This Fierce Splendor (16 page)

“You are smiling,” Silver said softly, her shrewd gaze fixed on Elspeth’s face. “I think perhaps the idea of belonging to Dominic does not displease you.” Then, as Elspeth opened her lips to protest, Silver placed two fingers on them to silence her. “Hush, be silent now and rest. Later you can think of man-woman things.”

The next evening Elspeth found she could think of little else besides man-woman things. For the principal reason that she found all the curves and valleys of her woman’s body were pressed against Dominic’s equally obvious masculine attributes.

Silver had dressed her in a pair of her own knee-high moccasins and a clean blue shirt belonging to Dominic that came past her knees. Then she had
wrapped Elspeth so tightly in the freshly washed tan blanket that she could scarcely move a muscle.

“There. Just like an Indian baby in a papoose,” she had said with satisfaction. “I will tell Dominic he can take you now. I will clean up the cabin and follow you to Hell’s Bluff when I finish.”

“Take me?” Elspeth asked faintly.

“You are too weak to sit on a saddle. He will have to take you up in front of him.” Then, noticing Elspeth’s suddenly apprehensive expression, she continued comfortingly, “Don’t worry, Dominic is a fine rider, almost as good as an Apache. He won’t let you fall.”

“That’s very reassuring.”

There was nothing in the least reassuring, however, just an hour later as she lay across the saddle in the curve of Dominic’s arm. She was pressed against Dominic’s hard, muscular body with every swaying step the stallion took.

The layers of material separating them might have been nonexistent for all the difference they made. Intimacy. She was feeling that same blinding sense of intimacy she had experienced when Dominic had taken her naked foot and held it against the same rigidity that was pressing against her hip at this very moment. The side of her soft breast brushed against him with every movement and she was beginning to feel a strange painful tautness in and around her nipples.

Heat. Heat was surrounding her, touching her, overpowering her. It was the blanket, she thought hazily. She had to get rid of this blanket wrapped so tightly around her or she would suffocate. She began to fight her way out of the woolen folds.

“What are you doing?” Dominic’s voice was oddly thick. “For God’s sake, can’t you be still?”

“I’m hot. The blanket …”

“You can’t be any warmer than I am,” he said dryly. “And I don’t have the excuse of a blanket.”

“Please.” The heat was growing. She could feel the flush of it on her skin and the crests of her breasts were beginning to feel acutely sensitive and swollen. “I think I’m getting sick. I want to sit up.”

“So that you can fall off the blasted horse?”

“Silver said you wouldn’t let me fall. Please, just for a little while. I’m beginning to feel so peculiar.”

He muttered something beneath his breath and suddenly his hands were on the blanket, holding her steady with one while with the other he unwound the blanket from around her. “This is a mistake.”

“No, I’ll feel much better once I’m no longer so warm.” Then the blanket was gone, draped over the horn of the saddle, and she did feel cooler with the gentle evening breeze caressing her cheeks and pressing the soft blue shirt against her body. Though she was still feeling that strange tingling in her breasts and difficulty in breathing. “Now help me to sit up.”

He moved back in the saddle and was lifting her so she was astride the horse, her back pressed against his chest. His breathing was labored and as his chest lifted and fell, it touched her back with every movement. She guessed that shifting her had been strenuous for him and said, “I’m sorry I troubled you. I’ll be fine now. Just forget about me.”

Forget
about her? Dominic almost laughed aloud. How could he forget about her when that enticing bottom was pressed against his groin and every motion of the stallion resulted in a friction that caused him to gasp with desire. “I’ll try.” His throat was so tight, the words were barely audible.

“You told me once I wouldn’t be able to return to Hell’s Bluff.”

