Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (9 page)

With a start, she blinked her eyes and blushed at
the impure thoughts she was having about such
an unworthy man. What was the matter with
her? He was the enemy the man who had paid
to have her abducted and she should be thinking only of Matthew. Her thoughts turned to her
fiance. Matthew must be out of his mind with
worry by now. Would she ever see him again?

The sun was setting by the time Reese called
a halt. Saber dismounted, wishing she had
gloves to protect her hands from the raw cold,
which had intensified with the setting of the sun.

"Why are we stopping here?" she asked, eyeing him warily. "There is no protection from the
wind."

"Shh," he cautioned, grabbing up the reins of
both horses and gripping her shoulder, shoving
her against a cliff wall and pressing his hard
body against hers. He removed his gun and
cocked the hammer.

"What-"

His head swiveled in her direction, and he
glared at her. Should she scream? she wondered. If someone was out there, they might help
her. His eyes were frosty, and he had the look of
a predatory cat. She decided against calling out,
because she could feel the strength in the body
pressed against hers. She was once more reminded that he could crush her with his bare
hands if he wanted to.

He was watchful, motionless, as though listening for any sound that might alert him to
danger. When he turned his attention to Saber,
his silver eyes bored into her, and she became
aware of the hard body pressed against her. He
was so near she could see the pores in his skin
and the dark stubble of his beard where he
hadn't shaved for several days. She could smell
the muskiness of him, and something twisted inside her; then something unexplainable ran
hotly through her whole body. It was as if her blood were on fire. He moved slightly, and she
felt his erection swell against her as they became
aware of each other in a new way. For a breathless moment, she thought he was going to kiss
her. His mouth was so close to hers that her lips
parted invitingly.

In a sudden motion he moved away from her,
and she felt the tension ease. He turned his head
to listen and then holstered his gun.

She had to swallow several times to take a
gulp of air before she could speak. Her throat
went dry, and her nerves tightened. "Who was
it?" she asked, trying to gather her thoughts and
not think about what had just happened to her
while his body had been pressed against hers.

"Comanche," he said, turning his head as if he
heard something she couldn't.

Her eyes widened with fear-she was glad
that she hadn't cried out. The Comanche were
considered the fiercest Indians of all, and the
mere mention of their name struck fear in Texans' hearts. "What would have happened if they
had seen us?" she inquired in a shaky voice.

"You are fortunate you didn't have to find out.
We are trespassing on their land, and intruders
don't make them any too happy."

"I don't care if this is Comanche land. I'm
tired," Saber said, dropping down on the
ground.

Reese drew an intolerant breath, his gaze
sweeping the rise. At that moment, several Indians appeared at the top of the canyon, and for
a long, tense moment, Saber was frozen with
fear. At last the Indian raised his arm, and Reese
returned his salute.

"A-are they coming after us?" she asked, her
voice once again trembling.

"I'm not sure of anything where the Comanche are concerned. Stand close to me and don't
utter a word."

"Who is that tall Indian?"

"Miss Vincente, you are looking at Quanah
Parker, chief of the Comanche."

"Do you know him?"

"If anyone outside his tribe knows him, yes, I
know him enough to respect him-and to fear
him."

"Wasn't his mother the one who was captured
by the Indians when she was just a girl?"

He frowned, his gaze still on the mesa above
them. "Yes."

"And he chose to stay with the Comanche,
though he could have lived in the white world."

Reese looked at her with sudden humor dancing in his eyes. "Quanah would scoff at your reasoning. Why would he want to live with white
people, who would only despise him, when he is a great and respected chief among the Comanche?"

Saber licked her dry lips, and her throat grew
tight with fear. "Are you sure he isn't going to
attack us?"

"Put your mind at rest. He just gave me the
peace sign. But do as I warned and don't move
or speak. He's riding in."

Saber felt her body quaking with fear as the
tall Indian broke away from the others and rode
down the hill toward them.

