Love and Fury: The Coltrane Saga, Book 4 (25 page)

Briana smiled. “You haven’t heard me complain before, have you?”

Colt said nothing.

“You’re going to see once and for all that I can do my share around here, Colt,” she said emphatically.

Still, he said nothing.

Briana sighed, stood up, and went to him. She gave him a light kiss on the cheek and said, “I’m really trying, Colt. I’d like for us to be close…”

He pushed her away and got to his feet. “Go to bed now. We’ve got to be up before sunrise.”

Briana knew she should be hurt, but she actually felt relieved that he was pushing her away. Perhaps Gavin would see that his plan was impossible and give it up. She desperately wanted not to hurt Colt.

She turned away and started toward the door, quietly saying, “I’ll see you in the morning.”

As she was about to leave, there was a knock. Colt glanced up. “Who the hell is that? The servants know I never want to be disturbed after dinner.”

“There’s one way to find out.” Briana gave him a cheerful smile, hoping to change his mood, but he continued to glare at the door as she opened it.

A young Mexican servant was holding a tray with a plate of cookies and two glasses of juice. Her dark eyes riveted on Briana’s as she said, “The tray you ordered,
señorita
.”

Briana was about to tell the girl she hadn’t ordered anything, but the girl whispered, “
Señor
Mason gave me these orders.”

Briana froze. Gavin had sent her, so there had to be something bad behind it.

“Dani? What the hell’s going on?” Colt called, and the Mexican girl breezed by Briana and entered the room. She placed the tray on Colt’s desk, smiling at him. “You drink this,
señor
,” she coaxed, handing him a glass of juice. “It is good and cold. The jug has been in the spring all day.”

“Yes, yes, Ladida, thank you,” he said. “Thank you very much. Please leave me now. I don’t need you and Dani mothering me.”

Ladida left, and a moment later Briana followed suit. Ladida was nowhere in sight, and Briana decided not to seek her out. She preferred to know as little as possible about what was going on.

She walked slowly up the stairs to her room. Opening the door, she gasped, outraged and fearful.

Dirk Hollister lay sprawled on her bed.

“You!” She was barely able to speak, her voice a mere squeak. “What are you doing here?”

“Coltrane ran me off, but I work for Mason. He sent me here with a message for you.”

Briana stiffened. “Then give it to me and go. And never come to my bedroom again.”

“Oh, just shut up, Briana.” He stood. “I’ll come and go as I please.” He smiled. “That’s some stuff Ladida makes. We have her working with us now. She slipped some of it in his juice. She used to work in a saloon in Mexico where they drugged the customers regularly so they could be robbed easily. They’d wake up the next morning without any memory of the night, and think they’d just gotten awfully drunk. See, I didn’t want Coltrane nosing around tonight.”

She glared at him. “You tell Gavin that he has no right to do this to Colt. I don’t like it and—”

“Nobody gives a good goddamn what you like.” His arm snaked out, and his hand wrapped around her forearm in a viselike grip. “Mason is tired of waiting—very, very tired. Understand? He says you should’ve had Coltrane in your bed by now.”

“It isn’t that easy,” she hissed, trying to twist away. “Please, you’re hurting me.”

“I’m gonna hurt you worse if you don’t shut up and listen to me.” He squeezed her arm tighter, enjoying the look of pain on her face. “You haven’t
really
tried, have you? You haven’t rubbed your tits against him, have you? You haven’t tried hard enough, Briana.”

He released her suddenly and stepped back.

“Here’s the message,” he said coldly. “A nurse in Paris wrote you a letter your brother dictated, but you’re not going to get the letter until you get Coltrane in the sack.”

He paused to enjoy the look of longing and despair on her face. Cocky bitch. She deserved to be miserable. “He also says that if you don’t follow orders very carefully, he’s going to have your brother put out of his misery.”

