Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (14 page)

Her eyebrows shot up when he gave the
hair along her neck a gentle brush and then sniffed the air. Her
look of surprise punctuated his murmured word. “Roses.”

With his fingers caressing the hair
between his thumb and forefinger, Seth lingered near her ear.
“You’re so beautiful, Celia…So beautiful. I can’t get you out of my
head,” he admitted with a shaky laugh. He felt her
stiffen.

Celia’s eyes darted to his and then
retreated. Glancing away and then back, he gave her a bewildered
little shrug. He was sure he’d never felt as stupid as he did at
the moment.

The confusion was evident on her face
as she stared at him as if he was a stranger. The distance between
them was no more than a step. Did he hear her breathing or his? His
hands ached to reach out and take her in his arms before kissing
her senseless. He could actually feel the silken hair as his
fingers sunk deep into her black as night mane. Taking those lips
until they were both lost would be a pleasure he would savor. The
warmth in his gut began to simmer. Like a yearning deeply born, it
spread unwittingly into his groin.

Seth’s eyes went to slits as he rode
the first wave of lust. A small voice warned him it wouldn’t be
wise. Neither of them needed to mix the trouble they faced with
long ago emotions. She wasn’t the same girl anymore. Being someone
he didn’t really know didn’t seem to matter, he mused. He wanted
her. Seth wanted to know every inch of her all over
again.

“
Why did you bring me here,
Seth?” Celia asked. Her cool emerald eyes threw icy water on his
lust.

Stung by the question, he shot back
with his own. “What the hell do you mean? What kind of question is
that?” Irritation disguised as surprise weighed heavy in his voice.
This conversation was doing a damn good job of tamping out the
fire, which only moments ago surged through him. His nostrils
flared with the indignation of her rebuff. “You needed my help.” He
took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “And I promised Lone
Eagle I would protect you.”

Needing the contact, Seth touched her
hair again. In what he considered a casual move, his fingers picked
up the silken strands. Too late, Seth realized his mistake. He took
a step back out of temptation’s way. The fire in the hearth
presented an excuse. Glancing back at her from over his shoulder as
he warmed his hands, Seth tried to explain, “Look, I know it’s not
the ideal situation, but we can make it work. Besides, I wouldn’t
have left you out there or taken you back to town. You’re alone
with no one to defend you. This isn’t Charleston. Desperados,
Indians, along with the Mexican slave traders are everywhere these
days, Celia. They’d have snatched you up in a heartbeat. You don’t
want to know what they’re capable of.” Seth scowled into the fire
once again. “Despite what you might think of me, I’m not so
heartless.”

Celia jutted her chin once more at the
implication she thought him a thief. “I never said you were. I just
asked if you’d taken to robbing banks. That’s all.”

“
Right, no implication
there,” Seth declared dryly.

Celia opened her mouth, before shutting
it again. She fidgeted with the lace at the pocket of her duster as
she struggled with the words. “I was in shock when…when you
appeared. They were bank robbers. They intended to rape me. How was
I to know you weren’t one too?” Celia all but sniffed at him with
her prim look. “Besides, I can take care of myself.”

He wanted to remind her again this
wasn’t Charleston, but he held his tongue. Instead, Seth offered
her another wry smile as he considered her bravado. “I don’t doubt
you can hold your own. You were doing a pretty good job of it
before I got to the creek. The fact remains somebody murdered your
people without thought to the consequences. I have no doubt they’d
do it again. This is the safest place for you.”

“
I told you already!”
Celia’s hands fisted at her side. In a huff, she turned from him
folding her arms across her chest. Her next words were
matter-of-fact and toneless as well. “You don’t need to worry about
me. As soon as Lone Eagle’s killers are brought to justice, I’m
going to catch the next stage back east. I won’t be
staying.”

