Texas Midnight

She was completely unprepared when her feet slipped on the rock. Before she could catch herself, she tumbled into the icy water. The shock was so intense that when she came up for air, she was gasping.

Anna felt as if she’d been shot. Her flannel shirt, sopping, tugged her beneath the surface. She worked the buttons and slipped out of it, flopping it up on the rock.

The current was stronger than it had first seemed, and Anna clutched at the rock until she regained her wind and her composure. The moment struck her as funny, and she chuckled at the stupidity of her situation.

Now that she was over the initial shock of the water, she found that it wasn’t as cold as she’d first assumed. In fact, it was downright pleasant, even if the current was a little fast for her taste. She let go of the rock, swam to the center of the deep pool and began to swim against the current. After the long hours in the saddle, the free sensation of swimming was wonderful.

Realizing that she hadn’t packed additional clothes, Anna took off her under-things and threw them up on the bank in the sun. She wanted to dry them before she rode on. Naked, she gave herself to the cold water and the hot sun and memories of a childhood of freedom.

FOAM LATHERED Jetta’s neck as Jeremy pushed the mare harder. He was closing in on Anna. He could tell. On the top of a rise he pulled to a halt and scanned the small valley below him.

The Guadeloupe shimmered through a break of cottonwood trees. On his first examination, Jeremy spotted the Appaloosa grazing on the bank of the river. He had found Anna Red Shoes!

“Easy, Jetta,” he said to the mare as he backed her away. The horse he was leading had pricked up her ears and was getting ready to call out to the horses by the river.

“Shush!” he ordered, turning his mount away and heading both horses back down the hill. When he came to a grove of cedars, he got off and tied them up. The rest of the journey he’d make on foot.

He pulled the Marlin 30-30 out of his sheath, and checked it and his pistol to be sure they were loaded. Even as he did it, he felt melodramatic. Anna Red Shoes might be the granddaughter of a famous Native warrior and a murderer, but she was just a woman.

One that had bested him already, he reminded himself. She wasn’t someone to play around with. He hefted the rifle and a pair of binoculars, and started back up to the hillside.

He traveled north along the crest of the hill until he found several large rocks and some scrub cedars that made a good hiding place. He wedged himself among the boulders and pulled out the binoculars.

His gaze swept over the horses, grazing peacefully. Luckily his approach had been downwind or Anna’s horses would have smelled his. As it was, the little scene in the valley looked awfully quiet.

Anna was nowhere in sight, and he continued to search for her. She had to be nearby. She would never have left her horses alone.

Movement on the edge of the river caught his attention and he focused the binoculars there. His heart slammed hard against his ribs as he watched a tall, slender woman—dark hair dripping a curtain of water—climb up onto a rock. She was completely naked and seemed absolutely comfortable with her lack of clothing.

He held his breath until he thought his lungs would burst. Anna dove back into the river. It was a beautiful, controlled dive that revealed every inch of her perfect body.

Jeremy fought against the sensations that seemed to hit him with the force of a lightning bolt. He was a man who loved women, and he was always aware of their beauty. But he’d never had a reaction like the one Anna evoked.

He desired her. But he also held her in a certain awe. She was so much a part of the landscape. She belonged to the water of the Guadeloupe and the sun and the rocks in a way that he could only envy.

Jeremy wasn’t certain whether it was desire or envy that made him short of wind and dizzy. He lowered the binoculars and tried to rein in his imagination.

During the long, hot hours of tracking Anna Red Shoes he’d anticipated all kinds of trouble. He’d played out scenarios in which he had to lasso her and point a gun at her. Now all he wanted to do was kiss her—run his hands over her skin, now slick with water. He could almost feel the span of her slender waist, the swell of her hips.

He leaned back against a rock and closed his eyes. This was the woman who’d killed his friend and editor, Henry Mills. And he was having sexual fantasies about her. What was wrong with him?

He had to gain control of himself and the situation. He’d come all this way to do a job—his future depended on the way he handled this predicament. The only answer was for him to do what he’d come to do—take Anna back to the law.

His grip on the rifle tightened. He had several choices. He could send a few bullets into the river near Anna and frighten her good. That way she’d know he was armed and meant business. Or he could sneak up on her and take the up-close-and-personal approach.

He made his decision. Moving stealthily, he eased down to the river. Though it would put more of a personal strain on him, it was the safest bet in taking her prisoner. Anna would be distracted by the noise of the river.

He made it down to the river and quickly gathered up her clothes. Next he went to her horses. Releasing the hobbles, he slapped them on the rump and sent them running away. He’d just ducked behind a tree trunk, when Anna popped out of the water. She obviously heard the sound of hooves, and there was an expression of doubt and then despair as she watched her horses flee.

The expression that crossed her face next was one of wariness. She looked all around.

Jeremy could almost read her thoughts. She’d finally figured out that someone had taken the hobbles off the horses. Now she was looking for that someone.

He didn’t move as she crept up the rocky bank and eased from one rock to the next, slowly approaching her campsite and the place where she’d left her clothes.

