Chapter Ten
Reed raced after Mona, placing his body and horse directly behind her, hoping the bullets flying toward them wouldn’t knock the woman from her horse. He prayed the storm would hold off until they could find a safe place to hide. His prayers went unanswered. Rain pelted him as his horse picked up speed, galloping across the open prairie toward the maze of canyon walls.
They skirted the pen of cattle, headed into the twisting, turning paths that led into the gorge.
His horse stumbled on the rocky ground, terrain four-wheelers could negotiate just as easily, if not better. A horse could break a leg or rear up and dump its rider on the ground, injuring both Mona and her baby or leaving them vulnerable to the thieves.
His pulse hammering against his temples, Reed raced at a breakneck speed following the brave woman ahead of him.
When she made a sharp turn into what looked like a dead-end ravine, he almost shouted out his frustration. They’d be trapped. And then what? Would the thieves kill them to keep their identity a secret? Or post an armed guard until they were finished loading the cattle?
Reed wasn’t taking any chances on the former. The latter option he could handle. A herd of cattle wasn’t worth Mona’s life, or the baby’s. They should have stayed back at the ranch and waited until the rustlers had taken the cattle, then called the state police to stop the truck. Surely the electricity would have come back on within minutes. If not, they could have gone into town and used the computers at the library the next day to track the cattle.
His hindsight wasn’t doing him any good at this point, when all his focus was needed to negotiate the darkened trail only lit with increasing intensity by the storm swirling overhead.
The trail narrowed into a rocky ravine fit only for agile animals, not four-wheelers. When he emerged at the top, Reed looked back. In the meager lightening flashes, he could see three foolish bikers careening up the pass after them. One of them flipped, the four-wheeler tumbling over the top of him and back down the steep draw, just missing the last one coming up.
“Come on!” Mona called out. She raced her horse across a flat plateau that led to another ravine snaking upward to the top of the canyon. At the base of the ravine, she dropped out of her saddle and slapped the horse’s behind, sending him up the trail riderless. Then she ran toward the bluffs, disappearing into the shadows.
Reed swung out of his saddle, grabbed the rifle from the scabbard and slapped his horse’s flanks. Startled by the slap, the gelding bucked forward and followed the mare up the ravine.
As Reed dived for the shadows, the two four-wheelers leaped over the edge and onto the plateau.
One rider paused, racing his engine, then he turned in a slow circle panning the flat area, searching for his quarry.
When the light turned in Reed’s direction, he hugged the ground, lying across his rifle, closing his eyes to avoid any glare off metal or pupils.
The engines roared like raging lions and gunshots blasted into the night, mixing with the sound of thunder. He resisted the urge to cover his ears, knowing any movement could give him away. Rain dripped across Reed’s forehead and down the back of his neck, but he remained motionless.
The noise went on for only half a minute, then everything stopped. Silence reigned except for the shouts from the rustlers gathering the cattle far below and the booming thunder echoing against the cliffs.
What were they waiting on? If Reed thought he could take both of them out without risking Mona, he would attack. But if he shot at them, they’d shoot back. With Mona somewhere behind him, he couldn’t risk a bullet finding her in the shadows.
Rocks trickled down the upper ravine and the sound of a horse’s whinny high above the plateau caught the riders’ attention.
Engines roared to life and the four-wheelers shot up the steep, rocky embankment. With the rain increasing in force, the ravine turned into a stream, slowing their progress.
Reed lay still for several seconds longer, before low-crawling through the mud and deeper into the shadows.
“Mona?” he called out softly.
“Here.”
He moved toward the sound of her voice, feeling his way along the base of the cliff until he bumped into something soft.
Her small hand shot out and captured his arm, dropping down to clasp his hand.
“Are you all right?” He touched her face in the darkness, only a silhouette of her image visible and the whites of her eyes glowing pale gray in the inky blackness of the cliff’s shadow. A flash of lightning illuminated her face, highlighting wide, brown eyes and tan skin.
“I’m fine. I was more concerned about you.” She leaned her cheek into his palm briefly and then straightened. “They’ll be back in a minute when they figure out we ditched the horses.”