Briana’s eyes widened. Surely, he wouldn’t… She shivered. She knew that he indeed would. She had no choice. To disobey Gavin meant death for Charles. Yes, Gavin was capable of carrying out his threat. Charles would die, and heaven only knew what Gavin would do to her.

“Tell him I will do as he asks, as soon as possible.” Her voice was barely audible.

“Good. And one thing more.” He was moving toward the door. “He says he wants to see you soon. Ladida will tell you when she’s going to slip something into Coltrane’s drink, and you’ll know that’s the night. Mason’ll slip in here.”

She shook her head. “Tell him to find another way, please. I’m afraid. Drugs are dangerous. I don’t want Colt hurt.”

“Ladida knows what she’s doing,” he scoffed. “Just do as you’re told.”

He opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He winked. “One day, we’ll have all the time we need, you ’n’ me, and it’s gonna be
so
good. That’s a promise.” He left, closing the door behind him.

Silently Briana made a promise of her own. Never would she yield to Dirk Hollister.

Crossing to the open window, Briana stood and stared out into the night. Purple and black shadows fell across the grounds. It was a beautiful night. Warm. Mystical. She moved her fingertips up and down her bare arms. The touch of Dirk had made her feel un-clean. She was certain that Colt’s hands would feel gentle, tender, that she would revel in his touch.

Colt.

She could feel the stirrings of desire within him, yet there was also a fierce restraint, because he thought she was his blood kin. She could sense the maelstrom of emotions churning inside him, awesome in their intensity, overpowering.

On her part, there was, God forgive her, acceptance of the unforgivable. And regret—terrible regret. She could only hope everything here would be over quickly, so she could go home.

As she stood at the window, it began to seem to Briana that perhaps there was another way, a less hurtful way, to carry out Gavin’s orders. Maybe Colt could be made to
think
he had been intimate with his sister…without the actuality of the act. If he was drugged, his memory shadowed or even obliterated, he could be made to believe he’d done something he hadn’t really done.

For the first time in a long while, Briana began to feel less helpless, more independent. Maybe she didn’t have to do Gavin’s bidding after all…

Chapter Sixteen

Colt was irritable. He had overslept by a couple of hours, which was unlike him. Of all days to do so, he reproached himself.

When he’d dressed and gone out, he found that the wranglers had waited a little while for him to show up at the bunkhouse, figured he’d decided to do something else that day, and scattered to do other chores. That put Colt in a worse mood because those cows needed to be rounded up before they calved. Which meant, he guessed, that he had to do it by himself.

Carlota had hot coffee waiting for him, and steak and eggs. He waved the food away, gulped down the coffee, and told her, “I won’t be back for dinner, and I’ll probably be gone two or three days. Pack me some bacon and hardtack. That should do me. I can always shoot a rabbit,” he added, speaking to himself.

Then something almost surfaced in his mind, and he asked, “Carlota, is Ladida related to you?”

Looking wary, the housekeeper responded, “My niece,
Señor
Coltrane. Why? She hasn’t done anything wrong, has she?”

Colt shook his head, wondering why he’d brought it up.

In the stable, he frowned at the sight of Dani, grunted a greeting, then turned to see that his stallion, Pedro, was saddled and ready.

“I knew you’d be down sooner or later and want to get started quickly,” Briana said.

He nodded, quite taken aback. “Thank you. I’m sorry to be so late, but I overslept.”

He stuffed the burlap sack into a saddlebag, then led his horse from the stable.

Briana went to get Belle. She knew very well why he’d overslept. Ladida, whom she’d found early that morning, had been only too happy to brag about how good she was at making sleeping potions. Explaining that she used a mushroom, she emphasized how important it was to know exactly how much juice to extract.

“Too much,” she explained, “and the person will have nightmares, visions. When he wakes up, he’ll feel terrible, and he’ll wonder what has happened. But I mixed just enough juice with the juice of the sugarcane, so he’ll wake up feeling…just tired.”

“Is it dangerous?” Briana wanted to know.

Ladida shook her head. “Not if you know what you’re doing, and the amount I gave him last night was just right.” She grinned proudly.

