Protecting Their Child (11 page)

Chapter Sixteen

“All right. I give in. I don’t want to do this anymore.” Kate stopped near a semiflat boulder and sat.

She’d tried to clarify herself each time they’d rested. As soon as the words “what I meant” got past her lips, he was gone. So she hadn’t been able to explain about the kiss. She’d had no luck getting Cord to listen.

“You need to stop again?”

“Again? I think we’ve walked for a couple of hours since the last rest, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” She understood the silence when they didn’t know if Serna’s men were nearby. She especially understood the need to conserve their energy while they were hiking up and down hills without any solid path under their feet. It took concentration that was becoming more difficult to obtain with each tiring step.

But there hadn’t been a sign of another human since early this morning and Cord still wasn’t answering her. He conveniently couldn’t hear and asked her to repeat herself or he left and just never gave her the chance to finish.

“Actually, it’s only been forty-five minutes,” he said, passing the water to her.

“Right. Where are you going now?” That’s the action she didn’t understand—his running off. He wouldn’t give her the opportunity to discuss anything that had happened.

“I need to look ahead.”

“But you haven’t eaten. You’ve barely had any water. And you aren’t resting. You keep running up hills and coming back when I’m ready to go. You don’t even drop the pack, so your back must feel horrible.”

He pressed his lips together and shrugged. Shrugged and left.

Cord ran up the hill, blending into the lone tree trunk at the top. He stared in every direction for three or four minutes—or at least it felt like three or four minutes to her. Time seemed to be crawling by as they hiked to the observatory. Her protector came back from each of his uphill runs to give them a new landmark to aim for and keep them on track.

The pace he set didn’t bother her. Cord’s abandoning her each time she spoke did. She’d been so hopeful they were actually getting closer to discussing what had happened and why she’d gone through with the divorce. She hadn’t been able to explain where her mind had wandered during the last kiss. As a result, he’d shut completely down. Withdrawn. Spoke to her only when needed.

“Everything looks clear,” he said, hurrying down the hill. “We’re in luck.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. One of those houses you mentioned is just over that rise in the valley. Didn’t see any cars or horses, but we can call for help.”

“It might be one of the observatory people. I don’t think there are any ranches this close to the state park.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as they have a phone. Let’s go.”

He took her hand and brought her to her feet. A gesture that would have brought her straight into his arms before the shooting. She missed the closeness, the love, the dependability. She even missed the dirty dishes and laundry and house cleaning. She held tight to his hand. He tossed a short questioning glance her way but didn’t let go.

The closer they got to the house, the more apparent it became that it had been abandoned for some time. No satellite dish, no wires leading to the house. There was a windmill for an empty cistern, but it wasn’t turning.

“We must be farther away from the road than I thought,” she said as they crossed through an unlocked finished door into a half-finished building. Rock and wooden outside walls, a stone fireplace, a nice wood floor, some electrical wire and nothing else. The drywall sat covered in a far corner with visible dust caked on top of the tarp.

“Looks like someone began building this place and gave up on the idea a while ago.”

“Shoot. That means no phone.”

“No lights,” he returned.

“No motorcar,” she sang.

“Not a single luxury,” they sang together, and laughed at the impromptu
Gilligan’s Island
theme.

“Oh, that was funny.” She caught her breath. “So I guess you’re the thrifty professor. Can you whip us up a makeshift communication device with that portable radio?”

“And since you’re Mary Ann—”

“Not Ginger?” She tried a movie-star pout, but began laughing again.

Cord grabbed her coat as she removed it and placed a hand on her stomach. “This has more of a Mary Ann feel to me. Besides, you’re an awesome cook. Definitely a Mary Ann.”

He shrugged out of her father’s coat and glanced into the other rooms. All had doorways to the living area, but no doors. She crunched newspapers that were a couple of months old and dropped them in the fireplace.

“Food?” she asked.

“No kitchen appliances, empty cabinets.”

“So do we push forward or hang out here awhile? I vote for defrosting my digits.” She wiggled her fingers and rubbed her hands together. A fire would be nice since she hadn’t really been warm since the car. “I don’t know about you, but I’d love to dry my socks.”

“I think there’s enough stuff here to get a fire going. Nothing suspicious about a house sporting a fire. We can warm up a bit before we head out.” He walked over to the fireplace. “And you can dry your socks after the fire warms up the room. Deal?”

