Texas Lily (36 page)

Horrified by the long line of uniformed soldiers marching down the road not a day's ride behind the wagonloads of settlers fleeing for their lives, the small party lay low behind a small outcropping of rock and tried to stay quiet. They had stumbled across the road and its dangerous occupants at the wrong time, and it was too late to try to run. Any movement was almost certain to draw the attention of the troops marching across the horizon.

Even the children were sensible enough to know they should be quiet, but the mule wasn't. Its bray brought a quiver of interest from the ranks, and Lily watched in horror as a few of the soldiers peeled away from the line and looked in their direction.

Before she realized what he meant to do, Cade was on his horse, towing the mule while riding at right angles away from the road and the army on the move. The rain had let up and the air was warm, and Cade wore only the white full-sleeved shirt and tight trousers he had worn every day since they had left. The shirt was open halfway down his copper chest and accented by a bright-red sash at his waist that held his knife. Lily thought he looked a pirate or worse, but the soldiers striking out after him weren't reaching for their weapons.

"He looks like a damned Spaniard," Travis whispered at Lily's side. "How does he do that?"

With years of practice and an Indian talent for deception—but Lily didn't say that out loud. She was gradually learning that Cade was like a chameleon, able to blend in with his surroundings for safety.

She didn't like to think of the child he must have been to grow up that way, but it certainly helped to survive in this chaos that was Texas.

Lily restrained a gasp of terror, and Travis reached for his rifle as one of the officers lifted his musket and aimed it at Cade with a hoarse shout. Cade turned around, but made no move toward his own weapon. He merely slowed his horse and replied in Spanish that Lily couldn't catch.

Although they could see this little tableau from their position behind the rocks, Lily was aware that Cade had led the officers far enough away from the road that the army marching out of sight over the horizon couldn't see. She was equally aware that Cade's American rifle could reach farther and with more deadly accuracy than the old-fashioned muskets of the soldiers. Between Travis and Cade it would almost be possible to pick off all three soldiers and have no one the wiser. But Cade didn't reach for his weapon, and Travis was forced to lower his to protect their hiding place.

"Doesn't he know what that damned gun is for?" Travis asked irritably as Lily grew tense. If the soldiers chose to take Cade prisoner, they couldn't fight an entire army to rescue him.

Lily relaxed a moment later as the men exchanged words and the soldier lowered his musket again. To her amazement, the one soldier gallantly swept off his hat and offered his hand in friendship and Cade accepted it with an almost regal nod. She had the sudden urge to grab Travis's rifle and shoot the arrogance out of him. Didn't he realize he was fraternizing with the enemy? Who in hell did he think he was?

When the soldiers turned and galloped off after the departing army. Cade kept up his charade of riding in the opposite direction until they were out of sight. Then wheeling his animals around, he galloped back to his hidden family.

"What in hell did you tell them?" Travis asked irritably as he stood and tried to mop some of the mud from his clothing.

Cade reached to help Lily up, but she stood without his aid, ignoring his outstretched hand. He could very well have just saved their lives, but her suspicions mounted higher, and she needed answers first.

When Cade showed no inclination to answer Travis, Lily wiped her hands off on her bedraggled skirt and confronted him. "How did you know you could talk them into leaving? Wouldn't it have been safer to shoot them or tie them up or something? What if they had decided to shoot first? Or take you prisoner?"

Throwing Roy back into his saddle, Cade answered without emphasis, "They knew my grandfather. They would not wish to incur the wrath of a de Suela."

That made about as much sense as anything else she had seen or heard this day. As far as Lily could understand, Cade was the barely legitimate son of an Indian and a woman whose family had deserted her. Perhaps invoking the de Suela name was a type of incantation that frightened off the superstitious Mexicans with just its utterance.

She said nothing more as Cade took her up before him. Her fever hadn't lessened, but without the constant drenching rain she felt better and didn't complain. If she allowed herself to admit it, being held in the security of Cade's arms against the formidable strength of his hard chest was as good as lying in bed and pampering herself. His closeness was a source of comfort, and his calm assurance had the benefit of pushing all her fears into a box where she didn't have to confront them. It was foolish to put herself and her family into a man's hands without question, but she had been foolish from the first moment she had seen this man with a kitten in his lap. She couldn't fight it now when she was so weak.

"Do you think we'll be home in time to have the baby?" she murmured as she rested her head against the bulk of his shoulder.

Cade's hold tightened as he set his gaze on the horizon ahead. "We'll be home," he assured her. He didn't say which home he meant.

* * *

By the time they rode into the
ranchero,
Lily had no awareness of their arrival. Even curled inside the blanket that Cade had wrapped around her, she shivered, and she remained unconscious as Cade lifted her into the hands of Travis and climbed down.

The old man was already hurrying forward into the dusk to greet them. He bowed with Old World grace over Juanita's hand, leaving her flustered and embarrassed. Cade said nothing as he took Lily back from Travis and started for the house, the children trailing after him.

Without asking where to go, he entered the high-ceilinged hallway and turned to his right, carrying Lily to a room containing a wide bed with an ornately carved frame. When Serena lifted her arms to be picked up and placed beside Lily, Cade took her in his arms but carried her back to the hall where the others waited.

Depositing the child in Juanita's hands and giving Roy a look that included him, Cade commanded, "Watch after them." Turning to the slightly bewildered old man, he asked, "Is there a physician? My wife is ill."

Antonio de Suela looked with confusion from the petite Mexican beauty cuddling the golden-haired child, then back to the hall where Cade had taken Lily. He replied with care, "The Americans have gone. We have no physicians. I am sorry. Is there something I can do?"

"Have someone bring hot water for a bath and boil some tea or coffee if it is available. And have you any onions? If there are, they need to be boiled." Travis stepped forward with an air of authority.

