Carol Finch (13 page)

Had she done something to annoy him? Perhaps he
was aggravated that he had to tote her with him on his horse while she was lost in those strange dreams. Whatever the reason for his detachment, Piper felt awkward and uncomfortable around him for the first time in days. She sorely missed the easy camaraderie that had developed between them.

Later, when they made camp, the Comanche warriors went in search of something besides pemmican for their supper. Piper watched Quinn pace from one side of their encampment to the other and she wondered if he resented the fact that he had to remain behind to keep an eye on her.

The thought depressed her. She had finally met a man who interested her and aroused her and he considered her an inconvenience, no matter how hard she tried to match his pace. Piper knew all too well that she wasn’t right for Quinn, knew she couldn’t fit into his tumbleweed lifestyle, even if she spent months perfecting her skills. But that didn’t diminish her fascination with him.

If only they had met under different circumstances. But then again, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Quinn Callahan wasn’t about to change for her and she wouldn’t truly fit into his world. This ill-fated attraction was going nowhere, she told herself sensibly. It was high time she accepted the fact that her infatuation with Quinn was simply a brief chapter in her life.

She had come west to claim her independence and prove her self-reliance, she reminded herself. So why didn’t that seem as important as it had two weeks earlier when she had planned her trip to Fort Davis?

Because she had met an unconventional man and her attraction to him had sidetracked her and altered her priorities.

“Here, drink.” Quinn thrust the canteen at her.

Piper took a sip, then peered into his ruggedly handsome face that was a study of angles and shadows in the campfire light. “Are you angry at me?” she asked.

Yes, he was, Quinn thought. Well, to be fair, he was angry with
himself.
He was frustrated that he cared so much about Piper. He also felt guilty as hell because he wanted to avenge Taylor Briggs’s death and his friend had been the farthest thing from his mind this afternoon. He was angry that he was putting Piper through this strenuous ordeal and that he had touched her so familiarly when he never should have touched her at all, especially when she didn’t recall the incident.

And worse, he still wanted her like hell blazing, and
not
touching her right now was driving him crazy!

“What makes you say that?” he asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral and his gaze on anything but her.

She frowned at him in exasperation. “Your attitude has been standoffish since this afternoon. I have gotten to know your mannerisms and facial expressions pretty well since we have spent so much time together. Something is wrong and I want to know what it is.”

Quinn shifted uneasily from one foot to the other and stared at the air over her head. “Everything is fine.”

“No, it isn’t.” She flashed him an impudent grin. “You need to know that I have a habit of badgering a person until I find out what I want to know. Save yourself some time and just tell me. If I’m causing too many
delays and too much inconvenience then just say so. I’ll try harder to match your pace.”

“I do not want to have this conversation right now,” Quinn grumbled before he went back to his restless pacing.

“Too bad. We
are
having it.”

When she bounded to her feet to stand toe-to-toe with him Quinn felt himself instinctively reaching for her. He had to fight like the very devil to keep his hands fisted at his sides.

“I expect the same honesty from you that you demand from me. What have I done to upset you?”

“Nothing. Everything is fine,” he repeated through clenched teeth.

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin challengingly. “I don’t believe you. What’s wrong?”

Quinn raked his fingers through his tousled hair, muttered under his breath at her refusal to back off, then said, “Okay, Piper, you asked for it. I feel damn guilty because this afternoon you were all over me while we were riding double and I was all over you. Those weren’t dreams you were having. That was
reality.
”

There. He had said it out loud. Now
she
could deal with it.

Her silver-blue eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.

“You wanted to know,” he defended himself tersely. “It happened. And now it’s not enough because I want more from you. But that is a very bad idea, because you can do a hell of a lot better than a man like me and I know it.”

Her mouth dropped open another notch and her eyes popped.

“Satisfied yet? You wanted to know so I’m
telling
you that if you expect to keep your innocence intact that you need to keep a wide berth and stop asking what I’m thinking and feeling because you are probably offended by what you’re hearing. Now I’m going to shut up and you should do the same.”

He veered around her, then plunked down beneath the overhanging ledge where he had built the campfire to prevent easy detection.

To his dismay, Piper strode up in front of him again. Damnation, didn’t this woman know when to back off? But then, when had she ever? She just kept on coming at him, defying the danger and threat he represented, ignoring his warnings.

“I tried to seduce you while I was under the influence of peyote?” she asked as she stared intently at him.