“Deal. How long do you think we have? Maybe Serna has all his men tied up fighting the DEA. They should have found that cave hours ago, right?”

“We can only hope they were all at the cave and got locked up. Somehow I don’t think that happened.” He disappeared around a corner, came back with two bags containing camp chairs. “I think Serna and his men have had a fairly good warning system in place for years. The cave was loaded with supplies and crates. I wish I’d had time to look inside. But with that amount of supplies, I’d assume he was confident of not being found.”

“Always the Ranger. Is that the reason you stashed a bag of drugs in your pack?”

Wrong thing to ask. He didn’t look sheepish or sorry for not telling her he’d taken the bag. “Can you blame me for wanting to put this guy away? We were so close to shutting him down, Kate.”

“But it doesn’t matter. None of it matters. Can’t you see that? He was in a federal prison for three years. Three years and that bag’s the proof nothing slowed his operation. He’s not threatened by you. And he wouldn’t think twice about you right now or the Rangers or the DEA if you hadn’t defended me and killed his brother.”

“You asking me to walk away again?”

Answering his question would lead to another round of fighting and she just didn’t have the strength. She couldn’t explain about the kiss, either, and barely remembered why it was important to tell him. “Is that one a cot? Trade you.”

He accepted her change of subject and unfolded the cot. “Lie down and I’ll get that fire going.”

“Orders. Orders. Orders. Oh, wow.” Taking the pressure off her legs and back muscles was heavenly. “This is almost as good as the Burke’s guest bed.”

“Better than last night’s ledge?”

She rolled onto her side to watch him build the fire and light it with a fireplace lighter he’d found in the kitchen. “This is sad.”

“What is, babe?”

“This house is someone’s dream and they had to walk away from it.”

“Sort of fitting then.”

“What do you mean?” She thought she knew and shouldn’t have asked. She didn’t want their dream to be over. She rubbed her belly, hoping he wouldn’t say the words aloud.

“Sort of like us,” he whispered. “Get some rest. I’m going to look around, keep watch and see ’bout some more wood.” He pulled her father’s old coat on across his broad shoulders and quietly shut the door behind him.

Kate didn’t know if he was sad, too, but she finally cried. An exhausted, hungry weeping for everything. She closed her eyes and wanted to dream about a nice, safe world with no Jorje Serna or other horrible men chasing them over a mountain.

* * *

C
ORD
PULLED
THE
door closed as quickly and gently as possible when he saw Kate was asleep. His stomach rumbled loudly, but there was nothing to eat. He was saving the last apple and energy bar for when she woke up. She needed them more than he did.

He threw some wood chips on the fire, got it going a bit stronger and threw on some dead branches. The place was warming nicely, but he added his jacket on top of Kate. His back screamed at him. His left hand still had sharp twinges and was tingling as if it was asleep.
Not good.

Rest. They both needed it and there was nothing else he could do. He moved the chair and propped his feet on the low hearth. Man, it felt good to sit and just relieve the pressure on his back awhile.

It would be a nice house if it ever got finished. The fireplace was made from stones they’d probably found clearing the land. Nothing fancy, just sturdy. So were the walls.

“Such a shame,” Kate said softly. “I mean the house. Left unfinished, it’s sort of lonely.”

“It’s got a lot of potential. Whoever built it put in a lot of time and craftsmanship.” He twisted in the chair to look at her and couldn’t hide the grunt of pain his back caused.

“Why don’t you lie down awhile and stretch your back? It must be aching terribly. Come on, we need you to be able to move and get us out of here.”

She stood and was already sighing a long exasperated one that meant she thought he wouldn’t listen to her.

“I can take the floor.”

“Fine. Be that way. But I’m ready to sit now and won’t be using the cot.”

She wouldn’t. Stubborn, beautiful woman. And she was right. He did need to be able to move. Kate’s hand was outstretched, ready to help him. He took it, determined to stand and drop her cool, silky skin as fast as he could.

And then she smiled.

Damn, she was beautiful.

In that instant he wanted her something fierce and didn’t know if he could walk away. The need grabbed every manly part of him, including his heart. His insides shook. His breathing stopped when he saw the same hunger in her eyes.

