I argued with him about it and so did some of the other boys. We told him we couldn’t just quit. We told him we had to keep on searching for Randi. We finally convinced him to ride farther out and keep looking. Not that it mattered; we really did lose the trail. The storm was that bad.”

Everything Rob was telling him convinced Jack that Wade was somehow a part of the ambush and kidnapping.

“Is there anything else you can think of that’s gone on lately that seems strange or suspicious?” Jack asked him.

Rob thought for a moment before answering, “The only thing Wade’s done a little different lately was to sneak out to go visit the widow Walker.”

“He did? When?”

“Why, just the other night before all the trouble started. He’s been sweet on her for quite a while, you know. They spent a lot of time together the weekend of the Stampede.”

Jack considered all of what Rob had just told him. He knew Pat. He knew her quite well. She was a lady, and he had serious doubts that she’d be welcoming Wade to her bed any old time he showed up.

“All right, Rob, thanks,” Jack said, his mood serious.

“What are you going to do about Randi? Is there anything more I can do? Anything I can help you with?”

Jack appreciated Rob’s concern. He knew it was real, but he also knew his own limitations. Physically, he wasn’t capable of riding out to search for his daughter yet.

“Just keep the faith that Hawk will find her and bring her home.”

“I will.”

Wilda had heard all the commotion earlier, and she came to check on Jack when she saw Rob leave. She saw how pale and shaken he looked.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Hell, no, I’m not all right!” he snarled. “And I won’t be until Randi’s back here with me safe and sound!”

Jack quickly told the housekeeper what had happened. Gritting his teeth against his own weakness, he got up from his desk and started up to his bedroom to rest for a while.

“Should I send to town for the doc?”

“No, just leave me alone,” he said brusquely.

She knew Jack well enough to take him at his word. She went back to her chores in the kitchen.

Jack made it to his room and lay down. He cursed his situation. He was used to being strong and fit. He was used to taking charge and getting things done. Discovering he wasn’t invincible didn’t sit well with him.

The only comfort Jack had in all his torment was the knowledge that Hawk was still out there searching for Randi.