At Cade's nod, de Suela ordered a hovering servant in Spanish to find the needed articles.

Following Travis's instructions but refusing him entrance to the room, Cade bathed Lily and wrapped her in a flannel nightgown that had been dried before the kitchen fire. He unwrapped her hair and scrubbed it clean, knowing she would want it that way even though she couldn't be roused enough to answer him if he asked.

Her labored breathing terrified him, but the steaming water seemed to help. Holding her in his lap with a blanket wrapped around her while her hair dried, Cade attempted to pour a little of the hot tea into her. She drank when pressed, but mostly she lay inert in his arms, and Cade sat for long moments in the dark, staring at the walls closing around him.

He could feel her breathing, feel the beat of her heart against his chest. If he turned her just right, he could feel the slight fluttering kicks of their child. He tried not to experience anything beyond these physical sensations, but he couldn't ignore the immensity of what he had done, what he was doing.

He was responsible for another human life, two lives. He knew how to accept responsibility, but he didn't think he knew how to cope with the results if he should fail. That fact had never occurred to him. Ephraim's death was weighing heavily on his mind. Coupled with Lily's illness...

Lily wasn't supposed to get ill. She was as strong and independent as he. Cade tested the long lengths of her silken hair and finding them sufficiently dry, he lifted her to the bed, fighting the suffocating sensation of helplessness. Life was fleeting. He would learn to cope with whatever happened as he had learned to cope with all that had come before. Emotions were a luxury he couldn't afford. He would survive, and if Lily would just recover, he would show her how well he could take care of her.

He would show her now, although she wouldn't be aware of it. Wrapping the poultice of boiled onion around her neck as Travis had instructed, Cade patiently inserted spoonfuls of chamomile tea between Lily's lips. She would be better in the morning, and then he could begin to make her understand.

The others wandered in and out of the room throughout the night. Cade comforted Serena and Roy by telling them Lily was tired and was just sleeping. They could see the truth of that with their own eyes and went away to sleep soundly in comfortable beds for the first time in a week. Travis and Juanita weren't so easily fooled, but Cade refused their offers of assistance, allowing them only to bring more tea and poultices and vinegar water.

Cade applied the cool vinegar water to Lily's head when the fever grew stronger. When she began to sweat and toss restlessly, he peeled her gown from her shoulders and bathed her shoulders and breasts. She quieted with his touch, and he continued the soothing motion until she felt cooler again.

When he was certain that she slept peacefully, Cade stripped off his clothes and joined her beneath the covers. They hadn't been together like this for so long. He pulled her into the curve of his body and rested his hand protectively on her swelling belly. His child grew there, and he protected what was his. He had so very little, he would fight for what he had.

Exhausted, Cade slept. He dreamed of his mother's voice, Lily's tears, Serena's laughter, and Roy's wary confidences. They became intermixed somehow, forming a potion he was meant to sip. It was a heady brew, sweet-tasting and going down warm, fermenting into bubbles when it hit his insides, where it became a part of him as the baby was a part of Lily.

When he woke, Cade could still feel the magic of the dream burning in his middle, but his more immediate response was to the woman's body so conveniently pressed against his need. His loins hardened almost painfully as he rubbed against the soft curve of Lily's buttocks. When she answered his quest by pushing closer to him, seeking the same solace he required. Cade eased the interfering nightgown up to her waist.

He touched her breasts, and Lily moaned with pleasure.

Kissing, caressing. Cade felt her hips move rhythmically against him until he could no longer bear the pressure. Fearful of causing her harm, he entered her gently from behind, and she sighed her need just as he felt he would burst with his.

Lily woke to the feel of Cade inside her, his fingers gliding between her legs to spread her pleasure until she thought she would jump out of her skin when he thrust deeper. Crying out, she rocked with him until they were both gasping with desire. The moment, when it came, burst upon them with unexpected suddenness. They weren't ready, and their bodies continued to press and twist and cling to the closeness their joining should have satisfied.

Filling his hand with her breast, Cade forced himself to stillness. The heat of the night had left her, and he kissed the shoulder he had bared during the fever. "How do you feel this morning?"

"Ravished," Lily croaked, surprised at the sound of her voice. At Cade's chuckle and the gentle brush of his hand over her nakedness, she realized how thoroughly she had succumbed to him—again—and she stiffened.

"You are not to move from this bed," he warned softly as he pushed her down into the pillows and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I will be back shortly with your breakfast."

Lily ached in too many places to argue. She still felt him between her legs, and irrationally, she wanted him there again. At the same time, she wanted to throw things at him and demand explanations. Cade was too good at slipping through the cracks, avoiding the questions that just his presence raised. But she hadn't the strength to lift her head from the pillow.

She watched as Cade opened the wardrobe and pulled out a white shirt of the finest linen weave, even finer than the one she had made for him. She had seen him wear only three shirts in the entire time she had known him, and suddenly he was wearing his best dress shirt through mud and donning rich clothes that made him seem a stranger.

He pulled on a pair of skintight trousers that appeared to be satin, and Lily's breath caught in her chest at the sight. Her gaze strayed to his narrow hips and the crotch of his trousers. He was her husband and she knew him intimately, but his new clothing made her interest seem almost obscene.

He covered himself with a short jacket embellished with silver braid and added a cravat that hung in loose folds over his elegant shirt. His thick, straight hair brushed the cravat, but in all other respects he looked like a Spanish gentleman. The sharp Roman nose and high cheekbones now resembled aristocracy more than it revealed his Indian heritage.

There was no expression in his dark eyes as he came to stand by the bed and adjusted her pillows. Lily fingered the expensive quality of his coat with curiosity, but he didn't answer the questions in her eyes.