Her eyes blazing, Devina turned back to the fire.
Ross ignored the glance Jake darted between the two of them.
"You can rest here a day or so and then start back."
"No, I'll be
goin
' back to Tombstone tonight, Ross.
"What's the rush? I thought you didn't like Tombstone. Too damn crowded for you, you always said."
"Yeah, well, maybe I changed my mind. Seems to me this cabin's a hell of a lot more crowded than Tombstone right now. Besides, I got some business to take care of."
"Jake, I told you to stay away from that girl."
Jake's boyish face turned suddenly hard. His voice took on an unyielding note. "I don't take your orders when it comes to my personal life, Ross."
"It's not your personal life I'm thinking of, Jake, and you know it. The girl's probably being watched."
"I'm careful.
"Jake…"
Abruptly pushing himself away from the table, Jake shot another glance toward Devina, his light brows furrowing at the sight of her venomous stare. He stood up and within seconds was striding toward the door.
Ross stared at his friend's retreating back. Something was wrong, and he'd be damned if he was going to wait another minute to find out what it was.
Catching up with Jake, Ross clamped a hand on his friend's shoulder, slowing him to a halt. "Wait a minute, Jake."
Jake's response was brusque. "What do you want?"
Ross was at a loss. He hadn't seen his friend so unhappy since he had met his Chinese mistress. He didn't have to strain his mind to know what was at the bottom of Jake's misery.
"You saw her, didn't you, Jake? And something's wrong."
Jake hesitated, then gave a short shrug. "Yeah, I saw her."
"So?"
"She put an end to it, just like that." He jerked his head toward the cabin. "Because we kidnapped her."
"You told me she guessed what we were doing a long time ago. Why the sudden objection?"
"I’ don’t know. She blames herself.
Somethin
' to do with her
losin
' her honor. I don't understand half of it."
Ross released a short breath. "I'm sorry, Jake."
Jake shrugged again. "Yeah, well, I guess it doesn't make much difference. We're
goin
' to be done with all of this and out of this part of the country soon, anyway. She just saved me the trouble of
findin
' the right words."
Ross offered his friend a brief smile.
"So what's the business you're so anxious to take care of in Tombstone?"
Again Jake hesitated. "Well, the truth is, I owe her
somethin
', Ross. I need to explain things a little better to her so as to get some of that guilt off her shoulders. I need to tell her we would've gotten that girl one way or another even without her help."
Ross's frown darkened. "Jake, it's dangerous seeing her."
"I'll be careful, Ross, real careful."
Ross nodded, realizing nothing he could say would make a difference. Jake's mind was made up. "When are you leaving?"
"Just as soon as I can."
"All right, Jake. Whatever you say."
Devina slipped from her concealed position in the shadow of the doorway, exceedingly glad that she had chanced listening in on the conversation between Ross and Jake. She moved back toward the fireplace, tears of relief threatening to spill down her cheeks.
Lai Hua hadn't betrayed her after all, not knowingly. A choked laugh escaped her. She hadn't realized how much the friendship of the Oriental woman had come to mean to her. Damn that lying Ross Morrison for making her think Lai Hua had been playing her for a fool!
Devina took a firm hold on her emotions. That was just another of the many grievances for which she would eventually make the handsome bastard with Charles's face pay.
But right now her captor and his henchman were walking back toward the cabin. She shot a quick glance toward the beans bubbling in the pot. She had added bacon and raw sugar, just as Ross had instructed her, and there was no doubt the beans were nearly done. Good! The sooner Jake returned to Tombstone and got the note to her father the better. Then her father would pay the ransom and she would be free.
Her eyes fell on the note still lying on the table where Ross had left it. In her eagerness to listen in on the conversation between the two men, she had almost missed her opportunity to read the letter.
All other thoughts drifting away as her eyes consumed its contents, Devina felt a slow shock overwhelm her. The demands were impossible! There was no chance of their being accepted. George
Tillson
would never give his consent, and she would be doomed.
"What are you doing, Devina?"