The look of consternation on her face when she realized her clothes were missing was almost comic. But what happened next made his heart slam hard into his ribs for the second time.

Anna gave up her crouching position and stood tall and regal. “Whoever you are, come on out and face me,” she said, throwing down the challenge without a weapon or a stitch of clothes.

Jeremy was mesmerized. He couldn’t look away from her, and what he saw was a proud woman who refused to yield to fear or danger.

In that moment, he knew that he had never met anyone quite like Anna Red Shoes—and he felt a rush of regret that they were enemies.

Chapter Five

Out in the open, Anna felt colder than she had in the icy water. The sun was warm, but the idea that someone was watching her sent shivers down her spine. Her horses had galloped only three hundred yards away, but they might as well have been in Canada.

Her clothes were also gone, which meant that the person who’d turned her horses free was somewhere very close. Watching. The idea was frightening.

She had never felt so vulnerable, but she refused to show her fear. Her grandfather had taught her that to show fear was to invite tragedy. “You carry the blood of warriors,” he’d told her. “Always remember it. Never bow in fear.”

Heeding those long-remembered words and the pride that had never abandoned her grandfather, Anna stood straighter. She cleared her throat. “Whatever you want, tell me. Perhaps we can negotiate.”

It crossed her mind that someone from the posse might have caught up with her, but she dismissed that idea. It simply wasn’t possible. Even taking into account her nap and the fifteen minutes in the river, there was no way Jeremy Masterson or any of his cohorts could have closed in on her that fast.

One thing nagged at her: whomever was out there could have taken her horses, her gear and everything else. But her material possessions obviously weren’t what he or they were after. Anna didn’t like the other images that flickered through her mind, but she also refused to allow her imagination to cripple her.

“Whoever you are, come out and talk,” she said calmly.

When the tall man stepped out from behind the tree, she almost didn’t recognize Jeremy. The sun was behind him, putting his features into silhouette. When she finally realized who he was, she simply stared. He was like a vision—one of the old spirits her grandfather had warned her about.

Thunder Horse had often told her that there were unhappy spirits that roamed the earth looking for a human to attach to. Once the attachment was made, the spirit was very difficult to shake.

“How did you get free so fast?” she asked in a tone that showed she still doubted her eyes.

“Never underestimate a Texan,” he said slowly.

She was aware that he kept looking away from her. His gaze would flick up to her eyes and then drop away. She knew instantly—and with a strange sensation—that he was attracted to her body, and he didn’t want to acknowledge it. She filed the information away in case she needed it later. Another lesson she’d learned from her grandfather was that a man was only as strong as his greatest weakness. Jeremy Masterson loved women. She knew that from his writing and from his behavior. It wasn’t a trump she wanted to play, but it was one she’d use if she had to.

“May I have my clothes?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, “but first you have to promise me that you won’t try to escape.”

Anna almost didn’t believe her ears. Almost. Then again, considering the source, anything was possible. “You want to barter my clothes for a promise that I’ll follow you back to town like a sheep to the slaughter? I’m sorry, but where did you grow up?”

He nodded. “You’re not exactly in a position to dictate terms,” he pointed out as he held up her clothes.

“Forget it.” She turned away and sat down in the grass. The sun felt warm on her water-chilled body, and though she was intensely aware of Jeremy’s hot gaze, she refused to look at him.

Jeremy stood for a moment. “If you want to ride back to Kerrville as naked as the day you were born, that’s fine with me,” he said. “But you’re going back.”

Anna almost wanted to laugh. It obviously wasn’t fine with him, but he didn’t know what to do about it. She had learned something else about him. He was an arrogant man, but he didn’t enjoy the role of bully. She’d forced him to a place he didn’t like, and he was going to try to bluff his way out.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she said, not bothering to look at him—a little afraid to look at him. Knowing that he was looking at her with such undisguised desire made her ill-at-ease. Though he was a liar, she was not immune to him.

“We’re going back to Kerrville. The posse is only a couple of hours behind me.” He patted his foot. “It would be better for you if you went peacefully.”

“I’m perfectly happy right here.” As bold as she sounded, Anna knew she was in a real jam. Jeremy wasn’t going to be taken by surprise twice. And though she wasn’t looking directly at him, she had seen enough to know that he was determined to take her back.

“You can stay there until you dry out,” he said, easing down on one heel, cowboy-style. “I need a little rest myself, and my horses are worn down.” He glanced toward the sun, which was hanging above the treetops. “There’s no way we’ll make it back today, anyway.” He grinned. “We might as well camp here. A night out under the stars might make you more reasonable.”

Anna hadn’t expected such sanguine behavior. She glanced at her clothes, still clutched tightly in his hands. He noticed, and she caught the hint of amusement in his eyes.

He thought he had her! It was completely infuriating. In fact, sitting out on the banks of a river, naked with Jeremy Masterson, was beginning to get to her. Anna had a lot of self-control, but she didn’t know if she could keep herself from blushing.

He’d caught her by surprise, and she’d reacted as her grandfather had taught her. But Thunder Horse had never given her advice on how to handle the situation that now confronted her. She wanted her clothes!

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