Jamie smiled at Jane.
'I'll bring her home. I promise, Jane. I'll bring her home, or I'll die
trying.'
He tugged on the reins, and he and Jon turned their mounts and started
off.
The sun was rising already. It was falling in orange and gold splotches
across the dry earth. Beyond them, it shimmered upon the mesas.
He'd been out a long time, Jamie reckoned. And von Heusen's men had
already had Tess for a long time.
His muscles clenched tight, his jaw locked, he damned himself again and
again for what had happened. He should have been more careful. They
never should have had the opportunity to sneak up on him. Hell, if he'd
been that careless during the war, he'd have been dead half a dozen
times over.
He'd always been so damned good: he could hear a twig drop in a forest,
he could hear the rustle of trees when it wasn't just the wind, he could
hear bare footsteps against the dry ~rth. But when it had mattered, he
had failed.
He'd failed Tess. He'd forgotten everything, staring into her
violet-hued eyes, feeling her against him, hearing the whisper of her
voice, the tremor of her words. He'd just had to prove something.
She'd been so aloof, and he'd been so angry, and he hadn't known why.
Because she'd tried to draw away, and he hadn't been about to tolerate
it.
No, he hadn't been about to let it happen.
He had just wanted her, and he hadn't wanted her to escape him.
He was falling in love with her.
So what? he mocked himself. He hadn't wanted to do so. He hadn't
suggested that she marry him--he'd just wanted to touch her. To sleep
with her. To feel her beneath him, her breath coming in a desperate
rush, her hips and thighs moving, her eyes, those eyes, so wide and
still, sultry upon his. But he hadn't been able to let her walk away
from him. He just hadn't been able to give her time.
And so she was gone.
He felt his jaw lock anew. She had infuriated him. No matter how he
touched her, she could hold herself aloof.
And his anger and determination had brought them both down.
Damn!
He didn't know that he had cast back his head and cried the word aloud
with anguish until he saw that Jori was watching him. Until he saw the
pity on his friend's bold features.
'It's too late for recriminations, my friend,' Jon said quietly.
'Yeah. Too late.'
'If you want her back, you'd better forget your feelings. You can't make
any more mistakes.' 'I won't,' Jamie said.
'You should let me go alone.'
'A half-breed Blackfoot? The Apache won't like you any better then
they're going to like me.'
'Nalte isn't going to be fond of either of us.' 'I can deal with Nalte,'
