Thunder Horse Redemption

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A shiver, originating at the base of her spine, rocketed all the way up her back, shaking her violently. Once the trembling began, it didn’t abate.

His hands jerked away from her and he stood, backing up several steps. “You have to get out of those wet clothes.”

“And w-what am I s-supposed to wear in the m-mean time?” she quipped, the chattering of her teeth taking the barb out of her response.

“Wearing nothing is better than keeping the dampness against your skin. The moisture conducts heat away from your body.”

“I know that.” Still, she couldn’t quite stomach the thought of undressing in front of him. With everything that had happened with the shooter and her injury, she felt too vulnerable. Common sense told her that she needed to get the clothes away from her skin, but every instinct protested. She couldn’t let herself be weak where Pierce Thunder Horse was concerned, lest it create a leak in the dam of emotions she’d held in check since he’d returned.

Stubbornly, she wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them up against her body for more warmth. Her body’s trembles turned into bone-shaking shivers, so violent she thought she’d rattle apart.

“Good grief, woman. It’s not as though I haven’t seen you naked before.” He grabbed her hand and urged her to her feet, standing her in front of him. His hands clamped down on her shoulders and he rubbed them through the damp cotton of the T-shirt she wore.

“You’re freezing. I suspect shock is setting in from your fall and injury. If we don’t get you warmed up, you could have some serious problems, and we both know that there’s no way I could get you some help until the weather clears.”

“Well, when you put it that way.” She pressed her hands into his chest, pushing against him. “I can undress myself.”

He let go of her, his lips twisting. “Go for it.”

Her fingers fumbled with the hem of her shirt. They shook so hard, she couldn’t manage to pull it up over her torso. “I don’t know…what’s…wrong…” Tears welled in her eyes, and before she could stop them, ran down her cheeks. Now she couldn’t even see what she was doing.

“Give it up.” Pierce’s whispered words stirred the wisps of hair beside Roxanne’s ear, his breath warming her cold skin.

“Never,” she said, though her hands fell to her sides. Giving it up would have to mean trusting him, and she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t! But when he reached out to her again, she found that she couldn’t quite bring herself to stop him, either. She’d been cold for so very long…and Pierce was always so warm.

Deft fingers made quick work of tugging her shirt up and over her head, easing it past the wound on her shoulder and the back of her scalp.

Roxanne’s breath lodged in her throat and her gaze traveled upward to connect with the darkness of the Lakotan’s eyes. Months of sorrow, of love lost and families betrayed couldn’t begin to melt away in one look.

She wanted to say no, wanted to shake her head, push him away, stay strong all on her own, the way she had for months. But God help her, she also wanted to say yes, to relax and let someone else take control, maybe even take care of her for a little while.

In the end, she didn’t say anything at all. Neither did he. Instead, his lips lowered, so slowly she had plenty of time to resist, to turn away and run.

But she didn’t.

EVERY THOUGHT, NERVE, beat of Pierce’s heart centered on Roxanne. Her fiery red hair lay wet and curling against her face, her mouth opened, her tongue flicking out to slide across her lips.

He bent to capture her full bottom lip between his teeth, sucking it into his mouth.

The lace of Roxanne’s bra rubbed against his shirt. The urge to rip aside the fabric swelled inside him. He had to touch the full, rounded softness of her breasts, to smooth his hands over the swells, rediscovering the curves and warmth of Roxanne’s naked skin.

He buried his face in the curve of her neck, nipping and sucking at the pulse beating wildly there.

When Pierce realized she was just as affected by him as he was her, he continued his assault, tossing her shirt to the floor. He unclasped her bra, easing the straps over her shoulders and down her arms, his gaze following its progress as her breasts sprang free. He cupped one in his palm and touched the rigid nipple with the tip of his tongue, lost in the taste of her.

Her chest rose on a gasp, her head falling back. Roxanne’s hand reached out to circle Pierce’s neck, bringing him closer so that he could suck the nipple into his mouth, pulling hard.

Her other hand groped for the top button of his jeans, fumbling with the hard metal rivet. His head rose and he stared down into her smoky blue gaze, seeing the woman he’d fallen in love with, the woman who was his equal, his soul mate, the only one for him. He pulled her hard against his chest and held her, giving in to the way it felt to have her back in his arms. He wanted her so badly his entire body shook with his need.

He had difficulty forcing his thoughts beyond the moment. If he followed his base instincts, he’d throw caution to the wind and take her there, in the darkness of the cave, their naked bodies writhing in the firelight.

But if he did that, she’d never forgive him. When they both came to their senses, Roxanne would remember all the reasons she had to despise him, all the reasons they would never be a couple again, never have a future together.

Pierce dragged in a deep breath and let it out, loosening his hold on her.

