Spirit's Song (20 page)

Peering through the moonlit night, he made out the shape of a rocky overhang jutting from a hillside several yards away.

Moments later, Ravenhawk rode up.

Jesse motioned for him to be quiet. “I think they’re over there,” he whispered.

Ravenhawk glanced over his shoulder, then nodded.

Side by side, they rode away until they came to a small stand of timber where they left the horses; then, on cat-quiet feet, they made their way back to the rocky overhang.

A cold excitement rose inside Jesse as they neared the outlaw’s camp. It reminded him of his days as a young warrior, of creeping up on a sleeping Crow camp to war ponies and count coup. Only the prize he was after now was of far more worth than a few horses.

The moon had gone behind the clouds again by the time they reached the overhang.

“So,” Ravenhawk whispered. “Do we go in shooting?”

Jesse shook his head. “No. Nice and quiet. I don’t want to take a chance on Kaylynn getting caught in a crossfire.”

Ravenhawk nodded. “Nice and quiet,” he said with a wink. “No prisoners.”

“No prisoners,” Jesse said.

Keeping low, Jesse moved to the left. He’d gone only a short distance when he saw a man standing near where the horses were tethered. He was standing with his back toward Jesse, smoking a cigarette. A thin column of gray smoke rose above his head.

Picking up a small rock, Jesse tossed it over the man’s head. It landed in the grass with a dull thud.

The man grabbed his rifle and stared toward the sound.

Silent as the shadows moving over the land, Jesse ghosted up behind the man. Bending over, he grabbed the man by the ankles and gave a sharp jerk. The man fell forward. His head struck the ground, hard, the force snapping his neck.

One down. Four to go.

Cold, hungry and tired, Kaylynn stared into the darkness, feeling as though she were caught in a nightmare from which she would never awake. Her hands, tightly tied, were almost numb. Victor Mazza slept beside her, snoring loudly. The other outlaws were bedded down not far away. The fifth man was standing guard.

A faint sound drew her attention. Wriggling onto her side, she stared into the darkness, watched, stunned, as the man keeping watch suddenly pitched forward.

Struggling to a sitting position, she glanced around, felt her heart begin to race when she saw Ravenhawk slip up behind Rafael Mazza, who had fallen asleep sitting against a rock. Her eyes widened as Ravenhawk reached over the rock and slipped a garrote around the outlaw’s neck.

The outlaw twitched once and lay still. Moving swiftly and silently, Ravenhawk edged around the rock and padded toward the man called Nash.

Kaylynn held her breath, waiting, felt her heartbeat increase as the outlaw suddenly stirred and sat up.

Nash muttered, “What the hell!” when he saw Ravenhawk moving toward him.

Grabbing his rifle, Nash jacked a round into the breech and then, with a grunt, he fell forward, lifeless as a rag doll, a knife protruding from the middle of his back.

At almost the same time, the man lying a few feet away from Nash came awake and began fumbling for his gun. Ravenhawk dove forward, jerked the knife from Nash’s back, turned and plunged it into the outlaw’s chest.

Kaylynn gasped and looked away. It was then she saw Jesse step out of the shadows.

She blinked at the two men, unable to believe her eyes. She didn’t stop to wonder why Jesse and Ravenhawk were working together, or how they had found her. They were here, and that was all that mattered. She had never been so glad to see anyone in her whole life.

Jesse was pulling his knife from the dead outlaw’s chest when a harsh voice cut across the stillness of the night. “Hold it right there,” Victor Mazza said. “Drop your weapons, or the girl dies.”

Ravenhawk glanced over his shoulder to see Victor Mazza sitting beside Kaylynn, his gun aimed at her head. There was no doubt in his mind that Victor meant what he said.

The color drained from Kaylynn’s face as she looked down into the barrel of Mazza’s pistol.

Slowly, Ravenhawk tossed his Colt away.

“You too,” Victor said, jerking his chin in Jesse’s direction.

A muscle twitched in Jesse’s jaw as he dropped his gun, and then his knife.

