Vickie Britton, page 20
I wrung my hands, confused, unhappy. “So much has changed. He’s a stranger to me now. More than he’s ever been.”
His deep, understanding eyes seemed to read into my soul. All at once, they were Tavas’s eyes.
I looked down at my hands, white from being clenched. “Anyway, I didn’t come down here to discuss my marriage prospects. I came to find out how the work’s going.”
“Another day or so and we’ll be done with the branding.”
“Any more disturbances?”
“The men’ve been too busy to argue much, but wait till the roundup’s over, and then watch them fight.”
“Guillermo, you’ve been such a help to me,” I exclaimed impulsively. “I don’t know how I’d ever have gotten through these last few days without you.”
He looked down at his boots, embarrassed. “Don’t forget to hunt up that land lease agreement for me. DeGarza’s coming over tomorrow to sign for another year’s grazing rights.”
“I haven’t forgotten. I looked through Tavas’s desk the other day, but the lease wasn’t with the rest of the papers.”
“I saw it…oh—not a week before he died.”
“It must have gotten shuffled up to the attic by mistake. I’ll go up there and look around.” I rose from my chair. “Well, thanks. For listening.”
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“Anytime, my girl. And you think over what Alice and I were discussing,” he added with a wink.
“I will, but I warn you not to go ringing any wedding bells. I’m enjoying my independence. In fact, I just might decide to stay an old maid.”
“Now, wouldn’t that be a shame?”
I spun around, startled to come face to face with Ivan. He leaned against the door frame, watching me. A smile played upon his lips; his sultry eyes mocked me. As I squeezed past him our shoulders accidentally brushed, making me suddenly very much aware of his masculine strength, his virility. He smelled like the outdoors, like open spaces. His boots and Levi’s were dusty. The corduroy work shirt was rolled up at the sleeves, exposing the corded muscles of his tanned forearms, muscles developed by years of ranch work. I looked up into those deep black eyes, for a moment held captive by them. Then, quickly, I turned away and stepped outside.
Why does he always have such a disarming effect on me? began to walk hastily toward the branding area, concentrating on the scene ahead of me. I could see the dust fly as one cowboy roped a young bull around the neck while another held him down. Guillermo was right. Men who’d been on the verge of fighting such a short time ago were now working side by side like lifelong friends—but it wouldn’t last.
For a while, I stood watching the branding. Then I moved away. I wasn’t ready to go back to the house to face Brad or listen to Alice’s well-intentioned matchmaking. I wanted to have time alone to sort out my thoughts. I began walking toward the canyon. Near its dark edge, I sank down on one of the splintered boulders to think.
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Even before I turned, I could sense his presence. He must have been following me. Two quick steps brought Ivan to my side.
“I just had a very strange conversation with Guillermo.” His eyes glinted with a hard, savage light. “He told me you and Brad… Why are you doing this…to spite me? You’re not going to marry him!”
How word traveled. It seemed the entire ranch now knew Brad had asked me to be his wife. “Ivan…I don’t know—”
He was beside me on the stone. His hand clasped mine strongly, warmly. “If only I could promise you some happiness…some kind of future—”
“Don’t. You don’t have to explain.” How well I understood that Colleen still stood between us.
“I’m not losing you again.” His eyes blazing, he drew me roughly into his strong arms. Imagined kisses became reality as his lips explored mine, gentle at first, caressing, then increasingly more urgent, demanding response. “Damn it, Anna. I love you.”
Then he was gone. I sat alone on my rock, my lips still tingling from his unexpected kiss, my body warm from his embrace. I heard a sudden rustling in the bushes. “Ivan?”
The trees parted, but it wasn’t Ivan who came to stand before me. It was Victor, laughing like some overgrown, twisted child.
“Lovers,” he chortled. “The canyon attracts them like flies.”
“Victor—”
“I always find out about lovers. Guillermo was so angry when I found out about ‘them’. They used to meet out here by the rocks, too,” he added with a vague smile.