He couldn’t drop her hand. Instead, he drew her to him. He needed to kiss her and not be turned away. This time—if there was a this time—he wouldn’t be pushed away. She came to him, her body pressing to him, tilting her chin slightly in the air, ready for his lips to claim hers.

“Don’t kiss me if— I won’t stop this time, Kate.”

“I don’t want you to.”

He kissed her, starving for her closeness. He wrapped his arms around her back and anchored her to him. It wasn’t enough.

“Not enough.”

“Mmm.”

A yes? He couldn’t tell, but it wasn’t a no. As much as he wanted her to stay warm, he wanted her out of that Tech sweatshirt. Wanted Burke out of the picture. Wanted anyone else out of the picture permanently. He grabbed the edges and broke their kiss long enough to pull it over her head and throw it to the far side of the room.

Her work shirt was there and then gone along with his own. She’d seen the scars and hadn’t turned away. She touched the entry wound and slowly moved her hands to either side of his neck and rough, whiskered cheeks.

Her fingers then pushed through his hair, pulling his mouth back to hers. Long, excited kisses, her teeth nipping at his bottom lip, drinking in her taste, needing more. Always wanting more.

Her fingertips circled the nipples on his chest, hardened from the cold or stimulation, he didn’t care. He just didn’t want it to stop. Any of it. But he needed more.

Needed her.

Her hands dropped to his belt. If she got her way, this would be over way too quickly. He tugged her thermals up and off and immediately went for her pants. He slid his hands inside the waistband, easy to do with the snap already popped for her belly’s comfort. She’d already kicked off her boots when she lay down, and he used his foot to push the pants to the floor for her to step out of.

It was a dance they’d done before. He’d seen her beautifully naked in front of him hundreds of times. But never like this. Her breasts were swollen, spilling over the lace of her bra. He brushed the back of his hands across the dark pink of a nipple, watched it pucker under his touch, watched her body shiver with delight.

The overlarge coat she constantly wore, and even the granny nightshirt from the day before, hid the gentle swell of their child. Without her clothes, the baby bump was just as real as the kick.

Backlit by the glowing fire, he twisted his hand in her hair, bringing her back to his mouth. He splayed his free hand across her belly hoping to feel the baby move again.

Everything about Kate made him want her more. How was that possible? How had he stayed away from her all this time? She was so much a part of him, he didn’t know how he functioned without her near.

That was the thing...he’d only been sleepwalking through life without her. But being near him was dangerous—for her and the baby. He stilled his hands, wondering if making love to Kate was the right thing to do.

“Don’t you dare change your mind, Cord McCrea.” She tugged on his chin until he looked in her eyes. “I’m so hot for you at this very minute, I’m about to explode.”

No mind reading necessary. She just knew him and could read his body language before it caught up with what he was thinking. She reached behind her back, and her bra fell to the floor.

“Well?” she asked.

Did she really expect him to put words to how he felt?

He couldn’t talk so he showed her by kissing as much of her pale skin as he could. She quivered in his arms as he laid her on the cot. He had to sit in the chair to get his shoes off. She laughed at him the entire frustrating time. The larger borrowed jeans were easily kicked to the floor as he stood and stopped just short of jumping on top of her.

“You’re so beautiful, Kate.”

“But will you still think so four months from now?” She smiled, teasing him with an image of her at full term.

“I can’t think of anything prettier.” Her skin had cooled and he lay on top of her to warm her back up. “You’re sure about this? I know what our bodies want, babe, but—”

“Shh. No thinking. No rationalizing. Just love me.”

I do and always will.

Chapter Seventeen

Kate did nothing but feel. She’d wanted to be with Cord since the moment she’d seen him at the fencerow. For the moment, it didn’t matter what was happening in the world that threatened them. There was just his naked body on top of hers. Just his strong hands skimming her sensitive skin, rediscovering the new curves she’d developed.

“I could get used to these,” he said as he cupped the additional size of her breasts.

She didn’t want to think about the future, that making love to him might be for the last time. Even when they’d conceived the baby, she hadn’t believed it would be the final time. They still loved each other, didn’t they? Love had never been their problem.

Serna was the problem and Cord was right. The madman would never stop until she was dead. He wanted to punish Cord by hurting her.

Stop it. Don’t think. Just feel.

Cord’s fingertips explored, stimulated and gave her courage to caress his skin. Even when she skimmed over his scars, he jumped slightly but didn’t pull away.