Briana hated dealing with her, but Ladida was in Gavin’s pay and Gavin wanted her to help Briana, so what choice was there?

She nodded as Ladida slipped her a small packet. “All you have to do is put this in something he is drinking. Remember, it will sweeten his drink, so it is better to put it into something he expects to be sweet. He will become very relaxed, then very sleepy, and you should be able to do anything with him.”

Nodding her thanks, Briana had hurried outside to saddle her own horse and Colt’s.

Leading Belle from the stable, she called to Colt, “Wait! You know I’m going with you.”

Colt reined his stallion about, annoyed. “No, Dani, not now. I’m going out alone. I’ve got to round up those cows by myself and I won’t have time to look after you.”

“Who said you’d have to look after me?” Briana flared. “I can take care of myself. Besides, you need some help.”

“Help, yes,” he snapped, “not a soft-butted woman who’ll be screaming about saddle sores by sunset. I don’t have time for you now, Dani. Stay here.”

“No.”

He glared at her, but she was undaunted by his anger. “I have a right to go if I want to. Those cows are half mine now, whether you like it or not.”

This was not, she knew, endearing her to him. But she couldn’t wait until he was in a better mood. Charles’s letter was waiting. She had to follow Gavin’s orders—and fast.

Colt was in no mood for arguing. Dawn was now history and morning was fading fast. “No, damn it, I don’t want you along.”

Briana moved her horse to stand alongside his. She faced him, her chin lifted in stony defiance. “You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do around here, Colt. Like it or not, this ranch is half mine, and that means I’m as much the boss as you are. We’re wasting time arguing, so let’s just get moving.”

With a haughty toss of her head that sent her auburn hair flying, Briana nudged Belle into a gallop. She did not have to turn to see that Colt was right behind her, for the thudding of Pedro’s hooves on the ground echoed all around.

They rode out toward the northeast range. Neither spoke. It was a beautiful day. The sky was as brilliant a blue as the dazzling Mediterranean she so longed to see. Now and then a white cloud puffed its way along the horizon, the only break in a seemingly endless ocean above them.

She turned in the saddle to give him a pleading look.

“I really don’t like it this way, colt. I’ve told you I want to be your friend. Please believe it’s true.”

She continued to look at him appealingly for a few moments. When he did not speak, wouldn’t even look at her, she reluctantly turned around and let him be.

Colt stared at her back as she rode ahead of him. He watched as her firm, rounded bottom moved up and down in rhythm to the motion of the mare. He glanced away guiltily. She was his sister, damn it, and the sight of her trousers stretched against those perfectly molded hips was making him swell with desire. Maybe, he told himself to assuage the guilt, maybe it wasn’t Dani he really wanted. Maybe he just had needs. Perhaps a trip into town on Saturday night would ease the tension.

There was a certain redhead at the Silver Star who was nice for a few hours of fun. She was no prostitute. Derita merely liked a man to satisfy her yen, and if a few dollars were left on the bedside table, fine, if not, she didn’t mind. Colt liked Derita because she did not want anything besides lovemaking. She gave as good as she got. She was not interested in manipulating a man into marriage.

He must, he told himself fervently, be forever on guard against any woman’s wiles. He had a lot of bad, bitter memories where females were concerned, and he figured he’d best concentrate on a future without complications from the opposite sex.

They rode on in silence, each lost in brooding thought, until they reached the boulders at the base of Destry Butte. Briana looked upward and saw the steep incline that led to the flattened top. “A cow would never try to climb that,” she said. “What makes you think they’re up there?”

“I never said they were,” he retorted, pointing to a distant fissure leading into the rocky slope. “In there. This is one of the largest buttes around. The fissure turns into a ravine, and after that, a large inner cavity. Sort of a small canyon. It widens in the middle to maybe a quarter mile or so, before it narrows into a rock wall at the far end. Cows have a way of wandering in when they’re about to calve.