Heart of Thunder (24 page)

Fearing that he could read her thoughts, she turned her face to the wall, feigning indifference. He would
have to make the first move…and the second. He would have to woo her. She would never let him know outright that she desired him as fully, perhaps, as he desired her. Never!

He removed one boot, then the other. The sound of them hitting the floor was so final, it seemed to be sealing their fates. His pants dropped, and he kicked them aside.

“Why?” she demanded. “Are you so starved for a woman that you can’t wait for one who truly wants you?”

He lay down beside her, and soon she found her blouse discarded. She could see now the four faint scar lines on each side of his chest.

“As a matter of fact, you were the last woman I touched,” he admitted frankly. “You set a fire in me then. You have set another in me now. Wait for another woman? No, my sweet one. You will put out the fire.”

“You…you’re a disgrace,” she gasped, but there wasn’t much strength in the protest.

“I will not do anything I have not done before.”

“That—”

“Are you ever going to stop talking, Samina?” he breathed softly.

After that, neither of them said another word. She lay across the bed, and he moved to lie on top of her, gently, not pressing with his whole weight. He looked deeply into her eyes, and she gazed directly back without looking away. There were no clothes between them. She could feel the heat of his body down the length of her.

When Hank’s face came close to hers she closed her eyes expecting to be kissed, but his mouth moved to her neck instead, and quickly that sensitive area was shivering with gooseflesh.

When his mouth closed over the fullness of one breast and his tongue danced circles around the erect nipple, Samantha began squirming closer to him. She had in
deed set a fire in him, and he was kindling one in her. Her mind fought it, but her body was responding to his touch, his lips burning, searing her flesh. And when he forced her legs apart to slip between them, the hardness of him caused deeper heat, making her gasp.

She could feel that hard shaft against her, probing, but he didn’t enter her. The smooth round tip of him rested, teasing her, torturing her with waiting, with wanting that first plunge.

She wanted him. He had made her want him despite herself.

His mouth moved back to her neck. “Your skin is satin,” he breathed by her ear. “I have not forgotten,
querida
. I have remembered—everything.”

Her resistance had faded completely, and he knew it. Her hands grasped his neck, pulling him closer. It was time to end the torture, and as he thrust deeply into her, her body arched, wanting more of him. She was equal to his movements, her passion wild. It was love in its most primitive state.

Hank only barely felt her nails biting into his neck as she reached her peak, for he was in the grip of his own exquisite release. But when the pleasure subsided, the burning sting of her nails took over, and he knew she had drawn blood again. But it was worth it. Damned if this woman wasn’t worth anything.

Her breathing was slowing gradually, and her fingers were moving in his hair as he rested his head on her shoulder.

He leaned on his elbows to look down at her. Her eyes opened, and, in the faint light, he saw dark, shimmering pools of green that he would lose himself in if he was not careful.

He touched her cheek with a feathery caress. “You have marked me again,
gatita
,” he murmured.

“I know,” she replied softly, her hands moving to those scars on his chest, her fingers tracing them gently.
“I will mark you every time in some way. Remember that.”

“You do not seem angry,” he remarked.

“I don’t have to scream all the time,” she answered, and the hint of a smile touched her lips. “It’s enough that you know I speak the truth.”

“Yes.” He grinned. “But these new scars I will gladly accept, for they were given in—”

“Don’t say it!” Her body went stiff, and her fingers turned into claws that pressed warningly against his skin. “Don’t you dare!”

“Very well.” His eyes narrowed, angry at the sudden change in her. “But whether you wish to forget it or not,
I
will remember.”

“Oh, get out of here!” she snapped then. “You got what you wanted. Go on!”

He left the bed, and Samantha shivered as the cool air touched her where his warmth had so recently been. She quickly covered herself. Hank was staring down at her, furious. For several long moments he just stared at her, and then he left. She turned over, sighing as the door was slammed and locked.

