A lingering soak in hot soapy water had worked wonders. Brand felt more relaxed than he had for a long time, though he knew the sensation wouldn’t last. Too many memories were fighting for recognition, and sooner or later he would respond to their demands. For now he allowed himself to wallow in the calmness surrounding him. He knew he needed rest. Once he moved on from this place he could very well be heading straight down the trail to Hell.
He had borrowed a razor from the Mexican who owned the place to scrape off the beard that had started to grow. He was shocked when he looked at his reflection. His face had been burned brown by the sun, but even that couldn’t hide the half-healed cuts and bruises. The heavy swelling around his mouth had gone now, leaving a red gash down the left side of his chin; he wondered if it might leave a scar. He didn’t dwell on the thought as he scrubbed a hand through his mane of still-damp dark hair. It was clean, but it needed cutting. He caught sight of his body in the mirror. There didn’t seem to be a spot on it that was unmarked. He checked the wound in his side. It appeared to be healing nicely, though it was still sore to the touch.
The Mexican had managed to rustle up some clothes for Brand and Lisa. They were only Mexican cotton whites, but they were better than nothing. Brand pulled on the thin pants and made his way back to the room where Lisa would be waiting. She’d had the bath first, and Brand had begun to wonder whether she’d fallen asleep and drowned she had been so long. Eventually she had returned to the room, wrapped in a blanket, and had ushered him out so she could get dry.
He eased open the door and went in. Closing the door he stood for a moment, his eyes adjusting to the gloom. Lisa had blown out the lamp, and the only illumination was a faint glow that filtered in through the shutters. He glanced in the direction of the bed, wondering if Lisa was asleep.
‘I hope you’re not bringing that damned thing to bed,’ her voice said out of the shadows.
Brand became conscious of the Henry rifle he was carrying. He’d taken it with him to the bathhouse. Now he felt awkward carrying it around with him. He leaned it against the wall next to the bed.
‘Happen I might need it.’
Her soft laughter reached him from the gloom and set his pulse racing. He could make her out now. She was lying on top of the sheets, her slim form naked. The soft light filtering through the shutters cast a soft sheen over her body and had turned her hair to a gleaming bronze.
‘Hey, hombre, you scared of me or something?’ she asked.
‘Or something,’ he murmured half to himself, reluctant to admit his awkward ignorance of what he was expected to know.
Lisa sat up, her breasts trembling with the sudden movement. She leaned towards him, hands reaching out to touch his scarred and bruised body.
‘Jason?’ Her voice was soft and throaty, and the sound aroused a burning sensation in his loins. ‘Do you want me?’
He tried to speak, but he had lost his voice. All that came out was a dry whisper.
‘Here,’ she said, her slim hands loosening the cord of the cotton pants, pushing them down.
Still he stood there, and she studied him with a frankness that brought a rush of color to his face.
‘Well?’ she inquired
He stumbled to the bed, pushing himself at her, spurred on by the desire that had brought him to an aching hardness that felt about to burst. He felt the delightful softness of her body under him and he thrust himself at her eagerly. His desire made him hasty and he caressed her clumsily, his mouth bruising her.
‘Hey, slow down,’ Lisa gasped. ‘I’m not going anywhere.’
She took control, guiding him, gentle hands soothing his heated flesh. With soft words and a softer touch she led him slowly, easily. She laid his hands on her own body so that she too could respond to the urgency that demanded relief. Brand felt her trembling flesh beneath him, the straining body, and then she drew him to her, taking him into her. As he entered, his instinctive thrust made her arch her slim hips to meet him, and she sighed with expectant relief. Lisa clasped him to her, encircling him with arms and legs, her own motion matching his frantic, uneven pace. She held him tightly, almost afraid that if she let go it might turn out to be a cruel dream, and she would open her eyes and find she was back in the lodge of Three Finger. The feeling was so strong that for a moment she panicked, her body shuddering, and a low moan forced itself from her lips.
‘Jason.’ She cried out his name without thought, dreading any reply in case it was not him.
‘Yes?’ His response was swift and uncertain, because he didn’t know why she had called out.
