Strands of Love (10 page)

“You’re always so warm. Both of you.” Her words were sleepy
and content. His heart ached at the thought of losing her. She fit perfectly in
his arms.

Jace sat up and began to haul on his pants and boots. “It’s
time to get dressed and go back.” His brother stood and strapped on his sword,
which was lying on the ground beside him.

Sam sat up and stretched, giving another shiver as she
reached for her pants. “What time is it anyway?”

Resigned to leaving, Darian stood and dragged on his pants.
He looked up, squinting at the sun as he noted its position. “About
midafternoon.”

Sam stood and shook out her tunic before slipping it on and
tugging it down around her hips. Her hair was damp and slightly tangled. Anyone
who saw her would have no doubt as to how she’d spent the past few hours.

Darian smiled and motioned her to come to him. She ambled
toward him, stopping when she was in front of him. “What?” she asked.

He shook his head, leaned down and kissed her. “It was too
long since I last kissed you.” He took hold of a length of her hair and tugged.
“And you need help with this.”

Her cheeks turned a delightful shade of pink, making him
laugh. Darian spun her around and raked his fingers through her hair, smoothing
it as best he could before he braided it. He’d braided many a horse’s mane and
made swift work of the task. It was only when he was done he realized he had
nothing to tie it with. The holder she’d used in her head was lost somewhere
among the wildflowers, never to be found again.

Jace had anticipated that and held out a short strip he’d
sliced off one end of the ties of his pants. Darian wrapped the small piece of
thin leather around her hair and tied it off. It would do.

“Come.” Darian held out his hand and waited until Sam took
it. Jace was pulling back from them again and Darian knew his brother’s actions
were confusing Sam.

“So who’s the older of the two of you?” Sam asked.

When it was obvious Jace wasn’t going to answer, Darian did.
“Jace is the older by three years.” He motioned to the thin braids on either
side of his brother’s face. “The braids show that he is the eldest. It is the
same with every family.”

“What kind of crops do you grow?” When Darian gave her a
questioning look, she shrugged. “What can I say, I’m a farmer.”

Darian launched into a brief overview of Hunter Keep,
including the crops they grew, the herbs and flowers they harvested from the
mountain and the animals they kept. He wanted her to understand exactly what
they were offering her and was pleased by her interest. That had to mean she
was considering staying. Didn’t it?

He refused to believe otherwise and wanted to kick his
brother’s ass for being so silent and withdrawn. Now was the time to engage
Sam, to let her learn more about them.

“Wow, that’s quite the operation you have here.” Sam glanced
over at Jace. “So you’re in charge of it all?”

Jace nodded. “I am the head of the family, the firstborn. It
is the way it is done.”

Sam nodded. “My brother would have inherited the farm if
he’d lived.”

As though a curtain had been drawn, sadness descended on
Sam. Darian felt it like a living, breathing entity. “I am sorry for your loss,
Sam.” He stopped and pulled her into his arms. “You could have a new start
here. With us.”

Maybe he shouldn’t be pushing her, but Darian was willing to
do whatever it took to get Sam to stay in Javara.

Jace shook his head. “Sam doesn’t want a new start. She just
wants to go home. Isn’t that right?”

Anger hit Darian like a lightning bolt and for the first
time in his life he wanted to punch his brother. Was Jace out of his mind? He
was practically telling Sam he didn’t want her to stay.

Sam faced Jace and frowned. “What’s wrong with my wanting to
go home?” She waved her hands at the surrounding woods. “I hear lots about
women coming here, having to leave their homes. What do you give up? What do
the men here sacrifice? Nothing. It’s easy to judge me when you’re not giving
up anything.”

Darian stood back, wondering how Jace would answer her
accusation. He didn’t have long to wait.

“We don’t give up anything?” Jace marched straight to Sam,
grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up until she was balancing on her
toes. He leaned down until they were nose to nose. “If you don’t stay, we give
up the chance at ever having a family of our own, children to pass our legacy
on to. After having you under my body, after being inside you and tasting your
uniqueness, we give up the chance of ever having you again. We give up the
chance of happiness and love.”

Darian had never seen his brother so angry. Usually Jace was
calm and in control. This was totally out of character and told Darian just how
deeply his brother felt about Sam. “Jace.” It was a warning to back off and one
he hoped his brother heeded.

But Jace wasn’t done yet. “We give up everything while you
go back to your home and forget us.”

