Shadow Walker (17 page)

Suddenly Cole noticed her gaping bodice, and its significance hit him hard. He grasped her hand and pulled her back down. “Wait. Did those bastards hurt you?” His words were tautly spoken from a mouth that had turned grim.

“No. They filled their bellies first. Then, when
they tried to … hurt me, I escaped. Thank God you were able to track them, for I don’t know what I would have done had they found me.”

Cole didn’t even want to think about their filthy hands on Dawn’s golden flesh. “I’m sorry, Dawn, I should have protected you better.”

“It wasn’t your fault.” She rose abruptly. “I’ll fix something for you to eat.”

After the remnants of the hasty meal were set aside, Cole went to fetch a bucket of water. When he returned, Dawn was stretched out on a blanket, staring into the dancing flames.

“You should get some sleep. It’s been a grueling day.” He moved off to fix his own bed.

Dawn jerked upright, reaching out to him. “Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, love.”

“Lie next to me.”

Cole gave her a hard look, then moved his blanket next to hers. “Are you sure?”

“I need you beside me tonight. I can’t recall when I’ve ever felt so alone or been so frightened.” In all her life no one had cared about her. Cole made her feel safe and protected.

Cole lay down beside her and drew her into his arms, pulling the blanket up over them. Heaving a ragged sigh, Dawn melted against him.

“It’s been rough, hasn’t it, love? Now you understand why I wanted to see you safely settled. I wanted a better life for you, and I think Running Elk’s people will help you find it.”

Dawn didn’t want to hear about Running Elk. Not with Cole holding her, making her feel safe
and wanted. “I shouldn’t be depending on you like this.”

“I don’t mind. Just as long as you don’t make a habit of it.” He’d meant it as a joke, but Dawn took his words literally. She stiffened and pulled away.

“I’ll try to remember that.”

He cursed his insensitivity and tried to bring her back into his arms. He succeeded, but it wasn’t the same. There was a wariness about her now that hadn’t been there before.

“I’m sorry, love, but you know there can be nothing permanent between us. I care for you, but it wouldn’t be fair to burden you with a man still obsessed with his dead wife.”

“Have I asked for more?”

“You’ve asked for nothing. I wish …” His sentence fell off. He had no idea what he wished. Unless it was to kiss Dawn. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself. One kiss and then he’d stop.

He tightened his grip on her shoulders, lowered his head and kissed her. Gently, softly, on her slightly parted lips. He hardened instantly and knew he wouldn’t be satisfied with just one kiss. He wanted to be inside her to feel her tighten around him. He wanted to watch her eyes widen as he pushed deeper and deeper. He wanted to take her with his fingers, with his mouth, and hear her cry out. His grip on her tightened, and he felt her quicken against him.

He raised his head and stared at her. Her eyes were pleading and softly misted with emotion. She made a tiny sound in her throat that he understood, and he kissed her again. When he ended
the kiss and attempted to pull away, she held him fast.

“No, don’t stop. Keep on kissing me.”

“I shouldn’t, it’s—”

“… what I want. I need you tonight. I need to feel that I’m alive. To forget what Sam and Spider wanted to do to me.”

How could he resist? His member was hard and distended and pressing against her thigh. He wanted her; he wanted to erase all the ugly memories of the past hours from her mind.

Cole rose above her, carefully pushing aside the torn edges of her bodice until her magnificent breasts were exposed. They gleamed a dull gold in the firelight, and Cole lowered his head to take a dusky nipple in his mouth.

Throbbing pleasure ebbed and flowed over her as his mouth caressed and suckled her, filling her with hot anticipation. She felt warm dampness pool between her legs and was shaken by the depth of emotions whirling through her.

Words were unnecessary as she helped him strip away her clothing. Then he laid her back against the blanket as he quickly peeled off his own clothing. He pressed their naked bodies together, moaning from the sheer pleasure of hot flesh meeting hot flesh. He kissed her again and again, and when Dawn was nearly dizzy, his mouth left hers for other, more intimate places.

With greedy laps of his tongue and tiny, teasing bites, he lavished excruciating attention upon the generous mounds of her breasts. Dawn arched beneath him, begging him without words to come inside her, to finish this endless torture.