“Didn’t try—you succeeded,” he said, and scowled. The campfire spotlighted her curvaceous physique and enhanced the delicate features of her face. Another jolt of awareness zapped him. “Go away, Piper. I’m tired and cranky and lust is making me edgy. I intend to deliver you to the fort in the same condition I found you, so keep your distance.”

She shook her head and sighed audibly. “If you could see yourself through my eyes, you wouldn’t make the ridiculous remark that I can do better than a man like you. There are none better.”

“Right,” he snorted. “I’m a regular Prince Charming with all the proper manners and social graces.” He ges
tured toward his shaggy mane of hair, his stubbled jaw and the odd combination of clothing that reflected his unusual upbringing. “Do I look like any gentleman you’ve ever met?”

“No, but in my eyes you
are
a Prince Charming.”

“Then you need to have your vision checked, sweetheart,” he drawled sarcastically. “All you will ever get from me is a tumble in the hay and no promises of ever after.”

When she grimaced at his blunt remark he realized the only way to discourage her from making the biggest mistake of her life with him was to drive her away. “Is that what you want? A quick tumble on the ground, just to find out what lust feels like? You won’t have to ask me twice, but you need to remember that I’m not accustomed to bedding a real lady and there will be no strings attached.”

“You asked me to marry you, remember?”

Damn it, he should have expected that she would throw that in his face right now. The woman was too quick-minded. Plus, matching wits with her was a bad idea when he was in a mood. And he
was
in a bitch of a mood right now.

“Don’t push me, Sullivan,” he said warningly.

He reared back when she dropped down on her knees in front of him, then got right in his face—a technique he noted that she had borrowed from him.

“Maybe I do want one night with you, just to find out what desire is all about,” she dared to say. “Maybe I do want to take you up on your offer to provide the protection of your name so my father has no legal control
over me. I can handle a tumble on the ground—as you so delicately put it,” she said caustically. “After all, I have met every other challenge you have tossed at me, haven’t I?”

Yes, she had, which made her all the more irresistible to him. He had never met a woman like Piper. She was lovely beyond compare, spirited beyond belief and determined to the extreme. He liked her way too much and that worried him.

“Well, haven’t I?” she persisted as only Piper could. “So, maybe the truth is that
you
can’t handle my fascination and attraction for you. Just why is that?” She didn’t give him time to reply, just hurried on. “I think it’s because you have been made to feel unworthy and unwanted when you were ostracized by your own culture. Well, here’s a piece of news for you, Callahan,
I
want you, whether you think anyone else does or not!”

The bold comment simultaneously pleased and tormented him. But Quinn quickly reminded himself that Piper was young and reckless and too daring for her own good. She might be singing a different tune if he took her to bed and she discovered that sharing his passion didn’t meet her idealistic expectations.

“Furthermore, you don’t have to fret about promises or commitment if they don’t interest you. I would marry you this very minute. I would hold no future expectations. I know you don’t want me around permanently to cramp your style or get in the way of your obligations as a Ranger.”

She stared at him. “
I
get the legal license as proof of
our marriage and
you
get all the freedom you want. It’s a situation that’s good for both of us.”

Quinn gaped at her and tried to breathe, but he couldn’t seem to drag air into his deflated lungs. She was offering him what every man wanted? No charge? No commitment? No consequences?

When he finally recovered his powers of speech he frowned disapprovingly at her. “Your father would pitch a fit if he could hear you. Your sister, too, I suspect.”

She flung her arms in expansive gestures. “Do you see either of them here right now? Even if they were here, this is still
my
life and
my
decision. And why, I would dearly like to know, do men seem to think women and children should be seen and their opinions
un
heard? I object to that philosophical nonsense!”

No surprise there, he mused, biting back a grin.

“Why shouldn’t women want the same things men do? Answer me that, Mr. Rough, Tough Texas Ranger. And while you’re at it, please explain why men
think
they know what is best for women. I am curious to know why men think we should want to exist contentedly within the confining boundaries and restrictions you have set for us. I am here to tell you that is the very last thing
I
want!”

When her voice rose sharply and her chest swelled with indignation, Quinn chuckled out loud. Lord, she was glorious when she was in a fit of temper.

She shook her finger in his smiling face and said, “Do not try to speak for me or think for me, Callahan. I happen to know my own mind, thank you very much!”

His attention dropped to her breasts when she sucked
in a deep breath. He was still hopelessly distracted when she snapped, “Do you know what your problem is?”

“Other than you?” he asked as he lifted his gaze to meet her flashing blue eyes. “No, but I’m betting you’re going to tell me.”