His reply was enough to console her and she responded with a passion that took them both over the final edge, plunging them body and soul into the ecstasy of release, and they were afire for an all too brief time before they drifted in the remaining warmth. Content and fulfilled.
They lay together in a silent embrace, the sheets tangled beneath them, damp with sweat. Sleep evaded them at first. For Lisa it was a return to normality. For Jason Brand it was a taste of something he had never known before, and with it came a need to renew. Twice more they came together, bodies locked and limbs entwined as they sought to relieve themselves of the desire that aroused them. And later, when they had exhausted themselves, sleep overcame the desire and they knew nothing until dawn.
Brand held her close, feeling her warmth as she stirred.
‘Lisa, how did the Comanches get you?’ he asked.
She turned on her side, peering at him through half-closed eyes.
‘My folks had a place along the Pecos. One day the Indians just rode in and killed them. They took me with them when they left.’
‘You got anywhere to go?’
‘My mother has a brother and his wife in El Paso. They have a store. I could go there.’
Brand slipped out of bed and pulled on the cotton pants.
Lisa watched him, aware of his mood. She had a feeling he needed to say something. She sat up, facing him, unmindful of her nakedness.
‘Where will you go?’
He turned to face her, knowing he had to tell her about the three men who had deserted his family. There was no reason forcing him to explain, but he wanted her to know.
‘There’s something I have to do,’ he said, and described what had happened at the Brand ranch.
Lisa listened in silence, and it was only when he had finished his explanation that he noticed the change in her manner.
‘Why don’t you go to the law? Or the Army? Let them handle it.’
He was unable to conceal his bitterness. His voice was bleak when he said: ‘What would they do, Lisa? Stick up a few wanted posters? I could get to be an old man waiting for something to happen.’
‘You could get to be a dead young man the way you’re acting!’ There was anger in her tone, and it showed in the flashing color of her eyes.
Brand snatched up the Henry rifle.
‘My family is dead. If those three bastards had stuck with us they might still be alive. I don’t figure to forget that. I still won’t even when those three are dead and buried!’
‘Somehow I don’t think you will, Jason.’ Lisa’s shoulders slumped. She had realized there was nothing she could do to alter the way he felt.
‘If I don’t do it, ain’t no one going to do it for me.’
‘Well I think you’re wrong, Jason. Terribly wrong. All you’re doing is living on bitterness. On hate. It’s no way to exist.’
‘The hell it ain’t! What else is there for me? I’ll tell you, Lisa. Nothing!’ His anger made him want to hurt her with words. ‘Just of late I’ve had a taste of hell. I didn’t choose it but it happened. Now I aim to pay some back to the ones who caused it.’
Lisa stared at him. She saw the violence in his eyes, the raw fury that lay so close to the surface. It was like looking at a total stranger. Someone who frightened her.
‘Haven’t you had enough violence? You can’t keep on this way. What about . . . us . . . last night . . . ’
His face was stony, eyes cold and hostile.
‘I don’t reckon I need to listen to you,’ he said and turned for the door. ‘What I do with my life is my own business.’ He paused with his hand on the door. ‘You should have left it alone, Lisa. Now it’s between us.’ Opening the door he said: ‘I’ll make the arrangements so we can ride for El Paso soon as we can.’
And then he was gone, the door shutting him from her sight. Lisa stared after him for a long time. She was angry with herself as much as with him. He had spoken the truth. This thing would always lie between them now. Spoiling their relationship. But she still felt she was right. His way would only lead him to more violence. A life based on the power of the gun. She gripped the sheet in frustration, feeling the thin material tear. Couldn’t he see? Didn’t he realize that his way would only take him along a dark path littered with the broken bodies of others with the same compulsion. He couldn’t see that. All that mattered to him was to revenge his dead family by searching for the three men who had deserted them.
She sank back on the bed, the memory of their passion drifting through her mind. Only a few hours ago it had been so different — she had held him and she had loved him. Yet as surely as the climax of their lovemaking had come and gone she had found him only to lose him forever.