“There’s no place else for you to go. I promise no one will make you feel the least bit uncomfortable.” He could see the pale gleam of her thighs beneath the tail of his shirt and the start of the leather moccasins. He wanted to run his hand slowly down her thigh and then push the shirt up to her waist. He wanted to put his palms on the tight golden-brown curls he had fondled once before and press
hard
. He wanted to unbutton the blue shirt that clothed her and watch her breasts as they bounced and shimmered in the moonlight. He wanted to sink his tongue into the ear so close to his lips and tease her until she was as hot and aching as he was.

“This is a very nice horse,” Elspeth said. “He has a much smoother gait than that horrible horse I rode to the cabin. Does he have a name?”

“Blanco.”

“But he’s black as midnight. Why would you call him Blanco?”

“Because he wasn’t. At the time I thought it was hilarously funny.”

“Really?” she asked doubtfully. “I don’t quite see—”

“I was drunk.”

“Oh.” She turned to look at him and a swath of her hair moved against his lips in a silken, sensual kiss. “I’m afraid I paid no attention when you brought me here. How far is it to Hell’s Bluff?

“Too far,” he muttered. “Will you just not
move
.”

“I’m sorry I bothered you,” she said with hurt dignity. “I only wondered.”

He was wondering too. He was wondering what she would do if he turned her in the saddle, freed himself, and sunk deep within her. He wondered if she would be frightened if he wrapped her legs around his hips and buried his tongue in her mouth. He wondered what she would do if he lifted her breasts to his mouth and suckled his fill. He wondered all these painful, hungry thoughts while the heat built and the swelling in his groin increased and he prayed he’d make it to Hell’s Bluff before wondering became reality.

Elspeth leaned back against his chest and sighed despondently. He was angry with her again. The softness she had sensed in him when he had returned yesterday morning was now completely gone. Her gaze fell on his hand on her stomach that was steadying her on the saddle. It was a beautiful hand, she thought dreamily. His long, tanned fingers were splayed across the blue cotton shirt and looked slim, capable, and strong. She could feel the imprint of each finger through the thin cotton and she suddenly remembered how gently his fingertips had moved over her naked body, touching, brushing and then moving on until …

She moved restlessly against Dominic and she
heard him inhale sharply. She tried to turn and look at him again, but his hand on her stomach suddenly tightened, crumpling the fabric. “No!”

His voice held a heaviness, a guttural deepness that sent a queer warm shiver through her. Heat again. The wind that touched her face and pushed the cotton of the shirt against her breasts was no longer cool but scorching. It hadn’t been the blanket, she realized, but Dominic Delaney who had brought the heat. She had always thought fear was cold, and it must be fear that was causing the blood to tingle through every vein.

After all, fear was the natural reaction when a man had nearly ravished you. Yet should she not be experiencing the urge to escape instead of this melting acquiescence? No, it couldn’t be fear, then. Her brow wrinkled thoughtfully as her usual curiosity came to the forefront at this startling realization. She would think about it, examine this new emotion, and determine why it so unsettled her. Elspeth settled her head more comfortably against Dominic’s breast, her gaze on the moon rising above the purple-shadowed mountains, and began to wonder.

She wondered why her breasts were suddenly swollen, the nipples pressing against the soft cotton as if pleading for release. She wondered why the rhythmic pounding of the leather saddle against that most private part of her was causing an ache that held no pain. She wondered why his hand on the gently rounded flesh of her stomach seemed to become heavier and more possessive with each passing moment. She wondered why his warm breath against her ear was causing an odd languor to attack the muscles of her neck and shoulders.

They were silent for the remainder of the journey.

Wondering.

Dominic took no physical action.

Elspeth came to no conclusions.

It seemed a long, long time to both of them before they saw the lights of Hell’s Bluff.

“I
t’s nothing personal, you understand.” Will Judkins’s gaze sidled away from Elspeth’s stunned expression as he opened the door to the hall. “You’re welcome to stay until tomorrow morning. That will give Dominic time enough to find you a place more … suitable.”

