Each Time We Love (31 page)

Adam had listened to this exchange silently, but at the
mention of authorities, he stood up and stated forcibly, "She is not
going to go before a judge!" Looking grimly at Jason, he said harshly,
"This episode ends right here! I do not intend to press any charges
against her and I'll deny everything if you try to ride over the top of
me!"

For a long minute the two men stared at each other, and seeing
the fierce determination in Adam's blue eyes, Jason shrugged. "It's
your decision and I won't argue with you—I only hope to hell you know
what you're doing!"

Adam smiled crookedly. "I doubt that I do, but I think it
would be simplest for all concerned if we let well enough alone." His
smile faded and he added bluntly, "While Savanna may have taken part in
Micajah's plan, she was as much his prisoner as I was. Certainly she's
not had a pleasant time of it, and I see no reason to persecute her
further."

While Savanna was horrified at what her father had done to
Jason and his wife and thoroughly ashamed of her activities in
furthering her father's terrible wrongs, after the way Adam had treated
her, she was outraged at his daring to act as her champion. She wanted
nothing from him! And despite her best intentions, that unruly tongue
of hers got the better of her. Aquamarine eyes a stormy blue-green, she
surged to her feet and snapped, "If there is one thing I don't need,
it's
your
help! I want nothing from you, and that
includes your mawkish support!"

Flashing a furious glance at Jason, she said hotly, "Take me
before a judge—I'll be damned if
I
care!"

"But I'll care, and so will your mother," said Bodene quietly,
entering the conversation once again. "And if you'll cool down and
think about it, I'm sure you would rather
not
have this unpleasant little affair go any further! Nor do I think that
you would enjoy the notoriety that would accompany your appearance in
court!"

"Yes!" Adam added with a mocking twist to his lips. "For once,
why don't you shut that lovely mouth of yours and let us settle this
thing peaceably!"

Savanna shot Adam a scalding look, but Bodene's mention of her
mother knocked the fight right out of her. Hadn't it been to keep her
mother safe from scandal that she had gone along so meekly with Micajah
in the first place? And while Micajah's threat was still very real and
she hadn't yet decided precisely how she was going to deal with him, if
he showed up again, was she willing to subject Elizabeth to ugly
speculation simply to defy Adam St. Clair? Savanna was hot-tempered in
the extreme, but she wasn't stupid, and with a defeated shrug of her
slender shoulders, she turned away. "Do what you want," she muttered
dully. "It makes little difference to me."

Looking at Adam, Jason inquired dryly, "Having settled that
little problem, what are we going to do about our friend Micajah?"

Adam grinned. "First Micajah has to find us!"

Not amused, Jason sent him an exasperated look. "And when he
does? What do you intend to do?"

Adam's grin faded and he said seriously, "For the time being,
we can do nothing—we go baying to the authorities for justice, and when
and
if
they ever lay hands on Micajah and he is
brought to trial, the whole nasty story will come out—you can wager on
that! Micajah will see to it and relish pulling Savanna down with him."
Adam's eyes met Jason's. "We have no idea where Micajah even is—he
could have gone back to Natchez, or stayed in Nacogdoches, or he could
have gone after the gold himself, hoping that Jeremy can lead him to
where Davalos died. He could even be dead or lost in the wilderness,
trying to follow my trail. I certainly don't intend to waste
my
time trying to find him, and until he makes his presence known, there
is little that we can do— beyond taking safeguards against being
surprised. But once we do know where is he is…" Adam smiled, not a nice
smile. "Why, then I guess I'll just have to let him force me to kill
him."

Jason nodded slowly. "Of course, you'll allow me that same
pleasure if he just happens to come looking for the
real
Jason Savage?"

"Of course," Adam replied cordially, a glitter in his blue
eyes making Jason fairly certain that his half brother was lying
through his teeth.

"Well, then," Bodene said amiably, "since we have settled
Micajah's fate and since breakfast is past and the sun is rising high,
I would suggest that we saddle up and get riding—we have a long way to
go."

It had been decided that the five of them would continue to
ride together; they would be able to share their supplies, and in case
of danger, five together would stand a better chance than two smaller
groups. They traveled swiftly during the next several days and as each
mile brought them closer to the Sabine River, there was a gradual
relaxation to be discerned amongst the group. Soon they would be out of
Spanish territory and out of at least one sort of danger.

An easy comradeship sprang up between the four men, but it was
only in Bodene's company that Savanna felt totally at ease. Shame kept
her from accepting the few overtures of friendship made by Jason and
Blood Drinker, and as for Adam…

To her utter fury, whenever she looked around and caught those
hard blue eyes watching her, her traitorous heart would leap in her
breast, and not necessarily with fear. Just the very sight of him
walking with that animal grace of his across the campsite at night, his
tall, broad-shouldered form outlined by the flickering firelight, would
make her remember vividly the feel of that long, muscled body moving on
hers, possessing her completely, and she hated him for so effortlessly
arousing the memory of something she wanted desperately to forget… to
pretend never happened.

