Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (11 page)

She tried to think of Matthew, but instead her
mind wandered to the letters he'd written to her
about Reese Starrett. Suddenly something startling and overwhelming expanded in her chest.
Every time Matthew had mentioned Reese in his
letters, she had been fascinated by his description of his friend. Reese owned a small ranch
past Fort Worth on the Trinity River. He had
fought for the South during the war, just as Saber's brother had. Matthew had come to Texas
to oversee the location and construction of several army forts that were meant to help control the Indians and make the area safe for the white
population.

She thought of their encounter with the Comanche. Apparently Reese had no trouble with
the Indians. She imagined that Quanah Parker
had let them pass through his land because he
liked and respected Reese.

Her mind went back to the first time Matthew
had mentioned Reese in one of his letters. Matthew had been overseeing the building of a fort
somewhere in the panhandle of Texas when the
Comanche had attacked, forcing Matthew and
his soldiers to seek protection behind the incomplete walls of the fort. According to Matthew's
letter, Reese Starrett had appeared from out of
nowhere that day. He told Matthew to cease fire,
and Reese had gone to talk to the Comanche
chief. After long negations with the Indians on
the army's behalf, Reese had bidden good-bye to
the chief, who had ridden away with his warriors. Perhaps the chief had been Quanah Parker.
Matthew had praised Reese's valor, and wrote
that many lives had been saved that day. After
that, Matthew always seemed to mention Reese
in his letters. But even Saber's imaginings of
Reese could not have made him more perfect
than the real man.

She slumped against his back, then drew her self up straight. "Please, can't we stop and camp
soon?

He felt her limp hands clasped about his waist
and nodded. "Yes, I believe we can. If you can
make it for another mile, I know a place we can
camp and light a fire."

She only hoped she would be able to make it
that extra mile without falling asleep.

Reese had found a campsite on a plateau, where
they could see the countryside in every direction. For shelter, there was a rock formation
with a wide overhang and walls that would protect them from the wind. Bone-chilling wind rippled through the buffalo grass, which was as
high as a horse's haunches.

Saber slid to the ground and blew on her fingers to warm them while Reese unsaddled their
horse. By the time he'd joined her, she was
having trouble keeping her eyes open. He laid a
fire and then placed the warmed blanket about
her. A contented sigh slipped through her lips.

When he returned to camp after hobbling the
horse, he sat down with his rifle resting across
his lap. Saber was asleep, and he watched how
the dancing flames from the campfire flickered
across her pale skin. He allowed himself to feast
on her beauty. She was like the brightness of the
sun, and as far above him as the sun was from the earth. She was pure Texas aristocrat, and he
was just a broken-down cowboy with a small
ranch and a few hundred head of cattle.

A strange, piercing ache filled his heart, fanning out through his chest. He could never have
her, or even touch her, as he wanted to. She was
silk, and he was leather. She was a lady, and she
belonged to his friend Matthew, and he would
never betray a friend.

His body tensed when he thought of her lying
in Matthew's arms, Matthew touching her and
kissing those inviting lips yes, she belonged to
Matthew. He felt desire run wild through his
body as he considered what it would feel like to
have her beneath him.

"Damn," he ground out, and shot to his feet.
He walked in the direction of the horse and
stood for a long time staring up at the moon. He
had to make a decision about what to do with
Miss Vincente. His first concern had to be her
safety. He didn't think it would be wise to take
her back to Fort Worth. Felton would be in Mexico now, waiting for the Miller brothers to deliver Saber to him. When he realized that he'd
been tricked, he would send someone else to find
her. Neither Felton nor the Millers knew Reese's
true identity, so she would be safe with him for
a while. There was no use sending the law to
Mexico after Felton; he would be gone before they could get there. There were the Miller
brothers to worry about, also. They would soon
find out that their brother, Earl, was dead, and
in their bungling way they would be a problem.
He could keep her at his ranch until either Matthew or her brother could come after her.

He turned his face up to the night sky. There
was a storm coming-he could feel it in his
bones. He had to get her out of this weather as
soon as possible.

