Heart of the Hunter (11 page)

“Lee…” She held out her hand, palm up, in an ancient gesture
of peace.

“Hey, I understand. I’m just the hired help, not somebody
you’d want to be seen with in town.”

“I told you I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Forget it,” he said brusquely, and rising to his feet, he
stormed out of the kitchen.

She heard the front door slam behind him and then only a
long, lonely silence.

Chapter Fourteen

He didn’t come to breakfast the next morning and when she
went out on the back porch to call him, she saw that his battered old truck was
gone.

Frowning, she went to the barn, certain she’d find his few
belongings gone, too. She tried to tell herself it would be better if he was
gone, that he was a complication she didn’t need in her life, but even as she
tried to convince herself of that fact, she was breathing a sigh of relief that
he hadn’t taken his things with him.

She gave Dusty a scoop of oats, then went back to the house
and ate breakfast. Forty minutes later, she was riding toward the mountain.

Her heart was beating double time when she reached the cave.
Dismounting, she hurried inside, wondering if she would see Blue Crow.

Lifting the lantern high, she stared at the shelf cut into
the side of the cavern. The blanket was there, but he wasn’t.

She was trying to fight her disappointment when she felt a
warm breath whispering against the nape of her neck.

“Tekihila.”

She whirled around, her heart fluttering with happiness even
before she saw him standing in the shadows.

“Blue Crow!” She put the lantern on the ground, then went
gratefully into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. “I’m so glad to see
you.”

“My heart soars at your nearness.” He drew her closer,
delighting in her nearness, in her vitality, in the bright spark of life that
glowed like a flame within her.

Lightly, he stroked her hair, thinking of all the years he
had dreamed of her, waited for her. “Have you come for the gold?”

Kelly nodded, though it was hard to think of such earthly
things as gold and foreclosures when Blue Crow was near, when his hands were
moving in her hair, when his body was pressed intimately against her own.

“Be careful,
skuya,”
he said, his arms tightening
protectively around her. “I sense danger riding toward you.”

“Danger? From whom?”

“The man with the yellow eyes. Be wary of strangers,
tekihila.
Trust no one.”

“Not even Lee?”

“Not even Lee.”

Kelly shivered, frightened by the warning in Blue Crow’s
voice, the concern in his eyes. “Lee left the ranch.”

“I know.” Blue Crow held her tight, wishing that he could go
beyond the boundaries of the ranch, that he could be constantly at her side. “I
will ask
Wakan
Tanka
to watch over you.”

“Thank you.” She hugged him quickly, fiercely. “I have to
go.”

“Tekihila.”
There was a world of wanting in his voice
as he cupped her face in his palms and slowly covered her mouth with his.

It was a kiss unlike any Kelly had ever known, filled with
soul-deep yearnings and heartfelt dreams that could never come true. It was a
kiss that spoke of caring and concern, of a love that could never be
consummated.

Kelly’s eyelids fluttered open and she gazed into the depths
of his eyes, seeing hopelessness and the loneliness of eternity in their
depths.

“Blue Crow.” She could hardly speak past the lump in her
throat.

“Go,
tekihila.”
Reluctantly he let her go and took a
step backward. “Hurry. The sun is already high in the sky.”

He was right, it was time to go, and yet leaving him there,
alone in the darkness of the cave, was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

When she returned to the ranch, she saw that Lee’s truck was
still gone. Hurrying into the house, she quickly changed her clothes, brushed
her hair, applied fresh lipstick.

Moments later she was on the road, heading east toward
Coleville. She switched on the radio, only half listening as Jimmy Dean
extolled the value of his pure pork sausage.

She felt a sudden heartache as Vince Gill’s voice drifted
over the speaker singing the same song that had been playing that night in her
kitchen when Lee had almost kissed her.

Lee. Where had he gone? She hadn’t meant to hurt him, but
she had. No wonder he had such a low opinion of white women, she thought
ruefully. Either they were accusing him of rape, or making him feel that he
wasn’t good enough to be seen in their company.