Devina's head snapped up to Ross's dark scrutiny. Her response was spontaneous "These demands are impossible!"
"Are they?"
"They would require the consent of George
Tillson
, my father's partner. He'll never give it. The mines are flooding. The pumps barely keep the shafts clear of water when they operate twenty-four hours a day. If my father stops work in the mines, he'll never be able to open some of those shafts again. George won't allow my father to endanger the company."
"It'll be up to your father to convince him, won't it?"
A stab of fear pierced Devina's breast. "You know my father can't afford to pay the miners a month's salary in advance, especially after the way you've been robbing him.
"That's unfortunate."
Rage surged through Devina, "Your demands would break Till-Dale and leave my father with nothing!"
"Then he'll be in the same position my father was in when Harvey Dale was done with him."
Devina was stunned by the hatred reflected in Morrison's eyes.
"My father never… My father is a clever businessman, but he isn't dishonest. He would never"
Ross's short laugh halted Devina's statement. Either you don't know your father very well or you're just as much a liar as he is."
"You can't ask my father to sacrifice his company."
"Can't I?"
Fury flushed Devina's mind, overwhelming caution. She took a quick step toward the table and snatched at the note, but Ross was too fast for her. Grabbing the letter with one hand, he captured her wrist with the other. "Oh, no, you don't!"
"Let me go, damn you!"
Twisting and squirming in an effort to break free, Devina made another grab for the note, forcing Ross to drop it on the table as he grasped her other wrist and twisted them both behind her back.
"Stay still, you damned she-cat!"
Consumed with the desire to scratch his handsome face to ribbons, Devina increased her efforts to break free, hissing her hatred as Ross easily subdued her. Breathless and close to tears, Devina finally admitted she was overpowered. She met his eyes defiantly and tossed her long, wild hair off her face. Her shaking voice carried the full conviction of her words. "You won't get away with this. I'll see you behind bars. I'll see you begging for mercy, crawling…"
Ross met her raging gaze with a cold stare. "If your father doesn't meet those demands, you won't be seeing much of anything, Miss Dale."
After allowing the full portent of his words to register in her mind, Ross released Devina so abruptly that she staggered, almost losing her balance. His strong arm steadied her even as he taunted, "What's the matter, Miss Dale? Feeling faint?"
Devina's quick response belied her lack of color. "That'll be the day!"
Ross's laughter was harsh. "Then you might as well make yourself useful. Start dishing out the food. Jake has a long way to go before sundown, don't you, Jake?"
Jake was still standing near the doorway, his expression peculiar.
"Sit down, Jake. Devina will be only too happy to serve us."
Acutely aware of the beautiful, vicious bitch whose full breasts rose and fell with deep, agitated breaths beneath the oversize shirt she wore, Ross pressed relentlessly, "Won't you, Devina?"
Turning with a sharpness that set the pale strands of her hair flying, Devina walked to the fireplace. Her back to them, she hesitated briefly before lifting the steaming pot from the fire. She turned with slow, deliberation and approached the table where the two men had seated themselves. Her eyes not moving from Ross's face, she paused, her hatred clear and threatening. Her fingers trembled on the handle.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Ross warned softly. "It would be a big mistake."
Abruptly slamming the pot down on the table, Devina stood beside him, visibly trembling.
"Get the plates, Devina, and the cups and spoons."
Her smoldering hatred registering clearly in the silence, Devina suddenly turned and followed his command. Ross looked back at Jake, then deliberately provoked her by saying, "Hurry up, Devina. Jake is anxious to get started."
Devina's shoulders stiffened, but she carried the plates and utensils to the table and put them down with elaborate care. She then sat down on the bunk, her lips tensed in a straight, furious line.
Ross ignored the censure in Jake's silence. "You're sure you don't want to stay the night and start out in the morning, Jake?"
"I'm sure."
Ross picked up the spoon and scooped some beans into his plate. The aroma wafted up into his nostrils, and his stomach made an appreciative growl. It seemed he was hungry, after all.