Was he taking her to his ranch because he
wanted to keep her with him longer, or for her
own protection? Hell, he didn't know anymore.

Saber woke to the aroma of frying bacon. She
blinked her eyes and found Reese kneeling beside her, offering her a cup of coffee.

"Careful, the tin cup is hot," he cautioned.

"Where did you get that?" she asked in amazement.

"It was in my saddlebag."

She gave him a smile and handed him back
his coat. "Thank you for this. Thank you foreverything. I know you risked your life to rescue
me."

Then she looked into his eyes, and he almost
melted. "No thanks are necessary."

She snuggled closer to the fire. "That's not the
way I see it."

He shot to his feet, and his gaze went to the
western horizon. "I was just doing my job,
ma'am. Your major is paying me to bring you
back, so don't go making me out to be a hero."

She nodded, feeling crushing disappointment
at his words. "I thank you all the same. You did
put yourself in danger for me."

When she stood and moved closer to him,
Reese noticed that the top of her head came just
above his shoulder. She was tall for a woman,
but small-boned and fragile. How had she survived the rough handling of the Miller brothers?
His voice was gruff when he spoke. "You'll have
to wash from the canteen, since there's no creek
nearby."

She glanced at the bacon sizzling in the iron
skillet. "I'll make do. Now why don't you tend to
the horse, and I'll see to the cooking."

He arched a dark brow. "You can cook?"

Laughter sparkled in her eyes. "Mr. Starrett,
you might be interested to know I'm a very good
cook."

His mouth eased into a grin. "I'll trust you on
that, ma'am. I'll just get more wood for the fire."

Saber hummed to herself while she went through his saddlebag and found flour, then
mixed the ingredients for pan biscuits. By the
time Reese had returned, she was turning
golden biscuits onto a tin plate.

Saber ate one biscuit and half a slice of bacon,
while Reese hungrily devoured four biscuits and
most of the bacon.

"Well?" she asked, watching him bite into the
last biscuit with relish. "Can I cook?"

He gave her a slow grin. "Yes, ma'am, you can
cook. But can you cook real food?"

"Real food?"

"In a kitchen."

"Of course I can. Why would you doubt it?"

"You are a Vincente. Somehow I can't imagine
you in an apron silks and satins maybe, but
not an apron."

Saber's usual good nature plummeted. How
could he have such an unflattering opinion of
her? Dark lashes fell across her eyes to hide her
hurt. "I don't see what the one has to do with the
other."

"Ma'am, this isn't a gentle land, and most of
the women out here work hard and are old before their time. That will never happen to you.
You were born a lady to adorn the arm of a gentleman. Probably most men wilt when you bless
them with your smile. But when they look at
you, most of them will have one thing on their
minds and one thing only."

She was incensed. "Perhaps you have just described yourself, Mr. Starrett, but I doubt there
are many more like you." She dipped her head, thinking of the Miller brothers. She still didn't
know what had happened to her while she'd
been unconscious.

He looked at her lazily while shoving bullets
into the chamber of his six-gun. "I described myself right enough, Miss Vincente. I appreciate a
beautiful woman as much as any man, and I appreciate your looks. I don't care if I have your
good opinion, but I'd not object to having you in
my bed. Of course, that will never happen, but I
have my fantasies."

Her cheeks flamed, and she glared at him,
wondering why he was speaking so coarsely
when he never had before. Then she noticed that
his attention wasn't on her at all. He appeared
to be looking over her right shoulder. "You are
right about that, sir. I would never lie in your
bed, and I don't care to be part of your fantasies."

His eyes were sharp, compelling, intense,
sending an unspoken message that she didn't
understand. He took her arm, and she tried to
jerk away, but he was too strong for her. He held
her steady.

Saber watched him ease his thumb toward the
trigger. "Maybe not, but you sure as hell need
my protection." He raised his gun, and she
screamed, thinking he was going to shoot her.
But in a quick motion he knocked her to the ground and fired into the bushes just behind her.

Reese stood over her. She couldn't move because the fall had knocked the wind out of her,
and she was having trouble catching her breath.

