Reckless Love

"Sorry," muttered Ja

He grunted.

Zebra kept on walking and Ja

The fifth time Ja

As Ja

"Damn, what is her tail made of-nettles?"

Ja

Zebra balked and humped her back in warning.

"What's wrong with her?" Ty asked, turning to look over his shoulder at Ja

"I was trying not to hurt your back."

"My back? My back is just fi-" Abruptly Ty remembered what he had said about his back being hurt by Ja

"I'd rather not," Ja

Ty kicked his right leg over Zebra's neck and slid off onto the ground. "Get up there where you belong," he said in a curt voice. "I'll walk."

"No, I'll walk," Ja

"I'm all healed up."

"But you said your back-"

"Get on that mustang before I lose my temper," Ty said flatly, cutting across Ja

"Lose your temper? Impossible. You'd have to find it first."

Ty glared into Ja

At that instant Ty abandoned all thought of climbing on Zebra behind Ja

Cursing steadily beneath his breath, Ty reached up to drag Ja

Even as Ty withdrew his hands, he wondered if he had been as wrong about Ja

"Stand still," Ty said harshly as Ja

"Now listen, you son of-"

A broad, hard palm covered Ja

"No, you listen to me, boy," snarled Ty. "We're going to get on that horse and you're going to ride far enough forward that Zebra's spine isn't hurt. She's a good-sized mare, but carrying double is still a lot of weight for her, especially when one of her riders is my size."

Ja

"I'll walk," Ja

"Like hell you will. It's too far."

"I've walked a lot farther in a morning."

"And left footprints every step of the way. If you take time to hide your trail, it'll take a week to get to town. If you don't hide your trail, the next man through that gap won't be Mad Jack. It will be Cascabel."

There was a moment of silence while Ja

"It won't hurt Zebra to carry double," Ty said, "especially without a saddle. Just don't ride so far back."

"What about you? I don't want to hurt your back, either."

He closed his eyes so as not to see the unhappiness in Ja

"I'm ticklish, that's all," Ty said grimly. "My back is fine."

"Oh."

Ty swung up onto Zebra, helped Ja

Think of her as a boy.

Ty tried. All he could think of was the lush resilience of Ja

Be grateful she doesn't have big breasts to rub against you.

Ty tried to be grateful. All he could think of was pulling off Ja

The reflexive tightening of Ty's body in response to his thoughts was communicated to Zebra. Sensing his agitation without understanding its source, she began to shy at the breeze stirring through the belly-deep grass as though it were a yellow-eyed cougar stalking her.

Ja

"I don't know what's wrong with her," Ja

"Doubt it," Ty said in a clipped voice. "That old man has been outsmarting trackers for more years than I've been alive. Zebra's probably just nervous about having two riders."

Ja

By the time they approached the slit in the cliffs that surrounded the valley, Zebra no longer shied at every shadow, Ja

And it seemed that she touched him everywhere, except in those places where he ached to the point of pain.