“Darn right I am. You have more honor and integrity than you give yourself credit for and it is getting in the way of what I want from you.”

“Are you about done ranting?” he asked, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably.

“Pretty close. There’s just one more thing.”

“What’s that, wildcat?”

She flung her arms around his neck and toppled him to his back. The kiss she delivered packed as much heat as two blazing Colt .45s. Then, a mind-boggling moment later, she scrambled off him and bolted to her feet.

“When you think you can handle what I have to offer, let me know, Callahan. But rest assured that you aren’t dealing with a submissive female who stands around, meekly waiting at a man’s beck and call. You will be doomed to disappointment because I pride myself in being assertive.
Not
holding back feels a natural part of who I am and I have
you
to thank for teaching me to come right out and say what I mean!”

“Don’t put all the blame on
me,
” he grumbled as she turned around and stamped off. “While you were posing as Agatha Stewart you didn’t mince words. I should know because I was on the receiving end of that sharp tongue more times than I care to count!”

She glared over her shoulder at him and, not to be outdone, he glared right back.

“I’m going down to the spring to bathe so don’t bother to check on me. If I meet with trouble I intend to handle it without any help from you.”

When she disappeared from sight Quinn propped himself against the stone wall and sighed heavily. Knowing that Piper was recklessly willing to offer him what he wanted from her was not making it easier for him to resist her.

Damn it, she could have ranted all night without saying exactly what he wanted to hear.

There was probably a lot of irony in that, he decided. Too bad that he was so frustrated at the moment that he couldn’t figure it out.

Q
uinn was mightily relieved a half hour later when the two warriors returned to camp with a skinned rabbit and rock squirrel for supper. Piper had returned from bathing and had been giving him the cold shoulder. The silence in camp had been deafening. He definitely needed a break from Piper.

Leaving Piper to herself, Quinn struck up a conversation in Indian dialect while supper roasted. He inquired about conditions at the reservation in Indian Territory and asked after several acquaintances he had made while living with the Kiowa and Comanche.

Anything to distract himself from the disturbing confrontation with Piper. He was flattered, in an exasperated kind of way. And tormented beyond measure because he wanted her so badly that the prospect of having her colored every thought.

But his conscience was beating him black and blue for even imagining what it might be like between them.

“You would not like the reservation,” Spotted Deer commented bitterly. “Our people are watched over like misbehaving children. We have been ordered not to practice our former way of life and have been made to adopt the paleface ways.”

“The army delivers rancid beef that makes our people ill and the traders at the fort steal from our portions of food to sell to whites for their own profit. The children have been sent to schools in the East to be indoctrinated to the white ways as well,” Red Hawk added resentfully. “It is not a life we would wish on anyone.”

Although many of Quinn’s memories of life in Indian camps were bitter and tragic, he had eventually adapted and had come to think of himself as more Indian than white. The prospect of being contained like prisoners on infertile lands the government considered useless to white expansion angered him.

Quinn knew he walked a fine line between two contrasting worlds and consequently held mixed opinions and philosophies. He resented what the Indians had taken from him. Yet, ironically, he was grateful to them for teaching him to become a competent, self-reliant man. Conversely, he disliked the way whites treated him because of circumstances beyond his control. In addition, he despised his own kind for their cruel treatment of his adopted people.

There was so much conflict of emotion pulling him in so many different directions at once that there were times when he wasn’t sure who or what he was. And worse, the overwhelming temptation to take Piper up on
her reckless offer of passion was yet another internal battle that was wearing him out.

Feeling the need for privacy, Quinn left Piper and the warriors to eat their meal without him. Giving the excuse of scouting the area in case of trouble, he ambled away from camp.

Quinn was sorry to say that most of his thoughts kept centering on his conversation with Piper. Need and desire kept getting in the way of his common sense. That woman stuck in his mind like a cactus needle and Quinn couldn’t shake her loose, no matter how hard he tried.

He stared skyward, requesting divine guidance. “What am I going to do about that woman?”

When he was met with nothing but silence, he sighed heavily. “Why is it that I always have to figure things out by myself?”

Piper’s attempt to keep her mind on learning the Comanche translation for squirrel, rabbit, campfire—to name only a few of the words the warriors were trying to teach her—failed dismally. Her mind and her gaze kept drifting to the path Quinn had taken when he disappeared from sight.

True, she had come on way too strong earlier that evening. But his detachment had cut to the quick and she had wanted to know what was bothering him. She wanted things to be right between them again.

