Carol Finch - The Ranger

Hawk steadied himself with the rope and gathered his feet beneath him. He inched along the narrow ledge until he was an arm’s length from Shiloh. He nudged her shoulder, but she didn’t respond.

Hawk sighed heavily. “Why can’t just one thing be easy?”

His hard, unadorned life in the Apache camp in Sundance Canyon was a constant exercise in survival training. His experiences with the Rangers consisted of one dangerous foray following closely on the heels of another.

Maybe this is all there is to life, he mused as he reached out to hook his arm around Shiloh’s limp body. With a heave-ho he scooped her from the V-shaped wedge between boulders. Maybe it was simply a man’s lot in life to face one challenge after another and try to bury the unpleasant memories he encountered along the way.

His pessimistic thoughts scattered like buckshot the moment he levered Shiloh over his shoulder and felt her luscious feminine curves against his masculine contours. For some reason her weight seemed more of a comfort than a burden to him. Damn if he could figure out why.

When she moaned groggily and clung to him, as if he were a pillow she was trying to snuggle up against, his trying day—hell, who was he kidding?—his trying life—didn’t seem so bad. Shiloh was warm and soft and cuddly…and he better not get sidetracked with these ridiculous whimsical thoughts. He still had a rugged hillside to scale and this was just a part of his job—rescuing folks from disastrous situations. Just because Shiloh’s sassy disposition and feminine allure sparked an ill-fated fascination inside him didn’t change a thing. He’d be every kind of fool if he let himself forget that.

Hawk clamped his arm across the back of Shiloh’s thighs then shifted her on his shoulder so she wouldn’t fall. Grabbing the rope anchored to the mustang that waited above him, he walked south along the narrow ledge, using the same route going up the hillside that he’d taken coming down.

He was one third of the way up the steep embankment when Shiloh regained consciousness. When she reared up, trying to get her bearings, Hawk clamped his arm tighter around her hips.

“It’s just me,” he reassured her hurriedly. “It will be a lot easier for me to negotiate this slope if you’ll stay where you are and hang on to me.”

“You came back for me.” Her voice held a hint of wonder. “I expected you to be long gone by now,” she said as she locked her arms around his waist.

“Just goes to show you how badly you misjudged me.” He grunted as he pulled himself hand over hand to another stone slab. “Right now I’m the best friend you could have because I’m familiar with this area. I grew up here with my clan. I’ll get you to a place that’s dry and safe and then patch you up.”

“Nice of you, since I wouldn’t be in this shape if I hadn’t run into you in the first place. Now here you are, dragging me all over creation.”

Despite the jibe, Hawk detected the hint of wry humor and gratitude in her voice. She wanted him to think she was a foul-tempered shrew, but he had come to realize that beneath that prickly facade was a woman of character and personality. True, she didn’t trust him—but he couldn’t blame her for that. Also true, someone had hurt her deeply and she held every male on the planet responsible.

But who was he to criticize? For several years he had held all palefaces everywhere accountable for the tragic loss of his family and the only way of life he had ever known. Which was why taking refuge in Sundance Canyon was going to be as much of a blessing as it was a curse. He was familiar with the area that would always feel like home to him—but the place triggered too damn many haunting memories.

“Thank you for coming back for me,” Shiloh murmured a moment later, then gave his ribs an appreciative squeeze.

A jolt of pleasure zapped him, but he valiantly tried to ignore it. “You’re welcome. It’s part of my job.”

No matter how many hair-raising predicaments he and Shiloh encountered he wasn’t going to become emotionally attached to her, he promised himself sensibly.

“Just hang on a little longer. We’re almost to the ledge.” He waited a beat then said, “I’m going to twist you around and plant my hands on your fanny so I can lift you over my head. Don’t go getting indignant on me again. I don’t want either of us to take a spill and give DeVol and Stiles a chance to do their worst.”

“Is this an excuse to put your hands all over me again?” she asked suspiciously. “I already have as many of your handprints on me as I have bruises.”

“Are you asking if I’m going to enjoy it?” He chuckled. “Probably. But it’s the most practical method of getting you to safety. That’s my first consideration.”

“Right. All noble intent. How can I keep forgetting that,” she mumbled against the taut tendons of his back.

“When I say go, you’re going to twist and lunge in the same motion,” he instructed. “You’ll probably land hard, but I won’t be in a position to be gentle with you while I’m dangling over the cliff and hanging on to this lifeline…. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she murmured.

He felt her tense in anticipation of being shoved onto the shelf of jagged stone. But to her credit she didn’t wail in pain and give away their position to the pursuing bandits. He did hear her muffled gasp and moan and figured she had landed on her swollen ankle or bruised hip. But you had to admire a woman who was being put through hell and hadn’t dissolved into whimpers and tears. Shiloh was the bravest, most adaptable women he’d ever encountered.

“Scoot back, Shiloh,” he cautioned as he pulled himself upward. “I don’t want to accidentally kick you when I come up and over this ledge in a hurry.”

“I’m clear,” she called out.

Gathering himself, Hawk surged upward, slinging his leg sideways so he could roll across the stone slab. He came to a stop, flat on his back. Shiloh hovered beside him. To his astonishment, she bent over and kissed him right smack-dab on the mouth. But her alluring taste, feel and scent was gone as quickly as a lightning strike, leaving him oddly disappointed.

And yet…he was relieved that the moment hadn’t lasted very long. The very worst thing that could happen was for him to become addicted to the taste of a man-hating firebrand who was only going to be another footnote in his life, and in his career as a Texas Ranger.

“Thank you for saving my life,” she murmured. “Maybe I can return the favor someday.”

“Let’s hope not.” Hawk rolled over then stood up in one swift motion. “That would suggest I’d dragged you into another dangerous scrape. You’ve had too many of those, thanks to me.”

“Well, it’s better than being jilted and betrayed by a man who claimed to have tender feelings for you.”

Shiloh clamped her mouth shut so fast she nearly bit off her runaway tongue. She hadn’t meant to reveal that information, but she wasn’t thinking straight. Which explained the impulsive kiss she’d bestowed on Hawk. She didn’t know what possessed her, other than the fact that she was rattled, relieved to be back on solid footing and grateful to be alive.

It wasn’t because she’d succumbed to the forbidden attraction she felt for him, she assured herself. Falling for this brawny tumbleweed of a man would never do. She had to remember not to depend or rely too heavily on Hawk. He was a man, capable of hurting her.

But maybe she could use him as a sounding board and confide what happened in Louisiana. She could test her ability to control her emotions during the telling of the humiliating incident to Hawk. She could rehearse now so she would be better prepared when she told her brothers what had sent her dashing home from New Orleans unannounced.