Delilah's Flame (29 page)

Tabor winced, but he was in too good a humor to let her heated words bother him. He tapped her knee and winked.

“Delilah’s back, I see.”

His quick remark pinpointed exactly what had her in such a state. Lilah’s pent-up temper exploded. She swung at him with her riding crop. He caught it before the swing carried through and wrenched it from her hand. Lilah cursed him and put her heels in Darling’s sides. The little mare, already jittery from Lilah’s nervous hold on the reins, leapt into a gallop. Swearing, Tabor sent the gelding sprinting after her. The nimble mare was fast and quickly outdistanced Tabor’s horse. But eventually the gelding’s endurance won out and he overtook the mare.

Lilah spat another oath at Tabor as he reached for Darling’s reins. She struck at his hand but couldn’t prevent him from getting a grip on the strip of leather. In a few more seconds Tabor pulled both horses to a jolting stop. Lilah was too angry to think anything but that he had forcefully bent her to his will another time. With a cry of defiance, she sprang from the saddle and fled up a rocky hill.

“Lilah!” Tabor shouted.

He didn’t know if the horses would stay, so he had to take time to tie them to a scrubby tree before trying to catch her, all the while grumbling about the flightiness of women. Lilah was as unpredictable as weather off the ocean. He never knew if his remarks would bring a cool retort or a furious outburst. In her present frame of mind, she was likely to take a harmful fall on the rocks or into any of the small ravines nearby. She was out of sight by the time he had the horses secured, but had left an easy-to-follow trail of dust.

Tabor raced up the hill, stopping at the gnarled crest of it. He spied Lilah scrambling down the other side. She’d lost her hat. Seeing she wasn’t in any danger other than from her temper, he stopped to pick it up, then went on after her. He didn’t rush, knowing she would soon be winded. When he saw her slow down, he speeded up.

Lilah was breathless but still had fight in her. When Tabor caught her shoulder, she spun around and slapped him hard.

“What’s that for?” He clamped her wrists together to spare himself another lick.

“Just for being here,” she said venomously.

Holding her firmly by the shoulders, he pulled her squarely up against him. “Don’t make a habit of it,” he threatened. “I’m not going to get to like it.”

Lilah struggled a minute, but knowing she was too tired to run anymore or to resist whatever he might do, gave it up and went limp in his grasp. She could feel his chest rise and fall with a deep breath. And in her own the rebellious and alarming tingle of desire started to spread.

“I’m not going to like what you do to me either.” A knot rose in her throat. “But that won’t stop you, will it?”

He bent his head down so that his breath fanned her hot face. “I told you I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. That still holds.”

“I’ve told you I don’t want you.” She felt his taut body move against her as he shifted his weight. Her heart skipped beats, her pulse fluttered like a stricken bird.

Tabor crossed his arms over her back, pressing her tighter against his chest and thighs, feeling her tremble. “With words, Lilah,” he said huskily. “You’ve told me with words. But words lie. Actions don’t.”

“You lie,” she said, pretending not to be affected by being held so close she could feel the slightest move in his muscles; denying her trembling came from a growing excitement rather than fear.

Tabor groaned. How could one woman be so much trouble? And why did he enjoy her kind of trouble so much? Lilah felt so good against him, he had to close his eyes a second just to remind himself the time wasn’t right yet. He didn’t want to make love to her for the first time at the foot of a rock-strewn hill under the hot, blazing sun. His body had other ideas, though, and they were making themselves known.

“I haven’t lied to you, Lilah,” he said slowly, easing his grip just a little. “Though God knows it might have made things easier.”

Lilah tensed, not knowing what it meant as she felt a change in him. “You told Papa your aunt would meet us before nightfall.” She gulped a breath. “That I wouldn’t be on the trail alone with you.”

“That’s true, sweetheart.” His hands moved gently on her back, sending a slow, hot ache right through her. “Sarah’s a day’s ride from here. If you don’t keep running off, we’ll catch up to her by nightfall.”

“I’m not your sweetheart.” Lilah pushed back from him while she still had the will to do so. “And I won’t make any promises unless you’re going to stop provoking me.”

“I’ll try,” he said, letting her go reluctantly, warning himself that even one kiss wouldn’t be safe. Not if he intended to keep his word. “But you stay close. You could run into worse than me out here off the trail.”

