Texas Proud (Vincente 2) (32 page)

"It was only a dream, wasn't it?" she asked, seeking his eyes. "I had a nightmare, didn't I?"

"I don't know, Rachel." He lifted one of her
hands and looked at the burns. "It seems to me
that your nightmare was born out of some kind of
reality. Was it?"

She pulled her hand free, feeling embarrassed.
"How long have you been holding me?" She was
now fully awake.

He shifted her weight to his left side. "Long
enough for my arm to go numb."

She attempted to rise, but he pulled her back
onto his lap. "Don't leave. I like you just where you
are."

Slowly Rachel raised her gaze to his, and she
melted beneath a pair of dazzling brown eyes. "I
am always so confused when I'm with you, Noble," she admitted.

He touched his lips to the dimple in her cheeks,
his voice deep with meaning. "Are you, Green
Eyes?"

She drew away from him, looking mischievous.
"Who can fault me for that? It seems every time
we're together some disaster or another happens."
She thought he would laugh he didn't.

"Let's talk about those disasters."

"Which one?" she said with a twist to her lips.

He reached around her and managed to throw
two large logs on the fire, making sparks fly up in
an arc. Soon the dry wood ignited and he settled
back. "Begin with what happened to your hands.
It doesn't take the expertise of Dr. Stanhope to
know that they were burned. How did it happen?"

Rachel's eyes went to her hands, and although
it was painful, she balled them tightly in her lap.
"It was nothing that should concern you."

His mouth settled in a firm line and his gaze
probed hers. "Indulge me."

"My barn caught on fire."

"I see. And with your usual reckless disregard
for your own safety, you ran inside the burning barn to save the horses. That's what happened,
isn't it?"

She suddenly wanted to tell him about all the
strange things that had happened to her lately.
"No. I was in the barn at the time the fire started."

"So you kicked over a lantern?"

"No." She lowered her gaze because she could
no longer look into his eyes, thinking how unbelievable her account sounded. "Someone locked
the barn from the outside and set it on fire."

She could feel his chest expand when he took a
deep breath. "Who was home at the time?"

"If you're thinking any of my men set fire to the
barn, you're wrong. They had driven my herd to
Tascosa Springs." She stared at her hands and
trembled at the memory of that day in the barn.
"I was fortunate that Winna Mae saw the smoke.
And luckily, all the animals were saved. I was worried about Faro, but she's fine."

Noble knew that Rachel was not a woman given
to exaggeration if anything, she'd smoothed
over the truth. If she said she'd been deliberately
locked in, then that was exactly what had happened. "What other disasters have befallen you,
Rachel?"

"I..." Her eyes grew frightened. "I found a diamondback coiled on my bed. When I discovered
the hideous thing, it was right at my hand."

His arms tightened about her as if he could hold
her fear at bay. "Your bedroom is on the second
floor, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"I see."

She thought about the night Whit came into her
room and tried to force himself on her. That incident she would never tell Noble. She stole a peek
at him, and he was staring at the flickering flames
that danced in the hearth. Did he think she was
just a hysterical woman who saw trouble where
there was none?

Noble already knew about the snake; Zeb had
told him. But it was best to keep this knowledge
to himself. Someone wanted Rachel dead but
who? His mind went back to the day she'd been
shot. He'd always supposed the bullet had been
meant for him. Now he wasn't so sure.

"Rachel, if you had an enemy, who would it be?"

"You."

His gaze dipped to her face. "I don't think you
believe that."

Her lashes swept across her eyes as shame
tinged her cheeks. All he had ever tried to do was
to help her. "No. I don't think you would harm me.
But I don't need your help, Noble."

He laughed and stood up to carry her to the bed,
where he deposited her beneath the blanket.
"Lord knows, you aren't doing very well on your
own, Rachel. As I told you before, someone has to
look after you."

She leaned on her elbow and gave him an impassioned glance. "And you think you are that
someone?"

He watched her for so long and with such a
soul-stirring expression that she wondered what
thoughts were hidden behind those dark eyes.

"If not me, then who, Rachel?"

"You paid the taxes on the Broken Spur, didn't
you?

"Why would I do that?"

She got to her knees, her glorious red hair swirling out about her. "Dammit, Noble stop answering my questions with questions! Did you or didn't
you pay the taxes on the Broken Spur?"

He turned away and moved back to the warmth
of the fireplace. "If I did, Rachel, we could call it
a loan if it will make you feel better."

She slid out of bed and went to him. "I could
never repay that kind of money." Her breasts rose
and fell with each breath. "Did it ever occur to you
that I don't want your help?"

"It occurred to me."

She felt suddenly dizzy and the room began to
spin, so she reached out to steady herself against
his arm. "Noble, who gave you the right to interfere in my life?"

He saw her turn pale, and in a move that surprised her, he lifted her in his arms and carried
her back to the bed. "What's wrong, Rachel?" he
asked gently, going down on his knees beside her.
"Are you in pain?"

She pressed her hand over her eyes and licked
her lips, while clutching the blanket so tightly in her fists that her knuckles whitened. "No. No pain.
I... feel dizzy," she admitted.

His arm slid across her shoulder. "Why do you
think you have to fight the whole world alone, Rachel? You are just one small woman. Let me take
care of you."

She nodded. "You can start by lying beside me
to make the room stop spinning."

He laughed and eased his weight down beside
her, pulling her body against his. "Never was I issued an order so easy to carry out."

Although the blanket was between them, she
could still feel the heat of his body. It didn't matter. She felt safe, and the room had almost
stopped spinning now. She closed her eyes, her
head falling against his shoulder.

