Wayward Wind (35 page)

“Gray Wolf would fight you if I told him to.”

“I know that, and I’d have to shoot him.”

There was a long pause.

“Yes,” she said, and there was quiet resignation in her voice.

She climbed through the bars and before she could straighten, Cooper swung her up in his arms. He went to the back of the
barn, stood her on her feet, and kicked fresh cut grass into a mound.

“You can sleep here.”

“I’ll need my blanket.”

“I’ll keep you warm.”

“No!”

Cooper chuckled. “No? That’s all you’ve said since you’ve been here. Lie down. I’m just going to hold you, that’s all. I deserve
it after what you’ve put me through.” He pushed her down into the soft grass and followed to stretch out beside her.

“Please… don’t,” she said in a voice muffled against his shoulder.

“Don’t what? I’ll never force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Don’t you know that?” he murmured with his lips in
her hair, and wrapped his arms around her. “Although there have been times, several in fact, when I wanted to strangle you
and then twist this pretty little head of yours right off your shoulders. Right now I want to kiss you and see if I like it
as much as I did the other times.” His breath was a warm tickle in her ear.

“Don’t!” She strained away from him, but his arms possessed an incredible strength and he bound her still closer to his hard
sinewy body until she felt she must be crushed to death. Slowly, lingeringly, he kissed her mouth before releasing it. She
felt a sharp stab of pleasure and a weakening in her determination to resist him.

“Hmm… I like it even better. Your mouth is sweet.” He kissed it again, gently.

Tears filled Lorna’s eyes. “Why do you want to kiss me? You don’t even like me. You said so—”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t say that at all. I said you were stubborn, bullheaded beyond reason, and a take-over woman who needed
a strong hand. I also said you were spunky and willful, but pretty as an angel. I want to add that you’re also the sweetest
woman I ever kissed, and you can carry a pretty good tune, too, when you get all wound up.” His voice teased; his lips caressed
her face, his hands her back and hips.

“You were awfully mad that morning.”

“I sure was. I was so mad I was halfway down the mountain before I knew it.”

“You’re not mad at me now?” She snuggled her face in the curve of his neck.

“Sure, I am. I’m madder than a hornet, but I’m willing to call a trace for awhile.” He nuzzled her jaw and ran his fingers
into her hair at the back of her neck to hold her face against him. “Ah… girl, you feel so good. Take off that damn coat.
I’ll keep you warm.”

She slipped out of the coat and her arms wrapped around his neck. She snuggled in his arms and felt his heart beating as wildly
as her own.
He did care for her! He did!
She tried to speak, but failed. Instead she stroked his face and hair with trembling hands and tenderly kissed his lips before
resting her head on his shoulder.

“I love you, Cooper. I love you so much it hurts me here.” She brought his hand around to her heart and his fingers closed
possessively over her small breast as if they were coming home.

“Ah… sweetheart.” His voice was the softest of sounds.

All the emotional bruising of their parting and the weeks that followed flowed and melted away under the balm of his lips.
Her mouth clung to his in a moment of incredible sweetness.

Very softly she said his name. “Cooper.”

He lifted his head and rested the tip of his nose against hers for a moment, then drew back, waiting, letting his eyes, soft
with love, drink in her face. He didn’t say a word, but kissed her mouth fiercely, passionately. Lorna closed her eyes and
moved sensuously closer to him and braided her leg between his.

“Careful, pretty girl. Careful,” he cautioned.

His hair was a soft glow in the dark. She felt the feathery touch of it against her skin, then the warm caress of his lips
in the curve of her neck. Sudden tears ached behind her eyes. She moved her hand to the back of his head and gently stroked
his hair.

“Don’t you want to mate with me, my love?” she whispered into the cheek pressed to her lips.

“Ahh… More than anything.” His voice sounded as if he were strangling. “But… I’ll wait till we’re wed. I’ll wait… if it
kills me. Then, after you’re mine, I’m going to drown in you.”

Lorna’s heart almost burst with joy at knowing how much he wanted her. Her arms tightened and she held him to her with all
her strength while she murmured soft words of love against his lips.

“You won’t have to wait, my love. I’m as much yours now as I’ll ever be. I’m your woman. Hold me, love me, drown in me if
you want to.”

