Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (19 page)

He could claim ignorance of her all he
wanted to. The years may have passed, but she was still Celia.
She’d come to him and offered him a gesture of appreciation, a gift
of thanks and what had he done? He’d almost forced himself on her.
Damn him!

Seth drank deep from the whiskey in his
glass while his mind ran along a path he was pretty sure he’d
regret. He wanted her. It shouldn’t come as a shock after all, she
was a beautiful woman. But the timing couldn’t be worse.

***

When the knock came at the door, Celia
jolted. “Who is it?”

“
Seth. May I come
in?”

Celia rubbed her damp palms across the
front of her skirt. “Yes.”

He looked like a clean cowboy now.
Having donned a fresh pair of pants and a white cotton shirt
hanging un-buttoned, Seth padded in on bare feet. The dark hair she
could see on his chest still glistened with tiny droplets of water.
She unwittingly followed the trail of dark hair to where it
disappeared below his pants riding low on narrow hips. Celia
swallowed hard.

Seth reached for the back of his neck
and rubbed. His grin was crooked before he flicked a glance at her
and blew out a breath.

She watched as he hooked his thumbs in
his front pockets and glanced around uneasily.

“
I wanted to apologize for
what happened in my room a while ago. I got a little carried away.
It would seem, when I’m around you, I lose my head
completely.”

Celia’s own heated emotions
cooled as if he’d thrown cold water on her. The bastard! Chilled
green eyes watched him squarely as he stood there in the middle of
her room with his thumbs hooked casually in his pockets and his
hair all damp.
So this was how he saw
it
. She shoved those fresh, new thoughts of
Seth deep into the crevice of her broken heart. He could come
swaggering into her room with a devil-may-care attitude as if
nothing of consequence had just occurred in his room across the
hall. Celia felt like cursing him for the cur he was. She should
have known better… “It’s okay.” She wanted to claw his eyes
out.

“
Listen, I didn’t mean any
harm. Things just got a little out of hand, that’s all.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. I
just…” Her voice trailed off as her hands clasped tightly at her
waist. The urge to plow her fist into his ruggedly handsome face
surged up like the People’s reaction to a chieftain war
cry.

“
Look I had no right. I’m
sorry, okay?” He was stepping toward her.

She nodded. Her bottom lip disappeared
inside her mouth and she dropped her hands suddenly. Furious at
herself for allowing things to have gone so far, she reminded
herself how good his kiss had made her feel. The hand wringing
began again.

“
Would you stop that? What’s
wrong?”

“
I’m okay,” she
lied.

“
If you’re okay, then why
are you acting like I almost attacked you? You know I’d never stoop
so low. Don’t you, Celia?” His questions sounded sincere. He
stepped closer and took her by the arms. “Is that what’s wrong?
You’re having flashbacks?”

“
No!” Celia shoved at his
sleeve looking away when she couldn’t get free.

“
Tell me what’s wrong.”
Words gentled now, Seth drew her to a settee.

“
Tell me what’s
wrong…”
Celia could feel the weight of his
words closing in on her as he led her to the small couch. Her mind
had no difficulty with his request. Oh, there was something wrong
all right
.
She
flicked a glance up at him as he towered over her. Something was
definitely wrong, but it would have to wait, because she had things
she had to tell him. Celia took a deep breath and looked down at
her tightly clinched hands. “Seth, there’s something I have to tell
you. It happened while you were in Tyler.”

Seth’s mouth thinned into a hard line.
“What are you talking about?”

“
I did something yesterday
and I shouldn’t have.” She saw the wary glint come into his eyes.
It was like a fist squeezing her heart. Her hands were damp again
and trembling now. Celia wished fervently she could take the words
back, but it was too late now.

"Well, what is it, Celia?” Seth snapped
the words out.

Celia flinched.