Now the situation was worse than before.

The impossible man! She was ready to live each day as it came and refused to let anyone plan her future. And Quinn, damn his fierce sense of honor, was almost as
bad as Roarke about decreeing what he had concluded was best for her.

Piper shook her head in dismay. Why couldn’t men understand that trying to overprotect and dominate women was offensive? At least it was to her.

When Quinn returned to camp, looking refreshed after bathing and shaving at the small spring she had made use of earlier, Piper found herself ignored.

Which did nothing for her disposition.

Quinn spoke quietly to the warriors who nodded at her, then walked off into the darkness.

Puzzled, Piper stared after them. “My, you
do
have a knack of offending a person and provoking them to get up and leave, don’t you?”

“I asked them to grant us privacy for the night,” Quinn said as he came to stand over her.

She rose to her feet. “I expected you to bed down as far away from me as you could get after you turned tail and ran off earlier.”

His gaze narrowed on her, not that she was the least bit intimidated. No matter how aggravated she made him, she had discovered that he would never raise his hand to her. His voice? Yes, on occasion. But she had the same habit so who was she to complain about that?

“You are trying to provoke me again,” he grumbled.

“Agatha would be so pleased.”

Quinn pivoted on his heels to stride over to the pallet. “I’ve thought it over and I’ve decided you’re right.”

“About what?” She walked over to sink down cross-legged in front of him.

“You want a marriage license for protection and con
venience and you want instruction on passion, so I’m going to make you a deal.”

Her surprised gaze swept up to meet his carefully blank stare. Was he teasing her? Most likely. But she couldn’t resist saying, “I’m humbled by your self-sacrifice on my behalf. You will, of course, be monetarily compensated.”

“You are annoying me again,” he said, his deep voice rumbling with warning.

“And if you become much more romantic in presenting your proposal I will surely swoon at your feet—”

Her taunting voice trailed off when he cupped her face in both hands and stared intently at her. “I am giving you one last chance to change your mind, Piper. If you wake up tomorrow full of regret and realize you have made a hasty decision that you would like to retract then it will be too late.”

The gentle touch of his hands stirred an undeniable longing inside her. It was proof enough that her body called out to his. She
did
want him. She wanted the intimacy she had rejected until she met a man who thoroughly intrigued and fascinated her.

He was the one. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.

One night with Quinn was a memory she knew she would cherish in the years to come. She would have one bright, shining moment of pleasure to savor. Surely it would be worth the hurt of watching him ride out of her life.

And he would; she had no illusions about that.

“When we reach Catoosa Gulch we will make this
marriage legal in the white man’s culture and you will have your signed document. But in the ways of the Kiowa and Comanche, a woman has only to give her assent and join a warrior in his tipi to make the marriage binding.” His thumbs brushed over her lips and he smiled wryly. “The wilderness is my tipi, Piper. You are already here. Are you absolutely certain this is what you want?”

“Yes,” she murmured as she pressed her lips to his.

Her frustration melted away as his sinewy arms enfolded her. Hungry need surged through her as she savored the addictive taste of him and reveled in the feel of his muscular body melded familiarly to hers. His hands glided over her hips and she shimmered with radiating pleasure that burned to her very core. He nipped at her bottom lip, tugging at it the same way that erotic sensations tugged at her feminine body.

When she moaned his name he responded with a rumbling growl. And then the palm of his hand settled between her legs and red-hot desire coiled deep inside her. Piper forgot to breathe—couldn’t remember why she needed to—when his questing hand glided beneath the waistband of her breeches to brush intimately against her. He caressed her with thumb and forefinger, penetrating her heated flesh until she gasped and shivered and pressed eagerly against his hand.

Piper felt herself falling deeper into the sensual web of breathless need as he stroked her gently. His tongue plunged into her mouth, mimicking the rhythmic motion of his fingertip. Sensation after inexpressible sensation converged on her, burning her up from inside out.

Quinn explored the hidden secrets of her body and marveled at the pleasure he derived from touching her so intimately. When she melted around his fingertip he swore the earth had shifted beneath him. Pleasure rippled through him and his body clenched with throbbing need. He longed to bury himself in her velvety heat and burn alive in the hottest sweetest fire he had ever known.

“I want you,” he whispered as he tugged impatiently at her breeches. “I want to be inside you. Now. This very minute.”

“That’s where I need you,” she said with a ragged breath. “Now. This very minute.”

She reached for the placket of his buckskin breeches, wanting to touch him as familiarly as he had touched her, wanting to return the incredible pleasure that rippled through her.

