Johanna Lindsey - Savage Thunder

"I'm sorry."

He looked up at her again with surprise. "Why?"

"If someone's going to suffer excruciating pain for a blessing, well, then they ought to be able to expect that blessing to last a good, long while, shouldn't they? Otherwise, why bother?"

"Hadn't thought of that."

She could tell he found her view amusing. He didn't actually smile, but she knew when someone was hu-moring her. She chose not to take exception to it, however. The man was injured, after all.

"Yes, well, never mind. Why don't you tell me how this happened?" she said, indicating his flesh wound.

The change in Colt was swift and chilling. "I got careless."

When he didn't elaborate, Jocelyn became annoyed, enough to deliberately misunderstand. "You shot yourself? How clumsy of you."

He gave her a baleful look rife with promise. "The shot came out of a dark alley. By the time I got to the end of it, the culprit was on his horse and high-tailing it out of town."

"Then you don't know who it was?"

"I didn't see his face, no, but I recognized the horse. I remember horses better than I do people. That one belonged to the kid who rode with Angel to escort you to the Englishman. I believe Angel said his name was Pete Saunders."

"But I thought we beat them here!"

"They're obviously determined not to lose you again, Duchess. They knew where we were headed. And you still had your vehicles slowing you down, even without making camp. It would have been easy enough for them to ride around us and get here first."

"Then what was the point of our rushing?"

"On the off chance that Angel's ploy had them wasting time searching the mountains for you. But they must have gotten lucky and found where he dou-bled back."

"So what am I supposed to do now?" she said, tying his bandage off a bit too tightly in her agitation. "I suppose they'll be watching the railroad, watching the… wait a minute. Why did they shoot at you?"

"For the usual reason," he answered dryly. "To kill me."

Now he was the recipient of a baleful glance. "Longnose has never harmed any of my people. Why should he? It must have been a mistake."

In her upset, she had begun to pace in front of him. Colt had to force his eyes away from the bottom of her robe, which kept threatening to open with each step she took.

"There was no mistake, Duchess. What would you do without a guide?"

"Hire another. "She didn't finish the thought. Her eyes flared with understanding she didn't want to accept. "But I've seen them all. How can they think—"

"It wouldn't be a man you might recognize. Your Longnose will find someone else, and probably already has. Didn't Angel tell you this was their origi-nal plan before they came across Dryden?"

"Your Angel was as closemouthed as a sphinx. Of course he didn't tell me anything. But if he told you.

why haven't you quit?" She got such a fierce look of annoyance, she almost smiled. "Oh, that's right, you don't quit." She was feeling better already. "You see, I was right all along about how much I need you. If anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to hire anyone to replace you. I couldn't trust him not to be one of Longnose's men."

Colt didn't hear much beyond that "I need you" of hers. If he didn't get her out of his room pronto, she wouldn't be leaving at all.

"All right, Duchess, so you've got few options left open to you right now. The train's out. As you said, they'll be watching it, as well as your vehicles. If you split your men, some to go after the Englishman, some to protect you, you just make it easier for him."

She was frowning. "I know you said you wouldn't hunt him down, but what about Angel? Do you think he might be interested in the job?"

He shook his head. "He's got business in Texas that's already been delayed. He's taking off in the morning."

"So where does that leave me?"

"You either hole up and wait until your enemy gathers enough men to attack, or. "

He didn't finish, and she could see that whatever that "or" was, he either had changed his mind or hadn't thought it through. She was too impatient to wait.

"Or?"

He gave her a long, considering look that ended in a shrug. "You can strike out alone."

For a moment she thought he was joking. He must be. But she sensed his nonchalance was contrived, that he was tense, even expectant.

"Without protection?"

"With me. I can get you safely to Wyoming, but it'd be just you, me, and the horses, and a lot of hard riding. Your people would have to follow at their own pace."

"Just you and me. " she began, but was still reeling over the possibilities. "But you warned me to stay away from you," she reminded him. "Why would you offer—"

"Don't get me wrong, Duchess," he interrupted in a low, mesmerizing tone. "I guarantee you'll get to Wyoming in one piece. I make no other promises. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

She nodded curtly, feeling the color already mount-ing in her cheeks, and nearly ran toward the door.

"I–I will have to consider…" She stopped, her hand on the door handle, her back to him. "When would you want to leave?"

"Tonight. when it'd be least expected."

Again she nodded, but wouldn't turn to look at him. "I'll have my decision delivered to you shortly."

It was absolutely out of the question. It was so im-proper it didn't even bear consideration.

Besides, there was that implied warning that Colt wouldn't keep his hands off her if she went with him.

That was the one point Jocelyn didn't mention when she told the countess she was going, and then spent the next two hours arguing with her about it. In the end, it was her decision to make. And in the end, Vanessa even allowed the plan might have some merit to it. After all, if Jocelyn could get away undetected, Longnose wouldn't leave the area, thinking she was still there.

Later in the week the rest of their numbers could be divided, half to take the train to meet her in Cheyenne, the other half to go by the Santa Fe Trail as they had intended. And with Jocelyn in neither party, Longnose wouldn't know which to follow, would likely assume she had been hidden somehow. He might even divide his own numbers, which would make it simpler for the law authorities, whom she intended to have waiting for him when he eventually showed up in Wyoming.

