Each Time We Love (28 page)

Dryly Adam asked, "Going to kiss me awake, sweetheart? Or
perhaps you intend for your friend to knock me in the head again?"

Savanna's mouth tightened. "It's only what you deserve!"

Adam's brow rose. "A kiss?"

Savanna let his head drop, and turning away, she said
viciously, "No! A knock in the head!"

Bodene looked up from his task and walked over as Adam lifted
his head and stared back at him. Catching his first real sight of his
captor, Adam almost groaned out loud. He had seldom met a man whose
size gave him pause, but taking in Bodene's massive presence, he
whistled soundlessly. Jesus! Wouldn't you just know that Savanna's
rescuer would be a bloody giant!

Sending the other man a grim smile, Adam inquired, "Do I have
you to thank for this abominable headache?"

Bodene nodded his dark head and returned laconically, "Yep!
Figured it was the simplest way to get her free. I'd have shot you, but
then Savanna might have gotten hurt—didn't want that."

"Of course not," Adam replied politely, just as if he were in
a grand ballroom and not in his present ignominious position. He sent
the object of their conversation a black look and added with a cutting
edge to his voice, "Under no circumstances would we want
her
hurt!"

Bodene quirked an eyebrow. It was obvious the man meant
exactly the opposite, and Bodene wondered again just what the hell
Savanna was involved in. Glancing over at her, he commented, "Your
friend here seems to have recovered without any permanent damage,
honey. Doesn't seem to care much for you either, does he? Who is he?"

Savanna flashed an unfriendly look at Adam. "Jason
Savage—Micajah and Jeremy Childers kidnapped him from his home at Terre
du Coeur."

"That so?" Bodene replied in a cool voice.

Something in the other man's voice made Adam look at him
sharply. A shiver of unease slid down his spine. Was it possible that
Savanna's giant actually knew Jason?

When the other man turned away and began to start a fire, Adam
sighed with relief. Perhaps he'd been mistaken.

It was only after camp had been completely set up, and a pot
of coffee and one of beans were bubbling merrily on the fire, that
Bodene's attention turned to the man still slung over the saddle of his
horse. All the other horses were hobbled and grazing nearby. Savanna
was slumped on the ground, leaning back against a log, her eyes fixed
sleepily on the dancing flames of the fire.

Approaching Adam's horse, Bodene swiftly undid the bonds that
tied Adam to the saddle, leaving his hands and feet still roped tightly
together, and with a grunt, hefted Adam's not inconsiderable weight
onto his massive shoulders. Then he moved toward one of the trees near
the leaping fire and dumped Adam unceremoniously on the ground. Turning
away, he unsaddled that last horse and, after hobbling it, watched for
a long moment as the animal ambled away to join the others. Then he
walked back to Adam and stood there looking down at him.

There was nothing friendly in the glance he sent Adam, and
Adam cursed his helpless position. Braced for whatever punishment he
might receive, he stared coolly back at the bigger man.

Bodene looked him up and down again. "Jason Savage, eh?" He
glanced over his shoulder at Savanna. "Seems that not only is your
friend here a kidnapper, but he's a liar, too!"

A faint frown etched Savanna's forehead. "What do you mean?"

Bodene hunkered down next to the fire and, picking up the cool
end of one of the pieces of burning wood, held the flame closer to
Adam's face. Adam stared back unflinchingly.

Savanna had gotten up and crossed to stand next to Bodene. Her
hand on his shoulder, she shook him slightly and asked, "What do you
mean by that? A liar?"

"Only that I know Jason Savage by sight—and whoever this
fellow is, he sure as hell ain't Jason Savage!"

"What?"
Savanna demanded incredulously.
"But he has to be!" she protested wildly. "He was at Terre du Coeur and
he admitted that he was Jason Savage! Micajah kidnapped him and was
going to torture him—if he isn't Jason Savage, why wouldn't he say so?"

"I
don't know," Bodene replied equitably.
"Why don't you ask him?"

Savanna turned accusing eyes upon Adam. "Well?" she demanded.

Adam shrugged his broad shoulders, having decided that silence
might be his best defense for the time being.

Indecision clouded Savanna's features, and shaking Bodene's
shoulder, she asked uneasily, "Bodene, are you certain he's not Jason
Savage?"

Bodene tossed the flaming branch back into the fire. "Yep. I'm
sure. Jason Savage is a well-known figure around New Orleans. I've had
him pointed out to me several times—he's even come to my place and done
a little gambling. Had the devil's own luck that night, too, I might
add."