Victor Mazza stood up and took a step forward. He stared at Ravenhawk through narrowed eyes. “Traitor,” he hissed. “I will enjoy killing you.” He took another step forward.

Ravenhawk spat into the dirt at Mazza’s feet. “You gonna gun me down in cold blood? Just like that?”

“It is the fate of traitors. Yesterday you were one of us. Today you ride against us.”

“I came because of the woman,” Ravenhawk said.

Mazza flicked a glance at Kaylynn. “The woman? What is she to you?”

Ravenhawk nodded, stalling for time. “She was mine until this man took her from me.”

Victor shook his head, obviously unconvinced.

Ravenhawk jerked his head in Jesse’s direction. “He’s a bounty hunter. I was his prisoner not long ago, but the woman and I escaped. He thinks I’m on his side, but I’m not.” He laughed softly. “You don’t really think I’d be sidin’ a lawman, do you?”

Mazza studied Ravenhawk, doubt showing in his eyes.

Jesse’s hands clenched into tight fists as he listened to the exchange between Ravenhawk and Mazza. Damn! He had known the Lakota couldn’t be trusted.

He was weighing his chances of rushing Mazza when he saw Kaylynn take a step backward. Bending, keeping one eye on Mazza, she picked up a good-sized rock.

“Dammit, Mazza,” Ravenhawk said loudly. “There’s a price on my head.” He threw his hands up in the air, his voice rising. “Why would I be ridin’ with a man who’s anxious to collect it?”

Mazza glanced briefly at Jesse and then back at Ravenhawk.

Jesse held his breath as Kaylynn stood up. Taking a step forward, she brought the rock down hard on the back of Victor Mazza’s head.

Mazza dropped like a poleaxed steer.

“Hot damn!” Ravenhawk exclaimed. He looked at Kaylynn and smiled. “Nice work, sweetheart.”

“Hot damn indeed,” Jesse repeated. Grabbing his gun, he eared back the hammer of the Colt and leveled it at Ravenhawk. “Get those hands up.”

“What the hell…”

“Don’t make me tell you again.”

“Dammit, we had a deal.”

“Yeah, I thought so too. Now I’m not so sure.”

“You didn’t fall for all that stuff I was tellin’ Mazza? I was trying to save our hides.”

“Uh-huh.”

“It’s true. I was just stallin’, giving Kaylynn time to make her move.” He smiled at Kaylynn. “Nice going.”

“Thank you,” Kaylynn replied, looking pleased.

Jesse glanced over at Kaylynn. He didn’t have any faith in Ravenhawk, but he trusted Kaylynn. With a sigh, he holstered his gun. “Kaylynn, come here.”

Kaylynn made a wide berth around Victor Mazza. “Is he…he isn’t dead?”

“I doubt it,” Jesse replied regretfully.

“Too bad if he ain’t,” Ravenhawk said. He took a step forward and nudged the outlaw in the ribs, then shrugged. “He’s still breathin’.”

“Why don’t you untie Kaylynn?” Ravenhawk suggested. “I’ll look after Mazza.”

Jesse regarded Ravenhawk for a long moment, wondering if he was making a mistake; then, retrieving his knife, he cut Kaylynn’s hands free, all the while keeping one eye on Ravenhawk, who quickly lashed Mazza’s hands behind his back.

Driven by a need to touch her, Jesse ran his knuckles over Kaylynn’s cheek. “You all right?”

Kaylynn managed a weak smile. “Fine.”

Ravenhawk glanced from Kaylynn to Yellow Thunder, then grunted softly. There was no mistaking the look that passed between the bounty hunter and the girl. A blind man stuck in a coal mine could have seen it.

With a shake of his head, he began gathering the outlaws’ weapons.

Jesse cleared his throat. “They didn’t…”

“No,” Kaylynn said.

He blew out a sigh of relief, then taking her hands in his, he gently massaged her wrists, first one, then the other.

“Kay…” He clasped one of her hands in both of his and then, unable to resist, he drew her up against him and wrapped her in his arms.