When he spoke, Reese's voice took on a hard,
commanding tone. "I know you're there. The
next bullet won't be over your head. Come out
slowly with your hands over your head."

Saber rubbed her shoulder and got shakily to
her feet just as a man called out in a heavy Spanish accent, "Don't shoot, senor. I am coming out
now."

"Tell your amigo to join us," Reese said in a
steely voice. "Tell him to throw his gun out first."

Saber let out a surprised cry and rushed past
Reese to throw her arms around her brother's
gran vaquero. "Alejandro, I am so glad to see
you!" She turned to Reese with anger in her
eyes. "You could have killed him! Why didn't
you ask who it was instead of talking crazy and
shooting wild?"

"If I had wanted to put a hole in him, I would
have." Reese still held his gun pointed at Alejandro. "I don't know this man. And there is still his
friend lurking in the bushes. Tell him to come
out now!"

A white-haired man poked his head around
the bush and grinned when he saw Saber. "Your
brother's tearing up the countryside looking for you, Miss Saber. Is this man friend or foe?"

She glared at Reese. "I'm not sure at the moment, Zeb. How did you find us?"

The old man let out a spew of tobacco juice
and scratched his white hair. "Well, sir, Noble
sent men in every direction a-looking for you.
Me and Alejandro came upon your tracks last
night. Didn't know iffen it was you or not, but
we followed anyway."

Saber smiled at Zeb, who was so dear to her.
He ambled toward her, seemingly unafraid of
the man with the gun pointed at him. "He hasn't
hurt you none, has he, Miss Saber?"

"No. He hasn't hurt me. Zeb, Alejandro, meet
Reese Starrett. He rescued me from the kidnappers."

Alejandro still looked suspicious and kept a
protective arm around Saber, while Zeb planted
his body between them. "We're much obliged to
you for your help. But we'll just be taking Miss
Saber off your hands now."

Reese shook his head. "No, I don't think so.
Miss Vincente stays with me!"

Saber and the two men turned to look at Reese
in surprise. Zeb was the first to speak. "Now, just
what makes you suppose that we'll leave her
with you?"

"Because when you think about it, you'll realize that it's the best and only way to protect her. The Miller brothers and Graham Felton will
all be combing the countryside searching for
her, and they want her real bad. I'm taking her
to my spread, where she'll be protected. The two
of you find her brother, tell him what happened,
and inform him that his sister's under my protection. You will also want to get word to Major
Halloway and let him know she's come to no
harm."

"I'm supposing this Graham Felton is the one
what took her out of the hotel," Zeb stated.

Reese shook his head. "Graham Felton paid
the Miller brothers to kidnap her. You might
want to tell her brother that."

"Well, now, I'll just do that very thing," Zeb
said. "But I'll be taking Miss Saber with me all
the same. Her brother wouldn't want us leaving
her with you," Zeb said, inching closer to Saber.
"You see, we don't really know you. And we don't
know that you're who you say you are."

Reese gazed eastward. "You don't really have
any choice in the matter. A storm is coming our
way. It'll hit by tomorrow. We need to get her
out of this cold, and my ranch is the closest place
to do that."

The gran vaquero nodded in agreement.
"There is a storm coming, amigo." His gaze went
to his patron's sister. "Is this what you want to do, Senorita Saber stay with this man? Do you
trust him?"

She smiled at Alejandro's concern for her. "I
believe it will be best to stay with him. I know
my brother won't rest until the Millers and Mr.
Felton are behind bars, and I would only be in
his way." She looked at Reese. Although she was
still angry with him, she knew it would be wise
to go with him. "Are you sure you don't mind
taking me with you?"

He was surprised she'd agreed to accompany
him without an argument. "It's the only way I
can keep you safe."

Saber realized in that moment that she had
become entangled in Reese's life, and she didn't
want to leave him. She turned her gaze on the
gran vaquero. "You and Zeb will sleep here tonight, and tomorrow morning head out to find
Noble to assure him that I have come to no
harm."

Zeb nodded reluctantly. "If that's the way you
want it."