Free Desert Dreams by Deborah Cox

not was another
matter, but there were a lot of reasons why a man would pursue a woman like
her.
    "Eat," he ordered again, returning his attention to
his own dinner, struggling to forget the glimpse of her inviting skin, the
firmness of the flesh beneath her gaping bodice. "We'll fight later."
    "I'd rather fight now."
    He looked at her across the fire once again, and once again
his eyes dropped to the damp material stretched across her breasts. She pulled
the blanket he'd wrapped around her closer together in front. When his gaze
lifted to hers, she met it squarely.
    "I couldn't take advantage of your condition like that,
ma'am," he said. "You're far too weak to put up a good fight. Now
eat."
    "I want to know why. What are your intentions?"
    Ignoring her, he took another bite of beans. She was
regaining her strength. Maybe she'd be able to travel in the morning after all.
    For a while there he hadn't been sure. She'd been pretty far
gone when he'd found her that afternoon, but he'd managed to get enough water
down her so that the suppleness had returned to her skin. Now she was strong
enough to wage a verbal battle with him.
    Did she have any idea how lucky she was? She was still
glaring at him, waiting for him to respond to her challenge, but he wasn't
going to speak another word until she started eating. She knew it, too.
Finally, she gave up and began digging the spoon into the beans and shoving
them into her mouth.
    "Are you always so stubborn?" he asked with an
involuntary grin.
    "Yes."
    "Well, it almost got you killed this time. What the hell
were you thinking, setting out alone like that?"
    She took another bite of beans and swallowed them before
answering. "I've got to get to Eagle Pass."
    "Why?"
    "My mother is sick," she murmured, refusing to meet
his gaze.
    He grinned at her crookedly. "The first rule of lying is
that the lie has to be at least halfway believable."
    She threw her plate down with a loud, angry crash. "You
don't have to tell me about lying. I've been lied to by the best of them."
    "Have you now?" Her voice was becoming more and
more shrill. He hoped she wasn't going to get hysterical.
    "Don't look at me like that."
    "Like what?"
    "Patronizing. Like you think I've never had a problem
greater than a—a torn stocking"
    "I know, you've been through a war. You're a seasoned
veteran, aren't you?"
    "I have been through hell, Mr. Montalvo!" Her voice
rose in the silence. "Or at least I thought I had been through hell until
today. Today I found out exactly what hell is."
    He smiled cynically at that naive statement. Looking at her
angry countenance and the slight trembling of her lower lip, he felt a little
sorry for her. She hadn't known what she was getting into when she struck out
on this adventure. His gut clenched at the thought of what might have happened.
    "No, you didn't," he said quietly, suddenly unable
to meet her angry gaze.
    "How would you know?"
    He tossed the dregs of his coffee into the fire, fighting to
subdue the demons of memory. "Because I've been to hell, lady," he said in soft, measured tones, "and this ain't it. So why don't you just tell me what Luis Demas
told you in San Antonio."
    "I don't know what you're talking about." She took
a bite of beans, unable to hold his gaze.
    "You've got two choices. Play dumb and I'll leave you
here to fend for yourself. Level with me and I might agree to help you."
    "I never asked for your help. Never!"
    "You need it now. You know it and I know it."
    "Well, if you know so much already, why should I tell
you anything?"
    He smiled in spite of his anger. "You're a natural born
bluffer, aren't you?" He noticed the angry tilt of her chin but continued
undeterred. "You're not about to admit to anything until you know what I
know. But you'd better understand this. Your time is running out."
    He dumped what was left of the beans in the fire, then tossed
the bean pot aside as he stood and walked toward his horse.
    "Wait!"
    Her threadbare voice reached out to