Well, she couldn’t worry about that now. She’d apologize
when she got home.

She finished her business in Coleville quickly, adroitly
sidestepping the questions that came her way about where the gold had come from
and how she happened to have it.

Slipping the money into her purse, she left the store and
walked down the street toward her car. With each step she took, she had the
feeling she was being followed. She was probably just being paranoid, she
thought, seeing muggers behind every face because she had six thousand dollars
in her handbag.

Reaching her car, she slipped behind the wheel, locked the door,
looked over her shoulder, then pulled away from the curb.

She breathed a little easier once she’d left Coleville
behind, certain she’d been imagining things.

“Good day, Miss McBride,” Harry Renford said, shaking her
hand. “Sit down, won’t you?”

“Yes, thank you,” Kelly said, unable to shake the feeling
that he was surprised to see her.

“So, what can I do for you?”

“I came to settle the final payment on the ranch,” Kelly
said.

“Oh yes, of course. That was six thousand dollars, I
believe.”

“Yes, I have it right here.”

“I see.” He took a deep breath. “Well, then, that settles
that.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Nothing. I have your receipt right here.”

“And the deed?”

“Yes, it’s here, as well.”

Kelly stared at him, wondering at his wan expression, at the
way he tugged at his collar, as if it were suddenly too tight.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing at all.”

Kelly handed him the wad of bills, watched while he counted
it, twice, then wrapped the bills with a thick rubber band and deposited it in
his desk drawer.

“If you’ll just sign here,” Renford said, “and here. That’s
fine.”

He handed her a handwritten receipt for the six thousand
dollars and the deed to the Triple M.

“I’m sure you’ll find everything in order, Miss McBride, and
if we can ever be of service again, please let me know.”

Kelly stuffed the deed and the receipt in her purse, then
stood up. “Thank you for everything.”

Renford nodded. “Good-bye, Miss McBride.”

His tone and the look in his eyes sent a shiver down her
spine. Without a backward glance, she hurried out of his office and out of the
bank.

Outside, she took a deep breath, welcoming the fresh air and
the cool breeze on her face.

She was walking toward her car when she felt it again, that
eerie sense of being followed, of being in danger.

Crossing the street, she stopped abruptly and whirled
around, but there was no one there. Or was there? Was she imagining things
again, or had she seen Lee Roan Horse duck around the corner? Or was it just
that she wanted to see him?

She didn’t breathe easily until she was sitting inside her
car with the doors locked. For a moment, she clutched the steering wheel and
then, releasing a deep sigh, she turned the key in the ignition and started for
home.

It was almost dark when she pulled into the yard. The first thing
she saw was Lee’s truck parked near the barn. She was surprised at the relief
she felt just knowing he was there, relief not only because he was back, but
because it meant he couldn’t have been following her in town.

He emerged from the barn as she stepped out of the car.

Kelly felt the pull between them vibrate like an electric
wire. What was there about this man that attracted her so? It was more than his
rugged good looks. Perhaps it was the air of vulnerability that he tried so
hard to hide, perhaps it was the knowledge that he so badly needed someone to
love, someone to love him. Whatever it was, it hummed between them, vital and
alive and irresistible.

She watched him cross the yard toward her, felt her insides
turn shivery as every step brought him closer.

“I’m sorry. Lee,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not. It’s just that I needed to be alone today. I
handled it badly and I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.”

The hunger between them was almost palpable, as was the
distrust that kept them apart. Invisible, unmentioned, it rose between them,
shimmering like heat waves on the desert.

A muscle throbbed in Lee’s cheek. “What did you do in town?”

“I went to the bank.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. I needed to pick up the deed to the ranch.”

He grunted softly, clearly not believing her.

“I thought I saw you there.” The words were out before she
could stop them.

He grunted again, neither affirming nor denying her
suspicions.

“Have you eaten?” Kelly asked.