Her confusion evident, Savanna said breathlessly in a dazed
tone, "But if he isn't Jason Savage, then
who
is
he? And why would he put his life in such danger by pretending to be
Jason Savage?"

Bodene looked thoughtful, his gaze never leaving Adam's
carefully blank face. Rubbing his chin,

Bodene finally said slowly, "I expect that he knew Micajah
would slit his throat once the truth came out, and as for the other…
maybe he was trying to throw Micajah off the scent of the
real
Jason Savage."

"Is that true?" Savanna asked Adam, her eyes locked painfully
on his.

Adam remained silent, his thoughts racing. If this fellow
Bodene knew Jason, Adam was grimly aware that he didn't have a
snowball's chance in hell of maintaining even a semblance of doubt
about his identity. Consideringly, his gaze went over Bodene. He could
see no overt resemblance between Bodene and Savanna, and yet there was
something about the man that made Adam uneasily suspicious that he was
the prisoner of Savanna's relative… a relative, it was obvious, who
didn't take kindly to Savanna's kidnapping… a relative who might take a
very dim view of Adam's actions with Savanna—particularly those that
had taken place by that forest pond! Studying the hard jaw and
unwavering gaze of the powerful young man in front of him, Adam
suddenly concluded that he had stood a better chance of survival with
Micajah than he did with this giant of a man.

Bodene's eyes had never left Adam's face as the moments spun
by, and Bodene finally asked silkily, "Going to answer the lady's
question?"

"He'd better!" Savanna said fiercely. "Is what Bodene said the
truth? Tell me, damn you!"

Adam sighed. Well, he'd run this rig for as long as he could,
and there was nothing more to be gained by keeping his mouth shut.
Curtly he admitted, "It's true. I'm not Jason Savage."

Savanna stared at him, stunned. The knowledge that Micajah had
not kidnapped Jason Savage, that it had not been Jason Savage who had
made love to her and had so tormented her thoughts and dreams, utterly
devastated her. She was appalled, relieved, frightened and angry all at
the same time. Who
was

this man, this stranger who had turned her life upside down?
She almost feared the answer. At least believing him to be Jason Savage
had meant that she'd known what she was up against, but to have that
knowledge torn from her left her feeling vulnerable and angry.

Her jaw set, her aquamarine eyes hard, she demanded, "Is your
name even Adam?"

"Oh, yes," Adam answered calmly. "My name really is Adam. Adam
St. Clair, to be exact. Jason is married to my half sister, Catherine,
and I was staying at their house while they were in New Orleans when
Micajah so, ah, eloquently convinced me to join your little band."

Bodene smiled with satisfaction. "Thought that was who you
were! Saw you once, but I wasn't sure that it was really you under that
beard! Now then, want to tell me, since you obviously got free of
Micajah, why you were heading west with Savanna?"

Adam tiredly rested his head back against the tree, his eyes
closed. Resignedly, he muttered, "I didn't want to lead Micajah back to
New Orleans and Jason. It was the only way I could think of to keep
Jason safe."

Bodene nodded his dark head, understanding perfectly Adam's
motive. "But why take my cousin with you? Why not leave her with
Micajah?"

Adam moved restlessly. Even if he were willing to explain his
reasons, he wouldn't have been able to— hell,
he
didn't even know why he had taken her with him! His eyes opened and he
asked suddenly, "Would
you
have left her with
Micajah?"

"She's my cousin," Bodene answered calmly, "I'd be honor-bound
to take her with me." He cast Savanna a half-teasing, half-exasperated
look. "Aggravating little wretch that she is!" He glanced back at Adam.
"But that doesn't explain your reasons."

Adam smiled without mirth. "Let's just say that I, too, found
her equally aggravating and decided that she deserved to be taught a
much-needed lesson!"

Bodene nodded, apparently understanding and agreeing
thoroughly with Adam's explanation.

Feeling much like a fractious child whom they were discussing,
Savanna roughly punched Bodene's shoulder and muttered, "It doesn't
matter
why
he did it—the point is that he's a
lying bastard who doesn't deserve the least bit of kindness from us."

"Oh, that so?" Bodene replied levelly. "Knowing you feel this
way makes me wonder why you wanted to bring him with us. If I remember
correctly, I was all for leaving him back there near the Spanish
outpost, but you wouldn't have it! Said you were afraid something might
happen to him."