When he had reached them, he dismounted in
a smooth motion and clasped hands with Reese
while his dark eyes moved over Saber. She
cringed with fear and stepped behind Reese.

Reese and Quanah spoke in the Comanche
language. Then Reese nodded and gathered up
the reins of Saber's horse and handed them to
the Indian. Quanah then pointed to the pack
mule, and Reese nodded his agreement.

Saber watched with amazement as the Indian
mounted and led her horse and the pack mule
away. That left them only one horse! She
watched the Indian ride out of sight, still unsure
whether he would gather his tribe and come
storming down on them.

She gripped Reese's arm. "Will he come
back?"

"I don't think so. He has what he came for. Just be glad horses were all he wanted."

"What will we do with only the one horse?"

"We thank God we're still alive, and we ride
double. We're lucky that he left us my horse."

She turned toward him, and his gaze moved
over her features. Her face was so smudged with
dirt he could hardly tell what she looked like, but
she appeared to be none too pretty. But what did
it matter? She had the Vincente money behind
her, and Matthew loved her.

Again, he felt the unwelcome tightening of his
loins, and the swelling of his desire, which had
momentarily distracted him. "Ma'am," he
called, stopping Saber in her tracks. "If you'll get
your business over with, we need to ride on."

"Is it safe now?"

"Yes, ma'am. As I said, Quanah gave me the
peace sign, and he would never go back on his
word."

"What I don't understand is, if you knew this
was Comanche land, why did you choose to ride
this way?" she said, turning and stalking away.

Reese stared after her. Even with her ill-fitting
trousers, he could see that her hips were softly
rounded and she had long, shapely legs. Her
slow, easy steps were provocative and enticing.
She had a good shape to her, all right. And he'd
reacted to her body moments ago, until he reminded himself that she belonged to Matthew.

He glanced at the rise where Quanah had just
appeared and waved to him. He heard the sound
of the Indians riding away and relaxed.

When Saber rejoined Reese, he wasn't in a
very good mood. "Ma'am."

"Yes."

"To answer your earlier question, I rode this
way because it's unlikely that anyone will follow
us into Comanche territory."

She was startled by his reasoning. "So this
way, all we had to worry about was the whole
Comanche nation."

"I'd hoped if we ran into Quanah, he'd remember me. Apparently he did." He mounted his
horse and reached for her hand. "Let's ride. I
want to put some miles between us and the Comanche."

She took his hand and he pulled her up, placing her behind him. When they started off at a
trot, she had to put her arms around him to keep
from falling off. After they had ridden for some
time, her head fell against his strong back, and
she was somehow comforted by the steady beating of his heart. She could feel the strength that
radiated from him. She closed her eyes, feeling
as if nothing in the world could harm her when
she was with him.

Her eyes flew open. He was the reason she had
been ripped from her family and Matthew! She should fear him more than she did the Comanche!

Reese was setting up camp when Saber walked
down to the small creek. She was eager to wash
her face and hands. Walking around the thornbush and down a slight incline, she found a shallow creek. Going down on her knees, she broke
the ice, cupped her hands, and drank thirstily of
the cold water. She shivered as she washed her
face and hands; then she tried to work the worst
of the tangles out of her hair and braided it into
one long braid. Tearing a strip of cloth from her
shirt, she secured the end of the braid and felt
somewhat better.

When Saber returned to camp, Reese had unsaddled the horse and tossed the saddle on the
ground. "I'm afraid well have to eat a cold
meal," he told her. "I don't want to remind the
Comanche that we're on their land and taking
advantage of their hospitality."

"I'm starved," she said, going down beside
him. "I don't care what I eat as long as it's filling."

He handed her a chunk of jerked buffalo meat.
"This will have to do until we are well away from
here."

She stood up, tearing a piece of dried meat
with strong teeth. She was watching a flock of blackbirds flying in formation and didn't notice
that Reese was watching her.