“I won’t ever forget you,” Sam fired back. “Ever.” Her voice
dropped and a lone tear rolled down one cheek.

“Enough.” Darian put a hand on each of them before either of
them said something they would regret forever.

“I just want to go home. Is that so wrong?” The pain in
Sam’s voice was Darian’s undoing.

“No, Sam, it’s not wrong. I just wish you wanted to stay.”

“I wish she could go now if she wants to so badly.” Jace’s
harsh words made Sam flinch and Darian knew his brother regretted the words as
soon as they were uttered, but there was no taking them back.

The air around them thickened and began to shimmer. Darian
had only felt the sensation twice before. The tapestry.

“It’s only been a day and a half.” This was not normal.
Darian turned to his brother. “What have you done? You’ve wished the tapestry
into being.”

Jace jumped in front of Sam, pushing her behind him, but the
tapestry would not be denied. Darian grabbed Sam’s arm as Jace reached for him.
The three of them were connected by touch when the world around them exploded.
They were sucked into black void. Darian struggled to hold onto Sam, terrified
what might happen if he lost her in this world between worlds.

Then everything went black.

Sam groaned and grabbed her aching head. What the heck had
happened? One minute she’d been arguing with Jace and the next…

The tapestry. The tapestry had come back. She opened her
eyes and saw nothing but bright blue sky. No mountains or trees or clouds.
Bolting upright, she stared at an unending sea of brown, brittle hay. Heat
surrounded her, rising like waves from the parched ground. There was no other
place on earth like this. She was home.

But had she come alone?

Sam swallowed hard, ignoring the ache in the vicinity of her
chest. It was only because she was glad to be home. The fact she might never
see Jace or Darian again had nothing to do with it.

Dry hay crackled off to her left. “Darian? Jace?” She
hurried toward the sound and almost stumbled over Darian as he pushed himself
off the ground.

“Where are we?” he asked as he drew his sword and turned in
a slow circle.

“Texas.”

Darian slowly lowered his weapon and sheathed it. “Then your
wish has been granted.” He looked around. “Where is Jace?”

Sam could hear the fear in his voice and felt her own
rising. Had something happened to Jace?

“I’m here.” The deep voice came from behind her. She spun
around and watched as Jace rose from the field like some mythical god. He
swiped at the dust on his pants and squinted into the sun.

Sam was unsure what to do next. Where was the tapestry?
Shouldn’t it be taking the men back home to Javara? “So what happens now?”

Jace shook his head. “Unless the tapestry returns we are
trapped here.”

Trapped. Not exactly words she wanted to hear. Sam thought
about their mother and all the people at Hunter Keep who were dependent on
them. What would happen if the brothers never returned home?

“I’m so sorry.” She wanted to reach out to Jace, but he
looked so aloof, so hard and unapproachable standing there with his hands on
his waist, peering across her fields. “Weren’t you supposed to come with me?”
She was a little fuzzy on how the whole tapestry thing worked.

“No.” It was Darian who answered her. “The tapestry has
always brought the women to Javara, never the other way around. Not until now.”

Crap, this couldn’t be good. “But it will come back for you
in three days, right?”

Jace shrugged. “Maybe a day and a half or a little longer
since you weren’t in Javara for quite a day and a half.” He paused and, if
possible, his expression grew even grimmer. “Maybe never.”

As bad as she felt for them, she couldn’t help but point out
how their situations were similar to the one she’d found herself in. “Now you
know how I felt.”

Jace shook his head. “No, you always knew the tapestry would
return in three days and bring you home. This is unprecedented. We may never
see home again. It is not the same thing.” He turned his back and stared across
the dry vista and she knew he was imagining the lush mountain forest around his
home.

Well there was nothing to be done about it. She wished they
could go back to Javara but only time would tell. In the meantime, she had to
get to the house. Sam turned, orienting herself easily enough. She’d walked and
ridden her family’s land since she was old enough to walk and knew the way
home.

“We should go back to the house.” She reached toward her
back pocket only to discover she was wearing the leather pants, tunic and boots
they’d given her. There was no sign of her cell phone or jeans. Oh well, she
had plenty more jeans and could probably swing a replacement for her phone.

Sam started walking, very aware of the two large,
bare-chested men behind her. They said little and she felt their concern deepen
with each step they took. It was all too easy for her to imagine Edwina staring
out a window, watching for her sons who might never come home.