Savanna longed most fervently to go back to being the young
woman she had been before Adam St. Clair had entered her life and made
her achingly aware of the pleasure that one man's touch, one man's
kiss, could give a woman. She had prided herself on being unmoved by
the men who had previously crossed her path, but Adam had shattered all
her most dearly held beliefs about herself and she was not the least
grateful for it. She hated him, she told herself repeatedly; hated that
arrogance of his; hated that mocking smile on that long, sensuous
mouth; hated the emotions that a glance from those brilliant blue eyes
could arouse within her. And she was afraid of him… afraid that this
dark spell he had cast over her would set her feet on the same path
that her mother had followed. And if there was anything that Savanna
truly feared, it was loving a man as her mother had loved Davalos—and
suffering the degradation that had come with that love. But she also
had another fear, and it was one that gnawed with increasing ferocity
at her very vitals: not once since she had first been abducted by
Micajah had she experienced her monthly flow…

In the beginning she had not been overly worried, convinced
that the physical ordeal and strain that she had suffered was reason
enough for its cessation, but ever since Adam had made love to her, the
terror had grown that there was now an extremely tangible reason for
her lack—she could be pregnant with his child! It was an appalling
thought, and though she tried frantically to push it away, it remained
foremost in her mind and gave her an added reason to fear and resent
Adam St. Clair.

They crossed the Sabine River early in the morning on the
twenty-second of June, and after they had made camp that night, the
knowledge was in everyone's mind that at daybreak tomorrow the group
would separate. Savanna and Bodene would make their way to Campo de
Verde, situated in the south of Louisiana, and the others would ride to
Terre du Coeur in the north.

There had been no private conversation between Adam and
Savanna since the others had joined them, but Savanna was uneasily
aware that Adam seemed to watch her continually, the expression in
those sapphire-blue eyes hard to define. There had been several
occasions during the past few days when he had attempted to speak with
her alone, but she had deftly avoided him. There was nothing, she told
herself fiercely, that she had to say to Adam St. Clair, and she could
not imagine that he had anything to say that she wanted to hear—not
even an apology! There was nothing that he could say to undo what he
had done to her, just as she could never undo what her father had done
to Jason and Catherine. They were quits and she wanted it to stay that
way—no matter what might or might not be going on within her body!

Savanna did not sleep well that night, tossing and turning on
the hard ground, and she was relieved when the sun finally rose the
next morning. After the breakfast chores were done, she slipped away
for a moment of privacy as the others enjoyed a final cup of coffee
before they all separated. Grimly she told herself that today would be
the last day she would have to put up with Adam's disruptive presence
and that she was overjoyed by that fact!

She was reluctantly making her way back to join the others
when she caught sight of Adam's tall form leaning against a tree, his
arms folded across his chest, and the blood suddenly thundered in her
veins. He was directly in her path and she acknowledged him with a cool
nod of her red-gold head. She had hoped he would let her pass
unmolested, but that hope died when his hand closed around her upper
arm and he said tautly, "I think it's time that you and I had a word
together."

Stonily Savanna stared at his dark features. "I have nothing
to say to you.
Nothing!"

His eyes narrowed. "Now, I tend to disagree with that
statement, sweetheart," he drawled insolently, his gaze roaming over
her, his lips tightening as he saw the all-too-apparent signs of the
deprivations she had suffered these past weeks. Her clear aquamarine
eyes looked too large for her lovely face, whose thinness intensified
the slant of her high cheekbones and the fine-boned elegance of her jaw
and chin. A muscle twitched in his cheek as he tore his gaze away from
the still far-too-tempting curve of her mouth and forced himself to
look at the changes that he was at least partially responsible for: the
almost frail slenderness of her body, the delicacy of her collarbone
where it showed at the opening of her shirt and the heartbreaking
fragility of the bones in her wrists.

There was an odd ache in his chest as he stared at her, but
his expression and voice were bland as he stated grimly,
"I
think there is one topic that needs discussing before we part today,
and for once you're not going to shy away from me like a scalded cat!"

Painfully aware of the pull of attraction he still exerted on
her, Savanna eyed him resentfully. "I can't imagine what it is," she
finally said as indifferently as she could, stubbornly ignoring the
beguiling warmth of his hand on her arm.

Adam smiled mockingly, the smile not reaching his eyes. "Oh, I
imagine you know exactly what I'm talking about-—women usually do."
When Savanna remained obstinately silent, Adam asked bluntly, "Are you
pregnant?"

Savanna gasped and her eyes clung fearfully to his for a
shocking moment. Then her chin lifted and she said sharply, "It makes
no difference if I am!" She smiled nastily and asked, "Why do you want
to know? Did you perhaps intend to do the honorable thing and offer
marriage?"

Adam smothered a curse, and dragging her closer to him, he
kissed her devastatingly and then muttered against her mouth, "Damn
you! That's
exactly
what I had in mind!"

Part
Three

Dangerous
Desire

What's
affection, but the power we give another to
torment us?

Darnley
Edward
Bulwer-Lytton