Wolf Shadow (14 page)

While Winter Rain went to retrieve the rope, Chance knelt at
the filly’s head. “Easy, girl,” he murmured softly. “I’m not gonna hurt you.
What the hell are you doing out here alone anyway? Easy now.”

Still talking softly, he placed his hand on her neck.
Spooked by his touch, she jerked away.

“Hey, now, when we get to be friends, you’ll be sorry you
did that. Where’s your mama?” he mused, though he was pretty sure he knew the
answer. The mare would have wanted to stay with her foal but the stallion would
have chased her back to the herd. Either that, or the filly was an orphan.

“Here.” Winter Rain thrust the rope at him. “Will she be all
right?”

“Yeah, she’s not bad hurt. Just scared.” His gaze ran over
the filly. She looked to be about three months old. “I don’t think she’s been
without food or water for more than a day or two at most. She’s lucky to be
alive.”

Talking softly to the filly, he fashioned a loop and dropped
it over her head, then carefully untangled her legs from the thorny branches,
incurring a goodly number of scratches on his arms and legs as he did so.

At last, the filly was free. Scrambling to her feet, she
tried to run off, only to be brought up short by the loop around her neck.

“Easy now,” Chance said. Walking toward her, he took up the
slack.

The filly shook her head as he drew closer, stood trembling
all over as he gently stroked her neck. “There now, darlin’. That doesn’t hurt,
does it?”

Winter Rain watched Wolf Shadow. His voice was soft and low
when he spoke to the filly, his touch light. What would it be like to have him
speak to her like that, to feel his hands on her skin? The memory of his kisses
jumped to the forefront of her mind, made her lips tingle in remembrance.

He spoke to the filly for a long while, letting her grow
used to his voice and his touch. Now and then, he breathed into her nostrils.
When she stopped trembling, he took a step forward, giving a gentle tug on the
rope. The filly immediately backed up and shook her head, fighting the rope as
it tightened around her neck. Wolf Shadow eased up on the line. He talked to
the filly again, soothing her with his voice and his touch, and again gave a
gentle tug on the rope. It took several tries but eventually the filly learned
to follow his lead and the three of them walked back to where they had left the
horses.

“We’ll have to take her with us,” he said. “She’s too young
to be on her own.”

Winter Rain looked up at him, her pleasure at his decision
reflected in her smile and in her eyes.

“Come on, darlin’,” Wolf Shadow said, speaking to the filly.
“I’ll bet you’re thirsty.”

Leading the filly down to the stream, he let her drink, but
only a little. He walked her around for a short time, let her graze for a few
minutes, then led her back to the stream and let her drink again.

Winter Rain’s gaze never left him. She noted the effortless
way Wolf Shadow moved, the gentleness of his touch. He was patient with the
filly, never rushing her, never speaking harshly. He would be a good father,
she thought, and wondered where that idea had come from.

But it wasn’t only his voice and his manner she noticed.
Just looking at him pleased something feminine deep within her. His shoulders
were broad, his arms were long, his hands large and strong. The sun glinted in
his hair. She watched the play of muscles in his back and shoulders as he
moved. The scars on his back looked silver in the sunlight and she wondered
again who had whipped him so cruelly and why. Perhaps, someday, she would ask him.

A short time later, they were riding again. The filly
followed docilely behind Wolf Shadow’s horse. Knowing the filly was still weak
from her ordeal, he kept his mount at walk so as not to tire her.

That, too, pleased Winter Rain immensely.

She rode a little behind him, careful not to let him see how
she watched his every move. The way he held his horse’s reins. The way he rode
in the saddle, relaxed yet vigilant. The way he looked back every so often to
make sure that she and the filly were all right.

Whatever else he might be, he was not only a brave warrior
but a gentle man as well.

They rode until the filly was too tired to go on and then
made camp in a tree-sheltered valley watered by a narrow stream that was so
shallow Winter Rain was certain she could walk across it without getting her
ankles wet.

