It was a little after ten in the morning when they rode into Aurora. Shaye fell into Alejandro’s arms when he lifted her from the back of her horse. Her legs felt like rubber, her back ached, her shoulders ached, and she was tired. So tired she had almost fallen off her horse a time or two.
He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him while he told the man at the livery stable to take good care of their horses and have them saddled and ready to go by five. Grabbing her valise and pack in one hand, he took her hand and they headed down Main Street.
They stopped at the first hotel they came to. Alejandro paid for a room, asked for a tub of hot water to be sent up no later than four and then, unmindful of the young clerk’s startled gaze, swung Shaye into his arms and carried her up the narrow stairway to their room.
After locking the door, he undressed her as if she were a child, settled her into bed, then undressed and climbed in beside her. He massaged her back and shoulders, his big hands gentle, and then he drew her into his arms.
His kiss on the back of her neck was the last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her, and the first thing she felt as she came awake some time later.
“What time is it?” she asked, smothering a yawn.
“Almost four. We need to get a move on.”
“So soon?” She rolled over, wishing his face would always be the first thing she saw when she woke up.
“I’m sorry, darlin’, but we can’t stay any longer.”
She sighed, knowing he was right. There could be a posse after them even now.
The thought of Alejandro being taken back to jail brought her fully awake. It occurred to her that if they were caught, she would probably be arrested, too. Maybe hanged alongside Alejandro. The thought made her mouth go dry. A moment later, there was a knock on the door.
“That must be the water I asked for,” Alejandro remarked. Sliding out of bed, he went to the door and opened it. An older man and a young boy stood there, each carrying two buckets of steaming water. He stood back so they could enter the room.
Shaye sat up, the covers pulled up to her chin. She hadn’t paid any attention to the room’s furnishings that morning. Now she saw that there was a round tub in a corner of the room. There was a pretty crockery pitcher and bowl and a couple of towels on top of the rough-hewn dresser across from the bed, a rocking chair near the room’s single window.
The man and the boy emptied the buckets into the tub, nodded at Shaye, and left the room.
Feeling suddenly shy, Shaye looked at Alejandro. They had kissed and come close to making love, but she wasn’t sure she was up to bathing in front of him.
Alejandro plucked a bar of soap out of the bowl. “Want me to wash your back?”
She glanced at the tub, a rush heat climbing up her neck and into her cheeks as she imagined his big hands spreading lather over her back and shoulders and…
He grinned at her as he tossed the soap onto the bed. “I’ll wait for you downstairs,” he said, and left the room.
She watched him go with mingled relief and regret; then, knowing it was important for them to be on their way, she picked up the soap and threw the covers aside. Feeling like she was doing a scene from Little House on the Prairie, she stepped into the tub and sat down, her knees practically under her chin. She didn’t know how Alejandro would fit in the tub, small as it was. The water barely came to her waist. She washed and dressed quickly, ran a brush through her hair, pulled on her shoes, and went in search of Alejandro.
She found him in the lobby, reading a copy of the Aurora Tribune.
Alejandro looked up and smiled when he saw Shaye coming down the stairs. Damn, he thought, but she was a pretty woman. Laying the paper aside, he stood up and walked toward her.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Much. Better hurry, before the water gets cold.”
He nodded. Why don’t you go order us something to eat?”
“All right.” She ran a hand over the rough bristles on his jaw.
“Guess I need a shave.”
She cocked her head to one side. “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of like you this way.”
“Good, cause I left my razor in Bodie.” He dropped a kiss on her forehead.
“What do you want to eat?”
“Steak.”
“Of course,” she said with a grin. “Rare.”
“I won’t be long,” he said.
Shaye went into the hotel dining room. It was small and crowded. She stood in the doorway, waiting, while her mind followed Alejandro upstairs. In her mind’s eye, she could see him taking off his shirt, exposing his broad shoulders and chest. Her palms tingled with the desire to touch him, to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips.
Her longing for him continued to amaze her. Never before had she felt such a strong desire for a man. She couldn’t help wondering if part of the reason her marriage to Josh had failed was due to her lack of desire for him. She had enjoyed their lovemaking, but she had never longed for it, or for him, the way she longed for Alejandro. If his kisses made her feel like this, what would it be like to make love to him?