Devina was still sitting on the bunk when Ross and Jake rose from the table a short time later. Conversation between Ross and Jake had been stilted, inhibited by the black stare of the woman seated a few feet away. Ross felt a certain regret for the direction the afternoon had taken. His friend did not share his deep and abiding hatred for the Dale name. Jake obviously pitied Devina, not realizing that behind her angelic face was a woman who could watch him swing from the branch of a tree without blinking an eye.
Ross's gaze dropped to the note on the table beside him, and he picked it up to read it carefully once more. It was almost perfect. Only one thing was lacking.
He pushed his chair back and got to his feet. His eyes on Devina's face, he started toward her, drawing his knife from the sheath at his waist as he walked. Devina's eyes flickered only briefly as he stood over her, knife in hand. He heard the scrape of Jake's chair against the floor at the moment he reached down to take a lock of Devina's hair in his hand. She gasped as he raised his knife and severed a curl, but made no comment as he turned and walked back to the table where Jake stood tensely.
Taking the shimmering lock of hair, Ross carefully folded it inside the ransom note and handed the letter to Jake.
Jake frowned. "Christ, Ross…"
"You didn't think Dale was going to accept that letter as genuine without some sort of proof, did you? I don't think there's another person in the territory with hair that color. Dale won't have a doubt in the world that it's his daughter's."
Jake turned toward the door without a response.
They were walking to Jake's horse when Ross tried one last time. "You're sure you don't want to stay the night, relax, get some rest?"
Jake shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm not
lookin
' to get myself involved in this war you got
goin
' between you two. I got the
feelin
' I couldn't win
nohow
, and I'm not about to stand around
watchin
' the blood flow. I got better things to do."
Ross shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Watching as his friend mounted, Ross finally smiled. "Take good care of that note, Jake. We've got a lot riding on it. And don't get anxious. Wait at least two days before you deliver it to Dale. The comings and goings in town are probably being watched very carefully. If they see you come back and the note is delivered a little while later, they're going to make some pretty good guesses."
Jake nodded. "Take it easy on the girl, Ross. You're
pushin
' too hard."
Ross's smile stiffened, and Jake scowled in annoyance.
"Oh, hell, do what you want. You never listen to me, anyway. I'll be back when I have
somethin
' to tell you."
Slapping the reins against his horse's neck, Jake turned him toward the trail and spurred him into a canter.
Ross watched until his friend turned out of sight and then walked back to the cabin. His mind on the letter Jake carried, Ross hoped he would not be forced to convince Dale that he had meant every word he had written.
Devina fought to control the rage simmering below her surface calm. Ross had been watching her relentlessly since Jake had left for Tombstone an hour before. His brooding gaze followed her every move, and her skin was sensitized, all but burning, from the intensity of his dark-eyed stare. Feeding her anger was her realization that despite her hatred of the despicable stranger, he touched her, raised her awareness of him as a man in a way no other man ever had before.
"What are you thinking, Devina?"
Her shoulders coming abruptly erect, Devina felt her face flame. "What I'm thinking is none of your business!"
Ross moved from the doorway, blocking the light as he walked toward her. While his broad frame was in silhouette, his features were almost indiscernible, and a shudder shook her. He was so big, so overwhelming. She was embarrassingly familiar with the strength of the hard body that dwarfed her and with the cruelty often reflected in those dark eyes. There was power in every movement of his lean, well-honed frame as he approached with slow deliberation. She knew he meant to intimidate her, and she was determined not to allow him to realize how very well he succeeded.
Devina steeled herself as Ross grasped her shoulders, his handsome face illuminated by the fire at her back. "Answer my question."
Ignoring the tremors moving down her spine, the awareness escalating within her at his touch, Devina forced a laugh. "You already know what I'm thinking, don't you? I'm thinking that you're a fool for making demands that you know my father can't meet."
"He'll meet them."
"He can't. George"
"You're wasting your breath, Devina. I know where the strength lies in that partnership. Once your father gets that letter, he'll do anything he has to do to get you back."
Devina was beginning to shake. "Bastard!"
"Name- calling again, Devina? You're not the lady your father thinks you are. But he doesn't really know you, does he? Not as well as I know you."