Reed glanced around at the impenetrable face of the cliffs. The wind blew so hard, he bent double under the pressure. “If this storm gets any worse, they won’t be worried so much about us.” A quick glance at the clouds lit by lightning confirmed his worse fears. The green tinge and swirling tails dipping toward the ground meant something to be feared more than rustlers. A tornado.
Mona tugged at his hand. “Come on. I know a place to hide.”
* * *
M ONA INCHED ALONG the base of the cliff. Brief flashes of lightning lit her path to the cliff caves she had explored with Catalina and Jesse when they were younger. If she was where she thought she was, there were caves close by.
Rocks, small tree limbs and other debris flew through the air, tossed about by the raging storm. Just as she was beginning to think she had the wrong place, the first pellets of hail rained down on her shoulders and a black gaping maw opened up in the side of the bluff.
The cave!
Mona ducked into the entrance as the sky broke open. Rain fell in sheets, interspersed with pea-size hail, growing as large as marbles.
Reed crowded in behind her, the overhang of the cliff sheltering them from the worst the storm had to offer.
When the wind drove the rain and hail into the cave’s opening, Reed wrapped his arms around her and hauled her deeper into the dark interior.
Her skin and clothes soaked through by the rain, Mona shivered. “Think there are any animals in here with us?” The words came out between the chattering of her teeth.
“If there were, we’d have heard them by now.” He stood still in the darkness, his hands resting lightly on her arms.
Surrounded by inky blackness, Mona thanked her Texas stars she was with Reed. His strength made her feel as if the storm and the rustlers couldn’t touch her here. Then he dropped his hold on her arms and the cold enveloped her like an icy shroud.
With every flash of lightning, Reed moved a little farther away, searching the cave’s interior. “Looks safe enough for now. Maybe the storm will thwart the rustlers and they’ll give up and go home.”
“Preferably, without my cattle.”
For a few short minutes, neither spoke until Reed broke the silence. “Why didn’t you want me to tell the sheriff you were pregnant?”
Mona sucked in a breath and let it out. After her run-in with the sheriff, she knew Reed would ask her sooner or later about her reluctance to spill the news. But why here? Why now, when so much had happened? “I have my reasons.”
“If you go to town much longer, someone is bound to notice.”
“Then I won’t go to town.”
“What about when you deliver?”
“That’ll be in Amarillo.”
“If you make it there in time.” His fingers found her in the dark, curling around her arms. “What if you need to call 911?”
“I won’t.” She’d rather cross her legs for a hundred miles than allow the news of her child’s birth be announced over the local dispatcher’s radio. Her life and that of her baby could be at risk if a certain person were to find out the owner of Rancho Linda was expecting.
“What about when you bring the baby home?” Reed asked. “How will you explain it then?”
“I’ll say I adopted it.” She turned away, knowing her secret would get out, but refusing to cross that bridge until she had to.
A chill coursed across her skin. Now that she could slow down and get a grasp on the situation, the shock of being shot at sank in along with the worry of keeping her baby’s lineage a secret. Her shivers intensified to body-racking tremors. “I c-c-can’t s-stop sh-shaking.”
Reed folded her into his arms and held her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “You’re soaked to the skin.” He tugged her chambray shirt up high enough that he could place his warm hands against the cold skin of her lower back. Heat radiated from that point outward.
Giving in to the temptation, Mona laid her head against his chest, finding his wet clothing warmed by the hot-blooded skin beneath. He smelled of prairie, rain and leather. Her breath caught in her throat and held as wild and dangerous thoughts of unbuttoning his shirt and running her hands over his chest raced through her consciousness.
From chillingly cold to steaming hot in the space of minutes, Mona snuggled closer. Gone from her mind were the worries of the rustlers finding her, the cattle being lost and the storm churning outside. Inside the cozy little cave, a storm of much greater intensity raged.
All her resolutions to steer clear of men, her self-induced celibacy, slid from rational thought into the moisture drenching her inside, preparing her for what she really wanted. To be with this man in the most intimate way, here in the dark, in a cave, in a storm.
