Reckless Love

"Teach me?" she whispered.

"Yes," he said. "Every chance I get. All the way from here to Wyoming. And then-"

"No," she interrupted, arching up to meet him. "No tomorrows. Just teach me. Teach me now."

He started to speak, then forgot what he was going to say when her hands moved.

"Like this?" Ja

"Sweet… God… yes," Ty! said. His whole body tightened and moved with her hands in a sinuous dance that made him tremble. He lowered his head until he could feel her breath against his lips. "And like this," he whispered, fitting first his body and then his mouth to hers, thrusting deeply into her generous warmth. "And this…and this…"

Even as Ja

Chapter Twenty-Four

The brutal crack of rifle fire at the northwest end of Raven Creek's meadow jerked Ja

Neither one moved.

No more sounds came. After a few minutes Ty eased away from Ja

Without talking, they withdrew to the place where they had slept. Ty reached for his backpack at the same instant that Ja

As soon as Ja

"I'd kiss you," he said very Softly, looking hungrily at her mouth, "but if I did, I'd undress you and lie between your legs again. That wouldn't be a very smart thing to do right now."

Ja

In the clear yellow light of morning, the signs were unmistakable-a group of unshod horses had grazed the meadow within the past few days. The presence of small hoofprints and diminutive manure piles told Ty and Ja

"Troon," Ja

"How can you tell?"

"See how worn the shoe is on the left front hoof? Troon's too cheap to get his horse shod regularly."

"Wasn't bothering to hide his trail, was he?" Ty muttered.

"He was probably drunk."

"Then he's probably dead. Was it Lucifer's bunch he was following?"

"I can't tell from the tracks around here. I'd have to go to the center and check the muddy spots along Raven Creek. Besides, Lucifer never mixes with his herd when the mares graze. If this is his bunch, his tracks will be off to the side somewhere."

Both Ja

Ty's hard green eyes searched the boundary between forest and meadow, seeking any sign that Indians were about. Birds called and flew naturally, landed in low branches or on the meadow itself. No bird flew up with a startled outcry, indicating that danger lay hidden somewhere around Raven Creek's meadow itself.

Ja

Moving quickly and quietly, Ja

Ty never became impatient with Ja

It's a good thing she didn't get up here before I found her, Ty thought as he watched Ja

Part of Ty wondered if that wouldn't have been better for both of them, but even as the question occurred to him he denied it. The thought of never having known such intense, consuming pleasure was unbearable to him. Memories of the night before licked like scented fire over his body. For an instant he savored the sensuous rush of images, tasted again in memory Ja

Making no sound, Ja

He didn't notice the extra weight, much less complain of it. There had been too many times in the past when he would have sold his soul for extra ammunition. He felt the same way about the beef jerky that he was chewing on at the moment-it might have been tougher than leather, unsalted and stone dry, but it was food arid he had been hungry too many times in the past to be fussy about what he ate now.

The wind breathed softly over Ja