She hadn’t realized how cold and stern the hotel owner’s face could be. He had always had a genial smile on his face when she had encountered him before, and he had never shown her anything but kindness. Yet now his manner was brisk to the point of rudeness. “I thought your hotel was a very suitable place for me,” she said haltingly. “I know I’ve been a bother for the last week, but it shouldn’t be much longer until I’m well, and Silver has been preparing all my meals—”

“I don’t look upon that dirty breed’s presence in my kitchen as a help.” Judkins’s lips thinned. “And neither does my wife. That young heathen nearly frightened her out of a year’s growth. She pulled a knife on her and told her to stay out of her way when she came downstairs or she’d take her scalp and hang it on the sign out front. My wife has refused to leave our room ever since, and
I’m
having to do the cooking for our guests.” His gaze returned to where Elspeth was lying on the bed, and his jaw squared belligerently. “Not that there are many guests left, what with a half-breed and a fancy lady sashaying all over my
respectable hotel. I run a place where men can bring their wives and children not a whore—”

“Silver is
not
dirty.” Elspeth’s eyes were blazing as she sat up straight in bed. “I’d wager she bathes far more frequently than you do. I don’t know about her being a heathen, we’ve never discussed it, but she’s kind and generous and if she threatened Mrs. Judkins, I’m sure your wife deserved it.”

“She did.” Silver pushed the half-ajar door open wide and entered the room carrying a round tray covered by a blue and white checked napkin. “The woman is a screeching fool. She called me a savage.” Her white teeth gleamed as she smiled faintly. “And I showed her I could behave truly as the savage she named me.” She turned her gaze on Will Judkins. “As I will show you if you do not stop bothering us.”

Judkins’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed nervously. “You don’t scare me. You’re nothing but an Apache squaw. Shamus was right to bundle you back to those other heathens. I would have done the same.”

Silver’s eyes widened until they seemed to hold winter sunlight in their depths. “Do you wish to see my knife too, white man?” she asked softly. “An Apache squaw knows well how to use one. Perhaps you have heard stories? They give prisoners to us women first so that we may teach them the meaning of pain before they learn of death.”

Judkins moistened his suddenly dry lips. “This is my hotel and if I say you go—” He edged toward the door, his gaze fixed warily on Silver. “You go! I have friends in this town. If you’re not out of this room by tomorrow morning, we’ll maybe form a little party and see how you like being run out of town.” He glanced at Elspeth. “None of this is my fault and I won’t lose money because Dominic is afraid Rina will be jealous if he sets you up over at her place, where you belong.” His lips pursed and his voice rose righteously. “You can’t expect to have it both ways, the wages of sin are—”

“Get out.” Silver took a step toward him.
“Now.”

He took one look at her face and bolted out the door.

“The wages of sin,” Silver repeated in disgust. “Everyone in town knows he spends every Saturday night over at Rina’s.” Elspeth’s bewildered expression caused Silver to frown. “Did his words hurt you?” She crossed the room and set the tray on the nightstand beside the bed before she turned to face Elspeth. “He’s a fool and a coward. He dared to speak to you in that way because he knew Dominic would be at the Nugget all afternoon. He probably hopes you will not tell Dominic of his rudeness to you.” She smiled with infinite pleasure as she plucked the napkin from the tray. “I will enjoy very much watching Dominic kill him.”

“No!” Elspeth’s eyes widened in horror. “He wouldn’t!”

Silver gazed at her in surprise. “Of course he will. You are his woman.” She tucked the napkin into the collar of Elspeth’s white cotton nightgown and handed her the small bowl of stew and a spoon. “Now eat and forget about the stupid man.”

“I feel shamed.” Elspeth smiled shakily. “I didn’t think I’d feel this way. It shouldn’t matter what other people think of me. I thought I was strong enough to ignore …” She blinked rapidly to rid her eyes of tears that were welling helplessly. “I suppose this means I’m a fallen woman now, at least in the opinion of everyone in Hell’s Bluff. I wish I were like you, Silver. It would be easier if I could just ignore this.”