His hands roamed over her rounded hips in the heavy duck britches and cupped her small breast in his palm. His mouth closed
fiercely over hers, parting her soft lips, urgent in his need. Her body felt boneless as he fitted every inch of it against
his, pressing her down into the soft grass. This was Cooper, her mate, her lover. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.
She felt herself being swept away on a cloud where nothing mattered but satisfying their need for each other.

“I can’t do it! I can’t risk it again! I’ve got to get you to the preacher,” he muttered hoarsely. “Oh, God, my sweet, pretty
woman! I want you so much—”

“Cooper…” His name melted on her lips and when she tried to speak, her words kept fading, swept away by his kisses. “Cooper…”

“Shh… don’t say anything.” His lips covered hers before she could speak and she forgot what she was going to say. His voice
was a whisper when finally they broke the kiss.

“There are things I’ve got to tell you. You won’t have to share the house with my mother, if that’s been bothering you, sweetheart.
Arnie wants to marry her and take her to Morning Sun to live.” He lifted his head and her arms fell from around his neck.
“I’ve got to put a stop to this while I can! Turn over, sweetheart. I’m afraid I don’t have the willpower I thought I had.”
She turned and he pulled her back to his chest and her hips into the cradle he made with his thighs. “I deserve an extra star
in my crown for this,” he whispered in her ear, nuzzling her hair with his chin and kissing her on the neck.

His words had left Lorna frozen inside. He wasn’t even considering coming to Light’s Mountain. He was planning on this being
her home. Did he know he had taken her heart? Of course, he did. She had told him she loved him. Did he know he had crushed
it? Would his heart be broken, too? He had held her and kissed her as if he loved her, but he had never said the words.

“Do you love me, Cooper?” Her breath came out light and gasping.

His laugh was low and tender. He hugged her and nipped her earlobe lightly with his teeth. “Oh, sweetheart, you’ve been under
my skin since the day I met you, tormenting me, driving me crazy.”

“But do you love me?” she insisted in a breathy whisper. She clamped her lips shut and swallowed repeatedly. She was afraid
she was going to cry.

“If loving you means thinking about you all the time, and worrying about you so I can’t sleep at night. If it means getting
crazy mad at you when you’ve done something foolish, and wanting to beat the daylights out of you and love you at the same
time, I guess I do love you.”

“You sound like you don’t want to.”

“I admit that I’d rather have had a more manageable woman,” he said with a chuckle. “But I’ll settle for the one I’ve got.”
He lifted his head and his lips teased at the side of her face. “I know you’re disappointed that I won’t live on Light’s Mountain,
but you’ll get used to it here, sweetheart. You can pick out some good mares to put to Gray Wolf and watch his offspring grow
along with ours. We’ll get some hounds to replace Ruth and Naomi. Your pa will be welcome anytime, and maybe when he sees
you settled here and happy, he’ll not be so sour. I’ll take you over to Morning Sun to meet my brother and his wife, Rosalee.
And even if you don’t think so now, you’ll like Ma. She’s always wanted a daughter. After awhile you’ll not miss Light’s Mountain
at all.”

No! Lorna screamed silently. She would not leave Light’s Mountain. This would never be her home, because she’d not stay here
and let her grandmother’s house go to wrack and ruin. She was a part of Light’s Mountain and Light’s Mountain was a part of
her. Not even for Cooper, her love, would she leave it. He’d come to her, if he loved her. And if he didn’t, it was best to
know it now. But if he did come, he’d love it, and after awhile he’d not miss
this
place.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart. Tomorrow I’m taking you to town and tomorrow night,” his hand slipped inside her shirt and his
rough palm caressed her breast, “I’m going to love you all night long.” He made his voice low and threatening.

Lorna lay tightly against his body, her head resting on his arm. She couldn’t move. She was in an untenable predicament. There
was nothing she could do for now. She shivered, his arms tightened, and she wept silently.

She had forced herself to relax, but her eyes had never closed. She was sure that Cooper thought she was asleep, and she tried
to breathe as if she were sleeping. Her body was still, but her mind was busy. She prayed an opportunity would arise that
would allow her just simply to fade away and not be forced to face Cooper’s mother and make a big to-do of not wanting to
stay. She would rather die than face her and have Cooper ask his mother to fix her up so she would be presentable enough to
take to a preacher. All of those thoughts vied for precedence in Lorna’s troubled mind.