“I know what you want, love,” Cole whispered against the sweet tip of her breast. “And it will come, but not yet. There is so much more I want to show you and do to you.”

Very gently he slid a finger inside her. Her warmth tightened around him and he fought to control his sharp response. He closed his eyes, inserted a second finger and delved deeper. He was shaking all over from forced restraint. Then he pulled his fingers out very slowly and thrust them into her again. She cried out, her hips lifting off the blanket.

“Please!”

“Shush.” His hot breath against her breasts made her tremble and quake with unbelievable feelings.

Then he moved slowly down her body, allowing his fingers to open her as his mouth found her. Dawn went rigid with shock. When Billy had tried to do these things to her, she had fought and accepted a beating rather than acquiesce to his sick needs. With Cole she felt wild elation, not revulsion. He was kissing and caressing a part of her that was private and personal, a part she had denied Billy Cobb, and it felt incredibly satisfying.

His hands slid beneath her, lifting her to his mouth. “Sweet,” he murmured, and his heated breath against her most intimate place sent her into a rush of pleasure.

“This … isn’t right,” Dawn said between spasms of burgeoning rapture.

“It is if we want it to be.”

Embarrassment rendered her mute as Cole plied his tongue diligently, exploring her, suckling
her. She knew she was hot and wet where his mouth worked its magic on her, but he didn’t seem to mind. Then coherent thought fled as her body became an instrument through which Cole gave her pleasure. She moaned and arched her back. Her legs trembled, her body shook.

“That’s it, love,” he whispered. “Press yourself against my mouth. You’re almost there. I can feel your legs tensing, your muscles tightening.” His tongue darted in and out of her. “Do you like that? Yes, I can tell you do.” Her muffled scream told him she adored it.

Realizing she was close to the edge, he slipped his fingers inside her while using his tongue to lave the hard little nub nestled amid her moist folds. It was too much for Dawn. She fragmented, crying out again and again as her blood thickened and incredible feelings pounded through her. Cole’s infinite patience had cost him dearly. His control was all but shattered.

“I’m going to come inside you now,” he said in a husky voice Dawn hardly recognized.

Still reeling from pleasure, Dawn felt herself stretch and fill as Cole pushed himself inside her.

“You’re so tight,” he groaned as he fit himself snugly within her. With little effort he could have climaxed immediately, but he wanted to bring Dawn once again to shuddering rapture, this time while buried deep inside her.

Again and again he thrust into her, until she was panting and pounding his shoulders with her fists. He kept up the grueling pace, letting the pressure build, lifting her high, forcing her legs up and her thighs wider. Dawn matched his rhythm, thrashing
wildly beneath him, her little cries and gasps urging him to greater heights.

He could hold on no longer. All the demons of hell were driving him to climax. But he was a stubborn man. He wanted to take Dawn with him to ecstasy. He eased his fingers between them, into the soft damp folds above that place where his manhood filled her, and found the pebbled source of her pleasure. With thumb and forefinger he plucked and massaged the tiny nub, until her hips were lifting against his beguiling fingers and explosions racked her body. He waited until her body’s movements subsided before climaxing explosively.

Consumed with unspeakable pleasure, Dawn felt Cole harden and thicken inside her, heard the harsh rasping of his breath, and welcomed the warm spill of his seed against the walls of her womb. If she never experienced Cole’s love again, she would always have this night to remember.

A sudden coolness seized her when Cole rolled off her. But it was blessedly short-lived as he dragged her into his arms.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I? I’m not an animal like Cobb. Sweet Lord, Dawn, you sure know how to make a man forget he’s a gentleman.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” Dawn said with a smile. Her heart was still pounding, and she felt flushed all over. She had never imagined that making love could be such an earth-shattering experience. Billy Cobb would have made it an abomination had he been able to perform the act with her.

Cole settled her deeper into his embrace. “You should sleep. Pueblo isn’t far, but the Red Cloud
Agency is a good fourteen days’ ride to the north. You’ll need your strength.”

How could she sleep with Cole’s arms around her, his warm body pressed against hers, and the memory of the splendid heights he had taken her to still so vivid in her mind she could taste them?