“Does it still hurt?” She circled the bullet scar, more worried about the new bruises beginning to show on his ribs.

“They tell me it doesn’t.”

“But?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

He sealed his lips against hers, successfully stopping any words she might have said. Successfully stopping any thoughts except how much she loved being in his arms. And how much she wanted him inside her.

She shifted, moving him more into the V of her legs. His hand drifted between them, driving her to a crazy explosion. “Cord!”

She didn’t need to say more. He captured her mouth again and joined their bodies at the same time. She was just as much a part of him as he was her. She knew it. Saw the connection in his eyes. Wanted to keep it forever. They climaxed together.

“I love doing that to you,” she said, grabbing his biceps and attempting to get him to relax a moment. “Stay.”

“I don’t think so. I might pass out. We shouldn’t have—”

“Please don’t tell me how it was wrong. I don’t have any regrets about what we did. You shouldn’t, either.”

He jumped up and draped her coat on top of her. He pulled his boxers and jeans on in one fell swoop. Then he was sitting and lacing up those Ranger-code shoes. “Get dressed before you fall asleep, babe.” He shoved his arms into his coat and strode to the door. “I need to look around before we head out. It might be a while.”

Kate’s heart was still pushing the blood through her veins double time. She could feel the beating in her throat. She’d hardly caught her breath before Cord was out the door with her staring after.

She got dressed and took the time to braid her hair to keep it out of her way. She placed more wood on the fire, moved the cot a bit closer and lay back down. It seemed that she’d just closed her eyes when Cord gently shook her shoulder to wake her, but it was definitely colder and darker in the room.

“You ready?” he asked.

“There’s snow on your jacket.” She grabbed his bare hands he held near the fire, immediately warming them between her own. “You’re like ice.”

“I found the road. We should be able to make it to the observatory by seven or eight.” He gently removed his hands from hers in order to rotate his body in front of the dying fire.

“What’s going on?” She stood, shoving the cot backward with the force.

“Nothing. I’m just trying to get us out of here. We can’t stay with no food or water. The only choice is to brave the storm for two, maybe three hours tops.”

“Is that why you left in such a hurry?”

“Babe—” He stopped himself, probably because of the look on her face at his endearment. “It was irresponsible of me to make love to you here. I don’t know where Serna’s men are and you are far from safe.”

“Bull hockey. You ran out that door and away from me. Were you trying to pay me back for leaving you like I did five months ago?”

“What?”

“How are we ever going to move past any of that if we keep—”

“There is no moving past anything, Kate. Get used to the idea. Lord knows I had to.” He slammed his hat back on his head and slammed the door behind him.

She smothered the remaining fire, slid the chairs back into their bags and returned them to the counter.

She gave the living room a longing look when the blast of cold air hit her face. She secured the door and searched for Cord while wrapping her scarf around her face for a bit of protection. She also pulled on her work gloves over the smaller knit gloves that had been sufficient earlier.

“It wasn’t so cold when the sun was shining. Guess the front they’ve been talking about finally hit in full force,” she said.

“Guess so.” He removed his hat and shoved it on top of her knit cap.

She wasn’t going to argue with him. It wouldn’t do any good and he’d just run up a hill or something again.

“We’re using the road?” she asked like an idiot after the third or fourth step toward the two rain-filled tire treks the owner hadn’t used in quite some time.

“It’s an easier hike unless you think we should climb the two or three hills between here and 118.”

“If you’re certain it’s safe.”

“We’re out in the open either way.”

“Then we better get started.”

One foot in front of the other. One step at a time. They made it to the main road in less than an hour. Pretty good time for two exhausted and starving souls. It was too difficult to actually hold a conversation, but it wasn’t difficult to think about what she’d like to say.

Even if they’d wanted to hitchhike, no one was out greeting this hard-blowing storm front. But just in case Serna’s men were driving the area, they chose a safe place to cross to the north side of 118.

“I can almost taste the cheesy nachos at their snack bar,” she whispered on the other side.

“You can’t stand those things.”

“That was before.” She patted the baby. “Really. I can practically smell them. And if I don’t get them, I’m going to be whining a long time.”

“You don’t whine, either.”

“Yes, I do. A lot.”

That got her a relaxed smile and a soft knock on the brim of his hat.

