and off the fey creature whose skin and hair smelled like a meadow drenched in sunshine and warmth.
“Your daddy was a lucky man,” Ty said after looking at the drawing for a long time. “This is a woman to dream on. All silk and sweet softness. After I catch Lucifer and build my own horse herd, I’m going to Europe and court a fine lady just like this. I’ll marry her and bring her home, and we’ll raise strong sons and silky daughters.”
“Silk doesn’t last long on the frontier,” Janna said stiffly.
He laughed. “That’s why I’m going to build my fortune first. I’d never ask a true lady to live in a dirt-floored shack and ruin her soft hands on scrub brushes and the like.”
Janna looked at her hands. While not rough, they weren’t exactly silky, either. “Soft isn’t everything.”
He shook his head, seeing only his dream. “It is in a woman. I’ll have my silken lady or I’ll have none at all for longer than it takes to pleasure myself.”
The words sliced into her like knives, wounding her. The pain she felt shocked her, and the rage, and the sense of…betrayal.
“What makes you think that a silken woman would have a man like you?” Janna asked coolly.
Ty smiled to himself. “Women kind of take to me, especially when I’m cleaned up a bit.”
“Huh,” she sniffed. “I don’t think there’s enough cleaning time between now and Christmas to make any fancy woman look at you twice.”
Before he could say anything, Zebra whinnied in alarm. Even as he turned toward the sound, Ty yanked Janna to the ground and pulled out the hunting knife he wore at his waist. An instant later his big body half covered hers, pinning her against the earth.
“Don’t move,” he breathed against her ear, his voice a mere thread of sound.
She nodded slightly and felt his weight shift as he rolled aside. There was a flash of tanned skin in the tall grass, a suggestion of movement in the streamside willows, and then nothing more. Ty had vanished.
A shiver went over Janna as she realized how very quick he was now that he was well, and how powerful. She thought of wiggling backward until she was in better cover, then discarded the idea. He would expect her to be where he had left her—and he would attack anything that moved anywhere else. That thought was enough to rivet her in place.
The willows slid soundlessly past his nearly naked body as he eased through the streamside thickets. The creek was no more than a few feet wide and still slightly warm from its birth in a hot springs back at the head of the small valley, a place where black lava and red rock and lush greenery entwined in a steamy Eden whose water contained a sulfurous whiff of hell.
Nothing moved in the willows around him, nor was there any sound of birds. The silence was a warning in itself. Normally small birds darted and sang in the valley, enjoying the rare presence of water in a dry land. If the wildlife was quiet, it meant that an intruder was nearby.
Fifty yards away, belly-deep in grass, Zebra snorted. The sound was followed by a drumroll of hooves as the mare fled. The mustang’s flight told Ty that the intruder was either a cougar or a man. Nothing else would have sent the horse racing away in fear. Without disturbing the thick screen of willow branches, he looked out into the valley. Zebra was standing seventy yards away with every muscle quivering, poised for flight. Her head was high and her black ears were pricked forward. She was looking atsomething that was well downstream from Ty.
Something just came out of the slot. Which direction is the intruder going, girl? Is he going for the hot springs at the north end or the Indian ruins at the south end?
Motionless, Ty watched the mare, knowing that she would track the intruder better than he ever would be able to with mere human senses. Zebra kept her head and ears up, watching something that he couldn’t see. Slowly her head turned toward Ty.
All right.
The intruder is
“Your daddy was a lucky man,” Ty said after looking at the drawing for a long time. “This is a woman to dream on. All silk and sweet softness. After I catch Lucifer and build my own horse herd, I’m going to Europe and court a fine lady just like this. I’ll marry her and bring her home, and we’ll raise strong sons and silky daughters.”
“Silk doesn’t last long on the frontier,” Janna said stiffly.
He laughed. “That’s why I’m going to build my fortune first. I’d never ask a true lady to live in a dirt-floored shack and ruin her soft hands on scrub brushes and the like.”
Janna looked at her hands. While not rough, they weren’t exactly silky, either. “Soft isn’t everything.”
He shook his head, seeing only his dream. “It is in a woman. I’ll have my silken lady or I’ll have none at all for longer than it takes to pleasure myself.”
The words sliced into her like knives, wounding her. The pain she felt shocked her, and the rage, and the sense of…betrayal.
“What makes you think that a silken woman would have a man like you?” Janna asked coolly.
Ty smiled to himself. “Women kind of take to me, especially when I’m cleaned up a bit.”
“Huh,” she sniffed. “I don’t think there’s enough cleaning time between now and Christmas to make any fancy woman look at you twice.”
Before he could say anything, Zebra whinnied in alarm. Even as he turned toward the sound, Ty yanked Janna to the ground and pulled out the hunting knife he wore at his waist. An instant later his big body half covered hers, pinning her against the earth.
“Don’t move,” he breathed against her ear, his voice a mere thread of sound.
She nodded slightly and felt his weight shift as he rolled aside. There was a flash of tanned skin in the tall grass, a suggestion of movement in the streamside willows, and then nothing more. Ty had vanished.
A shiver went over Janna as she realized how very quick he was now that he was well, and how powerful. She thought of wiggling backward until she was in better cover, then discarded the idea. He would expect her to be where he had left her—and he would attack anything that moved anywhere else. That thought was enough to rivet her in place.
The willows slid soundlessly past his nearly naked body as he eased through the streamside thickets. The creek was no more than a few feet wide and still slightly warm from its birth in a hot springs back at the head of the small valley, a place where black lava and red rock and lush greenery entwined in a steamy Eden whose water contained a sulfurous whiff of hell.
Nothing moved in the willows around him, nor was there any sound of birds. The silence was a warning in itself. Normally small birds darted and sang in the valley, enjoying the rare presence of water in a dry land. If the wildlife was quiet, it meant that an intruder was nearby.
Fifty yards away, belly-deep in grass, Zebra snorted. The sound was followed by a drumroll of hooves as the mare fled. The mustang’s flight told Ty that the intruder was either a cougar or a man. Nothing else would have sent the horse racing away in fear. Without disturbing the thick screen of willow branches, he looked out into the valley. Zebra was standing seventy yards away with every muscle quivering, poised for flight. Her head was high and her black ears were pricked forward. She was looking atsomething that was well downstream from Ty.
Something just came out of the slot. Which direction is the intruder going, girl? Is he going for the hot springs at the north end or the Indian ruins at the south end?
Motionless, Ty watched the mare, knowing that she would track the intruder better than he ever would be able to with mere human senses. Zebra kept her head and ears up, watching something that he couldn’t see. Slowly her head turned toward Ty.
All right.
The intruder is
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