Caroline Burnes - Texas Midnight

Still… She stood up, unable to relax. Ultimately she’d have to answer for her actions. And for the accusations that had been hurled unjustly at her. When she did, she wanted a good lawyer at her side. History was not going to repeat itself.

She forced herself to sit down and lean against her saddle. The sun was warm. She was content with the food she’d eaten. She closed her eyes and tried to summon the serenity to rest for a few moments. The horses needed a break, and it behooved her to try and grab twenty minutes, too. Then she could wash her face and get back on the trail.

Anna heard the call of a red-winged blackbird, and that was the last thing she remembered until she opened her eyes. She could tell by the sun that at least two hours had passed. Her first impulse was to panic, but then she realized she was still far ahead of the men who would be tracking her.

Calamity and Allegro were grazing peacefully only ten yards away. Everything was fine.

She walked down to the river and took off her boots and then her pants. Sticking her toes in, she realized the water was even colder than she’d assumed. Too cold for a swim, but perfect to wash the sleepiness away. She knelt down, cupped her hands and brought the water to her face.

She was beside a clear pool where the current gurgled and sang, and she listened to the tune of the river. Her grandfather had once told her a story about a young maiden who’d looked into the water and seen her lover’s face. It was a romantic but lovely story… Anna bent lower, staring into the crystal water.

She was completely unprepared when her feet slipped on the rock. Before she could catch herself, she tumbled into the icy water. The shock was so intense that when she came up for air, she was gasping.

Anna felt as if she’d been shot. Her flannel shirt, sopping, tugged her beneath the surface. She worked the buttons and slipped out of it, flopping it up on the rock.

The current was stronger than it had first seemed, and Anna clutched at the rock until she regained her wind and her composure. The moment struck her as funny, and she chuckled at the stupidity of her situation.

Now that she was over the initial shock of the water, she found that it wasn’t as cold as she’d first assumed. In fact, it was downright pleasant, even if the current was a little fast for her taste. She let go of the rock, swam to the center of the deep pool and began to swim against the current. After the long hours in the saddle, the free sensation of swimming was wonderful.

Realizing that she hadn’t packed additional clothes, Anna took off her under-things and threw them up on the bank in the sun. She wanted to dry them before she rode on. Naked, she gave herself to the cold water and the hot sun and memories of a childhood of freedom.

FOAM LATHERED Jetta’s neck as Jeremy pushed the mare harder. He was closing in on Anna. He could tell. On the top of a rise he pulled to a halt and scanned the small valley below him.

The Guadeloupe shimmered through a break of cottonwood trees. On his first examination, Jeremy spotted the Appaloosa grazing on the bank of the river. He had found Anna Red Shoes!

“Easy, Jetta,” he said to the mare as he backed her away. The horse he was leading had pricked up her ears and was getting ready to call out to the horses by the river.

“Shush!” he ordered, turning his mount away and heading both horses back down the hill. When he came to a grove of cedars, he got off and tied them up. The rest of the journey he’d make on foot.

He pulled the Marlin 30-30 out of his sheath, and checked it and his pistol to be sure they were loaded. Even as he did it, he felt melodramatic. Anna Red Shoes might be the granddaughter of a famous Native warrior and a murderer, but she was just a woman.

One that had bested him already, he reminded himself. She wasn’t someone to play around with. He hefted the rifle and a pair of binoculars, and started back up to the hillside.

He traveled north along the crest of the hill until he found several large rocks and some scrub cedars that made a good hiding place. He wedged himself among the boulders and pulled out the binoculars.

His gaze swept over the horses, grazing peacefully. Luckily his approach had been downwind or Anna’s horses would have smelled his. As it was, the little scene in the valley looked awfully quiet.

Anna was nowhere in sight, and he continued to search for her. She had to be nearby. She would never have left her horses alone.

Movement on the edge of the river caught his attention and he focused the binoculars there. His heart slammed hard against his ribs as he watched a tall, slender woman—dark hair dripping a curtain of water—climb up onto a rock. She was completely naked and seemed absolutely comfortable with her lack of clothing.

He held his breath until he thought his lungs would burst. Anna dove back into the river. It was a beautiful, controlled dive that revealed every inch of her perfect body.

Jeremy fought against the sensations that seemed to hit him with the force of a lightning bolt. He was a man who loved women, and he was always aware of their beauty. But he’d never had a reaction like the one Anna evoked.

He desired her. But he also held her in a certain awe. She was so much a part of the landscape. She belonged to the water of the Guadeloupe and the sun and the rocks in a way that he could only envy.

Jeremy wasn’t certain whether it was desire or envy that made him short of wind and dizzy. He lowered the binoculars and tried to rein in his imagination.

During the long, hot hours of tracking Anna Red Shoes he’d anticipated all kinds of trouble. He’d played out scenarios in which he had to lasso her and point a gun at her. Now all he wanted to do was kiss her—run his hands over her skin, now slick with water. He could almost feel the span of her slender waist, the swell of her hips.

He leaned back against a rock and closed his eyes. This was the woman who’d killed his friend and editor, Henry Mills. And he was having sexual fantasies about her. What was wrong with him?

He had to gain control of himself and the situation. He’d come all this way to do a job—his future depended on the way he handled this predicament. The only answer was for him to do what he’d come to do—take Anna back to the law.

His grip on the rifle tightened. He had several choices. He could send a few bullets into the river near Anna and frighten her good. That way she’d know he was armed and meant business. Or he could sneak up on her and take the up-close-and-personal approach.

He made his decision. Moving stealthily, he eased down to the river. Though it would put more of a personal strain on him, it was the safest bet in taking her prisoner. Anna would be distracted by the noise of the river.

He made it down to the river and quickly gathered up her clothes. Next he went to her horses. Releasing the hobbles, he slapped them on the rump and sent them running away. He’d just ducked behind a tree trunk, when Anna popped out of the water. She obviously heard the sound of hooves, and there was an expression of doubt and then despair as she watched her horses flee.

The expression that crossed her face next was one of wariness. She looked all around.

Jeremy could almost read her thoughts. She’d finally figured out that someone had taken the hobbles off the horses. Now she was looking for that someone.

He didn’t move as she crept up the rocky bank and eased from one rock to the next, slowly approaching her campsite and the place where she’d left her clothes.

The look of consternation on her face when she realized her clothes were missing was almost comic. But what happened next made his heart slam hard into his ribs for the second time.