Warmth engulfed her at the mere idea. With a shake of her head, she hurried across the room to an empty table. She gave their order to the waitress, then sat back in her chair, her thoughts again turning to Alejandro, always Alejandro. He had moved into her mind and her heart and she was content to have him there, had been obsessed with him ever since the first time she had seen him in the jail. Had she known, even then, that they would meet? Perhaps it been her own intense longing that had propelled her into the past?
Her heartbeat increased and she felt a familiar sense of excitement uncurl in her belly when she saw Alejandro walking toward her. Tall and broad-shouldered and sexy as all get out. No wonder every feminine eye in the place tracked his progress across the room. Toward her.
He pulled out a chair and sat down across from her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing, why?”
“You look like the cat that swallowed the canary.”
“I feel like one, too,” she replied tartly.
He frowned at her. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”
“Not really,” she said, laughing.
“Shaye.”
She shrugged. “I guess I’m gloating because every woman in the room would like to be where I am right now.”
“On the run?” he asked wryly.
“No, silly, with you.”
He made a sound of disbelief.
“It’s true, and you know it. Lily, Addy Mae, Lottie, all the girls at the saloon…”
“Lottie,” he exclaimed. “Darlin’, you’re seeing things that aren’t there.”
“No, I’m not. They’re all crazy about you. Even Madam Sophie.”
“Sophie! She’s old enough to be my mother.”
“Uh huh.”
Alejandro laughed. “You look mighty pretty when you’re jealous, darlin’.”
“Good,” she retorted, resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him, “‘cause that’s most of the time.”
He leaned across the table, his dark gaze intent as he took her hand in his and kissed it. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous of, Shaye.”
It was a good thing their dinner came then, she thought, because if he’d kept looking at her like that, she would have been melted from the heat of his gaze.
After dinner, they stopped at the mercantile where Alejandro picked out a couple of bedrolls, two canteens, a coffee pot, and a sack of coffee, as well as some other supplies. Shaye paid the bill, and then they went back to the room to collect their things. There was a moment when his gaze met hers, hot and filled with yearning, that she thought they might put off leaving for an hour or two. But then, from somewhere in the distance, a clock chimed the hour as if to remind them they had no time to waste. Alejandro swore under his breath as he grabbed her valise and their supplies and headed for the door.
Shaye grinned as she picked up her backpack and followed him out the door. “I know just how you feel,” she muttered.
Their horses were ready and waiting when they reached the livery. Alejandro stowed their supplies in the saddlebags, lashed their bedrolls in place, draped her back pack over one saddlehorn and her valise over the other.
“Ready?” he asked, and when she nodded, he helped her mount, then swung effortlessly aboard his own horse.
Shaye settled her skirts around her, then leaned forward and patted her horse’s neck. It was a pretty little thing, bay in color, with a small star on its forehead and one white sock. Alejandro’s horse was as black as the ace of spades.
A short time later, they were riding out of town.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“There’s an outlaw hideout not far from here. I think we’ll hole up there for a day or two, then head for Frisco. We can catch a train in Carson City.”
“Outlaw hideout!” Shaye exclaimed. “Are you kidding?”
Alejandro grinned at her. “I know the fella who runs the place. He’ll put us up, no questions asked.”
“But outlaws?” She was sorely afraid that real outlaws were not as humorous or easy going as the ones portrayed in movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
“It’ll be all right, darlin’, don’t worry. Calder still owes me one for saving his life a few years back.”
Apparently she didn’t look convinced because he reached over and gave her arm a squeeze. “Trust me, darlin’, everything will be all right.”
They rode for several hours, then stopped to rest the horses. Alejandro loosened the saddle cinch on his horse and then Shaye’s while Shaye pulled some bread and cheese from the valise and they picnicked in the shade of a scrawny tree while the horses grazed on a patch of sparse yellow grass.
“What else have you got in there?” Alejandro asked when she delved into the valise again.