It didn’t take long to make camp. While Winter Rain gathered
wood and dug a shallow hole for the fire pit, Chance unsaddled and hobbled his
horse, then hobbled Winter Rain’s gelding. When that was done, he took the
filly down to the stream and washed the blood from her coat, then spent a few
minutes scratching her neck before turning her loose.

“Should we not keep her tied?” Winter Rain asked, coming up
beside him.

Chance shook his head. “I don’t think she’ll go far, not
with the other horses here.”

Winter Rain smiled as the filly sidled up beside Wolf
Shadow’s mare and began chewing on her tail. Smoke’s ears went back and she
stamped her back foot, warning the filly away.

Winter Rain laughed softly as the filly reared up and spun
around. She ran away, then trotted back to Smoke’s side and began to graze.

“Horses need the company of other horses,” Chance remarked.
“She’ll be as tame as a puppy pretty soon.”

Winter Rain nodded. She was certain Wolf Shadow could tame
any female, human or otherwise.

At dusk, Winter Rain lit the fire and they ate another meal
of jerky and pemmican.

“I’m getting almighty tired of jerky,” Chance said.
”Tomorrow I’ll see if I can get us some fresh meat.”

“That would be good,” Winter Rain agreed. She glanced over
her shoulder, back the way they had come. “Do you think the Crow will follow
us?”

“I sure as hell hope not,” he muttered.

“What did you say?”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure the rain washed out our
tracks.”

“Yes, of course,” she said, and he heard the relief in her
voice.

Chance sat across the fire from her, aware of the attraction
that hummed between them whenever she was near. He had known a lot of women in
his time, some casually, a few intimately, but he’d never felt anything like
this with any of them. He was aware of her every move, her every breath, the
way her eyes sparkled as she watched the filly kick up her heels.

Leaning forward, he added a few pieces of wood to the fire.
A faint breeze sent a flurry of embers shooting upward through the air like
fireflies.

He watched Winter Rain’s gaze follow the sparks upward and
then her gaze met his. Heat flared between them, hotter than the fire’s flames.

Chance cleared his throat. “We’d better turn in,” he said,
his voice gruff. “I want to get an early start in the morning.”

Winter Rain nodded, but she didn’t move. And neither did he.

“We’ll be home sometime tomorrow.”

She nodded again, her eyes slowly widening as he gained his
feet and circled the fire toward her.

With every step, he told himself to turn around and go back
but to no avail. She was too tempting and too damn close to ignore.

She stared up at him like a doe trapped by a cougar. He
could see the pulse throbbing wildly in her throat. Her lips parted and the tip
of her tongue moistened her lower lip. Just that simple act, nothing more, and
he was hard and aching.

He felt as though he were drowning in the deep blue depths
of her eyes as he leaned toward her, his hands closing around her waist.
Lifting her to her feet, he drew her up against him and held her tight.

“Rain…”

She looked up at him, speechless. Nervous, but not afraid.

He muttered an oath, then slanted his mouth over hers and
kissed her. One of them was trembling, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t her.

She surrendered to his touch with a sigh that aroused him
still more. Her lips were warm and soft and sweetly yielding, parting willingly
to allow him to explore the depths within.

It was a kiss that seemed to last forever and yet ended too
soon.

His breathing was ragged when they drew apart. For a moment,
they stared at each other, and then he kissed her again, longer, deeper.

“Rain.” He didn’t seem to be able to say anything but her
name. And then he was kissing her again.

Hardly aware of what he was doing, he drew her down on the
ground until they were laying side by side, his hands molding her body to his
while he scattered kisses on her cheeks, her lips, the tip of her nose. She
moaned softly, a purely feminine sound that fanned the embers of his desire
still more.

His hands slid up and down her back, cupped her buttocks to
draw her more fully against his arousal. She clung to him, her hands as
restless as his, if not as bold.

He closed his eyes, the better to lose himself in the taste
and the touch of her, only to open them again when she burst out laughing.

He was about to ask her what was so funny and then he saw
the filly nibbling at a lock of Winter Rain’s hair.

“Go on,” Chance said, making a shooing motion with one hand.
“Get out of here.”

The filly backed off, only to sidle up to Winter Rain and
begin nibbling on her hair again.