The hour was somewhere between midnight and dawn. Lorna had not heard the twittering of the birds in the branches above the
barn so she knew dawn was at least an hour away. She lay against Cooper in quiet limbo, her mind searching for the words to
say to him when morning finally came. She heard the scuffing of boots and the squeaking of the barn door when it opened, but
she never moved a muscle or allowed her breathing to quicken.

“Psst, Cooper.”

Cooper lifted his head, then eased his arm from under Lorna and moved away. She felt the cold hit her back, then he was covering
her with her coat. He didn’t speak until he was a dozen feet away. “What is it, Griff?”

“The ole man wants ya.”

“Can it wait till morning?”

“I reckon not.”

Cooper looked back toward Lorna. She was worn out, he thought, and his eyes caressed the blur that was her slight body. Even
if she did have more spunk than brains, he grinned at the thought, he now knew for certain that she was the most precious
thing in the world to him. She had scarcely moved since he had turned her away from him. He listened to her breathing for
a moment, and satisfied that she was sleeping soundly, left the barn.

The light from the lantern hanging from a nail on the rafters cast flickering shadows about the room. Sam and Louis were snoring
in their bunks. Griff, without a shirt, paused just inside the door.

“I’m athinkin’ the ole man’s in a bad way. He’s had some sort a spell. He woke me up acallin’ for ya.”

Cooper crossed the room and hunkered down beside the bunk where Volney lay. His leathery face was gray, his lips tinged with
blue, and he was gasping for air. Beneath his shaggy brows his eyes appeared to have sunk back into his head, but they were
bright and seeking.

“Hit… took ya long enough.”

“What can I do, Volney? Do you want me to call Ma? She might could make things easier—”

“Naw, I… don’t need ’er fussin’ ’round.” He looked over Cooper’s shoulder and saw that Griffin still stood beside the door.
“I got a… thin’ to say.” He gasped out the words. “At my shack, on the Thompson… back uphill ’bout half a mile… tall pine
… topped… by lightnin’ ’n marked by… elk horns—”

Cooper realized with a certainty that the old man was dying. The gnarled hand that lay on the quilt was limp, and the odor
of urine and bowels he could no longer control wafted up from the bedclothes.

“Is there something there you want me to tend to, Volney?”

“A cache… in cliff hole… west of pine. Looks like rock… slide. Dig in… it’ll take some doin’. Thar’s pelts ’n six sacks
a gold… I been… pickin’ it up… fer years. Some nuggets, some… dust.” He stopped to catch his breath. “Pelts fer yore ma
… fer my keep—”

“She doesn’t want pay. She—”

“I ain’t got… no time,” he said and shook his head impatiently. “I’d be obliged… if ya give a… sack of my gold to the young
… feller, thar. Hit’ll… give ’im ’n Bonnie a start.” He stopped again and drew great gulps of air into his open mouth. “The
rest is fer Lorna.” He paused again to get his breath. His eyes closed and he remained still for so long Cooper wasn’t sure
if he was gone. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes, and his voice when it came was stronger. “Ya want to marry up… with
my little gal, don’t ya?”

“Yes, I do. I intend to marry her tomorrow.”

“Hit’s what she ort to do. She ain’t… ort to be on that mountain no… more. Hit’s not like it… was. Spoilers… air acomin’
in—”

“She’ll be here, with me. I’ll take care of her.”

“Marthy… her granny… filled her head… with notions—”

“I know about that. I’m not going to try and fill Light’s shoes.”

“Hit’s good. That time’s… gone.” He closed his eyes as if his eyelids were so heavy he couldn’t hold them open, but suddenly
he opened them wide and looked wildly at Cooper. “Fulton’ll come fer ’er—”

“He’ll have to go through me to get to Lorna and through Griffin, too. Don’t worry.”

“She still… here?”

“She’s sleeping. Do you want me to get her?”

“No! She… ain’t ne’er seen me lessen’… I was on my feet. I ain’t awantin’… her to see me… now.” He closed his eyes again.

Cooper placed his hand over the cold limp hand that lay on the bed. He had never touched the old man in all the years he’d
been coming to the ranch. Now he gripped his hand, doubting that Volney could feel his touch.

Griffin came and sat down on the end of the bunk. He moved a box toward Cooper with his foot. Cooper grasped it and pulled
it under him. They sat silently, waiting. The birds began to stir and their twitterings signaled the start of a new day. The
oil in the lantern began to flicker and Griffin got up to refill it. He came back with tobacco and papers, rolled a smoke
and handed it to Cooper, then rolled one for himself.