Chapter 26

T
HE iron plate of food was dropped on the table with a resounding clang. Hank looked sideways at Samantha as she went back to the counter for the
chilis
and
salsas
. These, too, were dropped heavily on the table before she sat down.

“You slept late, Sam,” Hank remarked casually, looking at her under the rim of his brows. “Perhaps too late, eh?” She didn’t look at him. “There must be something to explain your mood. Should I guess?” he added suggestively.

“What did you expect, a truce? You’ve only made matters worse.”

Her voice was low and bitter, and Hank cringed.

“I am sorry, Sam.”

“No you’re not. Don’t be hypocritical.”

She just wanted to forget last night, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to, any more than she had been able to forget their first time. He had said that she was in his blood. If only he knew that his handsome face haunted her, as well. Thoughts of him would come to her when she least wanted them to. Was he in her blood, too? No! Then what was this power he had over her will? How was it that he could make her want him, hating him though she did?

“You have not asked about your friend.”

She looked up at him, noticing for the first time how smooth his cheeks looked when he was freshly shaven. His long sideburns just touched his cheeks, and he had short black curls that turned upward on his temples,
giving him a boyish look. He was all man, this Spanish-American half-breed, boyish-looking or not.

“Sam?”

Samantha met his questioning eyes, then lowered her own. “My friend?”

“Ramon Baroja. You have not asked about him.”

“Oh. No, I haven’t.”

“Why, when you begged me to find out about him? It has been three days, and you have not asked.”

“I was afraid to,” she lied, unwilling to admit that she had often forgotten for long periods. “Afraid you would have bad news.”

“I can see why you might be afraid,” he said cryptically, sitting well back in his chair, his eyes intent on her.

“Why?”

“Because you lied to me. The boy is more than just a friend to you.”

“He’s not a boy,” she protested. “He’s a man. And I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“The very likely possibility of his becoming your husband is what I refer to.”

“Who told you that?”

He shrugged. “The rumor came to me.”

“A rumor is only gossip, not fact. But what difference does it make? It’s certainly none of your business.”

“Let us say I have an interest,” Hank replied levelly. “Is it true?”

A grin turned Samantha’s lips. “What if it is?” she asked evasively, her eyes challenging him.

“I would not like it,
niña
,” he said darkly.

She laughed. “You wouldn’t? Perhaps you’ll tell me why it could possibly matter to you.”

“You seem to forget in all of this that I wanted you for my own, Sam.”

Her expression sobered. “You don’t anymore.”

“But I did. You may hate me now, and I accept that.
But you professed to love Adrien. I would not like to think your affections turn so quickly. Do they, Sam?”

After the mention of Adrien, Samantha’s temper came to the fore. “I don’t give a damn what you do and don’t like!”

“Do you love him?” Hank shouted.

Her eyes widened in surprise. He was furious, but why?

“Look at yourself, Hank. Your pride is showing. You just can’t stand the fact that I turned you down and might have quickly found another. That’s it, isn’t it?”

He stood up, and so did she. They glowered at each other across the table. Then Hank suddenly shoved the table aside and crossed the space between them, before Samantha could think to run.

He caught her arms and pulled her roughly to him. “Perhaps you are right, Sam. If I had not wanted you so, it would not matter. We could have been good together. You know that now as well as I do.”

He kissed her, his lips rough and demanding. She fought against it for only a few short moments before she was responding, her arms moving up around his neck. His anger had excited her, as did his closeness, and the memory of pleasure in his arms. She couldn’t fight all of that.

“
Mi querida
,” he breathed, his lips moving to her cheek, her neck. “I can still make you my woman. I can keep you here and never let you go.”

“No!” She shoved him away, shocked. “It’s too late for that!”

Hank ran a hand through his hair in a weary gesture. He gave her a long, confused look before he turned and crossed to the open door. He stopped there, looking out at the dirt yard, at the brush-covered cliff a hundred yards away, looking really at nothing in particular.

Samantha stared at his back. “You didn’t really mean that, did you—about keeping me here?”

“No.”

She moved to pull the table back to where it belonged and straighten the chairs, needing something to do.

