Free Heart of the Hunter by Madeline Baker

were
contemplating what it would be like to slit her throat, or worse. Unwanted came
the memory that he had been accused of rape.
    “Maybe we should go home,” she suggested.
    “No. Come on, let’s take a walk.”
    She hesitated a moment, then nodded in agreement. “Okay.”
    Side by side, they walked along the winding creek. Willows
and cottonwoods grew in scattered clumps. Wildflowers swayed in the breeze.
Birds flitted from branch to branch, or dusted themselves in the sandy soil
along the creek bank.
    Once, Kelly’s hand brushed Lee’s. It was as if a spark of
electricity arced between them. When it happened again, she came to an abrupt
halt.
    Lee…
    He didn’t say anything, only drew her into his arms and
kissed her. His lips were firm and warm, asking but not demanding, entreating,
hopeful. Of their own accord, her arms twined around his neck and she pressed
against him, hoping to ease the ache that was spreading through her, an ache
made stronger by the probing fire of his tongue.
    The strength seemed to be draining from her legs. She was
aware of Lee’s arms around her, slowly pulling her down until they were
kneeling on the grass.
    “Kelly…” He groaned softly. “Kelly, tell me to stop.”
    “I can’t.”
    She leaned toward him, her breasts pressing against his
chest as her lips sought his again.
    His hands slid down her back, drawing her hips to his.
Kelly’s breath caught in her throat as she felt the evidence of his desire. Her
head fell back, giving Lee access to her neck, and she shuddered with pleasure
as she felt his mouth glide over the sensitive skin of her neck, behind her
ear, at the pulse point in the hollow of her neck. She was tingling with
delight, burning with need, as her restless hands explored his arms, his
shoulders, his back. She pressed her hand to his chest and felt the rapid
beating of his heart.
    She’d never felt like this before. It was frightening,
exhilarating.
    He fell back on the grass and drew her down on top of him,
his mouth covering hers. She felt the rumble of a groan in his chest and
wondered if he was experiencing the same exquisite pain she was.
    She wanted him, wanted him in a way she’d never wanted any
other man. Wanted him in the most elemental, primal way that a woman could want
a man. But, more than that, she wanted to hold him, to comfort him, to make a
home for him…
    She drew back so she could see his face, not knowing that
her thoughts were as transparent as a pane of new glass.
    With an oath, Lee sat up and then stood up, carrying Kelly
with him. Gently, but deliberately, he put her feet on the ground, removed her
arms from his neck.
    “We’d better head back, Miss McBride,” he said, his voice as
hard and cold as winter ice, “before one of us gets into trouble.”
    Without waiting for her reply, he turned on his heel and
started walking back to where they had left the horses. How easily she broke
through his resolve! How quickly she made him forget Melinda and all that
happened afterward.
    He shook his head ruefully. Some men had a weakness for
firewater. He seemed to have an incurable weakness for women who were sure to
cause him nothing but trouble.
    Swinging into the saddle, he renewed his determination to
find the gold and get the hell out of Cedar Flats.

Chapter Eleven
     
    The man seated behind the desk drummed his fingers
impatiently. “Well, Trask, what have you learned?”
    “Nothing, boss. Roan Horse spends all his time working
around the ranch, patching up the roof and fixin’ the corrals. When he’s not
fixin’ the place up, he’s working with a black devil horse. If he’s searching
for the gold, he’s doing it at night when we can’t see him.”
    “And the woman?”
    Trask’s companion shook his head. “She rarely leaves the
house. They went on a picnic.” He shrugged. “Maybe all that talk about Indian
gold is just that, talk.”
    “When I want your opinion, Bradford, I’ll ask for it. In the
meantime, I’m