“I doubt it,” Lilah sniped. “What could be worse than you?” Still shaky from all the crazy sensations he’d started inside her, she walked away a few steps and picked up her hat from where Tabor had dropped it when he caught hold of her.

“Let’s get back to the horses,” he said stiffly. He turned and started up the hill without looking back to see if she followed.

Lilah did follow, finding the climb up more difficult than the one down. She slipped several times on loose rocks, but Tabor didn’t offer his help. She supposed she couldn’t blame him. Running from him had been foolish. If she wanted to get away, she shouldn’t have tried it on foot and she should have waited until they were near a town.

Lilah untied Darling and led her away from the tree. As she mounted, she saw Tabor hesitate and study the ground where the horses had been tethered.

“There are tracks here we didn’t make,” he said.

Lilah tightened the string on her hat. “Why shouldn’t there be?”

Tabor dropped down to examine the marks more closely. “Because your side journey took us a mile off the road. I don’t know why anyone else would ride out here. There’s no water close by.”

Lilah held Darling steady while Tabor mounted. She shot him an accusing look. “I think you are trying to frighten me.”

Tabor’s patience had its limits. “Suit yourself,” he said. “Somebody was mighty interested in what we were doing out here. There are three sets of tracks down there. A blind man could see them.”

Lilah could too as they rode onto softer ground. She thought of Joe Han and the way Tabor had fought to protect her father. “Who do you think it was?” she asked contritely.

“I don’t know.” Tabor slid back his hat and wiped sweat from his brow. “Guess somebody got curious about why we left the trail.”

He didn’t need to tell her again not to wander off. Lilah quickly concluded there
could
be worse dangers than Tabor. For the next few hours she kept Darling’s stride in close pace with the gelding’s.

“Just where is this ranch of yours?” Lilah twisted in the saddle to get some of the stiffness out of her back.

Tabor laughed. “Are you just now wondering about that?”

Lilah scowled at him. The location of the Cooke ranch had been the least of her worries. “What I really want to know is how far it is. Will we be there tomorrow?” She didn’t like traveling with no more than she could carry in a saddle pack. She certainly didn’t like riding for more than a couple of hours.

“We could be if you could ride a little harder. I didn’t want to push you, though, so we’re taking it slow. We’ll camp two nights before we get to the ranch.”

Lilah huffed, all her contrition toward him gone. “If you didn’t want to push me, you might have let me take a train or coach to the nearest city.” Three days on a horse would be torturous. She had only one change of clothes with her. She would be positively grimy by the time they reached the ranch. Hopefully her trunk would arrive there before she did.

Tabor shrugged. “Sarah had to bring some cattle up this way. We’d have missed her if we traveled by train.”

“Besides that, it would have been comfortable,” Lilah remarked under her breath. She didn’t complain aloud, though. If Tabor’s aunt really was to meet them, she hoped to make an ally of the woman. Maybe with her help she could talk Tabor out of collecting on the bet.

Several hours and, for Lilah, many sore muscles later, Tabor guided his horse alongside a streambed. The red glow of sunset stained the evening sky with a glorious array of colors, and in spite of herself, Lilah remarked on the beauty of it. She hoped they were near the end of the day’s journey, for she was certain she couldn’t make another mile. She was overjoyed to see in the distance a chimney of smoke from a campfire.

Tabor assured her the fire was from Sarah’s camp and led her through a grove of trees and into a clearing. Just ahead they saw two men sitting near a chuck wagon, tin plates resting on their knees. A woman dressed in scuffed boots, corduroy trousers, a plaid shirt, and an apron bent over the cook pot on the fire. She looked their way when the horses came out of the trees.

“You’re late,” she called to Tabor, dropping her spoon and wiping her hands on the apron.

Lilah had expected Sarah Cooke to be a sharp-faced shrewish woman who might or might not help her. She was pleasantly surprised to see a kind, matronly face beneath the pinned-up gray-black braids.

“We took our time. Did you worry about me?” Tabor gave his aunt a big smile.

“No, by thunder! If I did that, I wouldn’t have a moment’s peace.”

Tabor dismounted and wrapped Sarah in an aggressive hug. He swung her completely off her feet and set her down a few steps from where he’d picked her up. Sarah laughed and looked over at Lilah.