Jocelyn didn't know how Colt had greeted her de-cision to go with him, for she had sent a servant to tell him. There was the strong possibility his offer hadn't been sincere and he would be furious that she had once again called his bluff. After all, she really didn't understand why he would do this for her when she knew how much he disliked her company. But if he had been sincere, then she could only conclude that he was so fed up with the job she had forced on ' him — which had now become extremely risky as well as bothersome — that he was willing to do anything to get it over with. Traveling without the encumbrance of the vehicles would get them to Wyoming in half the time, maybe even less.

She was ready when he came for her around mid-night, dressed in one of her more sturdy riding habits, with a full-length fur-lined cloak draped over an arm, her rifle in one hand and a small valise in the other. I Colt did no more than remove her tall, short-brimmed 1 riding hat to replace it with one he had brought along, a man's widebrimmed hat in the same style as his, I which surprisingly fitted. She didn't object. She didn't dare. She was going to have to get used to doing things as he directed, or risk heaven knew what, a thought that didn't sit well with her, but she supposed she would get used to that too.

She noted right off, despite there being no words f exchanged between them, that Colt didn't seem furi-I ous. But then most of the time it was impossible to I tell what he was feeling. However, if anything, he I seemed rather relaxed in his manner. He even flipped 1 her new hat down over her eyes after he'd placed it I on her head, something a playful relative or friend * might do, but not her taciturn guide.

But he wasn't wasting any time in getting started, so she didn't wonder about his attitude for very long.

He led her out of the hotel through the back and down several streets, not to the stables, but to an alley where his brother was waiting with the horses.

"You see anyone?" he asked Billy.

"Not a soul."

Billy stepped back as Colt tossed Jocelyn up onto Sir George, then secured her valise for her. She had to spend a few moments quieting the animal, who didn't like such proximity to Colt's stallion.

"Don't forget what I told you, kid," Colt was say-ing. "Just keep to the flats with the mountains on your left, and you'll have no problem leading the oth-ers straight into Cheyenne. I'm trusting you to show up at the Rocky Valley on your own. If you make me come looking for you again, you'll wish to hell you hadnt."

"I'll be there," Billy replied in a somewhat grum-bling tone. "But I'm still not going back to school."

"You can take your objections up with your ma when you return to Chicago, which is what you should have done in the first place."

At that point Billy grinned. "She didn't think I was serious about not wanting to be a lawyer, that I mean to take up ranching instead. Now she knows I wasn't kidding."

"You proved your point all right. What good it'll do you is debatable, though."

And then Colt pulled Billy into a brief, bone-crushing embrace, surprising the boy as well as Jocelyn, who was watching. If she had been asked, she would have sworn Colt Thunder didn't have an affectionate bone in his body. Obviously, he had one or two well hidden.

As Billy headed back to the hotel and Colt mounted up, it finally dawned on Jocelyn what was missing.

"Where are the supply horses?"

"You're traveling with an Indian, Duchess." For once he didn't say it in a derogatory way. "If I can't survive off the land, there's something wrong with me."

They both thought of Philippe Marivaux simulta-neously, Colt with satisfaction that he'd never have to smell another meal smothered in French wines, Jocelyn with regret. "I'm skinny enough as it is," she felt obliged to complain. "I'll probably waste away to nothing by the time we get there."

He had the gall to laugh. But after she thought about it, she rather liked the idea of his providing for her.

Protection, provision, and whatever else was needed. That had a rather nice sound to it.

They rode throughout the remainder of the night, keeping to the road for the horses' sake, to avoid the hazards of the land. At one point Jocelyn asked when they might be stopping for some sleep and was told they wouldn't be, not until the following evening. Already tired, and it wasn't even close to dawn, she almost turned around. Almost.

But she got it into her mind that Colt was likely testing her. He had probably even made wagers with himself on how soon it would take her to start com-plaining about something. Of course, she never said she wouldn't complain. If she had made such an ir-rational promise, then she wouldn't dare to say anything, no matter how difficult he made this journey for her. But she decided that thwarting him would be the only enjoyment she could look forward to in the coming days. She wouldn't complain even if it killed her.

At dawn they stopped briefly to rest the horses. She thought they would have a meal then, but Colt merely dug out some thin strips of dried beef from his sad-dlebags that she was told to chew on. She tried. She really did. But Westerners must have tougher teeth than duchesses. She ended up sticking the thing in her mouth like a cigar and sucking on it for the rest of the morning.

By noon she had to remove her cloak. Not that the day had warmed up to any great degree, but the steady pace Colt was keeping to was grueling exercise, and there was little wind in the lulls where they were rid-ing now.

They had stopped once more, again only for the horses. Sir George was bearing up much better than Jocelyn. Her back felt on fire, the muscles were so stiff. The leg she hooked over her saddle horn for balance had gone to sleep a good half-dozen times. She envied it. She was so tired she was almost sleep-ing in the saddle. If Sir George were a less frisky mount, she likely would be.