Adam flashed her a quizzical look and Savanna's cheeks flamed.
"It doesn't matter!" she said through clenched teeth. "Just don't get
any ideas that he's some poor, abused, innocent bystander! He's not!"

"Maybe so," Bodene said as he rose to his great height. "But
it seems to me that you have quite a few questions to answer yourself,
brat. Now sit down and eat your beans, and when we're through eating,
you can tell me exactly what's been going on since you disappeared."

Resentfully, Savanna did as Bodene had commanded, but she
wasn't happy about the change in circumstance. She wasn't certain how
it had come about, but somehow it seemed that
she
was being held responsible for what had happened! Some of her
resentment had faded by the time her stomach was full and she was
sipping her second tin mug of coffee. Despite knowing his true identity
and, Savanna suspected, having a sneaking bit of sympathy for him,
Bodene had not released Adam from his bonds. He'd only loosened them
enough for Adam to eat and drink and then had carefully retied them.
The fire was lower now, and watching as Bodene cleaned up—he'd waved
away her offers to help—

Savanna knew that any minute her big cousin was going to
demand a thorough and detailed explanation of how she'd come to be in
the situation in which he had found her.

Moodily she stared at the rich darkness of her coffee. The
bare facts of her abduction, first by Micajah and then by Adam, were
simple enough to relate; less easy to explain was how or why she had
allowed herself to be caught up in Micajah's scheme to go after the
Aztec gold. As for Adam St. Clair… She shot him a dark look from
beneath her lashes. There were some things that were none of Bodene's
business! And how she felt about Adam and what had transpired between
them fell squarely in that category.

Consequently, when Bodene pressed her a few minutes later for
an explanation, she gave him a considerably pared-down version, telling
him just the bare bones of what had happened to her. All the while she
spoke to her cousin, she was uncomfortably aware that Adam was
listening intently to every word, and she wondered uneasily what he
would make of all the things that she deliberately left out of her
narrative, such as the animosity that existed between them and the
torrid mating that had taken place near that tear-shaped pond deep in
the forest.

When she had finished, there was a long silence, and after
poking at the dying fire, Bodene glanced from her to Adam. "Seems to
me," he said slowly, "that Mr. St. Clair here is more sinned against
than sinner!"

Savanna's face tightened. "How can you say that! He kidnapped
me and treated me wickedly!"

"But only after you and Micajah had kidnapped him first and no
doubt treated him equally wickedly!" Bodene replied sharply. "Seems to
me you are as much to blame for what happened as he is!"

Adam's appreciative grin did nothing to cool her temper, and,
eyes flashing, she snapped, "I might have guessed you'd take his side!
Next, I suppose you're going to congratulate him and turn him loose!"

"No, I'm not going to turn him loose… yet," Bodene answered
calmly. He glanced over to Adam. "I don't know where you were heading
with Savanna, and until I'm certain that you won't try to get the drop
on me and take off with her again, I'm afraid you'll have to suffer
being tied. But you have my word that I'll not treat you unkindly, and
as soon as you prove to me that you are no danger to us, I'll set you
free. In the meantime, we're all heading back to New Orleans!"

Adam nodded. "Seems fair enough… I hate to inject an
unpleasant note into these proceedings, but what about Micajah?"

Bodene shrugged. "From the tracks I found at the campsite
where you made your escape, I'd say that Micajah and Jeremy headed to
Nacogdoches, and where they are now is anybody's guess!"

"How did you find us?" Adam asked curiously. "I thought I'd
covered our tracks fairly well."

"You did a damn good job, almost too damn good!" Bodene said
acidly. "There were far too many days when I was certain I'd lost your
trail entirely. And from the time your tracks split from Micajah's, I'd
never been positive that I made the right choice. Faced with the split
in the trail and not knowing who was who, I just flipped a
coin—couldn't see anything else to do. The toss came out that I ignore
the tracks leading in the direction of Nacogdoches and follow the one
that disappeared into the forest. Damn lucky toss!" Bodene smiled
widely. "Lost you several times, and most of the time I feared I was
chasing the wrong people—gave me several nasty days while I wondered if
I should have followed that other trail. Even when I caught sight of
you a couple of days ago, I still wasn't certain I'd tracked the right
quarry. Wasn't until late yesterday, when one of Savanna's braids fell
out from under her hat and I glimpsed that red hair, that I knew I'd
had the devil's own luck!"