“So this is the fine little filly you wrote me about.” Lilah wasn’t sure for a minute whether Sarah referred to her or Darling. “Climb down and introduce yourself. Don’t wait for Tabor to help you. He’s lost his manners.”

Lilah couldn’t agree more. She climbed painfully out of the saddle and hobbled over to Sarah.

“I’m Lilah Damon,” she said. “Tabor didn’t tell me how nice you were.”

“Didn’t he?” Sarah laughed again. “Maybe I need to look into what he says behind my back.” She gestured to Lilah. “Come on over to the wagon. We’ve got grub ready but I reckon you’d like to have a wash first.”

“I would,” Lilah agreed. “And a change of clothes. These buckskins have grown to me.”

Sarah stirred the cook pot while she introduced Lilah to the ranch hands who had come along on the drive. They were both polite, but Lilah saw plenty of curiosity in the looks they gave her.

Sarah handed her a clean towel. “There’s a bucket of water and a little privacy behind the wagon,” she said. “Tabor, you can wash in the stream.” Grinning broadly, she pushed an empty bucket into his hand. “And bring back some more water,” she added.

“There you go, Sarah,” Tabor teased, swinging the bucket. “Already ordering me around again.”

“Humph,” Sarah said. “Don’t do it enough.”

Lilah pulled her saddle pack down and went behind the wagon, where she found a blanket strung on a line. Moaning a little as she undressed, she shed her blouse and stepped out of her buckskin skirt. She hung the garments on the line over the blanket so they could air out during the night, then turned to get rid of some of the dust she had accumulated during the ride. The water in the bucket was cold but refreshing. Lilah splashed it all over, then dried with the towel.

She had brought along a fairly simple yellow dimity dress. It was rumpled but felt cool and light after her riding clothes. Since she planned to sleep in it, the wrinkles didn’t matter much and she didn’t bother trying to shake them out. Once the dress was on, she freed the long braid that held her hair, and after combing it, left it in a wavy curtain tied loosely back with a ribbon. She started to slip on a pair of soft slippers, but seeing they would be ruined in the dust, reluctantly kept her riding boots on under the dress.

Sarah had a plate ready and Tabor was back when Lilah came around the wagon. The ranch hands had moved off to bed down for the night. One of them had tethered and fed Darling and the gelding.

Sarah stepped back from the side shelf of the chuck wagon and looked at Lilah anew. “Well, aren’t you a pretty thing? I can see why my nephew’s gone foolish about you.”

A muscle twitched in Tabor’s jaw at his aunt’s unwarranted words, but the look in his eyes told Lilah he was at least partly in agreement with Sarah. His gaze swept her appreciatively from head to foot.

With his hair sleek and wet and his face still moist from washing, he looked inordinately appealing. Lilah tried to ignore the return of the strange aching inside as their eyes unexpectedly met. Somehow she thought there would be much less danger in giving herself to Tabor if she didn’t feel this attraction to him. It confused her badly that on the one hand she wanted the man and on the other hand she wanted nothing to do with him. She didn’t know either what to make of the fact that he had kept his word and met up with Sarah by nightfall.

“Have a seat,” Sarah said, breaking the spell as she offered Lilah the first plate. “I reckon you two are hungry enough to eat most anything after riding all day, even my cooking.”

Tabor served his own plate. “You know you’re the best cook around Sandy Flats,” he said.

“Maybe so.” Sarah smiled. “Just don’t forget to keep telling me that.”

Lilah tuned out the exchange between them and decided to eat standing up, since her saddle-weary derriere needed a rest. The food hadn’t much to offer by appearance, and Lilah wondered if Tabor’s praise had been facetious. Hesitantly she took a forkful, then looked around at Sarah in surprise. The lunch Clement’s chef had prepared for them had been delicious, but it wasn’t half as good as Sarah’s beef stew and biscuits.

Good as it was, Lilah ate slowly and kept looking for the opportunity to talk to Sarah alone. But Tabor didn’t give her any time to be by herself with his aunt. After supper he even helped wash the dishes and set up what would be needed for breakfast. Lilah hid her disappointment as she dried the plates and forks. But she still had hope. They had two more days before reaching the ranch, the last two days before the start of the week she owed Tabor. Before then she would find a way to talk to Sarah alone.