Branded Hearts. Diana Hall

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СКАЧАТЬ you usually take a seat facing the bunkhouse, not the barn.” Cade walked out, propped his bare feet on the porch rail and clasped his hands behind his neck. “She’s a woman to ride the river with. Got grit. I like that.”

      “You mean she’s hardheaded and stubborn as a mule.” Garret forced his voice to remain unaffected by his brother’s ribbing. Cade’s praise also caused Garret to fret.

      At eighteen, it didn’t take much for a pretty girl to turn his head. And Kit was more than beautiful. Kit was breathtaking. And not just in her looks, but in the way she moved and blended with the frontier, as though she were a part of it.

      Garret could understand Cade’s admiration, but he couldn’t tolerate it. Not if it might hurt Cade in the long run. What if the two Indians were really more than they seemed? Cade couldn’t afford another run-in with the law. In a cool tone, Garret reminded, “Stay away from those two.”

      Cade used both hands to scratch his head. His blond hair stood up on end. “Those two ain’t cut out for rustling any more than I’m cut out for ranching.”

      “But the Rockin’ G’s half yours, Cade.”

      “A piece of paper don’t change who I am.”

      Cade couldn’t be more wrong. Two years in Andersonville and a piece of paper had changed Garret. Ma’s will. That one sheet of dry, crinkled paper carved a wound in his heart that would never heal. Made him pray he could turn back time and put to rights all the wrongs he had done his mother.

      “You’re thinking about Ma again.” Cade wrapped his arms around his bare waist. The cool night air caused gooseflesh to prickle up his arms.

      “What makes you say that?”

      “That ugly scowl on your face, like you owe the world.” Cade stood and walked over to the door. “Big brother, you don’t owe no one nothing. Not the past, not me and ‘specially not Ma. Start living in the here and now and stop looking for trouble where it ain’t. Give Kit and Hawk the benefit of the doubt. It’s what we woulda hoped for.” Opening the door, he slipped back inside the cabin. Except for the soft glow of the lantern in the cabin window, blackness prevailed.

      The benefit of the doubt. A fair chance to show his mettle. It had taken the worst hellhole in the Confederacy to give Garret his opportunity to grow to manhood. To show other men and himself just what he would do and, more important, what he wouldn’t do to survive. Was the Rockin’ G Kit’s chance? Could Garret turn his back on her and still live with himself?

      He entered the cabin. Cade had already hit the sack. His deep, regular breathing brought a twinge of envy and regret to Garret. His brother had no worries. He could sleep easy.

      Garret peeled off his clothes and lay on his straw mattress. Restless, he was tempted to get out his mother’s quilt and wrap himself in the memories of his early years. But he didn’t. That life was long ago, best forgotten, along with the desire that flared each time Kit O’Shane looked at him with her icy blue eyes. He fell asleep haunted by images of her full lips and soft body.

      

      A knock hammered through Garret’s dream.

      “Mr. Blaine? Wake up, Mr. Blaine.” Kit’s voice pleaded from behind the door. Garret fought off sleep as he shook his head. He wrapped a Navajo blanket around his waist and trudged across the room.

      He threw open the door. The lantern in her hand blinded him for a moment. His eyes adjusted to the light, and Kit materialized from the glow. Fine, thick strands of ebony hair blended into the night, streamed down her shoulders and framed her oval face. The first few buttons of her shirt were undone, exposing a hint of the fullness beneath. Blood rushed to his brain and he came instantly awake, aware of the pulsing energy in his loins. “What the hell’s going on?”

      “It’s the mare.” Kit’s gaze flickered over his face, his naked chest, then hid behind a thick fringe of dark lashes. Her voice sounded hoarse. “She’s going to drop the foal. I thought—”

      “I’d want to know.” Finishing her sentence was like sharing an intimacy. “Let me get my pants on.”

      “I’ll meet you over at the barn.” Her eyelashes fluttered, and she bolted off before he could stop her. The swinging light marked her progress across the yard.

      Garret grabbed his frayed jeans from the wall peg. From behind his curtain, Cade mumbled. His rope bed creaked as he turned over, then his even breathing returned. Garret thought about waking Cade then changed his mind. He didn’t want to throw those two together any more than necessary. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled on his pants and boots, then headed for the barn.

      Kit alone, with her hair unbound, could be a helluva temptation. A temptation even he might not be able to resist. Eve in the Garden hadn’t been able to resist the serpent’s apple. Garret only hoped he could do better against Kit’s native beauty.

      

      Heat radiated across Kit’s cheeks as she returned to the barn. She hadn’t expected Garret to answer the door with only a blanket around his waist. The hard lines of his chest had stirred a deep yearning in the core of her body.

      The intensity of the emotion bewildered her. After the destruction of the village, a part of her had died, but Garret’s tousled hair and contoured arms and shoulders rekindled life into her dormant woman’s soul. Made her dream of his lips on hers. She pushed open the door and wished she could leave her quivering knees and pounding heart outside.

      Chili danced outside the mare’s stall, following the horse’s restless movements. Hanging the lantern on an iron hook, Kit leaned on the stall gate. Lines of sweat darkened the sorrel’s brown hide. A trickle of blood snaked down the horse’s fetlock. The mare kicked the gate, sending vibrations through Kit’s fingers.

      The barn door opened, and Garret strode in. With his shirt open, she could see the corded muscles along his ribs and abdomen. Panic tore at her. Kit fought and controlled the fear. He’s not going to hurt you. He doesn’t want you. The wave diminished to a ripple of apprehension. Along with regret. Deep inside her, a part of her longed for Garret’s touch. Fear forced her to bury the hot emotion.

      She stared at the door expectantly. “Cade coming?”

      “No. Didn’t figure we needed him.” Garret’s eyes became flat and unreadable.

      He’s too close. Survival instincts screamed at Kit to back away. The scent of soap clung to his clothes, beguiling her. With little effort, she quieted the warnings in her head. “We should be able to handle this.”

      An undercurrent of tension evaporated from his voice. “Yes, we should.” Kit didn’t understand if he was referring to the mare or to something else.

      The mare kicked the stall as her extended stomach quivered. “She could break a leg or cut a tendon,” Kit worried out loud.

      Garret pondered for a moment then suggested, “We can pad the gate with blankets, but we don’t have enough to line the walls.”

      We. The word left his lips and lodged in Kit’s heart. Garret made her dream of a man who could permanently destroy the fear Jando had instilled in her.

      One day, maybe, she would be able to dream. But not while Jando lived. She turned her mind to the task at hand. Yesterday’s СКАЧАТЬ