Winter Rain’s laughed filled the air again as the filly’s
tongue tickled her neck.

Muttering an oath, Chance gained his feet, but he couldn’t
help laughing at the sight of Winter Rain trying to keep her hair out of the
filly’s mouth.

Rain sat up. “Why is she doing that?”

“It’s just something young horses do. You see a lot of dams
with their tails chewed off. Some ranchers tie up their mares’ tails until the
foals are taken from their mothers.”

Moving over to the fire, he added a few pieces of wood, then
walked away from the camp. He didn’t know about Winter Rain, but he needed a
few minutes alone.

Dragging his hand across his jaw, he decided it was just as
well that things had come to a halt when they had. Bedding Winter Rain would
have been a big mistake, one he could ill afford, financially or emotionally.
He needed that ten grand, not a shotgun wedding. But as he left the light of
the fire behind, he was surprised to find that Edward Bryant’s ten thousand
dollars didn’t seem as important as it once had.

Winter Rain watched Wolf Shadow leave the fire. Was he angry
with her? As much as she had wanted his kisses, yearned for his touch, she
couldn’t help feeling the filly’s intrusion had come at just the right time.
She had been taught that chastity was a virtue and that she should stay a
maiden until she married. She had never had trouble remembering that until she
met Wolf Shadow. He had not spoken of loving her, only of wanting her.

Rising, she spread her bedroll beside the fire and slipped
under the blankets, wondering if he would crawl in beside her to share the
warmth.

She was still on edge, wondering about it, when she fell
asleep.

Chapter Twelve

The next day, the tension between them was palpable. Shivers
of awareness rippled through Winter Rain whenever Wolf Shadow passed close by. They
ate the morning meal in silence. She rolled her blankets into a tight cylinder
while he readied the horses. A short time later, they were riding.

Winter Rain smiled at the antics of the filly. She ran ahead
a short distance, then trotted back to nuzzle the other horses. She did this
several times, pausing now and then to sniff at a bush or a rock. Sometimes she
dashed ahead, rearing and bucking exuberantly.

Winter Rain slid a glance at Wolf Shadow to see if he was
enjoying the filly’s antics, but he seemed lost in thought.

“We should be there late this afternoon,” Wolf Shadow
remarked a short time later.

Winter Rain nodded, the thought of returning to their
village filling her with anticipation and dread. What would they find there?
Had anyone else survived the Crow attack?

Gradually, the surrounding countryside grew familiar. They
crossed a shallow stream and climbed up the opposite bank. The village lay
ahead, just over the next small rise.

Unable to wait any longer, Winter Rain urged her horse into
a lope and up the hill. She reined her horse to a halt at the top and stared
down at the valley below. The village was gone and in its place stood the remains
of scorched lodges. The grass had been blackened by fire. There was no sign of
life.

Heavy-hearted, she urged her horse down the hill, afraid of
what she might find.

Chance followed Winter Rain, his gaze sweeping the ruins of
the village. The signs of battle were everywhere, from the churned-up ground to
the charred remains of the lodges. Bits of cloth, broken toys, ruined weapons,
and scorched blankets littered the ground.

Dismounting, he ground-reined Smoke, then walked through the
deserted camp. There were no bodies in evidence nor any sign that predators had
dragged any away, making him believe that at least a few of the Lakota had
survived the fight and come back to bury the dead.

He walked toward Winter Rain, who was standing in front of
the burned-out remains of her mother’s lodge. She looked up as he approached,
her eyes filled with tears.

“They are dead, aren’t they?” she asked, her voice thick
with grief.

“I don’t know.” Taking the reins from her hand, he tied her
horse to a clump of brush. That done, he began to walk around the outer circle
of the camp but the ground was too badly chewed up for him to pick out any
tracks save those of the Crow war party heading home.

Brow furrowed in thought, he made his way back to Winter
Rain, who was standing where he had left her, looking as if her whole world had
fallen apart. Which, he supposed, it had. Still, she was luckier than most. If
it turned out that Mountain Sage and Eagle Lance were dead, she still had
people who loved her and were waiting to take her in.