"Sleep, Green Eyes. I'll battle all your demons
for you."

She snuggled against him and closed her eyes,
feeling safe and oh, so weary.

Rachel awoke quickly, sat up and listened, her
heart beating with fear. The wind howled and she
could hear sleet hitting the window. The cabin
was completely dark now and she felt her fear intensify.

"Noble!" she cried, reaching into the dark void.
"Where are you?"

A firm hand took hers. "I'm here, Rachel. I just
went outside to get more wood. Wait until I build
a fire and I'll be with you."

His hand slid away from hers and he disappeared into the darkness. She could hear him laying the wood, and she held her breath until she
saw a small flame ignite.

Noble was nothing more than a shadow that re flected bigger than life on the cabin wall. "There,"
he said at last, when he was satisfied that the fire
would take hold. "The cabin should be warm before long." He moved back to her. "I fell asleep and
allowed the fire to go out," he told her. "Are you
all right?"

She saw him shiver, and realized he was cold.
"You must be so tired, Noble. Come under the
covers with me," she said, not thinking past giving
him some of her warmth. After all, he had seen to
her comfort, without any thought for his own.

He stepped back. "I don't know if that's a good
idea."

The room was now softly illuminated by the
flickering flames. "Don't be silly. You'll catch your
death, if you don't get warm. Besides, it makes
sense that we share the bed. You can't very well
sit up all night."

He looked hesitant, then sat down on the edge
of the bed and removed his boots.

"Just the boots," she said quickly. "You must
sleep in your clothing."

He said nothing as he slid under the covers with
her, but Rachel noticed that he kept to the edge
of the bed. Even so, the mattress was small, and
he was a tall man, so he couldn't avoid body contact with her.

"You have taken care of me, Noble. Move over
by me and let me get you warm. We're both grown
people."

He drew in his breath. "That would be the problem, wouldn't it?"

She laughed softly. "Are you afraid of little of
me?"

Without hesitation he said, "Terrified."

Noble finally moved closer, she suspected to
keep from falling off the bed. Rachel slid her arm
around him, lending him her warmth.

"Are you really afraid of me, Noble?"

"I am. Did I not hear you say that you can shoot
a silver dollar out of the air before it hits the
ground?" he said, repeating the words she'd uttered that day at the Brazos when she'd pointed
his own gun at him.

He turned to face her and found her smiling.

"I was awful that day, wasn't I, Noble?"

"You scared the hell out of me."

"You didn't seem to be afraid."

He chuckled. "For that matter, you scared the
hell out of Harvey and his friends in Tascosa
Springs that day you held your rifle on them."

"Go to sleep, Noble. Ill battle all your demons
for you," she said, throwing his words back at
him.

Noble watched the way the firelight played
across her flaming hair. "There is no woman to
match you, Rachel Rutledge. My life was so uncomplicated when I had only the Yankees to fight.
Then I came home and met with a much superior
force."

"Little of me?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good night, Noble."

Even though they were both dressed, he could
feel her soft body against his. "How can I sleep
when..." He moved away from her just a bit.

He could feel her body shaking and he realized
that she was laughing.

"Good night, Green Eyes."

Rachel awoke sometime later to find that the logs
had burned low. She felt Noble beside her, his arm
resting around her waist. The clouds had drifted
away and bright moonlight streamed through the
window, while the persistent wind howled outside
the cabin and the branch of a tree scraped against
the roof.

Glancing down at Noble, she saw that he slept.
The moonlight fell upon him and she could see
the tired lines etched on his face. Her heart
swelled with love for him. Once again he had
saved her life. He could so easily have been lost in
the blizzard himself. But that hadn't kept him
from searching for her.

She wanted to touch his face, to kiss those lips,
to - What was she doing? Suddenly she knew she
had to put some distance between them. She
didn't like the way her mind was beginning to
work.

She shook him gently. "Wake up, Noble. The
fire's about to go out again."

He stirred and opened those wonderful dark eyes, staring at her for a long moment. Then a
slow smile touched his mouth and he pulled her
closer to him. "Who needs a fire when they have
you?

"If you don't lay more wood on the fire, we'll
both freeze to death. I don't want your death to be
on my conscience," she said bitingly to cover up
her true feelings.

His laughter filled the cabin. "You have enough
fire in those green eyes to keep this cabin warm
from now on."

"Are you going to stoke the fire or not?" she
asked, pressing her back to the wall to avoid contact with him. Now she was sony she'd asked him
to share the bed with her.

"Let the fire go out, Rachel. We can keep each
other warm with our bodies."

She knew he was teasing her again. "You have
all the heat you are going to get from me. I suggest
you put more logs on the fire."

"There are no more logs unless I chop some, and
it's too dark to go outside." He raised her face to
him. "Rachel, have no fear that I'm going to ravish
you. Do you trust me?"

She trusted him, but could she trust her own
wayward heart, her own passionate longing that
plagued her whenever he was near? She nodded,
though she still kept her back pressed against the
wall.

With a weary sigh, he turned his back to her,
and before long she could hear steady breathing that told her he was asleep. Slowly she reached
out and laid her hand against his back and allowed it to move up to his shoulder. This moment
belonged to her, and she might never be this near
to him again. She dared to move closer to fit her
body against his, and the now familiar burning
started in the pit of her stomach. She ached for
what they had shared together by the river.

Tensely, almost shyly, she moved her head so
her face lay against his back. She planted a small
kiss there-he would never know.