Nobody's Dream (42 page)

He’d learned that you didn’t assume someone had left an area without a thorough search, but seeing the alpacas gone, he was pretty damned sure they had left together. Absently, he rubbed the black leather wristband. When he realized what he was doing, he reminded himself that Cassie wasn’t a scared little girl. She would know to find a safe route down the mountain, away from these wooden structures that would go up like matchsticks if the fire reached here.

The fire he had skirted raged less than half a mile away. Thank God she evacuated when she had. But her message said she was heading toward the highway, which would put her in a direct path with the fire.

“Trust your instincts, baby girl.”

She hadn’t left any note or map inside the cabin. On his way out again, he grabbed the poncho hanging in the mudroom. She’d worn it enough that her essence would be strong on it, enough for Picasso to zero in on her trail. After giving Pic a good whiff of the woolen cloth, he folded it and placed it inside a plastic bag to try and preserve as much of her scent as possible if Pic needed to refresh. The smell of smoke would obliterate all other scents.

Wait. She had the animals with her. He went inside the shed and saw that their food bins had been left nearly empty. He took the discarded feed scoop and gathered some dried manure pellets. He carried that to Picasso, too. The pungent manure would be even easier to track. “Sniff, boy.”

Picasso did so and nodded, fully aware now of his mission. Luke remounted. “Find Cassie. Help me find my girl.” Swirls of smoke drifted up the mountain. What if she had headed down that way and come face to face with the newest outbreak of flames?

Luke pressed his thighs against Picasso’s flanks and set off. Going downhill slowed him, but he saw visible signs of tracks near the seasonal stream. The water would find the fastest and easiest path to the foot of the mountain.

Good thinking, Sweet Pea.

A half-mile down the mountainside, Pic alerted on a ragged trail that must have been used by deer. Maybe even bear. The horse veered off the path they’d followed near the stream, snorting to let Luke know he was on to something. The smoke was thicker here. Luke coughed as he doused his kerchief with water from his canteen and tied it around his nose and mouth to act as a filter.

Luke reported his coordinates to Rafe then gave his horse free rein to follow his keen sense of smell. The ground became more even, and Pic was able to work up to a lope. Smoke billowed around them, and he prayed Picasso really was onto their scent and not some false lead. The tracks were less obvious here where the ground was packed dry. He’d seen some occasional droppings from what he hoped were the alpacas, but they had to slow down when the undergrowth grew thicker.

Had the sight and smell of smoke scared her or her animals? They seemed to be heading toward Iron Horse Falls now. The terrain quickly became steeper and rockier. Thoughts of Picasso slipping made him slow the horse down, but Picasso soon alerted again with a flicking forward of his ears. “What do you hear, boy?” He whinnied and took off through the trees and brush. Luke ducked to avoid being thrown off the horse by a stray limb, but trusted him. Pic knew something was wrong and that they needed to get there fast.

When the horse’s hooves came to an abrupt stop, Luke had to grab onto Pic’s mane to keep from flying over the neck and head.

Luke sat up and scanned the area, but his eyes burned from the thick smoke, blurring his vision. A soft clicking noise caught his ear at the same time Picasso snorted. Sounded like one of the alpacas.

“Cassie! Where are you?”

Please, God, let her be okay.

Silence.

A rustling of leaves caught his attention, and he turned to his left. He still saw no source of flames, only thick smoke. The rustling sound grew louder until he saw a long black neck poking up over the side of a hillock.

Millie!
Damn
. What was she doing here without Cassie or her momma?

“Come here, baby girl!”

He dismounted and ran toward the cria as she scrambled through the brush to reach him. She rubbed her face against his chest, body shaking and emitting noises that sounded like she was crying.

“Where’s my Cassie? And your momma?” The baby nuzzled him some more, leaving Luke even more worried. Pulling a rope from the saddle horn, he tied it to the cria’s halter. She must have strayed away from the group, but Cassie wouldn’t have allowed any of the alpacas to wander far—unless she’d been injured.

