Each Time We Love (29 page)

There wasn't much conversation after that, and it was only
when they were preparing to retire for the night that Bodene brought up
something that had been troubling him. Looking at Adam, he asked, "How
likely is it that those Spaniards will come after us?"

Adam shrugged. "No telling. Before I left I turned loose all
their animals in the hopes that by the time they gathered them up in
the morning and discovered that four of them were missing, our trail
would be too cold and too obliterated by the wanderings of their own
horses for them to give chase. I
think
we're
fairly safe."

Bodene grunted and, after throwing a blanket over Adam,
settled down with his own blanket, resting his head on his saddle. He
had chosen to sleep at the edge of the camp, near Adam, while Savanna
had bedded down close to the coals of the dimming fire. In a matter of
seconds, all was quiet as sleep claimed them.

Precisely what woke Savanna, she never knew. She was only
aware that she had awakened from a deep sleep, with her heart pounding
wildly and all her senses screaming that something dangerous had found
them. She lay frozen on the ground, her ears straining to hear the
first hint of what had woken her so violently, but all seemed to be
quiet. The sky was just beginning to bloom with brilliant streaks of
gold and rose, and she knew that dawn was seconds away. She tried to
tell herself that she had awakened naturally, but that didn't explain
the frantic beat of her heart or the strong sensation that something
was wrong. Hardly daring to breathe, she inched her fingers nearer the
long black rifle that lay on the ground beside her, and she felt a
thrill of exhilaration when her hand closed comfortingly around it.

A sound, a soft groan, wafted across the campsite from
Bodene's direction, and not giving herself time to think, in one easy
movement she swung up and around, the rifle primed and ready in her
hands. To say which of the five people caught in the tense little
tableau that dawn was the most surprised was impossible to determine.
Certainly Savanna was surprised to see a huge Indian with thick black
braids deftly cutting through Adam's bonds, while an emerald-eyed,
powerfully built man twisted Bodene's arm behind his back; that they
were equally surprised to be confronted by a flame-haired, rifle-toting
Amazon was obviously apparent, and everyone froze, no one moving a
muscle.

The emerald-eyed man seemed to recover first, and holding a
knife blade to Bodene's throat, he said in a menacing tone, "Drop it,
lady! Drop it or he dies!"

Savanna hesitated less than a second and then pointed the
rifle at Adam's breast as he stood there by the tall Indian. "I think
not!" she said coldly. "If you kill him, then Adam dies."

An unwilling smile of admiration curved Adam's mouth. "She's
serious. I think we have a stalemate— you'd better let her cousin,
Bodene, go, because there is nothing that Savanna would like better
than to put a bullet through me!"

The green-eyed man frowned slightly, but his hold on Bodene
lessened. Dryly he asked, "Ah, has your fabled charm deserted you? I
warned you that one day it would." Glancing over at Savanna, Bodene's
captor ran an assessing look up and down her, those jewel-toned eyes
missing nothing. "Well, madame," he said at last, "it seems that we
must trust each other, you and I. If I turn your cousin loose, do I
have your word that you will not fire on us?"

Savanna shook her head. "Release Bodene first."

Adam and the green-eyed man exchanged glances, Adam's dark
head nodding affirmatively. The other man shrugged and, after releasing
Bodene, stepped back. The Indian had remained silent, his arms folded
across his naked chest, his black, knowing eyes missing nothing, but
Savanna watched him uneasily as Bodene walked over to her, rubbing his
arm.

Moving past her, Bodene kicked the smoldering coals into the
fire and then put his hand on the barrel of Savanna's rifle and said,
"It's all right, Savanna. Put the rifle away. I know this man and I
suspect that he has been doing exactly the same thing that I have and
for the same reason—to find and free a kidnapped relative!"

Savanna's eyes widened, comprehension dawning, comprehension
deepening when Adam smiled, albeit cynically, and, approaching with the
green-eyed man and the Indian on either side of him, said mockingly,
"Yes, indeed, you have been quite determined to meet him—allow me to
introduce you to Jason Savage and his blood brother, Blood Drinker!"

Wouldn't
you just know, Savanna thought bitterly as she stared
into the emerald depths of Jason Savage's eyes, that Micajah would
snatch the wrong man!

Her jaw firmed. She could not undo the past, she could only go
forward from this moment. Her head held at a haughty angle, she said
coolly to Jason, "I won't say that I'm pleased to meet you… or that I
have
enjoyed
my encounter with your
brother-in-law!" Glancing at Adam, she added icily, "I suppose that I
must apologize for mistaking you for Jason Savage. However, I'm sure
you will admit that you did everything you could to make us believe
that you
were
Jason Savage! You have no one to
blame but yourself for the continuation of our error!" Her bitterness
seeping through, with angry, accusing eyes she stared at Adam's dark
features as she said, "I think you and I are even!"

Adam's face was expressionless as he stared back at her, but
he acknowledged her statement with an almost imperceptible nod of his
head.

The exchange was watched with interest by the other three, and
it was only when it became apparent that no more fascinating
revelations were forthcoming that Jason stepped forward and, with a
quizzical gleam in his green eyes, asked gently, "Since you have the
advantage over me, perhaps you would like to introduce yourself?"