She looked wounded. The coolness of her
tone along with the finality in her words gave the impression of
confidence. She was lying to him! The next thing he knew he’d
snatched her up. Ruthlessly gripping her arms, he snarled. “What
did you just say?” Seth huffed out a quick mirthless laugh. “Did
you actually say you’re not staying?” Shaking his head in
disbelief, he gripped her harder, drawing her up on her toes. “I
hate to be the one to break it to you, darlin’, but you aren’t
going anywhere. Is that clear? You left once, but by God, you won’t
leave me again!”

Celia pushed at his chest. Her voice
shifted to a low, gritty whisper. “I told you once before to get
your hands off me, cowboy. You don’t listen too well, do you?” Her
nostrils flared as her chin came up in defiance. “You’re not my
keeper.”

Jesus, but she was beautiful! Seth
followed the lines of her face to her lips. Dusty pink and
tantalizing, he knew they tasted as sweet as they looked. It
unnerved him to realize he would remember such a fact at this
particular moment in time.

“
I’ll be leaving as soon as
possible,” she stated flatly. Her jaw worked with tension threaded
with pain. “Everyone will be better off with me gone. Now if you
don’t mind, let go of me.” Celia jerked her arms free and whirled
away from him. “I want you to get out of here now,” Celia declared,
stepping farther away and rubbing at the imprint of his
hands.

Seth’s eyes followed her. Was it simply
her bull-headed nature or did she actually believe he’d let her
leave? Her slender shoulders rose and fell with each breath she
inhaled. Seth wanted to bite her right along her lovely collarbone.
“You’re not going to leave and that’s final,” he
growled.

Celia pivoted to face him once more.
Hands fisted by her sides, she glowered at him. There was her
damnable defiance written all over her face again, Seth mused. She
planted her hands on her hips then and stared in
disgust.

Before she could form a retort, he
pounced. “Why do you think running away is the answer?”

“
I’m not running away.”
Celia eyed him coolly.

She had more to say. Seth
could tell. The only reason she hadn’t gone ahead and said it
probably had something to do with “good breeding” or some such
bullshit. Seth caught a glimpse of temper under her thin facade of
proper. He could tell she wanted to lash out at him by the clinched
fists at her side and the thin set to her mouth.
God almighty
…All fire and
heat – there it was – just the way he remembered her. Schooling
apparently hadn’t been able to tame the characteristic, he
mused.

It didn’t take Celia long though to get
herself under control.

Seth watched as the anger quickly
fizzled out of Celia while the cool, collected side of her took
over.

She smoothed her duster and plucked at
the lace on the sleeves. “It simply makes more sense to leave.”
Celia’s eyebrows rose in a very proper show of calm. When she did
offer him a look into those hypnotic green eyes, she batted her
lashes in rapid succession. “If I were to stay, there would most
certainly be trouble. For all the talk about relations and
treaties, Seth you know in Texas I’m still considered the
enemy.”

Seth watched the crease form in the
center of her forehead. Touché, he thought.

“
You know you’d be labeled
an Indian lover and accused of harboring the enemy.” Her voice
raised a notch. “I’m a half-breed, for goodness sake! Don’t you
see, Seth?”

He said nothing, simply stared
broodingly into the fire. He’d heard every word. Poised to begin
with, Celia’s explanation had ended on a note of concern for those
around her. So she thought to reason with him out of concern. He’d
had about all of the reasoning he could stand for one night. Before
he could say another word though, she was turning her back on him
again.

“
It’s late and I don’t want
to argue with you,” Celia said in dismissal. “I’m very tired. Would
you please close the door on your way out?”

There was the prim and proper miss
again. Who did she think she was to be ordering him about in his
own house? The temper he’d kept a lid on finally broke free. His
hands were on her within seconds and her breasts pressed intimately
against his chest. Seth could feel the beat of her heart. So
female, he mused. There was the quick expelling of breath from her
lungs. He remembered those feather light caresses of air against
his skin – silky and soft with just the right amount of warmth to
stir a man’s blood. His vest became the catalyst for her warm brown
nipples hardening into peaks. The blood drained from his head. Her
smell washed over him and Seth knew he was gambling with the need
building inside him yet again.