His heart jumped into his throat. He remounted and, using pressure from his knees, sent Picasso in the direction from which Millie had come. They traveled another eighth of a mile down the mountainside before Picasso alerted again.

“What is it, boy?”

Before he could figure out what the horse had seen or heard, Graciela raised her head from a resting place a couple hundred yards away. She let out a distressed cry, and Luke dismounted again. Why didn’t the alpaca stand up? Had she been injured? Still no sign of Cassie. As he drew closer, though, he saw a familiar turquoise jacket on the ground. No, not just the jacket.

“Cassie!”
God, no
. She sat hunched over a rock, coughing. He knelt beside her, and she looked up, squinting as if she didn’t believe he was really here.

“Lucas?” Good. Her voice didn’t sound too raspy. She coughed and tried to draw a deep breath, but only coughed some more.

“You okay, darlin’?”

She nodded. “Just resting.”

Luke pulled out his satellite phone and called the station. She seemed disoriented. He wanted to have the EMTs standing by to check her out when they reached the highway.

Cassie coughed again and struggled to stand up, but swayed.

“Whoa! Sit down until we’re ready to hit the trail.”

“Trail? Where are we going?”

“I’m going to get you and your alpacas off this mountain.”

Her eyes opened wider, and she looked around. “Millie! I started to go after her, but became short of breath and had to sit down.”

“Don’t worry. Millie’s fine. She found me a little while ago and led me over here. She’s tied to Pic.” Luke pointed to her, and Cassie visibly relaxed when she saw the cria was safe. “Let me do a quick assessment before we move out.”

“Please, I’m fine.” She tried to push herself to her feet, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“Did you fall?”

She seemed confused. “No. At least I do not remember doing so.”

“Tell me today’s date.”

“I do not remember.”

Damn
. Maybe she
had
hit her head or the carbon monoxide from the smoke had messed with her head.

She blinked and stared at him, annoyed. “I do not pay much attention to the calendar unless I have an appointment. If I had to guess, I would say it is the twentieth. I think.”

He shook his head and grinned. Cassie lived in her own little world up here, cut off from everything and everyone.

“Tell me where you were born.”

“Lima, Peru.”

“Who’s the president?”

“Humala.”

“Who?”

“Oh, sorry. He
is
the president of Peru. You were asking questions about my homeland. May I sit up now or are you going to keep playing twenty questions?” She glanced around. “We need to get off this mountain.”

Okay, she was back to her old feisty self. He relaxed a little. “Before you move, tell me where you’re feeling any pain.”

“Really. I am fine.”

Cassie craned her neck and scanned the hillside, and his gaze followed. For the first time, he noticed the other three alpacas were laden down with bags of feed, jugs of water, and a rectangle of some kind covered in a tarp.

The smell of wood burning reminded him they weren’t safe to remain here much longer.

She sniffed the air. “How close is the fire?”

“I haven’t seen any flames, but don’t want to, either.”

“Do you think it will reach my cabin?”

Fire tended to rise, so chances were likely this one or one of the others probably would unless the fire crews could put out the flames first. But he needed to keep her calm. “No telling. But everything that’s irreplaceable is right here.” She’d done the right thing to try to remove herself and the alpacas from the path of the approaching fire. But they weren’t safe yet.

“Let me help you up.”

He took her hand and pulled her slowly to her feet. When she began to sway again, he wrapped his arms around her waist to steady her. Damn, how many times had he dreamt of having his arms around her?

Too soon, she pushed him away, averting her gaze. “Let us round up the alpacas.”

“You stay here. Hold onto Pic. He’ll steady you. I’ll round them up.”

He roped the animals together so he could lead them out of here without worrying about any of them straying or becoming spooked if they came too close to the fire. When he came back to her, he saw a wary look in her eyes he hadn’t seen since those early days when he’d been stranded at her cabin after the avalanche.

Damn.

Then something changed. Without warning, she placed her hands on his biceps and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for rescuing us.” Just as abruptly, she pulled away.

He had no clue what had prompted her, other than gratitude, but he didn’t even try to hide his grin as he attached the guide rope to his saddlebag before picking up Picasso’s reins.