“Oh, some apples and candy. Some canned stuff. I’m going to have an apple. You want one?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
She tossed him one, took one for herself. As soon as she took a bite, her horse wandered over, snuffling softly. “Want some?” Shaye asked, then laughed as the horse plucked the apple from her hand.
“Guess he wanted the whole thing,” Alejandro remarked.
“Humph! I guess so.” Shaye pulled another apple from the bag. “Oh, no, you don’t,” she said, jerking her hand away as her horse lowered its head. “Go on, get! You had yours.”
Alejandro fed his apple core to his horse, then stood up and tightened the saddle girths on both horses. Offering Shaye his hand, he pulled her to her feet, grinned when she gave her apple core to her horse.
“Ready?” he asked.
She groaned softly. “I guess so. How much further is this place?”
“We should get there sometime tomorrow night.” He lifted her onto the gelding’s back and handed her the reins.
Alejandro glanced at Shaye. She was a beautiful woman, and spunky as hell, he thought admirably. He grinned at the memory of her showing up at the jail in the middle of the night, armed with that useless derringer. Were all twentieth-century women as gutsy as she was? Hard as it was to believe, he no longer doubted she had come to him from the future. How and why didn’t matter. She was here now, and she’d saved him from more than hanging. Foolish as it sounded, she had saved him from the loneliness he had felt as far back as he could remember. He had always been an outcast, an outsider, never quite fitting in anywhere, never having a place, or a woman, to call his own. Shaye had teased him about all the women in his life, and there had been a few, but nowhere near as many as she seemed to think. And yet, in spite of all the women he had known, he had never loved any of them enough to settle down. Until now.
Was it possible he had seen her through the mists of time? Had his soul felt her spirit and been drawn to the jail that day? Had he looked into her eyes and known they were meant to be together? Had his soul’s longing for her been so strong that he had pulled her back in time?
He grunted softly, thinking how ridiculous his thoughts would sound if he put them into words.
They rode until midnight, then took shelter in a shallow draw. Shaye spread their bedrolls side by side, hoping, as she did so, that there weren’t any snakes nearby. A short distance away, Alejandro hobbled the horses. He built a small fire to warm them and they dined on bread, canned meat, peaches and coffee, with peppermint sticks for dessert.
She shivered when a wolf howled in the distance. She remembered reading somewhere that wolves didn’t attack people. She just hoped the wolves had read the same book.
“He sounds lonely,” she remarked.
“Maybe he’s just serenading his lady love,” Alejandro said.
“Maybe.”
“Don’t worry, darlin’. The only thing out here that’s likely to take a bite out of you is me.”
She grinned at him across the fire. “Is that right?”
He patted the place beside him. “Come and see.”
She pretended to consider it a moment before asking, “Is it safe?”
“What do you think?”
Laughing softly, she went to sit beside him. His arm slid around her shoulders, drawing her closer. His kiss, when it came, tasted of coffee and peppermint.
They spent a pleasant few minutes necking, something Shaye hadn’t done since high school, and then grinned at each other when they both yawned.
“I reckon we’d better turn in,” Alejandro said.
“I reckon.”
“Saucy wench,” he said with a decidedly wicked grin. “Just because I’m letting you off easy tonight doesn’t mean you’ll be so lucky tomorrow.”
Shaye’s hand flew to cover her heart. “Oh, my,” she exclaimed in mock horror, “I’m all aquiver!”
His laughter echoed in the night as he drew her head down on his shoulder. “Ah, darlin’, what did I ever do without you?” he whispered as he brushed a kiss across her lips.
And what will I do if Fate takes you away?
* * * * *
It was nearing midnight the following night when they reached the hideout.
A lookout hollered a challenge when they reached the narrow passageway that led into the canyon. Alejandro answered with the password Calder had given him and a few minutes later he led the way into the hideout, which was located in a shallow valley surrounded by high canyon walls. There were a half dozen shacks, a saloon, a stable, and a large peeled pole corral. All the buildings were dark except the saloon.
“Are you sure this was a good idea?” Shaye asked dubiously.
“Sure, darlin’, don’t worry.”
“I can’t help it,” she muttered as they rode toward the saloon. “It’s what I’m good at.”