This was Roxanne. The woman he still loved with all his heart. The sister of one of the men whose death was his fault.

Pierce couldn’t change the past or undo what had happened to Roxanne’s brother. He couldn’t stop her hating him and hadn’t been able to keep her from leaving; nor had he tried. Today was the first time they’d managed to even have a conversation since ending their engagement, and it had been more than enough to show him how angry she still was. Right now, she was cold, and scared, and hurting and she was willing to let his touch make the world go away for a while, but it wouldn’t last. Making love to her wouldn’t change anything. She still hated him and no matter how perfect she’d been for him, Special Agent Pierce Thunder Horse was the wrong man for her.

He tugged her bra straps up over her shoulders and eased them both down to sit near the campfire, holding her close to share his body warmth.

“That shouldn’t have happened,” she said, her voice not much louder than a whisper.

“No. It shouldn’t have.” He didn’t try to kiss her again.

She leaned her head against his chest. “It won’t happen again.”

“Count on it.” He held her into the night as she fell into a troubled sleep. She clung to him, her body shaking, her head twisting back and forth as nightmares disturbed her slumber. Because of her possible concussion, he had an excuse to wake her from her dreams every two hours.

In the small hours of the morning, Pierce spooned her body against his, his gaze on the dying embers of the fire, his thoughts swirling around the shooting, the dirt bike, Roxanne and the bullet and wrapper they’d found in the cave.

Sleep escaped him with her body close to his and the wad of evidence in his pocket. The more he mulled over everything, the more dread filled his chest, crushing him with worry.

Whatever Roxanne had stumbled on that had caused the shooter to attack, it was much bigger than some idiot taking potshots at wild horses.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the piece of plastic and the claylike substance clinging to it wasn’t a candy wrapper for gum, but the packaging used around plastic explosives.

Chapter Four

A horse nickered, stirring Roxanne awake. Her eyes blinked open to the muted light of predawn filtering through the window. Only it wasn’t a window, and the cool air brushing across her skin wasn’t coming from outside her house.

Her back was warm. An arm draped around her middle and the solid mass pressing against her generated enough heat to chase away the chills, keeping her from freezing in the cool morning air.

Then it all came back to her and she jerked to an upright position, her hands covering her breasts. She breathed a sigh of relief when her hands connected with her bra.

Pierce Thunder Horse pushed up on one elbow, a wary expression on his face. “Morning. Sleep well?”

“Fine.” She leaped to her feet, snatching up her T-shirt and jeans. Turning her back to the Lakotan, she jammed her feet into the jeans and shivered as she shimmied the cold but dry fabric up her legs. Thank goodness her shirt and jeans had dried in the night, or moving about in the cool North Dakota morning air would be very uncomfortable. She finger-combed her hair to smooth the curls before she felt confident enough to face Pierce.

Good Lord, what had she done? She’d almost made love to this man.

Without looking him in the eye, she faced Pierce.

He’d pulled his denim shirt over broad shoulders, leaving it hanging open, exposing his smooth, dark chest.

Roxanne realized too late that staring at his chest was every bit as dangerous as looking into his eyes.

“I need to get back to my ranch.” The sooner she got away from Pierce, the better.

Pierce frowned as he buttoned his shirt. “It’s not safe to go there without an escort. And I’ll need to go with you, anyway, in order to bring Sassy back with me.” She started to protest, but his jaw tightened and he held up a hand. “Give it up, Roxanne, I’m not taking no for an answer. You’re still in danger, and I’m not going to let you ride around this area by yourself.”

Roxanne fought the urge to scream in frustration. She couldn’t deny that he was right about the danger of riding alone, but she hated to think that she was dependent on him, that she needed his help or protection. She’d spent the past two months convincing herself that she was fine on her own, that she didn’t need Pierce or anyone else. Then on the very day that he rode back into her life, she found herself forced to rely on him. And worse, in spite of all her strong, fervent resolutions, she’d even ended up falling back into his arms.

“Just because we…”

“Almost made love?”

“Just because we almost had sex,” she corrected him firmly, “doesn’t change anything between us. It was a mistake that will never happen again.”

Pierce nodded slowly, his dark eyes black and intense. He looked as hurt and tormented as she felt, and in spite of all her anger and pain, part of her still longed to reach out to him, to comfort him and be comforted in return. But that wasn’t possible.

“I know,” he said, and walked away.

THEY EMERGED FROM THE cave cautiously, Pierce leading the strange little group of humans and horses. Roxanne blinked in the sunlight, her eyes adjusting from the shadows.

Cetan whinnied, shifting from side to side at the end of his lead.

The colt twisted and reared, tugging at the end of the rope Pierce used to lead her out.