Seth reached up and pinched the skin
between his eyes before dropping his hand onto her shoulder.
Scowling, Seth breathed deep. “Sorry, you look pale,” he observed.
“Let me get you a drink. Then you can tell me what’s on your mind,
okay?” Without waiting, he moved to the small ladies bar set up in
the corner of the feminine room and selected a bottle from among
the Sherries, wines and other mild drinks. Fixing her a brandy, he
brought her the snifter and found a seat directly across from her
on the matching settee. With his elbows resting on his knees, Seth
leaned in and gave Celia his full attention.

She took a sip of the brandy. The
liquid burned and Celia grimaced.

“
All right, Celia, talk to
me?”

Briefly, she thought about running. She
could feel the panic teasing at her throat. Her mind tried hard to
quell the attack. Celia took a couple of deep breaths and looking
directly at Seth before she began, “Yesterday, while Jake and I
were out riding, I spotted my cousin, Red Bear.”

Seth’s blue eyes cooled a few more
degrees.

With a sudden need to defend her
actions, she rushed on, “He’s alive, Seth.”

Coming to the edge of the couch, Seth
spoke low, "That’s good. Were others with him?”

It struck her peculiar he didn’t sound
too surprised to hear Red Bear had come back. A tiny warning bell
went off with his question about ‘others’. She realized what he
must think. The same warrior who was reputed to hate all whites and
Celia had seen him.

“
No.” She purposely omitted
the fact Red Bear had assured her there were others of their band
who were safe. Fleetingly, Celia saw Father Miguel’s face from the
St. Mary’s Finishing School in her mind. She would surely go to
hell for lying.

“
Did you speak to him?”
Seth’s intense gaze bore into her.

She opened her mouth to reply and then
stopped. Her mouth was as dry as a bone. Sweat popped out on her
forehead and Celia delicately dabbed at it with a handkerchief.
What would she do if he went after Red Bear? Celia leaned back on
the settee to gather some air.

“
I asked you a question.”
His words were harder and unyielding. He didn’t sound as if he was
glad at all she’d found Red Bear – she had found her cousin. Why
couldn’t he at least be happy for her? After all, she’d found a
member of her family. What was wrong with him?

Her voice quivered as she said, “No…
later I rode out to explain things to him. But I couldn’t locate
him.”

His eyes narrowed on her.

Her eyes darted to the left despite her
efforts to hold his gaze. Celia cursed herself for lying and
hurried on to explain. “I was overjoyed to see him, Seth. He was
alive! I didn’t think anyone would mind. But he was already gone.”
She would have to do penance for all the lies. Shoving the
uncomfortable thought aside, Celia tried to remain calm.

“
You didn’t think, that’s
for sure - what if the Army or the Rangers had found you out
there?” Seth shot back. Standing, he moved quickly to the
hearth.

A warm fire burned in the box. Flames
danced frantically as they chased the cool night air from the
room.

Agitation was evident in the frown on
his face when he turned again to face her. “You can’t go
gallivanting off like that,” he charged.

Like the air expelling from a balloon,
some of the excitement Celia had felt after seeing her cousin
slowly dissolved into more pangs of guilt and despair. Could he
tell she’d lied? Would he contact the Rangers and tell them about
her cousin? Oh, God, she’d forgotten about the Rangers. What had
she done? The hand clinching resumed.

“
I gave my word to Lone
Eagle I would take care of you,” he reminded her. “So how am I
supposed to do that with you sneaking off in the middle of the
night to meet with a renegade Comanche?”

“
Renegade Comanche!”
His tone grated on her already challenged nerves.
He was speaking to her as if she were a petulant child. She felt
her spine stiffen as he berated her for what he’d most probably
thought of as her stupidity.
He had a lot
of nerve
. She comforted herself with the
fact he was accustomed to having things done his way.
Well, they’d see about that
.

Seth set his mouth again in a grime
line. “We lost cattle and almost a dozen horses last night. Do you
suppose your cousin had anything to do with that?” He waited just a
beat before punctuating his question with another. “Well, did
he?”