Like a man caught in a dream, he couldn't
drag his gaze away from the fragile beauty of
Saber's face. Her skin was like satin, her lips full
and rosy, and her long, thick lashes curled
against her cheek. Her head was thrown back
while she observed the birds, and it revealed her
long, slender neck. He was speechless in the face
of such beauty, and he wondered what had ever
made him think she was homely. Hell, no wonder Graham Felton had wanted to kidnap her,
and Matthew was so anxious to get her back.
Saber Vincente was probably the most stunningly beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

She glanced questioningly at him, and he was
struck by her sapphire blue eyes. "How do you
suppose they do that?"

"How who does what?" he asked in a thick
voice.

"Birds fly in such a perfect formation. They
seem to sense just when to turn, weave, or dip.
They must communicate in some way, don't you
think?"

He tore his gaze away from her and glanced
upward, his heart beating like a drum. "I've
never thought much about it. I suppose every
species communicates in one way or another."
He was thinking that his body was communi eating with hers, and he wanted to reach out and
touch her, to pull her into his arms, to protect
her and never allow anyone to hurt her again.

She glanced at him forlornly. "I envy them because they are free, and I'm not."

He saw the suffering in her eyes and knew that
it was time he told her who he was. "Sit down,
Miss Vincente. I want to explain some things to
you."

She nodded and sat down, curling her legs beneath her. "I hope you are going to tell me why
you had me kidnapped, Mr. Felton."

"I didn't have you kidnapped."

"Then why-"

"I couldn't tell you who I was until I was certain that the Miller brothers weren't following
us. My name is Reese Starrett, Miss Vincente.
I'm a friend of Matthew's. I only pretended to be
Felton to get you away from them."

He watched several different emotions play
across her face: disbelief, hope, doubt, and then
joy. "Is it really you? I have heard so much about
you from Matthew. Where is he?"

"He's laid up with a sprained leg or else he'd
be here himself. His horse fell on him when he
was on the way to Fort Worth to meet you."

Before Reese knew what happening, Saber
lunged forward, throwing her body against his. Her arms went around his neck, and a sob broke
from her throat.

"Matthew has often written of you. I'm so
happy it was you who found me!" She was shaking and trembling, and his arms went around
her protectively.

"There's nothing to cry about. You're safe
now."

She pressed her wet cheek against his rough
one. "Thank you for what you did." Her head
moved to his shoulder. "I don't know how I
could ever have mistaken you for that awful Felton person. I knew from the moment I saw you
that you were different from other men."

His chest expanded, and he hadn't realized
that he'd been holding his breath. "In what
way?"

Her head still nestled against his shoulder,
and he found he liked it there. "You are everything Matthew said you were." She raised her
head and smiled at him, feeling joy in her heart.
"He thinks you are something of a hero, you
know. And I'm inclined to agree with him."
Tears sparkled in her eyes, and it took her a moment to go on. "I don't know how you found me,
but I am so glad you did."

He'd never been good at dealing with women's
tears, and Saber's were tearing his heart out. She
hadn't cried when she'd thought he was her kid napper, but now that she was safe it seemed she
couldn't stop crying. His eyebrows came together in a frown, and he thought he knew why
she was crying. Maybe one or all of the Miller
brothers had raped her. His arms tightened
about her even more, and he cradled her body
against his.

"Nothing can be that bad, Miss Vincente.
Please don't cry; everything will be all right
now."

She buried her face against his neck, and he
felt his flesh come alive. His hands ran up and
down her back, and the pleasure of touching her
was so intense it alarmed him. When she drew
in a deep breath and her breasts pressed against
his chest, he could hardly breathe.

Reese gloried in the female smell of her, and
he envisioned what she'd look like lying naked
beneath him. He'd never been dazzled by a
woman before, but there was no other word for
how he felt about her he was definitely dazzled
by Saber! Heat shot through him and settled in
his loins. He had to stop thinking about her in
that way. She wasn't his she belonged to his
friend!

He stood up and put her away from him. Desire for her made his voice harsher than he'd intended. "You'd better get some sleep. We'll be
riding on as soon as it's dark."