Celia’s gasp was clear and short as the
contact between them sparked more than anger in them
both.

Fighting the need to kiss her
senseless, Seth ground out the next words, which were anything but
kind, “I’m going into Tyler and report what we found. Then I’m
going to try and trail those sons-a-bitches who murdered Lone
Eagle. While I’m gone, I expect you to stay right here. Is that
clear?” His voice resounded with icy steel as his eyes roamed her
face making sure she understood he meant business. “If you so much
as step foot off this ranch…” He paused and fought the urge to
shake her. “If you aren’t here when I get back, there’ll be hell to
pay.” With the final declaration, he searched her face one more
time before lowering his head to hers. The kiss was brutal and
unyielding, as he’d intended.

With his mouth, Seth branded her as if
she was a steer, a possession he owned. She was staying and she
would do as he said, which was all there was to it. He tasted her;
all ripe and warm as the scent of roses fogged the few brain cells
he had left. “I hope like hell you understand.” Rather than loose
the fragile grip he had left, he found himself shoving her away and
striding out the door.

***

The door slamming echoed in her mind’s
eye. Her legs wouldn’t hold her so she searched for the bed post
with trembling fingers and sat down weakly on the side of the bed
to collect her thoughts. The imprint of his body still pressed at
her skin. Despite the fact, he’d left several minutes ago, her
blood still burned. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms
telling herself his touch hadn’t caused the trembling in her limbs
or the fire in her depths. Celia touched a spot in the center of
her chest where she was sure her heart might leap from her at any
moment. Who did he think he was? She’d had about all she could take
of Seth Loflin. His lips had claimed hers in a bruising kiss and
she realized she wanted more.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew
instinctively she should work up the steam to stand her ground
against the abrasive Mr. Loflin. No one, not even the doctors at
the hospital had ever spoken to her in such a way. How dare he tell
her – no – threaten her if she tried to leave. Celia lay back onto
the bed.

She wanted to be mad, to break things
and rant. At the very least, she should be upset with his
humiliating demand she obey him. The only thing she could think of
though was the kiss and how lost she felt.

With her eyes wandering over the lovely
room, Celia realized she didn’t even have the strength for any more
anger or fighting. She’d reached her limit. Flinging an arm across
her forehead, she let out a soft, pitiful laugh. Who was she
kidding? His touch had ignited embers she had thought were long
dead. His words, so filled with anger, had heated her blood to
boiling, yet not for the reason it should.

Celia chided herself for allowing him
to affect her. He didn’t care for her - not in that way, she
reminded herself. He was a cowboy and she was a
half-breed.

Fingering the crochet of the nearest
pillow, Celia thought of how peculiar it all felt. The steely
surgical assistant, who could work under any conditions, swept away
by one man’s kiss – pathetic. She stared hard at the door. It was
good he had left, she told herself. She needed to think. Yet
nothing but his hands and body next to hers came to
mind.

Frustrated, Celia sighed and flopped
over again. The comforter was soft and enveloping, the cool silk
soothing to her senses. She watched the lamplight cast flickering
shadows on the far wall.

Blinking back tears, Celia considered
the irony of a situation, which brought her to the edge of her long
remembered fairytale, only to come face-to-face with the reality of
her birth. Wiping back more tears, Celia recognized the signs of
exhaustion. She simply didn’t have the strength to stand her ground
with Seth Loflin at the moment. However, before she left Shooter
Creek, she’d make sure the arrogant, controlling Mr. Loflin
understood why she had to go.

***

The rays of the sun spilled through
Celia’s window much too early the next morning. Gingerly she opened
one eye before shielding them both with her hand. Where was she?
Her body ached and her mind swam with confusion.

Then all at once, memory came rushing
back. She hadn’t had a nightmare. Her father was dead. Many of her
people were dead.