A quick scan of the canyon floor revealed the presence of the herd of wild horses. Separating herself from the rest, Sweet Jessie trotted toward them.

Roxanne studied the way the mare moved. “She appears to be all right.”

“I can see where she was hit. She has a streak of blood on her right shoulder. But it doesn’t seem to bother her.”

Roxanne chewed on her bottom lip. “I’d like to inspect her more closely, but I’m afraid capturing her might cause further injury.”

The colt pulled hard against the lead, squealing in a high-pitched cry for her mother.

“We’ll keep an eye on her.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her,” Roxanne replied. “It’s not like you’ll be around once the wedding is over, anyway. You’ll be back to your FBI work.”

There was a pause as Pierce seemed to be wrestling over what to say. The foal took the decision out of his hands as she struggled against the rope until Pierce could barely maintain his grip. “In the meantime, this little one wants her mama. I can hold her, if you can loosen the buckle on the halter.” He held the frightened animal steady.

Roxanne slipped the straps free of the buckle and slid the halter over the filly’s head, her fingers brushing against Pierce’s arm.

As soon as the filly was free, Pierce let go. Without pause, the colt bolted for her mother, tossing her head as if in defiance of her time held in captivity.

Sweet Jessie met her halfway, sniffing, nuzzling and herding her errant baby toward the herd.

On a rise a hundred yards from where Pierce and Roxanne stood, the herd stallion rose up on his hind legs, calling out to the mares.

Cetan snorted, his eyes rolling back. He tugged on the reins Roxanne held.

Pierce relieved her of her hold, his hand rising to stroke his stallion’s neck, speaking to the animal in his native tongue.

“Come on,” Pierce said, his voice low, insistent. “We could do without a fight between stallions.”

Roxanne gathered Sassy’s reins, placed her foot into the stirrup and swung up into the saddle, her shoulder stiff from her wound and a night sleeping on the hard floor of the cave. She headed for the trail leading out of the canyon, without looking back over her shoulder at Pierce.

The work they’d done to help the filly had been challenging and worthwhile, seeing the colt reunited with her mother. But now that it was done, all of Roxanne’s other worries came crashing back in. The shooter who might still be after her. The financial problems she was facing at her ranch. And most troubling of all, the feelings she had for Pierce Thunder Horse that refused to die down.

That didn’t make Pierce any less guilty of talking her brother into joining the FBI, or sending him into the situation that eventually got him killed.

Roxanne pushed the past to the back of her mind, the dangerous trail her more immediate concern. She let Sassy choose her footing on the way up.

She waited long enough to ensure Pierce made it out of the canyon. Thankfully, the shooter wasn’t watching for them. Neither were the other Thunder Horse men. Based on the angle of the sun hovering over the horizon, it was very early in the morning.

If she was lucky, she could get in a good day’s work, despite having lost the day before to the attack. The cattle auction was coming up soon and she had to have her animals loaded and shipped before that day or she’d be in even worse shape financially than she was physically. The thought of the shooter still disturbed her, but it wasn’t as if she could go into hiding. She had a ranch to run.

As Pierce and Cetan cleared the rim, Roxanne nudged Sassy into a canter, headed toward the Carmichael Ranch. She could hear Pierce and Cetan behind her, but didn’t rein in to wait for them. She was in too much of a hurry to get home. Having been out of contact for over half a day, she wondered if anything else had gone wrong while she’d been gone.

Thirty minutes later, she rode into the barnyard and dismounted.

Before Pierce could climb down off his horse, Roxanne handed over Sassy’s reins. “Thank you for the use of your horse. You can go now.”

Pierce’s lips quirked at the corners for a moment, but he quickly grew serious again. “You can’t dismiss me that easily. What happened with the shooter could happen again.”

“Yes, it could. But you sticking around won’t change that. He didn’t hesitate to shoot at me in front of you before.”

Pierce hesitated, his eyes narrowing.

“I have four ranch hands and a foreman running around the place. If that man comes back, he’ll definitely be outnumbered. I’ll be okay. You can leave now.”

Pierce didn’t budge.

“Fine,” Roxanne said. “I’ll make sure I don’t ride alone and I’ll carry my own rifle.” She planted her fists on her hips. “Satisfied?” She shook her head. “You’d think I didn’t have a mind of my own.”

“The man who attacked you didn’t give up easily. He might come back to finish the job.”

“Let me worry about that.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a ton of work to do, and I want to get it done before I head back out to check on Sweet Jessie.” Roxanne strode toward the barn.

Nothing moved behind her, leaving her in no doubt that Pierce wasn’t heading home yet.

“My brothers and I will ride out this afternoon and check on Sweet Jessie and the herd,” Pierce called out. “No need for you to do it.”