“
Well, I…” Taken back at his
accusation, she faltered, “How am I supposed to know?” Her voice
rose in octave but lost some of its bravado. She really hadn’t
thought, just like she hadn’t wanted to upset anyone. She
remembered how her heart had soared when she spied Red Bear. And
yes, she had to admit her rational behavior had suffered. But what
had he said… the middle of the night? How did he know when she had
gone in search of Red Bear? The answer came to her in a shock of
realization. He’d had her watched! He didn’t trust her! The
livestock, the horses – he thought her cousin or perhaps her cousin
and she had taken them. Was she now under suspicion simply because
she was kin to Red Bear? Of course she was. She was
Comanche.

Anger sparked in her eyes as
she jumped to conclusions and attacked. “I’m sorry if I upset your
precious
watch
.”
She hurled the words at him with as much stamina as she could
muster. “I knew I wasn’t truly wanted here, but I didn’t realize I
was considered a prisoner, or no - a criminal!” Her voice and her
indignation at the perceived injustice rose with each word she
spoke. The temper she’d been struggling to contain was ripe now as
she sprang from the couch and turned away from him. “I think you’d
better go.” Her voice was flat and cold as ice. A pain centered in
her chest – it was her heart, Celia mused. It ached with the
knowledge he too saw her as a threat, as a possible
enemy.

So lost was she in her own self-pity,
Celia momentarily forgot about Seth.

He caught her shoulder wrenching her
around to face him again. The carefully guarded mask of control was
gone. There was heat in his eyes and anger in his words. “Don’t you
understand that we’re at war here? What did Red Bear tell you? I
know you saw him. I know you’re lying to me. What did he say? Jake
said he saw you come back in the wee hours of the morning. Tell me,
Celia.” He took her by the arms and shook her.

Celia’s head rattled on her shoulders
like a dolls. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes.

Slowly, Seth released her.

Something had shifted in his eyes, but
it didn’t matter. The damage was done.

“
I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
done that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just tired.” Seth
moved to the bar and poured another whiskey. Silently, he stood,
not moving.

Celia watched him. She made sure her
demeanor gave away nothing. With eyes going to slits, she watched
him like a cat watches her prey. He wouldn’t touch her like that
ever again. She would make sure of it. Her jaw firmed into a hard
edge. If Mr. Loflin thought he could interrogate her, treat her
like some prisoner, like some threat to his domain, then he was
sorely mistaken. She’d had just about enough. Damn him for a fool,
didn’t he understand?

He stood at the bar with his hands
braced on the top. Scrubbing a hand over his face in visible
frustration, Seth tried again.

How sweet this time his voice was
softer and his words were coaxing. Celia felt a feral smile crease
her lips.

“
You’ve got to be careful.
Your cousin is hostile and dangerous. What do you think would have
happened if someone other than Jake had caught you coming back in
the middle of the night to contact a person who most of Texas
considers the enemy?”

She stood, silently
absorbing his words. Bidding her time, she reminded herself. But
his last sentence brought her head up and her awareness to full
attention. That did it! Storming towards him, Celia charged, “So
you
did
have Jake
spy on me. I should’ve known better than to assume you could
understand.” The proverbial knife of betrayal sank deeper into her
heart. Righteous temper had her unleashing a torrent of anger
then.

Seth wheeled in time to see his own end
in her eyes.

“
You’re all alike… all of
you. You and all the rest of the holier-than-thou white settlers
can go straight to hell.” She whirled, skirts swinging, hair flying
as she paced and splayed her arms wide like an actress in an
eastern melodrama. “You want the half-breed but don’t trust her.
Play with her but don’t tell. After all, she has Comanche blood.
Why, bless her poor, little heart, she can’t help thinking like an
Indian, stealing like an Indian.” Her words dripped with a caustic
portrayal of a southern belle. “Why heavens, she might even kill
like an Indian!”