Read Online Heart of the Hunter by Madeline Baker - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Madeline Baker
Ads: Link
searing the skin beneath.
He felt it, too. She saw it in the brief flare of surprise
in his eyes, heard it in the catch in his breath.
A muscle worked in his cheek, as if he were keeping himself
in tight control, and then he swung her out of the saddle. Her hands rested on
his shoulders, feeling the play of powerful muscles beneath her fingertips as
he lifted her from Dusty’s back.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, he released her and
took a step backward.
Kelly stared up at him. They weren’t touching anymore, but
she was acutely aware of the male scent of him, of the remembered touch of
rippling muscles beneath the thin cotton of his shirt. His eyes were black.
Dark. Hypnotic. Somehow warning her away even as they burned with unspoken
desire.
She was plagued by a fierce urge to caress his cheek and see
if she could wipe the bitterness from his face; instead, she slipped her hands
into her pockets. But, try as she might, she couldn’t draw her gaze from his.
It was like being caught in a whirlpool, being sucked deeper and deeper in
black water until she was helplessly caught.
“Kelly…” Her name whispered past his lips, a prayer and a
groan combined.
She blinked at him, unable to speak for the fierce pounding
of her heart.
He shook his head, his face twisted with pain. “I don’t want
to hurt you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m no good, Kelly. Tell me to go, now, before it’s too
late for both of us.”
“It’s already too late.”
She spoke without thinking and knew that no truer words had
ever been spoken. Right or wrong, she was drawn to this man in ways she could
not fathom or explain.
Lee shook his head in denial. He didn’t want to care for
her. He couldn’t care for her. She was a white woman, his enemy. He had come
here to steal from her, to take what was rightfully his, not to become
infatuated with sky-blue eyes and pretty pink lips.
He swore under his breath as he read the wanting in those
same blue eyes. How could he steal from this woman? She was so innocent, so
trusting. And yet that gold was his. His grandfather’s grandfather had been
killed on the mountain that rose behind Kelly’s house, killed by a pair of greedy
white men…
Lee frowned as a distant memory niggled at the corner of his
mind. McBride…
“You don’t happen to have an ancestor named Charlie McBride,
do you?” he asked.
Kelly nodded, wondering at his sudden change of topic. “I
saw his name on a genealogy sheet once. He was born back in 1854 or 1855, as I
recall. Why?”
Lee shook his head. Charlie McBride had been one of the
white men responsible for the death of his grandfather’s grandfather, Blue
Crow.
He felt a rush of adrenaline. He was on the right track. The
gold was here, in the mountains, as his great-grandfather had told him so many
years ago.
“Lee, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He tried to ignore the hurt, the confusion, in her eyes. In
the old days, she would have been his enemy. He would have thrown her across
his horse and carried her off into the mountains. He would have made her his
woman, willing or not. He would have buried himself in her pale flesh and
exorcised the demons that haunted him.
He felt his blood heat at the mere thought of possessing her.
For a moment, he was tempted to forget everything…the silent festering wound
that Melinda’s betrayal had left in his soul, his determination to have the
gold, to forget everything but the woman standing before him.
He glanced at the black stallion. It would be so easy to
grab Kelly, throw her on his horse and run like the devil. But where would they
go? In the old days, they could have lived off the land. He could have taken
her far away, hidden her, kept her until he tired of her. But not now. Sooner or
later they’d find him and he’d be back in jail, or dead.
A twinge of unease made Kelly take a step backward. A moment
ago she had thought Lee was going to kiss her. Now he looked as if he
He felt it, too. She saw it in the brief flare of surprise
in his eyes, heard it in the catch in his breath.
A muscle worked in his cheek, as if he were keeping himself
in tight control, and then he swung her out of the saddle. Her hands rested on
his shoulders, feeling the play of powerful muscles beneath her fingertips as
he lifted her from Dusty’s back.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, he released her and
took a step backward.
Kelly stared up at him. They weren’t touching anymore, but
she was acutely aware of the male scent of him, of the remembered touch of
rippling muscles beneath the thin cotton of his shirt. His eyes were black.
Dark. Hypnotic. Somehow warning her away even as they burned with unspoken
desire.
She was plagued by a fierce urge to caress his cheek and see
if she could wipe the bitterness from his face; instead, she slipped her hands
into her pockets. But, try as she might, she couldn’t draw her gaze from his.
It was like being caught in a whirlpool, being sucked deeper and deeper in
black water until she was helplessly caught.
“Kelly…” Her name whispered past his lips, a prayer and a
groan combined.
She blinked at him, unable to speak for the fierce pounding
of her heart.
He shook his head, his face twisted with pain. “I don’t want
to hurt you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m no good, Kelly. Tell me to go, now, before it’s too
late for both of us.”
“It’s already too late.”
She spoke without thinking and knew that no truer words had
ever been spoken. Right or wrong, she was drawn to this man in ways she could
not fathom or explain.
Lee shook his head in denial. He didn’t want to care for
her. He couldn’t care for her. She was a white woman, his enemy. He had come
here to steal from her, to take what was rightfully his, not to become
infatuated with sky-blue eyes and pretty pink lips.
He swore under his breath as he read the wanting in those
same blue eyes. How could he steal from this woman? She was so innocent, so
trusting. And yet that gold was his. His grandfather’s grandfather had been
killed on the mountain that rose behind Kelly’s house, killed by a pair of greedy
white men…
Lee frowned as a distant memory niggled at the corner of his
mind. McBride…
“You don’t happen to have an ancestor named Charlie McBride,
do you?” he asked.
Kelly nodded, wondering at his sudden change of topic. “I
saw his name on a genealogy sheet once. He was born back in 1854 or 1855, as I
recall. Why?”
Lee shook his head. Charlie McBride had been one of the
white men responsible for the death of his grandfather’s grandfather, Blue
Crow.
He felt a rush of adrenaline. He was on the right track. The
gold was here, in the mountains, as his great-grandfather had told him so many
years ago.
“Lee, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He tried to ignore the hurt, the confusion, in her eyes. In
the old days, she would have been his enemy. He would have thrown her across
his horse and carried her off into the mountains. He would have made her his
woman, willing or not. He would have buried himself in her pale flesh and
exorcised the demons that haunted him.
He felt his blood heat at the mere thought of possessing her.
For a moment, he was tempted to forget everything…the silent festering wound
that Melinda’s betrayal had left in his soul, his determination to have the
gold, to forget everything but the woman standing before him.
He glanced at the black stallion. It would be so easy to
grab Kelly, throw her on his horse and run like the devil. But where would they
go? In the old days, they could have lived off the land. He could have taken
her far away, hidden her, kept her until he tired of her. But not now. Sooner or
later they’d find him and he’d be back in jail, or dead.
A twinge of unease made Kelly take a step backward. A moment
ago she had thought Lee was going to kiss her. Now he looked as if he
Similar Books