Alejandro tethered their horses to the hitch rail in front of the saloon, then lifted her from the saddle. She groaned softly as her feet hit the ground, grateful for his hands at her waist. It was, she thought, the only thing that kept her upright.
All activity in the saloon came to a halt when they walked through the door.
Shaye took it all in in one long glance: the bar opposite the door, the huge man standing behind it, the half-dozen rough-hewn tables, the two painted women, the raw plank floor, the oil lamps hanging from the ceiling.
“Well, I’ll be go-to-hell!” exclaimed the mountain behind the bar. “Look who’s here!”
Taking a firm hold of Shaye’s arm, Alejandro walked toward the bar and shook hands with the mountain. “How the hell are ya, Calder?”
Calder’s laugh was as big as he was. “Fine as a pig in swill. Damn, Rio, I ain’t seen you in a coon’s age.” He glanced at Shaye, then grinned at Alejandro. “I don’t have to ask how you’re doing,” he said.
“Take it easy, Calder.”
“Ah,” Calder said, “so that’s how it is. Pleased to meet you, ma’am, whoever you might be.”
Shaye grinned at him in spite of herself. “Shaye Montgomery,” she said.
“Jack Calder.”
He was even bigger than Moose, Shaye thought. His shirt seemed in danger of bursting at the seams with every movement. He had a shock of curly brown hair, pale-blue eyes, and a nose that looked like it had been broken at least once.
When it was obvious that the newcomers posed no threat, the other occupants went back to their own pursuits. Soon, a low hum of conversation filled the air, punctuated by the slap of cards and an occasional burst of feminine laughter.
“So, Rio, what brings you here?”
“I need a place to hole up for a few days.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Calder said. “I never figured you to take to the owlhoot trail.”
“I didn’t,” Alejandro said curtly.
Calder nodded, the look in his eye saying he wouldn’t pursue the matter now, but promising questions later. “Can I get you two a drink? The first one’s on the house.”
“I could use some whiskey to cut the trail dust,” Alejandro said.
“Me, too.” Shaye shrugged at Alejandro’s look of surprise.
“Whiskey, huh?” he said with a grin. “Well, I guess you deserve it after the last two days.”
Calder placed two shot glasses on the bar, pulled a bottle from underneath, and poured two drinks.
Alejandro downed his in a single swallow and asked for a refill. Shaye took a sip of hers, coughed as the raw whiskey burned its way down her throat. She had never been much for hard liquor, but she wasn’t sure this stuff really qualified as whiskey. Paint thinner, maybe.
“You look all tuckered out,” Calder remarked.
“That we are,” Alejandro replied. “You got room for us?”
“Sure. The last cabin’s empty. Make yourself t’home.”
“Thanks, Jack.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Okay to leave our horses in the corral?”
“You can put ‘em up in the barn, iffen you want. There’s a couple of empty stalls.”
“Obliged,” Alejandro said. “You ready to turn in, Shaye?”
She nodded, wondering if she would ever be able to speak again the way her throat was burning.
Outside, Alejandro took up the reins of their horses, and they walked to the barn. Shaye unsaddled her horse, then led it into an empty stall and removed the bridle. Alejandro forked the horses some hay, picked up her valise and backpack, and then they followed a dusty path to the last cabin.
“Don’t expect too much,” Alejandro warned as he opened the door.
He found a box of matches on the mantle and lit the lamp on the kitchen table, then closed and barred the door.
Shaye grimaced as she looked around. The place had definitely looked better in the dark. There was a small square table, two rickety looking chairs, a shelf made of empty wooden crates. A narrow bed covered with a dull gray blanket was pushed up against one wall. A faded blue gingham curtain covered the single window, there was a rag rug in front of the hearth.
“We won’t be here long,” he said. “Think you can stand it for a day or two?”
She nodded, and hoped she wasn’t lying.
“Do you want me to wait outside while you undress?” he asked.
“No.”
With a nod, he shrugged out of his coat and began to unbutton his shirt.
Suddenly shy in spite of herself, Shaye turned her back to him. Stripping off her dress and undergarments, she pulled her long cotton nightgown over her head, then sat down on the edge of the bed and took off her shoes and stockings.