They stayed close to the road, not having much choice since the terrain was steep and difficult. They hadn’t seen a soul since the shoot-out this morning. Chances were that Serna was completely out of the area, since the DEA had planned to raid the lodge.

“I hear a car. Let’s get off the road. Now.”

They took cover about twenty yards uphill by diving behind several juniper trees on the downhill slope. She bent down and he covered her with an arm, keeping her face toward the ground.

She didn’t see anything, just heard a car pass above their heads. “It didn’t slow down. Sure wish we could get a ride the rest of the way.”

They stood, brushing the snow and slush from their pants.

“Fifteen minutes and those nachos are all yours,” Cord said, helping her step onto the road.

“I’d give them up in a heartbeat just to have a heater gusting hot air onto my toes. What’s the plan? Who will you call to pick us up?”

“I was hoping to call in a favor, but this snow is making any plan impossible.”

“As long as we get some food first. Nachos, a hamburger, maybe some French fries—oh, wow, I really want fries now and a great big cup of hot chocolate.”

“What’s with you and the junk food? Wait—do you hear that?”

“It’s just another car. It might even be the same one if the observatory’s closed.”

“Too soon.” He waved at her to get back to the juniper. “It’s the same one, I recognize the muffler.”

She slid downhill on her bottom, the cold slush seeping through her jeans. This time, Cord stayed closer to the road, gun drawn as the car zoomed downhill toward them.

“Stay there,” he shouted.

“No way.”

“Come on, Kate. Listen to me and stay there.”

The car was upon them and she couldn’t shimmy up that slope on her own anyway. So she stayed wedged between two tree trunks to keep herself from slipping farther down the incline. The snow had combined with the earlier rain and the ground was just slick mush. But stuck where she was, she couldn’t see a darn thing.

A weapon discharged and she instinctively ducked. Then another. Rapid fire from another point, single shots from above her. “Cord!”

“We’ve gotta run for the observatory.”

“Right.” She tugged on her boot, now stuck inches off the ground. “Dear Lord, help me.”

“Can you find a route up?” He sounded anxious, worried.

She couldn’t bring herself to distract him by saying she was stuck.
Calm down, look at it and get this done.
She removed her right foot, twisted a bit and dug her boot heel into the mud. The gunfire was less frequent but she still jerked at every discharge. With her weight on her free foot, she pushed at the small tree trunk until she could pull free, careful not to slip the other ten feet to the bottom of the gully.

“Kathleen?”

She looked up the slope. It was impossible without him pulling her like before. Maybe on a different day she could have, but now she just didn’t have the strength to do it herself after walking the past three hours.

“I can’t—”

The gunfire was closer. She swung herself around the juniper to see if there was another way up. The quickest way to safety was on the road. They were minutes away from the twenty-four-hour staff at the observatory. If they had to climb...even the idea of having to climb more, especially alone. She just felt defeated.

Cord slid down the hill, reaching out to catch the trees with his good arm. “Start running, woman! Let’s get out of here before they notice I’m gone.”

“Down?”

“Looks like the only way.” He took the lead and she fell in close behind.

They hit the narrow but basically level gully. Knee-deep in water they ran, keeping the road to their right. It might have been the hardest part of the entire past three days. Her knees burned. Her overworked thigh muscles were screaming at her for rest. Her throat was so dry she wanted to catch snowflakes for moisture.

Cord held up his hand for her to stop. She bent forward, resting on those worn-out knees while he shimmied up the embankment, took a quick look and then returned. Where did he pull that energy from?

“It looks like,” he whispered, his frosty breath coming in spurts as he rested, “we’re about two hundred yards from the entrance.”

“Then it’s another quarter mile to find a human at this time of night.”

“Remember those drainage pipes under the main road to the parking lot?”

“Where I just had to have our picture taken in front of the century plant?”

“Right. You can stay there while I find help.”

“Normally, I’d argue with you, but my legs are like
Jell-O and I wouldn’t be able to keep up. So we go about four hundred yards, climb up, cross the road, use the trees for cover until the parking lot. Then we just hope no one sees us run another hundred yards to drainage pipes we hope have already drained.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She laughed, caught herself, clapping a gloved hand over her mouth and watched Cord smile in spite of their dire situation. She put her hands on either side of his face and pulled his lips to hers.

“Let’s go,” she said quickly. “I’ve waited years to lie in a slush-filled drainage pipe.”