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“Who, Victor? Are you talking about Colleen? Please tell me.”
“Guillermo’d be angry if he knew…”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m talking about a long time ago. About a secret. About lovers,” he replied with that sly, maddening grin. Then he turned and slipped into the shadows. I sat silent, watching him disappear into the darkness.
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Chapter 30
I was near the stream again. Something was pursuing me, some half-seen, frightening beast, snorting, making that high-pitched whinnying sound, pawing the earth. The same dream over and over. Time after time during the night I’d awakened, trembling, bathed in a cold sweat.
The room was heavy with darkness. Sitting up in bed, I decided that it must be close to midnight. The cloudy half-moon cast a purplish light over the sparse, heavy pieces of oak furniture, making the familiar seem oddly foreign. The antique dresser’s high mirror was hazy in the gloom, its images blurred and distorted. The open door of the closet made a gaping mouth, an entrance into another world. I snuggled deeper into the feather comforter, drawing security from its enfolding warmth.
A sudden sound made me pull the covers from my head. Slowly, I turned toward the window, listening again for the faint, tapping sound, like tree branches brushing against wood.
I froze, my stiff fingers clutching the comforter in a death grip. An enormous black shadow filled up the window, blocking out the moon, throwing the room into a blinding, terrible darkness. The creature of my nightmare was out there.
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The sound became more frantic, like fingernails clawing glass. Now a pair of enormous eyes with marble pupils glared at me from the window as the shape of an immense, dark head rose out of the darkness. Akerra.
Panic made my heart thump strongly against my chest. With a terrifying, bestial cry, the creature lurched forward, white horns glowing, ramming its head against the wood below my windowpane. He reared back again and this time I heard the rattling of the pane as he made contact. The glass quivered, threatening to shatter.
I held my breath, bracing myself for another angry attack—the inevitable crash of glass—but there was only my rapid, frightened breathing. Whatever had been out there was gone.
Slowly, I moved over to the window. Only the long, jagged marks below my windowpane gave evidence that the huge, menacing creature had been more than a terrifying dream.
My bare feet were cold against the tile of the hallway as I crossed through the empty family room toward the stairs, taking them two at a time. I reached Brad’s room first. I pounded on his door, calling his name. No answer. Hesitating only a moment, I flung the door open and rushed inside. “Brad, I…” A quick, anxious glance at the rumpled, empty bed made me realize he wasn’t there.
Calmer now, I sank down heavily on the chair near the cluttered bureau. I didn’t want to go back to my room alone. Nor did I want to disturb Alice. And the idea of going to Ivan’s room in the middle of the night was unthinkable. I’d wait. Surely, Brad would return any moment. I glanced at the door leading out into the hallway, expecting to hear his footsteps approaching. After all, where could he have gone this time of night except across
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the hallway to the bathroom or perhaps downstairs for a drink of water?
What’ll he think to discover me waiting here in his bedroom in the dead of night? I shivered again, realizing I wore no robe. It wasn’t as if Brad hadn’t seen me in my nightgown before. After all, we’d grown up together. Still, modesty made me aware the flimsy, nearly transparent silk gown barely covered me, and I suddenly wished for a wrap.
Besides, I was cold—Brad always slept with his windows wide open, even in the dead of winter. Surely, under the circumstances, he won’t mind if I borrowed a robe or a T-shirt from his closet…
With this idea in mind, I stepped over to the huge oak closet and opened the door. Brad was never much of a housekeeper. Shirts and trousers hung crookedly from hangers and some of them had fallen into a heap on the closet floor where they’d undoubtedly become mingled with his dirty clothes before he even had a chance to wear them.
Dirty clothes—it seemed they were heaped to the ceiling. I rummaged through the mess, unable to locate a robe, so I took one of his heavy flannel work shirts and wrapped it gratefully around my bare shoulders.
I moved to shut the closet door, but something was jammed up against it. The leg of a pair of blue jeans had slipped from the top of the massive pile. I bent to retrieve them when something bundled in the far corner of the closet caught my eye.