Savanna smiled tightly. "It will be my pleasure, but I doubt
the name Savanna O'Rourke means anything to you. I
do
think the name Bias Davalos is well known to you—he was my father!"

Jason's face froze, the expression in his eyes hard to define.
"I see," he said slowly, his gaze roaming over her set features as he
searched in vain for any resemblance to his most hated and deadly
enemy. "I'm afraid you don't have the look of your father."

Savanna's lip lifted in a sneer. "Your brother-in-law said the
same thing, but it still doesn't change the fact. Bias Davalos
was
my father!"

Jason and Blood Drinker exchanged a look. "Bias never made
mention of a wife or a child," Jason finally said.

A bitter smile crossed Savanna's expressive face. "That's
because he didn't have a wife—he never married my mother!"

Bodene broke into the tense atmosphere by saying calmly, "I
believe that this story is going to take a while, and I don't know
about anyone else, but I'd sure like to put something into my belly and
have some coffee—it's been one hell of a morning!"

Adam smiled faintly and Jason nodded absently, his eyes never
leaving Savanna's face. Blood Drinker appeared indifferent to anything
but the tall young woman with the flame-colored hair, and as Bodene and
Adam began to busy themselves about a fire, Blood Drinker said
abruptly, "Your father was a bad man—I killed him and would do so
again. He was evil and did evil things to my blood brother, Jason, but
I see no sign of his wicked nature or his many weaknesses in your face.
There is little of him to be seen in you, and despite the evidence, I
see none of the consuming greed which led to his death by my hand."

Savanna's features had whitened with every word Blood Drinker
spoke. Blind,
stubborn
loyalty to Davalos had hot
words of denial surging to her lips, but caution made her hold her
tongue. Her fists clenched at her side, she muttered, "No matter what
you say—there is no excuse for such a cruel act!"

Blood Drinker stared at her for a long, unnerving moment. "My
act was no crueler than what he inflicted upon my blood brother and his
wife," he said calmly. His black eyes boring into hers, he added,
"Davalos
deserved
to die! And in the manner that
I killed him!"

No matter what sort of confused emotions Savanna might have
held for her father, coupled with everything else that had happened to
her over the past weeks, she needed someone to strike out at, and Blood
Drinker's words were simply too much. With blazing aquamarine eyes, she
charged toward him like an angry tornado, her intention to claw his
eyes out obvious.

Adam, who had been watching the scene intently from the
sidelines, deftly intercepted Savanna's heedless charge, and catching
her in his arms, he shook her slightly, saying bluntly, "Calm down!
Before you go flying off in Davalos's defense, perhaps you ought to
hear our side of the story."

Taking a mug of steaming black coffee from Bodene, Jason blew
on it and said with commendable restraint, "He's right, you know—there
are usually two sides to every story, and while Davalos may have
painted himself innocent in this affair, the truth is far different."

Savanna thought she would choke on the rage that consumed her
at Adam's interference, and ignoring the way her heart had leaped when
his hands had closed around her upper arms, she glanced coldly at the
hands that still held her prisoner and snarled, "If you wouldn't mind?
The time when you could treat me as you liked is long past!"

Adam's mouth tightened, but his hands dropped away. "Listen to
what they have to say, Savanna," he urged harshly. "Even you might find
it illuminating!"

Before Savanna could reply, Bodene came up and shoved a mug
into her hand. "Drink this, brat! And then sit down on that log over
there and let them talk." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You're not in
the best position you know—after all, you
did
take part in Adam's kidnapping, and if they want to bring charges
against you, I wonder how a judge would view the case."

Bodene's words took the wind right out of Savanna's sails. The
fact that she could possibly face criminal charges had never occurred
to her, and she was suddenly very aware of her invidious situation.
Staring at the black liquid in her tin mug, she wondered bleakly how
everything had gone wrong and she sighed. She was so bloody
tired!
So weary of the seemingly endless days of little food and the
never-ending nights of sleeping rough on the ground; so exhausted from
the fierce, unrelenting battle that Adam had aroused within her breast
that all she wanted to do was crawl away and sleep until everything
faded from memory.

Becoming aware that she was the object of four different pairs
of masculine eyes made her sit up straighter, her expression carefully
blank. Taking a sip of the coffee, she muttered, "Go ahead. Tell your
damn story."

Jason shook his dark head. "No," he said evenly, "I think we
should hear your story first."

Savanna shrugged. It didn't matter to her. Nothing seemed to
matter to her. Since she'd already told Bodene what had happened and
why and how she had come to be here with Adam, the second telling was
easier. Like the story that she had told her cousin, this rendering of
it also deliberately left out any references to the emotional storm and
incomprehensible attraction that existed between her and Adam.
Painfully aware of Adam's presence, she again deleted the fateful stop
at the forest pond. Her eyes fixed on some spot in the distance, she
spoke in a flat tone of voice, giving no hint of what she might or
might not have felt during that wild odyssey. She ended her tale with
Bodene's appearance and the flight of the three of them from the
Spanish.