Reed’s hands skimmed over her back and downward to the curve of her hips, tugging her closer.
A moan rose up between them. Mona wasn’t sure whether it was her or him, nor did she care. Thick denim stood in the way of feeding her desire. She pressed nearer to him, wrapping one leg around the back of his so that she could rub her aching need against his thickly muscled thigh.
Rough fingers laced through her hair, dragging her face closer, then he claimed her lips in a slanting kiss, grinding over her teeth and plundering deep into her mouth.
She gave as good as she got, her arms circling his neck, her hands cupping the back of his head. Wanting more than a kiss, more than pressing soaked, fully clothed bodies against each other, she craved skin-to-skin contact. Her hands found their way between them, jerking at the buttons of his shirt until they loosened or popped free of the thread holding them. When she reached the waistline of his jeans, she didn’t stop there. The hard metal button proved difficult, but she was up to the challenge and soon had it loose, reaching for the zipper.
His hand closed over hers. “Are you sure this is what you want? Aren’t you afraid?” The flash of lightning blasted the dark interior of the cave, showing the sincerity in his face. The lines around his mouth also confirmed the amount of restraint he exerted to let her stop at this point.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” Or more afraid. Her hand dragged the zipper downward. Rain, hail and thunder beat against the cliffs, echoing the thrumming of blood through her veins. She couldn’t go back now.
When he sprang free into her hands, she rejoiced that he was a man who preferred to ride commando, nothing but jeans.
His hands had risen during her desperate efforts to strip him of his clothing, working the buttons and zipper of her own. When it came to the part where Reed shoved her shirt down over her shoulders, Mona gulped, thanking the heavens for the cloudy night and the dark interior of the cave. With a protruding belly and overly large breasts, she wasn’t in the best shape.
He dragged her pants down her legs, helping her to step out of her boots and then the jeans one leg at a time, careful not to unbalance her.
Finally she stood naked in the darkness, cool air caressing her feverish body.
Reed’s hands trailed from her ankles upward, massaging her calves and thighs, his fingers working magic, steadily climbing upward until they found the sweet spot.
Mona cried out, leaning into his palm, touching her forehead to his chest, her breaths coming in labored puffs.
His fingers stopped their slow torture. “Am I hurting you?”
“Yes, in the best possible way.” She laid her hand over his. “Don’t stop now. That would hurt even more.”
Her hands explored his shoulders and chest, tweaking the hard buttons of his nipples. She wished she had more light so that she could see the muscles rippling beneath her. Instead, she explored by touch alone, a heady sensation, cloaked in mystery and unabashed wonder.
Wind howled outside their haven and rain pounded on the rocks, creating a waterfall at the cave entrance. The effect was a constant roaring to match the blood pounding in her ears, blocking out the question threatening to break through her haze of desire. What was she thinking?
Reed bent and took the tip of her breast into his mouth, sucking gently then rolling the beaded tip with his tongue.
Mona’s head lolled back, her hair brushing against her bottom. The answer to her question reverberated against the walls of the cave in a long, low moan originating from deep in her throat.
She didn’t care what she was thinking as long as Reed kept doing what he was doing to make her forget everything else.
He walked her backward until her backside bumped against smooth, cool stone. There he hiked her up, careful not to jostle her belly, wrapping her legs around his waist.
With his hands on her hips, he guided her down over him, filling her slowly. “Tell me if it hurts. We’ll stop.”
“Please, don’t stop.” She eased lower, wary of the baby inside, but unwilling to give up the sensations filling her, stretching her to accommodate his length and girth.
Only five and a half months since she’d had sex, and then with a man who’d later shown his true colors, she was tight and feeling it. Loneliness had driven her into the arms of the wrong man before. Loneliness wasn’t what drove her into Reed’s arms now. Hot, raging passion compelled her to fall into the hired hand’s arms. All she wanted was to slake her desires and be done with him. After all, she was a woman with certain needs demanding to be met by this man.
This time when she made love, she had nothing to lose…but her heart.