"As well as you know me?" Devina was incredulous at his presumption. "All you know about me is that I'm Harvey Dale's daughter and a means for your revenge on him."
A smile played at Ross's lips. "You're wrong. I know you very well. You haven't been out of my sight since you arrived in Tombstone."
A strange fluttering began in the pit of Devina's stomach as Ross continued staring down into her face. She knew instinctively it was not fear that caused her knees to weaken and her heart to pound when he looked at her that way. "That… that's impossible."
Ross's voice dropped to a husky whisper. "You could feel me watching you, couldn't you, Devina?"
"Watching me?"
"From the hills behind your house, with my spyglass. I knew everything about you. I knew the time of day you woke up in the morning, when you dressed, the hours you liked to walk into town, and the hours you stayed at home. I knew exactly where your bodyguard waited for you every day." Ross's voice hardened. "He was getting bolder, wasn't he? And you resented it." His gaze flickered briefly, and his voice dropped a notch lower. "The damned slimy bastard."
"So it was you watching me."
"I got to know you very well, Devina. I knew the way you spoke to Lai Hua when you walked with her, the way you stiffened when your father tried to tell her what to do, the way you tilted your head up to Carter and smiled at him when you walked out together." Ross's expression tightened. "Good old Charles Carter, my well-liked, respectable brother."
Devina felt Ross's hatred. "Liked and respected by everyone but you," she said. "If Charles is as bad as you say he is, why does your letter say to give him the records on the claim my father bought from yours?"
"Carter will do anything to get you back, and I like knowing I have my brother under my thumb."
Ross had raised his hand to Devina's cheek and was stroking it lightly as he spoke. The callused, lightly abrasive touch of his fingertips was strangely erotic. It interfered with her thought processes, and she fought her slow submission to his caress.
"You're wrong about Charles."
"Just as I'm wrong about your father?" "No… Yes. I mean"
"You mean you don't really know either of them, do you?"
Devina flushed. "I know them better than I know you. All I know about you is that you're an ex-convict and that you enjoy abusing women."
"The way I abused you?" Devina did not respond, and Ross gave a contemptuous laugh. "You don't know what it is to be abused."
"No, of course not! Only you know what it is to go hungry, to be treated like a slave, to be given less respect than a servant!"
A muscle twitched in Ross's cheek. "You've been so privileged and so spoiled all your life that you don't have a genuine bone in your body. You don't know the truth when you hear it."
"What truth? That my father is a cheat and a thief? That Charles would help send his own brother to jail for something he didn't do?"
"That's right."
"Liar!"
Ross shook his head, disgust evident in his strong, even features. "I haven't decided whether you're loyal, just plain stupid, or a damned good liar."
"How about
smarttoo
smart not to see through an
exconvict
, a thief, and a kidnapper?"
"An ex- convict, a thief, and a kidnapper… not up to your social caliber or the caliber of my respectable brother."
Devina ignored the growing ferocity of Ross's tone. Elated to have struck a sensitive nerve in his previously impenetrable facade, she continued mercilessly. "Charles is an educated, cultured, and sympathetic human being. He's too good for this uncivilized frontier."
"Too good for Tombstone and everyone in
itjust
like you. Is that right?"
Devina paused. "I'm not too good for Charles."
His handsome face suddenly looked savage, and Devina gasped as Ross's hands cut painfully into her shoulders. "So you've set your sights on Charles!" he said. "Well, he's not going to get you, damn him! Not him or anybody else!"
Ross's mouth was descending toward hers when Devina realized she had gone too far. Panic endowing her with a strength she did not realize she possessed, she shoved hard at his chest, catching him off balance and making him stumble back against the table, allowing her the edge she needed to race toward the door. Within seconds her bare feet were pounding against the dry earth outside as she headed toward Ross's mount. When she heard running footsteps behind her, she ran faster, plunging into the brush.
"Devina, stop! Watch out!"
