Taming Talia (21 page)

Talia’s rushing in from the pantry broke his reverie. “Here.” She held out the cup of the noxious brew. “Drink it now.”

Grudgingly, he took the cup, but he couldn’t keep from smiling. “You’re a bossy female if ever there was one.”

“You have no idea.” Hands on her hips, she stood staring at him with a stern expression. “Now drink it down.”

“Couldn’t you add some honey? Y’know, sweeten it a bit.”

“I’ll show you sweet if you don’t swallow it right now.”

“All right. You win.” He downed the bitter tea in one go but gasped from the taste. “Makes me want to wash my mouth out with soap. That’s how bad the stuff is.”

He watched her struggle not to laugh. She held her sides, and her mouth contorted, but she finally broke down and laughed.

As soon as his woman—yes, he thought of her that way—could compose herself, she said, pointing theatrically, “Sorry, but you’re not out of the woods yet. Now get your very fine body to bed.”

Relentless—yes, she was. And she was his. He meant to keep her that way forever.

Chapter Seventeen

Finally, Natalia had Jared settled in her bed with his injured leg propped on two pillows. The aggravating man insisted on tending to the fires in the cookstove and her bedchamber before he would agree to go to bed. Once there, he consented to her rewrapping his leg and covering it with another snowpack.

Gazing up at her, he folded his arms across his chest. “You know, this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”

“I know exactly what you had in mind, but this is what
I
had in mind.” She bent over and straightened the coverlet. “You still have a lot of swelling, but it’s not as bad as it was.”

“Goes to show you make an excellent nursemaid,” he told her with a cheeky wiggle of his dark brows.

She set her hands on her hips and told him firmly, “I’ll have you know, women out here are strong and can do just about anything, including our men’s jobs.”

He nodded slowly and solemnly. “You’ll get no argument from me, Talia. I’m a believer.”

She shook her finger in his face but had trouble hiding her grin. “If you weren’t so poorly, I’d smack your cheeks.”

“Poorly? I’ll have
you
know I did a damned good job…for an injured man.”

“Indeed you did at that.” Her mouth tugged into a smile she could no longer hide. “A very damned good job.”

A sound she’d gradually become aware of while getting Jared situated now increased in volume. “The wind,” she said, “do you hear it?”

Frowning, he came up on one elbow. “Hope we’re not in for more snow.”

She rushed to the window and parted the heavy draperies. She used her hand to wipe off a rime of frost. “The sun is still shining. No snow, but the wind’s blowing from the southwest, and it’s clearing some of the drifts. I can almost make out where the road is.”

Jared rubbed his chin. “That settles it. I’m going to try to get into town tomorrow.”

“No.” Natalia shook her head. “Why would you risk it? Something could easily happen. Your leg—it’s not up to riding…surely?”

“I need to telegraph my employers to let them know what I’ve been up to. And I need to see the sheriff, again. I checked in with him before coming out here.”

News to her. “Really? Just in case I murdered you and did away with your body?”

“Didn’t know what I was riding into,” he admitted somewhat shyly. “Never hurts to have someone at your back.”

She sat at the foot of the bed. “Don’t you think the sheriff will be too busy with the blizzard to notice you’re not around?”

“Got to admit he wasn’t too pleased about my being in town. Local lawmen tend to get a little testy when the Pinkertons get involved.” He stared out the window, his movements restless as if he was anxious to leave. “If it was up to the sheriff, he’d just as soon I hightailed it out of town and the sooner, the better. Said I was wasting my time.”

“I am very glad he did not insist you leave.”

“Wouldn’t have done him any good. I mean to finish my assignment.”

His bald statement pierced her heart. She rose, ready to defend herself. “You still think I had my husband killed?” How could he? After all they’d been through, how was it possible he continued to think of her as a mere assignment?

“No, but there are a few questions I need answered about this Juan Ojeda, the fellow who did kill him.”

“Like what?” All right, she needed to give him a chance to explain. He was being thorough. That was all it was. Surely.

“Like was he a stranger in town? If he wasn’t, who did he work for? How did he get away without being caught? Little things I need to know to clear you.”

Perhaps his declarations of love were really true. Otherwise, he wouldn’t care whether she was cleared or not. She reached forward and caressed his cheek. “That’s very sweet. But when the sheriff was here, he didn’t seem like he thought I had anything to do with Reginald’s death. It was just a barroom brawl that ended in murder.”

“Granted it seems pretty straightforward. But you had plenty of reason to hate your husband, and no doubt you could find the money, since you did your husband’s books. And you could’ve hired Ojeda to make it look like something other than premeditated murder.”

Her chin dropped, and she put her trembling hand to her mouth. “But I thought you—”

“Hold on. I don’t think you had anything to do with it. But I have to look at the situation like a lawman would. Figure out what the local sheriff or a marshal would need to know in order to find the truth.”

Getting weak in the knees, she sat on the bed. “I never thought about it like that—like a lawman.” She swallowed hard.

“It’s too bad he got away.” He clasped her still-trembling hand between his strong ones. The simple gesture comforted her, but his next words chilled her to the core.

“If Ojeda’d been caught, questioned and gone to trial, you would’ve been cleared—in the lawman’s mind, if not in your father-in-law’s. If Ojeda was smart, he headed straight for the border. From this part of New Mexico Territory, you have Oklahoma Territory and Texas both within a day’s ride. He could be anywhere.”

“Looking at it like a lawman”—she gulped—“if it weren’t for the blizzard, the sheriff might’ve been ready to arrest me.”

Jared shook his head. “He didn’t sound like it to me. When I talked to him, I told him I was only investigating because the family was angry and upset over their son’s death. He maintained it was unlikely you had anything to do with Ojeda killing your husband.”

