Read Online Shadow Walker by Connie Mason - Free Book Online Page B

nothing to get that money.”
    “I can take care of myself,” Dawn said. “Go to sleep. I don’t think Sam will be back any time soon. I don’t know how, but you managed to wound him.”
    Cole tried to concentrate on Dawn’s words, but they seemed to be coming from a long way off. The whiskey was beginning to take effect, and he slipped into a fitful sleep.
    Dawn sat on the edge of the bed a long time, staring at Cole’s bare chest. His body looked so fit, so hard. His upper torso was as tan as his arms and face. Few men removed their shirts long enough to tan that part of their bodies. But Cole was different from most men.
    Dawn rose abruptly and began pacing the confines of the small cabin, her mind working furiously. Cole was unlikely to awaken for several hours. If she was going to leave, now was the time. She could remove the money from its hidingplace, take one of Cole’s guns and light out of here for parts unknown. Cole’s wound wasn’t serious, he’d heal in time, so it wasn’t as if she’d be abandoning a helpless man. When he awakened he’d probably be well on his way to recovery.
    Still she hesitated, recalling how kind he had been to her, how tenderly he’d cared for her when she’d been hurting.
Go!
a voice inside her urged. She looked longingly toward the door, but her feet refused to move. What was this strange feeling? Whatever it was, intuition told her to resist.
    “This is ridiculous,” she chided herself. Forcing herself away from Cole, she started gathering up her meager belongings. Except for what she wore, she had few possessions and nothing of value. Deciding it wouldn’t be right to keep the things Cole had purchased for her in town today, she left them. She’d have money to buy her own clothes once she left this place.
    She was ready to leave. The door beckoned to her. The money was close, so close. Then Cole moaned. Dawn froze, trying to block the sound from her mind. He moaned again. Dawn was torn. Her conscience demanded that she check on Cole one last time. It proved to be her undoing.
    Cole’s face was bathed in shiny pearls of perspiration. His skin was flushed with fever and torrid to the touch. Dawn knew with grinding certainty, and no little amount of disappointment, that she couldn’t leave him. Not now. Only someone reprehensible would abandon a man too sick to help himself.
    Sighing in resignation, Dawn shoved all thoughts of the money from her mind and set towork. She went to the river for a bucket of cool water and bathed Cole’s face and torso with endless patience. Again and again she ran the cloth over his heated flesh. His chest was furred with red curling hair, so soft Dawn felt a wicked desire to set the cloth aside and run her fingers through it. His skin was smooth and firm beneath her fingertips. She was startled to realize that touching him gave her pleasure.
    Day turned into night. Dawn returned to the river several times for cool water. Exhaustion finally took its toll and she was forced to rest. Cole was cooler now, his skin no longer burned beneath her touch. Briefly she considered leaving now, as she had planned, but she wondered how Cole would cope if his fever returned. She tried to harden her heart against the railroad detective who had burst into her life without warning, but she could not. Knowing she’d regret her decision, Dawn spread Cole’s bedroll on the floor beside the bed and lay down. Sleep came almost instantly.
    Cole reached across the bed for Morning Mist and wondered why she wasn’t lying beside him. He needed her. They were kindred spirits, meant to love one another into eternity. Why had she left their mat?
    “Morning Mist! Where are you, my love?”
    Dawn heard Cole cry out in his sleep and came instantly awake. Had his fever returned? Worry gnawed at her. She had no medicine, nothing with which to ease his pain. She recalled her mother gathering herbs from the forest for medicinal purposes but had no idea what they