The footsteps halted abruptly, even as the tone of Ross's voice caused her a moment's hesitation. She turned to see his hand drop to the gun on his hip. He wouldn't shoot! He couldn't…
A sudden rattling sound stopped her in her tracks too late. A blur of movement whipped along the ground at her feet. She felt a sharp sting in her ankle, heard the bark of a gun. She cried out as the snake, its fangs embedded in her flesh, burst in two with the force of the shot.
Unexpected weakness assailed Devina as pain, hot and intense, pierced her leg. The world wavered around her, and she felt herself sinking slowly to the ground. Strong arms suddenly caught her, cushioning her fall, even as she grimaced against the pain and fought the fear that filled her mind.
She looked up to Ross's face. It was dark and angry as he crouched over her and drew his knife.
Another hot stinging flash of pain stole her breath. Gasping, Devina fought the darkness quickly descending, but her struggle was to no avail. She submitted to the merciful blackness that overwhelmed her, blocking out the pain, the angry accusing eyes, and the glint of a descending blade.
No time to think, no time to feel: Her slender ankle was already beginning to discolor and swell. He pushed up Devina's trouser leg, slipped his bandanna around her calf, and pulled it tight, knowing his best hope was to stop the venom from traveling. He made first one cut and then another across the marks where the fangs had penetrated her skin, then began to suck the blood and venom from the wound.
A few minutes later the blood was no longer flowing freely, and Ross looked up into Devina's face. She was still unconscious, her beautiful face devoid of color.
Lifting her into his arms, he ran toward the cabin. As he clutched her tight against him, Ross was faced with the dawning realization of all he would truly lose if he lost her.
Ross felt the nudge of panic as Devina returned his gaze with wild, unseeing eyes. She mumbled unintelligible words as she sought to brush away his hand. Even in her delirium she fought his touch. It had, in fact, been her wild flight from his kiss that had almost caused her death.
Speaking soft words of comfort, Ross laid his palm against Devina's brow. It was still hot, but her fever was dropping.
Devina's eyes fluttered closed, and Ross's heart froze. His gaze moved to the pulse in her throat and he released a tense breath at its steady, if accelerated, throbbing. Turning to the basin on the table beside the bunk, he squeezed out the cloth and carefully sponged the beads of perspiration from Devina's brow. Damn, she was so pale.
Ross surveyed the wound on her ankle once more. An ugly purple swelling marked the puncture and the cuts he had made with his blade. The wound was no longer bleeding, and he pressed a clean damp cloth to the bruise. He pushed the wide trouser leg farther up her bare leg, and his eyes touched on a second bruise that circled her calf just below the knee. He had removed the bandanna as soon as it was safe to do so, but the damage had been done. Hell, he hadn't even been able to help her without hurting her.
Devina was moaning again, and Ross shot a quick glance to the window. The darkness of night met his eyes, and he was startled by the blackness. How long had she been delirious? How much longer would it be before the fever broke, before he was certain she would be all right?
Ross's throat tightened as he looked into Devina's face. He had been a fool to allow her defense of Carter to push him over the edge of restraint. He still did not fully understand his reaction to her statement about Carter. He had never envied his brother. He had always considered himself the luckier one to have stayed with Pa after his mother left them. Nobody could have had a better father or a happier childhood. His education had been informal, more earned than learned, and it had suited him fine.
When he first emerged from Yuma, he had cared for nothing but revenge. But his thoughts had begun to change subtly the moment Devina Dale entered his life. He was uncertain just when he had begun to desire Devina for herself instead of as an instrument for revenge. But right now he was all too intensely aware of what he wanted. He wanted Devina Dale to look at him the way she had looked at Charles Carter. He wanted to see acceptance of him as a man in her eyes, not hatred and fear. He wanted to see her laugh, to see her smile for him alone. He wanted her to feel his warmth in every bone of her body, just as he felt hers. He wanted her to need his warmth, to crave it the way he craved hers.
Devina made a sudden, spasmodic movement, and Ross's heart jumped erratically. He pressed his hand to her forehead at the same moment she began shuddering, her eyes snapping open in unseeing panic. Her voice was low, quaking.