Crap. She spun on her heel and faced them both. “I’m sorry
this happened to you and I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you get home.” She
started to turn back around, but Darian stopped her. His hands were firm, yet
gentle on her shoulders. Both men were very aware of their strength and were
always careful to temper it whenever they touched her.

“Thank you, Sam.” Darian grinned, but it was a faint
imitation of his usual one. “I will use my time here trying to convince you to
return to Javara with us.”

Sam ached for all three of them. If she’d been able to get
her hands on the sorceress who created the magic tapestry in the first place,
she would have given the woman a piece of her mind. Playing with people’s lives
like this was downright cruel. All of them were hurting and there was no way
for anyone to win.

She placed a hand on his chest and felt his heart beating
heavily against her palm. He was one determined warrior, but she couldn’t give
him false hope. “This is my home.”

Darian shook his head. “This is where you live. Home is
where the people who love and care for you reside. Where are those people,
Sam?”

His simple question cut her to her very core. All her family
was dead and she was alone.

“Enough.” Jace’s harsh voice silenced them both. “Sam has
made her choice.”

Darian spun around to face his brother. “Actually, you made
the choice for her when you called the tapestry into existence. Sam never had
the full time to make her decision. There is still time. Until the tapestry returns
this is not over.”

Sam’s head pounded, she was hot and thirsty, and wanted to
get home. She wasn’t up to getting between the two brothers if they started
fighting. Home was only twenty minutes away and the sooner she got there, the
better. She started walking again and assumed they’d follow her. For a few
moments she heard nothing. Then she heard muttering and the crunch of boots
hitting the dry grass.

First thing she had to do after she got a shower and changed
was to go over to Tim’s place. He and Mary would be worried about her because
she hadn’t shown up for dinner last night.

Her life had changed so much since yesterday morning. Not
quite a day and a half, but her life would never be the same. She glanced over
her shoulder. Darian was studying the surrounding area. She could have told him
there was nothing to worry about, not here. The worst they could run into was a
snake and they were most likely seeking out shade this time of day. Jace, on
the other hand, was staring straight at her.

Angry pale-blue eyes met her darker-blue ones, but Jace said
nothing. Sam swallowed hard and looked away. She might not have known them
long, but both brothers meant a great deal to her and the thought of not seeing
them again deeply hurt her. But the thought of them being trapped here, of them
never seeing their mother or home again hurt her worse.

No, as much as she’d love for them to stay with her, she’d
do everything in her power to make sure they got home.

Sam stopped and shaded her eyes when she saw movement in the
distance. Just beyond the house there seemed to be a bunch of vehicles,
including the sheriff’s truck. “Oh shit.”

Jace and Darian flanked her immediately, both with swords
drawn.

“Put those down now.” She shoved Jace’s hand, but she might
as well have been pushing against a concrete wall. It didn’t move and the sword
remained in front of him, and after seeing him practice, Sam knew that Jace
sure knew how to use the lethal weapon.

Sam tried again. “Those men have guns, weapons that can kill
you from a distance.” She grabbed Jace’s arm and shook it, or at least tried
to. “If they see you holding a four-foot sword they might shoot first and ask
questions later. They don’t know you and will most likely assume you’re
threatening me.”

She turned to Darian, hoping to reason with him and was
relieved to see he’d already lowered his sword. “What do you want us to do?”

Sam released a sigh of relief. “We need to hide your
weapons.” Both men looked at her as if she’d lost her mind, but she pushed
onward. “No, listen to me. We can come back for them later, but you need to
hide them for now. Just until I can get rid of the sheriff.”

Jace slowly lowered his blade. “Who is this sheriff?”

“The law. Because I was missing, Tim probably called him.”
She motioned to the vehicles in the distance. “They’re probably getting ready
to search for me, thinking something happened.”

Sam grabbed a rock and tried to dig a swallow hole, but the
ground was hard and dry. She tossed the rock aside. “Just put them here, we can
pile some hay over them. Lose the armbands too.”

She heard a shout in the distance. “Hurry.”

Darian and Jace shared a look and slowly unbuckled their
swords and placed them carefully on the ground. They quickly tossed their arm-
and wristbands beside them. Sam hurriedly threw some dried grasses over
everything all the while praying no one would get nosy enough to find them.

She straightened and wiped her hands against her leather
pants. Damn, Tim was bound to notice she wasn’t wearing her usual jeans and
T-shirt. Well, it couldn’t be helped. She’d figure out how much to tell him
once she got rid of the sheriff and the others.