“Hank, why did you say that?”

He sighed. “Just words spoken in a moment of passion. Forget them, Sam.”

Samantha stood staring at his strong back. “But you don’t still want me, you admitted that. You
do
hate me…don’t you, Hank?”

He turned and faced her. “Would it make you feel better if I said yes?”

“I want the truth.”

“The truth,
niña
, is that being close to you like this is affecting me. When I look at you I—” He stopped, smiling at the bewilderment in her face. “But that is not what you wanted to hear, eh? You like it better, my hating you?”

“It’s much simpler that way. And you do, don’t you?”

He reached out and cupped her chin in his hand. “Feelings change,
gatita
. When I took you by the stream, I hated you. You know why.”

“Because I had scorned you, you said.”

“No, because you used me, to further your cause with another man. That angered me more than I could bear.”

“You took that all wrong, Hank.
I
never believed that you and I were anything more than friends.”

He shook his head. “In your scheme to make your Adrien jealous, you gave
me
cause to think otherwise. My feelings grew deep, until I knew I wanted you for my own. I have never wanted another woman quite as much.”

Samantha jerked away from his hand. “What about Angela? You said you wanted her.”

“It is surprising that you should remember that.” He grinned.

“Answer me!” she snapped.

“I did want her. But I knew where I stood with her. You,
mi belleza
, made me forget her.”

“Did you force her, too?” she asked bitterly.

His eyes turned steely gray. “She did not play me false, as you did.” And then he laughed. “She also had a man who would have killed me if I had touched her. It is too bad the one you loved would not avenge you, eh? But, then, you did pretty well all by yourself.”

“Not well enough,” she replied huffily. “Nor am I finished yet.”

“Ah, yes, the hordes of killers you will send after me. Let us not forget them. Nor the fact that I will have to kill any who get too close. There will be many deaths for the sake of your revenge, Sam.”

“I was not referring to that.”

“No? What then? You wish to shoot me?”

“Yes, but you will die knowing your scheme against my father failed. Your cousin won’t be able to keep the land you have gone to so much trouble to get for him. I will see to that.”

Hank stiffened. “I thought we settled this. You don’t believe my warning?”

“Oh, I believe you. But you can’t do anything about it if you’re dead, now can you?” she taunted.

“And if I do not die,
niña?
If you or your paid killers cannot find me? What then?”

“I can wait,” she said implacably. “Eventually I will get our land back.”

“How?”

“You can hold me to silence only as long as my father lives. When he dies, your cousin will have the fight of his life on his hands. And I will win, Hank.”

“Too much time will have passed,” he scoffed. “Your claim on the land would be invalid.”

“Not if I pave the way beforehand. Lawyers can do a great deal, you know. I can put it on record now that you blackmailed me to keep me from getting what is rightfully mine.”

There was silence, then Hank asked suddenly in a deadly soft whisper, “That land means so much to you?”

“Yes. And I don’t care how long it takes. I’ll get my
land back.” Her eyes gleamed with triumph as she saw how her words were shaking him, and for spite, she added, “Your cousin’s sons will never inherit that land, Hank—but mine will. I promise you that.” And she turned abruptly and went back to her room before he could find a reply.

Chapter 27

S
AMANTHA’S mood improved a hundredfold in the next two days because Hank had believed her, was enraged, and could not hide it. He had no more threats, no means of stopping her. Everything he had done by kidnapping her would be for nothing.

The immediate future would not change. That was the drawback. For the time being, Hank had won. His cousin would have the land—for many years, Samantha hoped, for she wanted her father to live to a ripe old age. But Hank’s victory would last only that long.

Samantha gloated. It relieved her boredom very nicely. It made her anger over her confinement subside quite a bit. She forgot to count the days and was surprised to realize that she had been in the valley for two weeks.

If Hank had been on her mind before, he was soon in her thoughts continually. Whether she was in the outer room with him, or alone in her own tiny room, he haunted her. And she did not always think of him with anger.