“No.”

“Me either. I’ve got some steaks in the fridge.”

“Sounds good.”

“Dinner in half an hour then?”

“Fine,” he replied, but he didn’t move and neither did she.

An awkward silence stretched between them.

“I wasn’t in town today, Kelly. I drove out to the
reservation.”

“Really? Why? Do you have family out there?”

“No.” He dragged a hand through his hair. “I don’t know why
I went out there.”

He still didn’t know. He’d driven around for hours before
winding up at the cemetery. The graves of his family were untended, grown over
with weeds. He’d spent an hour on his knees, clearing away the debris, trying
not to remember how his little sister had followed him around, always wanting
to be where he was, to do what he was doing. Why hadn’t he spent more time with
her when he’d had the chance?

Kneeling in the dirt, he’d begged for her forgiveness. For
his mother, he felt nothing at all. Not love, not hate, not bitterness. She had
courted death and it had found her.

He looked up, realizing Kelly was speaking to him.

“I’ve never been to the reservation,” she was saying. “I’d
like to see it.”

“No,” he said flatly, “you wouldn’t.”

“Oh.”

Silence settled around them again. Kelly stared down at her
hands. She should go to the house, take a shower, fix dinner, but she couldn’t
seem to move. She slid a glance at Lee. He was standing so close, she could
feel his heat, smell the perspiration and the scent of aftershave that clung to
his skin. His hands were balled into tight fists, his eyes as dark as a winter
night, his expression tormented.

“Kelly.”

All he said was her name, but she heard more, so much more.
He wanted her, wanted her in the most elemental way. He offered no promises, no
words of love, nothing but a cry for help, a plea to be held while he battled
the demons that were tormenting him.

She had never thought of herself as particularly maternal or
nurturing—she’d never fussed over babies or felt any driving need to take on
the hurts of the world. Being an only child, she tended to be selfish and
self-centered. But now, gazing up into the haunted depths of Lee’s eyes, she
was overcome with the need to hold this man, to comfort him, to ease his
loneliness.

Wordlessly she reached for his hand and led him to the
house, down the narrow hall to her bedroom.

She didn’t turn on any lights, didn’t want him to see the
indecision in her eyes.

“Kelly, maybe this isn’t a good idea.”

“Probably not.”

“Then why…?”

“Don’t talk.”

She put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to
his.

It was all the invitation he needed.

With a strangled cry, he crushed her in his arms, his lips
grinding against hers. She tasted blood in her mouth, felt his hands roaming
restlessly over her back. And then he swung her into his arms and carried her
to bed.

Somehow their clothing disappeared and they were lying in
each other’s arms, his hard-muscled body surrounding hers, the curves of her
body filling the hollows of his.

It was everything she had ever dreamed of and more. All the
fire and excitement that she’d only read about, all the wonder and magic she’d
hoped for, she found in Lee’s arms. His kiss gentled, his hands caressed her,
aroused her, until all her doubts and fears were gone and she was aching for
something she had never known.

She gasped with pain and pleasure when she felt the first
sweet invasion by his body, but even as she was reaching for him, wanting to
hold him closer, he was gone.

She opened her eyes to find Lee standing beside the bed
staring down at her, a look of stunned disbelief on his face.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“That you’ve never done this before.”

Kelly shrugged, confused by his anger. “It doesn’t matter.
What difference does it make?”

“It matters to me.”

A vile oath escaped his lips as he pulled on his jeans,
remembering other slim legs that had wrapped around his waist, other blue eyes
cloudy with passion, other pink lips, lips that had spoken only lies.

He closed his eyes, his hands shoved deep into the pockets
of his jeans. He felt the bile rise in his throat as he recalled the horror of
being accused of rape, of being locked up, of having his every minute watched
and regimented. Even in jail, rapists were considered the scum of the earth.

“Lee? What is it? What’s wrong?”

He yanked his shirt over his head, grabbed his boots and
headed for the door.