Suddenly she heard the clatter of hooves on the ledge above them. Voices echoed in the still of the night, jostling Piper from her pleasure-induced daze. Before she could react to the possible threat of danger Quinn was already on his feet. He jerked her up beside him and snatched up their bedroll. He bustled Piper beneath the outcropping of rock then smothered the small campfire.

Piper was still trying to regain her senses when Quinn pressed a pistol into her hand. “Stay here and pay attention.”

“But—”

He touched his forefinger to her lips to shush her. “This is when you obey my orders without question.”

Grabbing his bullwhip, Quinn scurried around the corner. When the pup, that had been napping by the fire
before they abruptly disturbed him, tried to trot after Quinn, Piper cuddled him close. She sat frozen to the spot when she heard the unidentified riders moving closer. Everything inside her rebelled against allowing Quinn to confront the intruders alone, but she did as she was told.

Staying put didn’t stop her from fearing for Quinn’s safety. Once again, she chastised herself for being incompetent. This might be the one time Quinn needed someone to watch his back and she didn’t possess the skills to assist him.

That realization tormented her to no end while she waited helplessly for Quinn’s return. And he had better come back in one piece or she would never forgive herself.

Quinn crouched beside an oversize slab of rock to appraise the five riders that filed along the trail that lay ten feet below him. Mexican banditos. He had a pretty good idea where they were headed. There was nothing he would like better than to take the men captive and interrogate them. He wanted to be well informed before his Ranger battalion laid siege to the remote stronghold.

Pensively, he contemplated the best method of attack—and wished there had been time to alert the two Comanches for backup. Well, it wasn’t the first time he had worked alone, he thought as he waited until the last rider passed directly beneath him.

Like a pouncing cougar, Quinn sprang from the ledge to catch the rider unaware. The butt of his pistol con
nected with the bandito’s skull and put him out like a doused lantern. When the man slumped forward on the skittish horse, Quinn bounded into the saddle to grab the reins. He hauled his unconscious captive up in front of him like a shield.

When the nearest rider swiveled in the saddle to determine the cause of the muffled sounds, Quinn lashed out with his bullwhip. It curled around the second rider’s neck like a striking snake. One quick jerk sent the man cartwheeling off his horse to collide with the perpendicular wall of stone.

Quinn was ready and waiting when the other three men tried to wheel their horses around, only to become log-jammed by the walls of the narrow ravine. Their mounts collided as they grabbed for their pistols. Quinn’s whip cracked and hissed repeatedly as he sent the weapons leaping from the bandoleros’ hands.

Shouts and curses of pain erupted while Quinn thrust out his whip to jerk one man after another from the saddle.

“Very impressive,” Red Hawk called from somewhere overhead.

“Thanks for nothing,” Quinn snorted while he held the four conscious outlaws at gunpoint.

Spotted Deer grinned. “If you had needed our help we would have joined in.”

Quinn heard the cascade of sand and pebbles that indicated the Comanches were sidestepping down the slope above him.

“Besides,” Red Hawk said, smiling wryly, “we had farther to come since you sent us away from camp.”

“We have money to trade for our freedom,” the potbellied Mexican negotiated in Spanish.

“Robbed another stage, did you?” Quinn pushed the unconscious outlaw into Red Hawk’s arms, then dismounted.

“No,” the rail-thin bandit hurriedly denied. “It’s our hard-earned wages.”

“Doubt it,” Quinn smirked as he went over to remove the lasso attached to one of the men’s saddles.

With the Comanches’ assistance he secured the bandits’ hands in rope, then herded them to camp. The warriors trailed behind him with the confiscated horses.

A pleased smile pursed Quinn’s lips when he rounded the corner to find Piper exactly where he had left her. She released Lucky and the mutt trotted over to thump his tail against Quinn’s leg in greeting.

“A gaggle of Knights, I presume,” Piper said as she inspected the men who were strung together like a chain gang. She glanced approvingly at Quinn and the warriors. “The three of you work well together.”

“We
could
have if those two sleepyheads had arrived sooner. They left me to do all the work,” Quinn replied.

Piper’s wide-eyed gaze lifted to him, amazed by his nonchalant acceptance of his impressive abilities. She would have been thrilled if she possessed a third of his skills.

When Quinn gestured for the bandits to sit down, they reluctantly obliged. After he had secured the ends of the rope to a juniper, one of the men glanced back and forth between him and the two warriors. “What are you gonna do with us?” he asked in stilted English.