Chilling fear numbed me as I reached for the strange, dark bundle. A cloak. A hooded black cloak like the members of the Cult of Akerra wore.
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“My God.” My voice was nothing more than a strangled whisper. Fear took over as I wondered where Brad had gone.
Before I could move, I heard his footsteps just outside the door. Then he stepped into the room, his mouth opening in startled surprise to see me standing there in my lacy gown and his shirt, the black, hooded cloak swirling before me like some grotesque masquerade costume.
“Anna…” he began, edging toward me. The cloak slipped from my hand. Slowly, it drifted to the floor, an ominous black stain on the sky-blue rug.
Without a word, I pushed past him and out into the hallway. I knew he was following me. He overtook me near the stairs, clutching painfully at my arm, desperate to detain me.
“It’s not what you think. I found that cloak. In the cabin.”
“I don’t believe you!”
“You must.” Forced to face him, to stare into those earnest, amber eyes, I found my conviction wavering. I could read Brad’s expressions well enough to believe he was telling the truth.
“Where have you been?” I shivered, realizing his hands on my shoulders were as cold as ice.
“I just tied up one of the bulls. He was wandering around in the garden below my window.”
My mind raced back to the immense, black creature ramming its head against my windowpane. “Brad…was he fierce?”
He shrugged. “No. He was docile as a lamb.” He frowned. “Why? What’s going on? What were you doing in my room?”
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“Someone let that bull loose on purpose,” I replied shakily. “Someone led him out there below my window and then made him angry enough to charge.”
“What? If he’d broken the glass, you might have been hurt!” His face turned suddenly pale. “Surely you don’t believe that I had anything to do with this madness?” He pinioned me against the wall near the top of the polished stairs, the pressure of his strong, callused hands tightening upon my shoulders. “You must believe me, Anna, Darling. I’d never do anything to harm you.”
His face was inches from my own. I could see every feature clearly, from the clear, amber eyes to the broad nose and slightly wide lips.
“I want to protect you from the monster behind this insanity. Don’t you know how much you mean to me?” His arms tightened into an embrace as he pulled me tightly against his chest. Then his lips were on mine…
“Well, isn’t this cozy?” A cold, mocking voice from behind us made Brad release me, a guilty look on his face. Ivan stood in the shadowy hallway. He was fully dressed despite the lateness of the hour. I could see his hands clench and unclench at his sides.
The blind fury in the set of his muscles as he moved toward us put me in mind of the huge, enraged beast ramming its head against my windowpane in the darkness. When he spoke, his voice was harsh and commanding.
“I thought I warned you, Brad. Stay away from her.”
“Now, Ivan…” His voice was pleading. “This isn’t how it seems.”
“How many times have you said that to me?”
I sensed an unspoken meaning to his words, something understood only between the two of them. I saw Brad’s
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lower lip quiver nervously as Ivan advanced toward him
menacingly.
Again he tried to explain. “Ivan…”
“Leave us,” Ivan snapped.
To my awe, Brad obeyed.
Then Ivan and I were alone together in the long, dark hallway. As he came toward me, I felt a shiver creep down my spine. I’d never seen him quite like this before. His wild, dark hair fell in tangled disarray about his face; his obsidian eyes glinted with a deadly light.
“Now, what’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.
His voice was deceptively soft; the tone menacing. “I saw you coming out of his room.” Cynical eyes brushed over Brad’s flannel shirt which I’d so innocently thrown over my gown, and color rose to my cheeks as I realized what Ivan must be thinking, what any man would think. “Ivan, it’s not—”
His handsome features were distorted with anger. He drew back his hand as if to strike me. Instinctively, I raised my arm to defend myself. This was the Ivan I didn’t know, the side of him that frightened me. Sobbing, I covered my face with my hands.
“Anna.”
I saw the look of horror on his dark face.
“What kind of a monster have I become?”