“We’ll say you’re old buddies of John’s. That you stopped by
on your way through Texas to visit.” She knew she was babbling, but they were
running out of time to get their stories straight. “We spent last night
swapping stories about my brother and lost track of time. Okay?”

Jace narrowed his eyes, but nodded. “This is your world. We
will trust you.” He glanced toward the men striding across the field. “But we
will protect you if the need arises.”

Sam threw her hands into the air and stalked off. She didn’t
want to be anywhere near the hidden swords when she met with Sheriff Pritchard.
Tim broke away from the group and hurried toward her.

“Sam.” Tim called her name and she wanted to run to him and
feel his strong arms around her. He and Mary were all the family she had left.
But she forced herself to walk, trying to appear as normal as possible.

“Hey, Tim. What’s all the commotion?”

Tim grabbed her by the arm and thrust her behind him,
leveling the rifle he carried at Jace and Darian. “Where the hell have you been
and who the hell are these guys?”

Not a good sign when Tim started swearing. Sam swiped a lock
of hair off her forehead. “This is Jace and Darian Hunter. They served with
John.” Sam carefully pushed the barrel of Tim’s rifle down until it was facing
the ground.

Before Tim could respond, the sheriff and the rest of the
group joined them. Her two nearest neighbors were there, along with two deputies
and, unfortunately, George Rawlins.

“Told you she wasn’t hurt, Tim.” Sheriff Pritchard holstered
his gun as he eyed Jace and Darian’s bare chests. Sam didn’t like the smirk on
the sheriff’s face and knew what he was thinking. “In fact, looks to me like
she was enjoying herself.” The sheriff chuckled at his own joke, but stopped
when both Darian and Jace glared at him.

Sam hurried to stand between the Hunter brothers, praying
they wouldn’t do something stupid and land themselves in jail. “This is Sheriff
Pritchard.” She turned to the sheriff. “I was just telling Tim that this is
Jace and Darian Hunter and they served with John. They were passing through
Texas and stopped to pay their respects. We were up late last night talking and
I wanted to show them the farm before they left.”

“You weren’t answering your phone,” Tim accused.

“I dropped it out in the field and it smashed on a rock. I
need to replace it.” She clamped her mouth shut before she started babbling and
said too much. She never talked this much, was usually closed-mouthed about her
business. The sheriff was nodding, but Tim was staring at her as though she’d
grown two heads.

George stepped forward and reached for her, but she took a
step back and brought up solid against Jace’s chest. Jace’s large hands dropped
on her shoulders. She wasn’t sure if it was to comfort her or simply to keep
her there. Beside them, Darian shifted slightly, bringing him into a better
defensive position. Both men were ready to fight if necessary. She couldn’t
allow that to happen.

George stopped in his tracks and his eyes narrowed. “Who did
you say these men were again?”

Sam had had enough. “That’s none of your damn business,
George. I’m a grown woman and can invite whoever I want to stay at my farm.”
George’s face grew red, but she ignored him and turned back to the sheriff and
her neighbors. “I’m really sorry you were worried and I appreciate you coming
out here, but I’m fine.”

Both Seth Cutler and Burt Adams tugged on the brim of their
hats. “Glad you’re okay, Sam,” Seth said before turning to the sheriff. “I
gotta get back to work. Day’s a wastin’.”

“Thanks for your help.” The sheriff individually thanked the
men before they all headed back to their vehicles. Then he turned back to Sam.
“You sure you’re okay?” The sheriff eyed the Hunter brothers, giving them the
once-over yet again.

Sam forced a smile. “I’m fine. Thank you again for your
concern.” She wished they would all just leave so she could figure out what to
do next.

The sheriff started to leave, but stopped when he realized
George and Tim were still standing there. “You coming, George?”

George gave her his most winning smile, the one that had
tricked her months ago when she was grieving. She saw it for the crocodile
smile it was now. It did nothing for her. Come to think of it, neither did
George. After being with Darian and Jace, she couldn’t even remember what she’d
seen in George all those months ago. He was manipulative, greedy and grasping,
nothing at all like the very blunt, honest Hunter brothers. She had to have
been truly desperate to turn to him in her time of sorrow.

“I’ll call you, Sam.”

She gave George her best fake smile. “I broke my phone,
remember? Might be a while before I get a new one.”