She tried to sleep, truly she did. So did Cole. Unfortunately, their two healthy bodies made a sham of their good intentions. When Cole’s body had recovered itself and clamored for another taste of Paradise, he turned to her in the night, and she welcomed him. They made love again. Slowly this time, savoring each other like fine wine. Even then they weren’t sated. Shortly before dawn Cole turned to her again and she responded eagerly. He lifted her atop him, and she rode him like a stallion. The end came abruptly, carrying them to ecstasy. They fell asleep in each other’s arms.

“Time to get up, love,” Cole said as he nudged Dawn awake. Dawn muttered groggily and pulled the blanket over her head.

“Come on, Dawn, I’ve been up for hours. The rain has stopped, and I need to take the bodies and money to town and make a report.”

Grasping a corner of the blanket, Cole whipped it away. Dawn screeched as cool air hit her naked flesh. She jerked upright. She was still flushed from his loving, and he noted places on her body where his mouth had marked her golden skin. Just thinking about their night together made him instantly hard. He turned away with regret. As
much as he wanted Dawn again, there wasn’t time.

“There’s water by the fire. Wash and dress while I take care of the bodies and the money. There’s food by the firepit. I’ve already taken the horses from the cave and staked them outside.”

“You’ve done all that while I was sleeping?” Dawn asked, amazed that she had slept so soundly.

Cole gave her a cocky grin. “You were tired.”

Dawn’s gaze slid over the length of him, realizing that he looked different than he had last night. “You’re no longer dressed like an Indian, and the war paint is gone.”

“I don’t want to scare the townspeople when we ride in with two dead men. I’m Cole Webster now, Pinkerton detective assigned to the railroad. But you haven’t seen the last of Shadow Walker. There are times when it’s both more practical and more comfortable to travel as Shadow Walker.”

“Shadow Walker frightens me,” Dawn admitted.

His eyebrow shot upward. “And Cole Webster doesn’t?”

“Sometimes he frightens me too.”

“Neither man would ever hurt you, Dawn.” He cleared his throat, fearing he had admitted too much. “Will you be all right alone?” She nodded. “I’ll return shortly.” He hefted the saddlebags containing the gold and disappeared through the passageway.

Dawn washed and dressed quickly. She wished she had her split leather skirt for riding, but it had been left behind on the train. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until she spied the plate of
beans, biscuits and bacon resting beside the firepit. She ate ravenously, aware that she had barely touched her food the night before. While she waited for Cole to return, she braided her long hair into some semblance of order.

“All set,” Cole said when he returned a short time later. He retrieved a flaming branch from the fire and kicked out the dying blaze. Then he picked up the sack of food he had purloined from the outlaws’ stash, directed Dawn to bring the blankets and led the way through the passage.

Midway down the tunnel Dawn saw the faint light from the cave’s entrance and felt a welcome relief. She was more than eager to leave this cold, dark place of death. If not for Cole this cave might have become her tomb.

They came out into sunshine so bright that Dawn had to close her eyes against the nearly painful burst of light. When she opened them again she gawked in awe at the stark splendor of the landscape. The surrounding mountains, hills and valleys held a desolate, fierce beauty all their own.

“The horses are tethered nearby,” Cole said as he extinguished the torch and tossed it aside. “Follow me.”

They found the horses contentedly munching grass. Dawn recoiled in revulsion when she saw two blanket-clad figures draped over the back of one of the horses.

“There is nothing to fear from dead men. I can’t leave them here to be devoured by carrion, although Lord knows they probably deserve it.”

He helped her mount the spare horse and tossed
the saddlebags containing the stolen gold across Warrior’s withers. “We should reach Pueblo before nightfall.”

That was what Dawn feared. They would be that much closer to the place where Cole intended to abandon her.

When they reached Pueblo, the town was already aware of the train robbery and derailment. The stranded passengers and baggage had been transported to town, and the animals in the stock car had been taken to the livery.

Cole dumped the bodies and gold off at the sheriff’s office, made his report and promptly left. But when he tried to engage a room at the town’s only hotel, he found it filled to capacity with stranded passengers waiting for the next train through town.