“You’re sure?” he asked. “Sure you’re all right.”

She snuggled against him. “I am now.”

“Maybe you two would like to be alone.”

Jesse glanced over his shoulder into Ravenhawk’s smirking face.

Ravenhawk shrugged. “I’ll keep an eye on things here.” Bending, he picked up the blanket Kaylynn had been sleeping on and tossed it over Jesse’s shoulder. “You might need that,” he said with a lecherous grin.

With a nod, Jesse swung Kaylynn into his arms and carried her away from the outlaws’ camp.

She didn’t argue, didn’t say a word, merely slipped her arms around Jesse’s neck.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight again,” Jesse said.

“I’m sorry to be so much trouble.”

“You are that,” he muttered.

She made a face at him, though she doubted he could see it in the darkness.

“Why the hell didn’t you stay in town?”

“I was afraid you’d kill him.”

Jesse came to an abrupt halt. His arms, a haven only moments before, now felt like steel around her.

“You put your life in danger for him?” he asked.

Kaylynn shivered. His voice was colder than the night air.

“No.”

“Tell me.”

“I was afraid he would kill you. Or you would kill him. I just didn’t want that to happen. Can’t you understand?”

“I understand you must have feelings for him.”

“I care for him,” she admitted, “but not the way I care for you.”

“Go on.”

“I love you.”

“Kay!”

“It’s wrong, I know it, but I can’t help how I feel.”

“Shh.” He held her tighter, wishing he had the right to hold her forever.

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, felt him groan deep in his throat. “Make love to me, Jesse.”

“Kay…”

“Don’t you want to?”

“Want to? Good Lord, woman, I’ve hardly thought of anything else.”

“Then do it.”

“You’ll hate me if I do.”

“I’ll hate you if you don’t.”

He started to argue, to tell her it would be wrong, that she would feel differently later, when she was back home where she belonged, but she covered his mouth with hers, stifling his foolish words. Her hands caressed his nape, slid down the inside of his shirt to stroke his back.

He stood her on her feet, his body coming alive as she pressed herself against him. Her breasts were warm and soft against his chest, her lips eager as she kissed his scarred cheek.

He held on to her tightly, afraid she would disappear if he let her go. She kissed him, and he drank from her lips as though she were life itself.

And then he was kissing her back, his clever hands stroking her hips, sliding along her rib cage, drifting over her breasts, which suddenly seemed fuller, heavier, achy.

She sighed with pleasure as a wellspring of desire rose within her and she pressed herself against him, needing to be closer, to feel all of him.

He broke away long enough to spread the blanket on the ground and then he was kissing her again, drawing her down onto the blanket.

“Sweet,” he murmured. “So sweet.”

“You are.”

“Kay…”

“I know,” she whispered. “I feel it too.”

He unfastened her dress and she shivered as the cold wind brushed her skin, and then his lips were there, kissing her neck, her shoulders, her breasts, and she was on fire.

She watched him remove his shirt and trousers, her eyes greedy for the sight of him, her hands hungry to touch him, her lips eager for the taste of him.

She lifted her arms to embrace him, sighed with pleasure as she felt his weight.

“Jesse. Jesse.” His name was like a sigh, a prayer. “Tell me.”

“I love you, Kaylynn,” he said, his voice low and rough with desire. “God help me, I love you.”

She looked up at him, her eyes slumberous with desire, her lips swollen from his kisses. “Show me.”

He kissed her again, his mouth hot and hungry, and she surrendered to him without fear, without regret. He whispered that she was more beautiful than the wildflowers that grew along the Greasy Grass, that she was desirable, that he loved her, adored her, and for the first time in her life, she felt that she
was
beautiful and desirable, that she was lovable, that she had worth.

He filled her heart and her soul and she clung to him, unafraid, trusting, letting him carry her higher, higher, until she thought she would surely die and then, like lightning ripping through the dark of night, she found fulfillment in a man’s arms for the first time.