Compromised Hearts (3 page)

She sat up, rubbing her eyes in a distinctly childlike gesture. When her gaze fell on the spot where Thornton had lain he saw her tense. An instant later he found himself staring appreciatively into a pair of wide, somewhat frantic jade green eyes.

A
fter assuring herself that Thornton was alive, Emily stared at the man crouched by the fire. Her relief over Thornton’s safety rapidly vanished, and she wished desperately that she had some weapon.

When the stranger stood up, she trembled. The man was well over six feet tall. Although he was lean, she was not deceived into thinking him lacking in strength. A woman who could stretch to two inches over five feet if she wore shoes and stood on tiptoe had no chance against him.

Thick hair, the blue-black of a raven’s wing, hung to his broad shoulders; a red bandana tied around his wide forehead and knotted at the side kept it out of his eyes. A
buckskin shirt hugged his muscular torso and was partly unlaced to reveal a smooth, dark chest. Dark pants disappeared into buckskin boots that hugged the bottom half of his long muscular legs.

As if his height and strength were not intimidating enough, there were the harsh lines of his face. High cheekbones and a high-bridged nose told of his Indian blood, as did the coppery tint of his dark complexion. His thin-lipped mouth was set in an unreadable straight line. The scar added a fierceness to his lean features that did nothing to ease Emily’s fears.

Swallowing her panic, she met his gaze. His eyes were a deep, rich brown ringed with amber. She had never seen such eyes. Neither had she seen eyes so lacking in expression.

“Please,” she said softly, “don’t hurt the boy.”

Cloud shook himself. He realized that she thought him an Indian and, quite naturally, had assumed the worst. He had known the harsh sting of prejudice all too often in the past.

“ ‘Bout time you woke up, ma’am. Day’s near gone.”

She closed her eyes briefly in relief. “You aren’t an Indian.”

“Well, partly. Grandmother on my father’s side was Cherokee. Coffee’s made.”

Following the direction of his gaze, she recalled her state of undress and blushed. “If
you will give me but a moment’s privacy so that I might dress?”

“Reckon so,” he drawled, but took his time turning around and returning to the campfire.

After dressing and making a hasty trip to some nearby bushes, Emily tentatively approached the fire. She was not foolish enough to think herself safe simply because the man was not an Indian. From the time she had changed from a child into a woman she had known that even the most innocent-appearing of men could prove dangerous. Out here in the middle of nowhere, the danger was that much greater.

“What’s your name?” he asked, ignoring her wariness as he served her coffee.

“Emily,” she replied softly as she sat down next to Thornton.

“Emily what?” he demanded.

“Emily Cordelia Mason Brockinger,” she recited a little tartly. “And you, sir?”

Biting back a grin, he replied, “Cloud Ryder.”

She blinked. “I bee your pardon?”

“Cloud Ryder. R-y-d-e-r. Just what are you doing out here?”

“Besides walking?” she retorted dryly and saw his lips twitch. “We’re headed for the mountains.”

“'The mountains’ is a little vague.”

“The San Luis Valley.” She frowned when he laughed softly. “That’s funny?”

“Actually, I was thinking of what Thornton
answered when I asked him the same question. He said ‘Sandly’s.'” He felt a tremor low in his belly when he heard her soft, husky laugh. “You’re going the wrong way,” he said.

“Nonsense,” she said in her best schoolmarm voice. “I am headed west.”

“Fair enough, but the valley’s also south by several weeks’ ride.”

Her heart sank. If it was several weeks’ ride, then it was many weeks’ walking. Somehow she had let herself believe that, if she reached the mountains, she would be fine. To hear that she would still have to travel many weeks southward was almost devastating. It was a struggle not to weep, but stiff Yankee pride kept her from showing any weakness before a stranger.

Cloud covertly watched her struggle. The way she put her small chin up amused him even while he felt a twinge of admiration. He had seen how the news had devastated her, but she was not going to let it break her. She had a strength of character he could only approve of.

“I see. So I am not even half the way there yet.”

“Depends on where you started from.” “Boston originally, but I started walking two days ago.” “Why?”

