Authors: Patricia Hagan
The ravine cut sharply to the right, but she feared Edward would see her footprints imbedded in the soft red clay. A little distance was now between them, so she leaped from the gulley and plunged once again into the thick brush, winding westward. Ahead, there was a wall of tall pines dumped close together. They would give cover while she caught her breath.
“Hey, girl, where are you?”
His angry shout caught on the wind, floating to her in the distance.
“You better come back here! You’re gonna get lost. There’s bobcats in these woods!”
She pressed herself tightly back against the trunk of a tree, feeling the ragged bark cutting into her back. Gathering her skirts up tightly, she tucked them between her knees and clamped her legs together so the light fabric would not make her visible.
There were crashing sounds. “Girl, you better come back here!” he yelled, furious, his voice echoing through the still forest.
It seemed forever before she could tell that he had moved on, in the opposite direction. His movements could no longer be heard. Carefully, stealthily, she began to pick her way along, taking only a few steps at a time, moving between the pines to hide until she was sure no one was around. Then she would make a dash forward to yet another pine. She kept this up for hours.
The day wore on. Still weak from her illness, April was tired and cold, hungry and thirsty. She had no idea how far she was from the ranch, and each time she looked up, Cheaha mountain appeared to be the same size, taunting her efforts.
She stopped awhile to gasp for breath. It was too much. She was weaker than she thought. It would be so easy to give way to the weariness…to just slide down into the fragrant pine needles below and let sleep come. Perhaps she would sleep for a little while. She was so weary, and she had run for hours. They would not find her now.
Her eyes opened reluctantly, then blinked rapidly as she struggled to awaken. How long had she slept? Judging from the sinking sun, it was quite late. Total darkness was only a few hours away. She could not remain where she was. What if there were wild animals? A tremble went through her as she forced herself to stand. Shelter had to be found, but where?
She stood up and stretched to try and get the stiffness from her body after being in such a cramped position for so long. Despite her peril, it felt good to just lift her arms to the sky and gulp in sweet, fresh air.
And then she saw him.
Slowly, she brought her arms down from over her head to wrap them about her shoulders. She stepped backward in retreat. He made no move toward her, just continued to stare from beneath the rim of his hat. He was leaning against a tree, arms folded across his leather-vested chest. Beneath the neatly trimmed mustache, there was an amused smile on his lips.
“Hello, April.”
She glanced about wildly, trying to decide which way to run. Could she escape the towering stranger who seemed to be enjoying her plight?
“Don’t you remember me? You had such a low opinion of me once, I figured you’d never forget me.”
Panic took over, and she turned and began to run back across the clearing. Behind her, she heard the sound of a long, low whistle, but there was not time to wonder about that, for on top of the sound came another…thundering hooves pounding through the forest right behind her. Someone on a horse. He was going to run her down. She would be killed. She opened her mouth to scream in terror but no sound came out. Instinct told her to keep running…to try and make it to the safety of the trees where a horse could not move so fast. If she was going to die, then by God, she was going to give them a fight first.
The horse was upon her. In a split second, he charged past her, cutting back to block her path. In that moment, she realized that there was no rider. She stopped so quickly that she lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. The horse also stopped, then snorted and trotted over to stand beside her, giving warning that she should stay right there.
“Good boy.” The man came up behind her. Strong arms reached down to scoop her roughly to her feet. “Now then,” the man said gruffly. “Suppose you realize that you aren’t going anywhere, April, and let’s stop all this nonsense. I’m hungry, and the cook’s got our supper waiting.”
She looked up and gasped as recognition flashed. “My God!” she whispered. “Rance Taggart! My Lord, it is you!”
His eyes flicked over her, and seeing blood on her arm, he examined the wound quickly and said, “That could be nasty. We’d better get you back to the house and wash it out. Come along.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” She felt herself coming together once more. “I don’t know how you came to be here, but if you want to help me, then see to it that I get home. I’ll pay you well when we get there, and—”
“April, you aren’t going anywhere except with me.” He sounded quietly amused.
“No, I don’t understand.” She was getting angry. “And I really don’t have time to stand here and listen. There are men back there looking for me, and I can’t let them find me.”
“They aren’t looking for you anymore.”
“They aren’t?” She looked at him hopefully. “How can you be sure?”
“Because I found you.” He seemed to think it was all quite simple. “Come along now. It’s going to be dark soon. Virtus will take us back.”
“Virtus!” She stared at the horse.
“It’s Virtus’s colt, April. Don’t you remember? Your father gave him to you. When Vanessa left, she took him with her. Some months ago, she got word to me that she was interested in selling him because she needed money. So I bought him. His name is Virtus, like his sire’s.”
“I…I don’t understand any of this. How did you come to be here, and why did those men stop searching for me? Did Vanessa have a change of heart and send you to bring me home?”
He mounted the horse, then reached down easily to bring her up behind him. Reluctantly, she wound her arms around his narrow waist.
They began to move toward the mountain in the gathering dusk. They had not gone far when April cried out in exasperation, “Why won’t you answer my questions? I can’t believe Zeke Hartley isn’t out there looking for me.”
“Zeke won’t be after you. I imagine he’s gone back to Sylacauga to pick up his partner and head back to Vanessa.” He laughed to himself and murmured, “I just wonder what kind of lie he’s going to tell her about all this.”
She tensed. “Why do you know all this? And why were
you
in the woods looking for me if Vanessa didn’t send you?”
He was silent for a few moments, then said, “April,
I
was the one riding against Zeke in the dash race. I was riding Virtus. I won. Zeke lost. It’s that simple.”
“So? You won!” she cried, flinging her arms out, then quickly grabbing him as she felt herself sliding from the horse’s rump. “What difference does that make?”