Gently, he pulled me to him, his hands caressing me softly, soothingly. Brad’s borrowed shirt had fallen aside, exposing the frothy transparency of the revealing gown beneath. I heard him draw in his breath.
“So beautiful,” he whispered, pulling me even closer against the hardness of his lean, muscular body. I could feel the fire that had always been smoldering between us burst into flame as he held me close. “God, how I want you.”
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I shivered with longing as his lips claimed my own, as his strong, dark fingers traced the tender hollow above my breasts, exposed by the wispy lace. “Ivan…” I moaned. I was prepared to give this stormy, tempestuous man my heart, my soul, my love.
Suddenly, he pushed me away from him. I saw naked hunger in his eyes, but when he spoke, his voice was filled with bleak despair.
“I thought you might be different, my love,” he said, the tinge of irony in his voice revealing his dark thoughts. It was the voice of one who has trusted one last time, only to be deceived. For a moment he stood silently, staring into my eyes. Then, with a bitter, mocking smile, he released me. “Is there no woman born, Anna?” he demanded softly, “who can be true to one man?”
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Chapter 31
I sat at the kitchen table, nursing a second cup of coffee, when Brad stepped into the room. He looked tired and washed out. His eyes had dark hollows beneath them, visible reminders of a restless night.
“Morning,” he murmured, avoiding my eyes. Wandering over to the stove, he began frying eggs. Six of them, I counted silently as he broke them into the pan. Six eggs and half a pound of bacon. It was evident that the upsetting confrontation with Ivan last night hadn’t affected his appetite.
He brought his plate over and sat down opposite me. For a long moment there was only the sound of his fork scraping against the plate. He’d have to break the awkward silence soon, I realized with wry amusement as he took another worried look at his empty coffee cup. He’d never get through breakfast without his coffee, but the pot lay far beyond his reach. Again, he eyed it wistfully.
“Any more of that stuff?” he asked finally.
I filled his cup, glad the embarrassed silence between us had finally been broken.
“It’s probably pretty strong,” I cautioned.
He shrugged, indicating it didn’t matter. I knew it could taste like poison and he’d drink it. I know him well. So
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well I could almost predict his every move. I know him so much better than I’ll ever know Ivan.
Brad’s hand grazed mine over the coffee cup and we were suddenly forced into eye contact. “I want to apologize for last night. I wasn’t sure I should leave you alone with Ivan. I…didn’t want to cause a scene.”
“Let’s just forget about it.”
He took a long drink of his coffee. “About that…cloak. I did find it in the cabin. That day I went back to search—”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“I didn’t want to frighten you. I…thought maybe I could find out more about it. So…I hid it in my closet. Thought that would be a pretty safe spot,” he added with the slight beginnings of a grin.
“I can see why,” I conceded, glad for the touch of humor which meant we were on friendly terms again. “Don’t you ever do your laundry?”
He shrugged. “Guess I need a woman to do it for me,” he joked, but his eyes were serious.
I ignored the remark. “Well, I’m supposed to meet Guillermo in his office.” I pulled back my chair.
Brad, pushing back his empty plate, also rose. “Let me walk with you. I’m going down to the corrals. We’re branding the last of this herd today, but Martin thought he saw a few mavericks wandering around near the Pass. Said he thinks some of them might be ours. I’ll probably take a couple of the men with me and go up there tomorrow.”
We walked side by side. It promised to be another unseasonably warm day. Only the tall, white-capped peaks in the distance served as a reminder the snow had already come and gone. My sidelong glance at Brad caught a pensive look on his face.
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“What happened between you and Ivan?” I asked suddenly. “What happened while I was away?”
He gave no reply, but the strange look in his yellow-flecked eyes spoke for him. Something had driven a sharp wedge between their friendship.
“Was it Colleen?”
I saw him flinch at the mention of her name. When he spoke, his voice was guilt-ridden. “She was so miserable, Anna. He was making her so unhappy. She came to me—I only wanted to help her…”