“The Indians attacked the wagon train I was with. They killed everyone.” He heard the touch of lingering horror in
her voice and knew that was the incident that darkened her dreams. “Why not you or Thornton?”

“I was away from the campsite. I’m not quite sure how Thornton survived. He hasn’t really said.”

“Papa put me in a hole,” Thornton said suddenly. “He told me stay put ‘till all’s quiet and I did.”

Emily barely checked her tears. The loss of so many friends was still too fresh. She thought of how eager the young Sears couple had been, how full of plans.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Cloud said quietly. “How many were there?”

“Nearly twenty.” She gazed at her hands, still blistered from the chore of burying so many.

“So you picked up your boy and started walking west?” “Two days later, yes.” “Why’d you wait?”

“The burying took me two whole days.”

“You buried everyone?” he said softly.

She read his reaction as one of surprise. “Well, I did not dig twenty graves. I didn’t think they would mind if I put a child in with his mother or father or put loved ones together.” She shivered at the memory.

“That was a damned stupid thing to do,” he snapped, glaring at her.

Emily decided that she preferred a lack of expression in his eyes to the hard, cold anger that now lit them. “It was the Christian thing
to do, sir.”

“Christian be damned. It was a fool thing to do.”

“What was I to do?” she snapped, growing angry herself. “Leave them for the carrion?”

“Damn right.” His attitude was not softened by her shock. “Listen, you fool woman, what do you think’s going to occur to those Indians if they return to that site?”

“Why should they? They cannot do any more.”

“Maybe they’ll just pass it on their way to someplace else. How the hell should I know? The point is that they’ll see those graves and know somebody survived.”

She felt the color leave her cheeks. “That will matter to them?”

“Damn right it’ll matter. It’ll set them looking for you. They don’t know it was only a fool woman and a babe. They don’t want to leave survivors, girl—not in the mood they’re in now.”

Taking a deep breath to settle the fears he was stirring up, she said, “I had to bury them.”

“Tell that to the Indians. They could be hot after you even now. Not that you’d see them coming.”

Although she knew full well that she was almost totally incompetent out here on the plains, she resented his attitude. He could take into consideration the fact that she was a city girl from the east, not a cowboy, and give her some credit for what she had accomplished.
Instead, he spoke to her as if she were severely lacking in brains and good sense. She simmered with fury as he lectured her.

“Marching across the plains as if you’re on some Sunday stroll. You stick out like a sore thumb. I’m surprised you haven’t lost that hair already.”

“What am I supposed to do? Crawl to the mountains on my stomach?”

“Might be a damn good idea.”

“Stop cursing.”

“Look, you little idiot, you haven’t got the sense God gave a goose. You parade across hostile country without even trying to keep out of sight, then strip down afore a blazing fire for all to see.”

“You watched me?” she gasped, color flooding her face.

“Damn right. Show was free.”

He caught h
er
wrist when she swung at him and tugged her towards him. Emily sprawled on his lap, staring up into his harsh face. She tried only once to sit up, found herself held firmly, and did not try again. Struggling against a man of his strength and size would only get her hurt.

Cloud studied the woman glaring up at him. Her full breasts rose and fell rapidly with the force of her anger. The thick silvery hair he so admired lay like a blanket over his legs. He gave into temptation and buried one hand in its heavy waves, finding it soft as silk.

“I followed you for hours, woman. You never took notice of me, kept no watch for trouble.”

“And just what would you suggest I do if I saw trouble coming?” she asked tartly.

“How about running for your life? Or the boy’s? Oh no, you set your pretty eyes on the mountains and trudge straight ahead with all the blind, stupid doggedness of your damned mule. You just ain’t thinking, girl.”

“I will keep your criticism in mind,” she said coolly. “Now, would you release me, please?”

“Not just yet,” he drawled, tightening his grip on her hair and urging her face toward his.

Emily’s experience with men consisted of an occasional unwanted embrace resulting in a slap or, if the swain was too ardent, a well-placed knee. She knew the danger signals, however, and could sense when a man’s thoughts turned carnal. Cloud Ryder’s had definitely turned that way. She tensed, but his grip on her hair forced her to obey his urging.