She let out a ragged sigh of relief. “You frightened me. For a moment, I was ready to make a run for Texas myself.” While frontier justice was usually just, it wasn’t always. Hanging a woman wasn’t unheard of. Certainly not a frequent happenstance, but still… Her hand went to her throat.

“Already feeling the noose stretching your pretty little neck?” He chuckled.

“That’s not even remotely humorous, Jared.”

“Sorry, darlin’. Don’t worry. You won’t have to leave your land and hightail it to Mexico. If you want me to, I’ll find Ojeda if I have to follow him to the ends of the earth.”

“While I find your zeal immensely reassuring, I’d rather you not leave me.”

“I don’t want to leave you, Talia. Not ever.” He put his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her down for a long and tender kiss.

Elation filled her heart. Her throat swelled with an unfamiliar emotion. Tears stung her eyes.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked her so tenderly she couldn’t hold back the tears now coursing down her cheeks.

Shaking her head, she gazed down at him , unable to speak. Inhaling deeply, she composed herself enough to say, “I don’t think I could bear it if you did.”

“Then I won’t.”

“And tomorrow? You’re still going to town?”

“Let’s wait and see how the weather does.”

She smiled, pleased that he’d put the decision off for another day. “If you go tomorrow, will you stop at Sarita’s cabin and see if she made it home and if she and Pedro are all right? Their cabin is right off the trail to town, but still on the hacienda.”

He nodded. “I will.”

She laid her hand on his forehead. Beads of perspiration were just beginning to form. “Your fever is coming down,” she said, then started to rise.

He clasped her wrist with his strong hand, forcing her to remain seated. “Don’t go. Take a siesta with me.”

“A siesta?” she said with a laugh. “What do you know about such things?”

“I know we could both use one.”

“I know you need one, but I have other tasks to occupy my time.”

“You don’t have to see to the animals. I already did that.”

“
Sí
, but I have to see to the house.”

“Expecting company, are you?”

“You never know. In spite of your best efforts, my kitchen is in a sad state of affairs. What will Sarita say when she returns and sees the results of our, uh, cooking?”

His wide grin and the merry glint in his eyes sped up her heart. “By cooking, you mean the fact we just made love on the kitchen table?”

“
Dios
! She must never know.” Natalia felt her neck and cheeks heat up hotter than the cookstove at dinnertime. “I must go.”

Jared roared with laughter, but as soon as he stopped, his eyelids drooped with fatigue. “Whatever you say.”

Placing a kiss on his forehead, she rose and rushed from the room. “Sleep,
mi amado
.”

If she hadn’t left the room when she did and allowed Jared to sleep off his fever, she would’ve lain beside him and run the risk of making his fever even worse.

Putting on an apron, she surveyed the remains of her kitchen. True, dishes were stacked neatly on the table by the sink, but there were fragments of broken crockery crunching beneath her boots. She and Jared had been so hot for each other that they’d swept everything off the table and hadn’t even realized it.

Sarita would be appalled, even as she would be pleased Natalia had been so well loved. Tomorrow, if the weather allowed, she would remind Jared about checking on Sarita. Perhaps they would agree to shelter for the rest for the winter with her and Jared. Assuming, of course, Jared kept his word and didn’t leave.

She set about restoring order to her kitchen, sweeping up the shards of crockery. After a futile attempt at using the water pump, she sighed. Still frozen. More snow would have to be brought in and heated to wash the remaining dishes and pans. Still, she couldn’t help but be thankful for the storm that had marooned them together.

Once she had the snow melting on the stove, she dried her hands on her apron. Time to check on Jared. Hopefully by now, his fever had broken and he would’ve had a restorative nap. He might even still be asleep, and that suited her just fine, since anytime she was around him, she found herself unable to stay at arm’s length. Indeed, she craved his strong arms around her as well as his masterful touch. It seemed he knew her body so well, what would pleasure her, even better than she. Making love with him was so natural, as if they were made for one another.

She tiptoed down the hall and stopped at the door to her bedroom. Hesitating, she laid her hand against the cool wood of the door. The chill from the surface sent a sensual thrill up her arm and then down to pool in her belly. Beyond this carved mesquite lay her beloved Pinkerton. How had they grown so close in such a short time? Never before would she have believed such a strong connection possible. Indeed, their bond was forged through adversity and shared dangers. But was it a lasting one, and would he truly stay with her after the snow cleared or the spring thaw, whichever came first?

After Reginald’s death, she’d planned a future on her own as an independent woman. Marrying again had never entered her mind, but now, after all they’d been through, she looked forward to risking her heart for a future with Jared.

Fearing she might awaken him, she quietly turned the knob and nudged the door open until she could make out his form, stirring in sleep. Good, he was still resting. Ready to leave him undisturbed, she stepped back from the door but then heard him hoarsely call her name.

She opened the door wider and entered the room. “I thought—” She halted. Jared wasn’t awake after all. He’d thrashed around and kicked off the coverlet. Swiftly, she crossed the room to his side, felt his forehead and found it damp with perspiration. His fever had broken, but why was he so restless?

“Jared,” she murmured. Perhaps he was dreaming.

She started to ease from the room, but again he rasped her name. “Talia. I love you. Don’t leave me.”

Her heart thrilled to hear the words, even if only in his dreams. “I won’t leave you,
mi amado
.” As if she ever would. Reaching to caress his tanned cheek, she sighed. Love for him overpowered her and filled her with a rush of emotions she’d long thought denied to someone like her—a woman bound in marriage to a man she hated. Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

His lids flickering, he grasped her hand, brought it to his mouth, and pressed light kisses into the palm. “Don’t leave me.”

“Never.”

His eyes widened, his steely gaze locked with hers. “Do you mean that, Talia? Or are you playing with my feelings?” he asked her in a soft, seductive tone.