“In the race I won you.”
“You
what
?”
He laughed. “Zeke wasn’t about to bet that horse of his that he takes so much pride in. He made a deal—if he lost, I’d win you. And I did.”
She began to beat on his back with her fists, screaming in protest. This time, she did slip from the horse, falling to the ground, but the soft pine needles cushioned her fall. Rance dropped from the horse and fell to his knees beside her, chuckling in amusement.
His face only inches away, she could feel his warm breath as he whispered, “April, you’re going to enjoy being with me. Believe me, you’ll have more fun as my woman than you ever would stashed away in the monastery they were taking you to.”
“Damn you, Rance Taggart, I don’t want to be your woman,” she cried. “You’ve caused enough trouble in my life. I should’ve let my father kill you when he had the chance.”
He silenced her with a kiss. She was shocked to find that it tasted of warm, sweet wine. He released her quickly and got to his feet, jerking her along with him.
“Will you listen to me?” she pleaded, struggling. “My father is very sick. Vanessa is going to take advantage of that. That’s why she wanted me out of the way.”
Suddenly his face became a thundercloud of fury, and he reached out and shook her.
“Now
you
listen to me,” he ordered. “I can see why Vanessa would want you out of the way, to give her a chance to make peace with your father. You’ve always been the apple of his eye. Let Vanessa have him to herself now.
“You belong to me, and you’re going to obey my every command, just like a well-trained animal. Disobey, and you’ll be punished. It’s up to you, sweet.”
He lifted her and placed her in the saddle, then began walking through the woods, leading Virtus. April wrapped her trembling hands around the saddle horn, staring at Rance’s broad back, too stunned to speak.
Chapter Nine
The house was nestled at the base of the mountain. It was neatly constructed of logs and provided a homey setting in the rugged terrain. Beyond, there were stables and corrals, where horses pawed and stamped the ground. Rance Taggart had good stock and plenty of it.
Edward Clark bounded out the front door to greet his boss. “How’d you find her? I gave up.
Figured she’d fallen in the river or something.”
Rance swung down from the horse’s back, then set April on her feet before replying. “I know every inch of these woods, Clark. I also know how to track. Learned it from the Indians.”
Edward shrugged and said, “Well, I guess all that makes a difference.”
Rance withered him with a look. “I also don’t give up, Clark.
That’s
what makes the difference.”
Edward nodded. He started for the bunkhouse, calling over his shoulder. “Cook brought your supper up a while ago. Smells like chicken and drap dumplings. See you for breakfast.”
April shivered as his eyes flicked over her knowingly. She was now his boss’s woman—or so he and his boss thought.
Rance clamped a possessive hand on her shoulder and steered her toward the front door. He called to Edward to see that Virtus was rubbed down and put in his stall. They stepped up onto the porch, and April froze.
“I told you not to give me any trouble, sweet,” he said. “I own you now. Maybe you’d rather sleep in the barn like a horse. I’m offering you a nice hot meal and a warm bed.”
“A bed with
you
in
it, I imagine,” she snapped. “No thanks, Rance. You’ll have to kill me. I’m going home!”
He picked her up easily and kicked the door open with his booted foot. The room was large, with a fireplace, sofa, and chairs. In one corner was a desk littered with papers. He walked across the floor and kicked another door open. This one led to a bedroom, and he dropped her roughly on the bed covered with a bright patchwork quilt.
“Hell, yes, I’m in the bed, too,” he cried, jerking off his vest and ripping off his shirt. “So let’s just go ahead and find out who’s boss around here, April. Your daddy pampered you all your life, and you think everybody is going to scrape and bow to you. You’ve got a jolt coming.”
“Don’t you touch me!” She scrambled to the far side of the bed, huddling against the wall. Tears sprang to her eyes. “Rance, please. I don’t know what lies Vanessa told you, but you’ve got to believe me. She’s going to hurt Poppa.”
She was talking quickly. “I hated the way Poppa treated Vanessa, but now he’s so sick—”
Rance sighed. “Whatever is wrong with your father, I’m sure Vanessa can get him a doctor as well as you can. And it’s important that they have some time alone together, to work things out, without you being there. You always did stand between your father and Vanessa.”
When she began to protest, he said evenly, “You’re going to love being with me, April. We’ll talk about your home another time. Right now,
this
is your home—for as long as I want you. You’re mine, and you’re going to be happy being mine.”
He sat on the bed and drew her into his arms. His lips were only inches away as she stared up at him. “You want me, and you know you do. You just think you should pretend you don’t. But I’m going to make it so goddamned good you’ll forget all about pretending. I’m going to make you beg me. You’ll be glad I won that race.”
His lips closed on hers, his tongue moving inside her mouth as she struggled in vain. His hand moved from her breasts to her stomach, a teasing demon. Moving to one side, he slid his knee between her thighs to force them apart. Skillfully, he removed her clothes, one piece at a time. His fingers touched where no man had ever touched before. April could not control the spasms of pleasure that shot through her body, making her arch her back beneath his
caress.
Never had she wanted a man to possess her, never had she felt this way. What was happening to her?
He raised his lips, and she looked into his taunting eyes. “Tell me you want me,” he commanded.
“Yes,” she whispered, hating herself. She wanted him. Dear God, she wanted him. She had never dreamed of such desire. “Yes, yes, Rance. I want you.”
She gasped as she felt his finger slip inside her, moving to tantalize. She clutched at his smooth, hard back, feeling her nails digging into him as she fought to pull him even closer to her. But he held back, staring down at her so arrogantly. “Beg for it,” he commanded.
Fury mingled with her desire. He was trying to humiliate her, and she could not let him do that. “No, damn you,” she hissed, her body on fire. “I want you, but I won’t beg.”