“Let me go,” she demanded coldly.

“Not just yet,” he murmured against her mouth.

She tried to keep her lips closed, but the moment his mouth covered hers, she knew that would be far from easy. Despite the hard line of his mouth, his lips were warm and soft. She felt her own mouth soften beneath his as a strange heat began to spread through
her body. That frightened her far more than the fact that this stranger was taking a kiss that had not been offered.

When he forced his tongue through the weakened barriers of her lips she felt that warmth begin to curl through her body. She tried to break free of his hold but failed. A moment later she succumbed to the probing intoxication of his tongue.

What pulled her back to her senses was the way her mouth followed his when it began to pull away. Her eyes widened with shock at her own actions. She abruptly broke free of his hold, and with little grace and a great deal of haste scrambled back to her original place next to a wide-eyed Thornton.

A slow smile creased his face as Cloud poured himself another cup of coffee, his gaze on her flushed face. She was a warm one, her warmth not dimmed at all by the recent death of her man. Despite her resistance, he had sensed the quick build of her passion. She would undoubtedly have a store of excuses and evasions, so he began to plot a way to get her back into his arms in the shortest time possible.

His smile annoyed her, so Emily ignored it. What she found hard to ignore was the way his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her. She wished she knew what was going on behind those eyes. Something told her that it did not bode well for her.

“We gonna get walking again?” asked Thornton.

“Yes. We cannot waste a day.” She rose to begin collecting their belongings.

“Don’t forget your parasol.” Cloud nodded towards that item. “No stroll is complete without one.”

“Don’t you have somewhere to go?” she asked icily.

“Matter of fact, I do.” He stood up. “The San Luis Valley. Got a ranch there.”

Emily gaped after him as he strode over to his horses.

“Are you really going to the San Luis Valley?”

“Just said so, didn’t I?” He did not pause in his preparations.

“Then Thornton and I can come along with you.”

“Nope.”

She stared at him in open-mouthed disbelief. It had taken a lot to ask him; it had in fact been an act of sheer desperation. Emily could not believe he would refuse to help her and Thornton.

“You would leave us behind? All on our own?”

“Yup.” He turned to look at her, schooling his face to remain impassive. She must never guess that he was Muffing. “You’re a walking disaster, honey. I sure as hell don’t need the kind of trouble you could bring me. I’d like to reach my land alive. In fact, I intend to.”

“How can you be so heartless? You have made it abundantly plain that you think me
totally incompetent. Leaving us on our own is tantamount to murder.”

He shrugged and began to saddle Savannah. “Got my own scalp to think about.”

“I can pay you,” she blurted out after a moment of frantic thought.

“You’ve got money?”

“Well, not exactly. I have a few things that can be traded for cash,” she added hastily as he began to mount. “A few pieces of jewelry.”

“How much will they bring?” he asked coolly, turning to face her again.

“Fifty, perhaps a hundred dollars.”

“Not worth risking my life for.” Again he started to mount.

“It’s all I have,” she said weakly, seeing her last chance slip away.

“Maybe.” He turned and slowly approached her. “Maybe not.”

She wondered if she had been foolish to let him know that she had collateral of any sort. He could easily take it and still leave her and Thornton stranded. The man certainly had not acted the gentleman. She could not help fearing that she had made yet another very large mistake.

“I could perhaps get more when we reach San Luis Valley.”

“From Harper?” he asked quietly, coming to a halt but inches from her.

“Harper? How do you know Harper?” She refused to allow him to intimidate her into stepping back.

“You said his name while you slept.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure Harper could add some. He would be glad that I had reached him safe and sound.”

“I’m sure he would be. I don’t want anything from Harper.”

His deep, smooth voice was doing strange things to her insides and she frowned. “What do you want, then? If you would state a price, I could say yes or no.”

“You,” he stated flatly as he took hold of a lock of her hair, caressing it between his long fingers.

“What?” she croaked, sure she had misunderstood him.

“I want you,” he purred, moving his hand so that it cupped the side of her slim neck where her pulse throbbed frantically.