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I'll tell you what would happen, Ty thought to himself. You'd spend the night hungry and freezing your butt off in the cold and Lucifer would spend it belly-deep in food with Ja
With a muttered curse Ty followed Lucifer over the wet, rocky ground to the invisible opening in the plateau's wall. The face of the plateau at this point was made of broken ranks of sheer rocky cliffs punctuated by dark mounds of black lava. As though to make up for the precipitous nature of the land, the cliffs were only a tenth of the height of the heavily eroded wall Ja
Even so, Ja
Ahead of Ty both horses stopped abruptly. Zebra snorted nervously when Ja
Inside the slot, moonlight was reduced to a pale glimmering over the surface of the water. The horses were better off than the humans, both by reason of four legs and the superior night vision of equines. Even with those advantages, the horses didn't have an easy time of it. Ja
When they emerged into the valley, humans and animals alike were soaked by a combination of rain, runoff water and sweat.
"That's it, girl," Ja
Zebra trotted off into the moonlight, heading for the sweet grass and clover she had discovered on her previous visit. Ty considered hobbling Lucifer, then rejected the idea. Even if the stallion wanted to leave Zebra, Lucifer was too tired to take on the slot again. With a few smooth motions Ty removed the hackamore. When it was off, he rubbed away all the marks the leather had left on the horse's head. Lucifer leaned into the touch, obviously enjoying it.
"Yeah, I know. It doesn't take long to get spoiled, does it?" murmured Ty, thinking of Ja
"Tomorrow I'll give you a good rubdown, but right now you need food more than you need petting. Go follow Zebra, son. She knows where all the sweet things are in this place."
After Ty removed his hand, it took a moment for the stallion to realize that he was free. When he did, he snorted, shook his head and limped off after Zebra. Ty looked away just in time to see Ja
By the time Ty got to the cliff overhang Ja
Only when water was warming over the fire did Ja
"I took three shirts from Preacher's store. Do you want one of them?"
The sound of Ty's voice startled Ja
"No," Ja
She unlaced her soggy moccasins and set them aside to dry. With cold hands she worked beneath the poncho, unwinding the cloth that bound her breasts. The motions sent stabbing pains through her bruised arm. She set her teeth and continued. She had suffered worse injuries in the past; she would probably suffer more in the future.
Ty didn't bother to ask if Ja
"Don't you have something for that?" he asked.
"Yes."
Ja
"Hold still, sugar. Let me help you."
Afraid to trust her voice, Ja
"Yes," Ty countered instantly. "You've patched me up often enough. Now it's your turn to be patched."
Ja
And she hated it, both the memory and the desire, hated wanting a man whose feelings for her teetered between pity and contempt, lust and indifference.
"You're chilled through and through," Ty said, frowning as he saw Ja
She shook her head, refusing him, refusing her memories, refusing everything.
"Ja
Ty didn't wait for an answer. Ja
With an inarticulate cry Ja
"It's too late to be shy," he said flatly, ignoring her attempts to stop him from unwrapping her breasts. "Hold still while I get this wet stuff off you."
"Let go of me."
The quality of Ja
"Ja
His voice was gentle but Ja
"Little one?" Ty asked, tipping Ja
When he would have kissed her again, she jerked her head away. "Don't touch me. I don't feel like being your whore tonight."