“Okay, darlin’, let’s get you mounted.” He reached for her foot while holding the stirrup steady. She grabbed onto the pommel and swung her right leg over the horse’s back.

“Now, scoot as far forward as you can.”

She glanced at him a moment before her eyes widened. “We will both ride Picasso?”

“Your alpacas already have enough weight to carry. Having either of us on foot will just slow us down and be more dangerous. Pic is very sure on his feet.”

“I do not think we both will fit.”

He removed her foot from the stirrup. “Trust me. Sit forward.” Without waiting for her to follow his command, he swung himself up onto the horse, as well and she scooted as far forward as she could without sitting on the pommel.

Luke grinned. “See? We fit just fine.”

Feeling her ass against his crotch set off all kinds of feelings he needed to suppress—for the moment, at least. No sense spooking her. The last thing he wanted was for her to jump off the horse in an effort to put distance between them.

This could be yet another way he showed her she could trust him. Even if it killed him to try and curb his erection. He allowed graphic images of what might happen to them all if they didn’t reach safety to put a damper on his libido. Their main order of business now was to find the highway and the EMTs.

He’d programmed the GPS for the coordinates for where he’d left his vehicle, so at the push of a button, he’d know which way to head. He just hoped the fire wasn’t anywhere between them and the truck.

Cassie sat rigidly upright, trying not to let her back touch his chest. He grinned.

“You’re going to be awfully sore tomorrow if you don’t relax. You know you’re safe with me, darlin’.”

*     *     *

Cassie refused to give in to the weariness in her body. Yes, she trusted Lucas—as far as she could trust any man. He could have taken advantage of her anytime during their weeks together at her cabin, but he had always been a gentleman.

He sighed and whispered so close to her ear he sent a shiver coursing down her back, “Lean against me, Cassie.” His words wrapped around her and lured her in to do as he said. She was so tired, but had to fight the temptation to give in. “Darlin’, you’re making my muscles ache just watching you. Don’t you worry about falling. I have you.”

The way his arms braced her as he held the reins, that was not what worried her. Falling for this kind, gentle man who had somehow wheedled his way under her once-ironclad shield of protection scared her much more. All her adult life, she had stayed strong and handled what life threw at her without having to lean on a man. So why did she have to fight the desire to melt into this man’s strong, secure arms. Doing so would give him the wrong impression… Sometimes men read a woman’s intentions all wrong.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Fine. I am more worried about the alpacas. I hope they did not breathe in too much smoke.”

She had to admit she was a little worried about surviving such close contact with Lucas, as well.

The man would not leave well enough alone. His hands remained together and still for the most part, holding the reins and wrapped around her to keep her from falling off.

Her seat was sandwiched between the saddle’s bump in front, stimulating a long-dormant part of her anatomy in uncomfortable ways with Lucas’s crotch pressed firmly and intimately against her. If she tried to tilt her pelvis forward to break that contact, she only increased pressure on the other. The sporadic zings to her sex with the sway of the horse’s steady gait wreaked havoc on her nerves.

Arousal. She remembered experiencing that before…

The lack of food and sleep over the last few days were messing with her mind. She could not be aroused. That part of her was dead.

All she wanted was to rest her back against Lucas’s chest, but such contact would overload her senses and send him the wrong message.

Cassie drew in a breath. So hot. She reached up to unbutton her jacket. “The fire must be increasing the temperature up here.”

Lucas reined in the horse as he seemed to scout the best path to continue to move toward safety. “No, darlin’. We’re far enough away from the fire now that it wouldn’t have any effect on the air temperature. Must be something else heating you up.” She thought she detected a smile in his voice. Was he teasing her?

Did he know the effect the saddle had on her? She removed her jacket and wedged it between their bodies, hoping to break some of the contact. But when she leaned back against him, he wrapped his arms around her and set the horse in motion again.

Smothered.

She bolted upright, pulling away from him. “Shhh, darlin’. Lie back. Nobody’s going to hurt you.”

“Stop calling me darling.”