When she looked up, Alejandro was standing beside her wearing only the bottom half of a pair of long johns. He might as well have been naked, she thought, the way they clung to him. He was beautifully formed, from his broad shoulders and well-muscled arms to his flat stomach and long, long legs.
She pulled down the blanket, more than a little surprised to see that the sheets, while not Tide white, were at least clean. She scooted across the mattress, her heart pounding as Alejandro extinguished the light, then slid into bed beside her. It was a very narrow bed, barely big enough for the two of them.
“I’m sorry, Shaye,” he said.
“Sorry? For what?”
“For getting you involved in all this.”
Turning on her side, she laid her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not.”
“I don’t know much about the future,” he said, “but I’m sure it’s better than this.”
“Everything is different, that’s for sure,” she said. “But not everything is better. People are always in a hurry. They don’t take time to enjoy life anymore. Everything has to be done faster than before. We have microwave ovens that can cook a meal in no time at all, and cars to get us to our destinations faster, and computers and calculators that can add and subtract in the blink of an eye.” She shook her head. “You may not believe it, in fact I don’t believe it myself, but I kind of like it here, in your time.” She paused, her gaze moving over his face. “With you.”
He sucked in a deep breath, let it out in a long slow sigh, and then he gathered her into his arms and held her tight. When he spoke, his voice was so low she could hardly hear him.
“Dammit, Shaye, what am I going to do if you go out of my life the same way you came in?”
“Rio…”
His arms tightened around her. “Don’t leave me, darlin’.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Shaye.”
His voice was filled with fear and longing, the same longing she felt, the same fear that she would suddenly be sent back to her own time. She clung to him, knowing, in that moment, that she didn’t want to live in a world without him in it, that she would rather stay here and make do without all the comforts she was accustomed to than go back to her old life.
She wrapped her arms around him, overcome by a sudden sense of foreboding. What if she had been sent here to save him from the gallows? What if, now that she had accomplished that, she was sent back to the future?
“Hold me, Rio. Hold me and don’t ever let go!”
“Shaye.”
Her name was a question. Her kiss was the answer.
Driven by the fear of separation, they clung to each other. She moaned with pleasure as his hands and lips moved over her face, her shoulders, her breasts, softly caressing, sweetly arousing. He drew her nightgown over her head and tossed it aside. And she, suddenly bold and unafraid, divested him of his long johns and sent them sailing across the room.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. “So beautiful.”
“So are you.”
He laughed softly and then he was kissing her again, and when the desire that had ever sparked between them could no longer be denied, Alejandro rose over her, his dark eyes blazing. She lifted her hips to receive him and now, joined to him heart and soul and body, she felt complete for the first time in her life.
He moved within her, each stroke filled her with pleasure, building, building, until she thought she might explode from the wonder of it, the beauty of it, the unbelievable ecstasy. She was a writer. Words were her forte, yet she knew she would never find the words to express the joy of his touch, the sense of belonging, of having finally found what she had been searching for her whole life. Alejandro… She cried his name as she tumbled over the edge, her arms holding him tight, her body convulsing as wave after wave of ecstasy pulsed through her. Alejandro threw back his head, his eyes closed, as he reached his own climax, and then, his body still shuddering, he buried his face in the curve of her neck.
Shaye held him close, relishing his weight, pleased that he was in no hurry to shatter the sweet afterglow of their love making. Josh had always rolled away as soon as he was finished, often leaving her feeling bereft. She stroked his hair, awed by the intensity of her feelings. She longed to tell him she loved him, but something kept her from voicing the words aloud.
“I must be getting heavy,” he remarked after a while.
They were not the words she wanted to hear.
Rolling onto his side, he cradled her against him, one arm around her waist, one hand cupping her breast. He brushed a kiss over her shoulder, his breath warm on her skin.
“Sweet dreams, darlin’,” he murmured.
He did care for her, she thought. It was there in his eyes, in his voice, whether he put the feeling into words or not.
“Same to you,” she murmured. A moment later, wrapped in the warmth of his arms, she drifted to sleep.