Maybe he was a bigger fool than he"d thought.
A glance out the window told him the worst of the storm had pa.s.sed but the snow was still coming down. If the wind let up, the chopper would be out and looking.
The thought of what he"d let happen sent a sharp jab of shame through him. If he didn"t find her, he was going to have some major explaining to do. Not only to the corrections officials, but to his own department as well as the RMSAR team.
h.e.l.l, this was a mess.
d.a.m.n woman.
Reaching into the compartment of his belt, he felt around for the key. Of course, she"d taken it with her. What self-respecting convict wouldn"t?
Grasping the back of the chair, Jake raised it over his head and brought it down hard on the floor. Wood splintered. The cuff sprang free. Scooping his duster off the sleeping bag, he jerked it over his shoulders and headed for the door at a dead run.
With a little luck, he might be able to find her before she got into any more trouble.
Chapter 6.
"Okay, horse, these are the ground rules." Abby held on to the horn while the animal lunged through deep powder. "I tell you where to go. You obey, unless there"s a bottomless creva.s.se I didn"t see, and in that case, feel free to disobey. Got it?"
The horse took another bone-jarring lunge. Abby held on for dear life, praying she"d put the saddle on right. She"d been in such a hurry, she couldn"t be sure. So far, so good.
"Easy, big girl. Take it easy. Just...don"t get stuck."
She"d known this wasn"t going to be easy. What she hadn"t expected was for the snow to be the problem. It was hip-deep where the wind had whipped it into drifts. Travel would be difficult at best, impossible if she wanted to be truthful about it.
Abby didn"t have time for impossible. This was her last chance at freedom, and she didn"t intend to blow it.
If all went as planned, she"d reach the highway by dusk. Hopefully, she could hitch a ride with a trucker who didn"t ask too many questions and be in New Mexico by dawn.
It was a desperate plan. But no matter how badly the odds were stacked against her, Abby knew there was a remote possibility she could pull it off. If she could just get out of the immediate area, she had a chance. If she could get to Grams"s house, she might actually succeed.
The sound of a gunshot jolted her so badly she nearly lost her balance. Brandywine stopped her forward motion, turned her head and p.r.i.c.ked her ears forward. Turning in the saddle, Abby looked over her shoulder, felt her heart plummet into her ankles.
Jake.
He was a quarter mile away. With the light snow falling, she couldn"t see his face, but his form was unmistakable. Black Stetson. Long duster. He was on the mule and heading in her direction at a very fast pace. Oh, she bet he was mad as a hornet.
A rise of fear made her heart bang hard against her ribs. The realization that he was coming after her drove a spike of panic straight through her.
Another shot rang out. Abby ducked instinctively. A silly reaction considering she was out in the open without cover. But she knew Jake wouldn"t shoot her. She wasn"t sure how she knew that, but she did. He"d merely fired his rifle to let her know he was there. That he was coming after her.
Abby had absolutely no intention of getting caught.
Nudging the horse with her heels, she clucked and leaned forward in the saddle, the way she always did with Mr. Smith"s Shetland ponies. "Come on, girl. Let"s go."
The horse lunged over another snowdrift. Abby clutched the horn, urging the animal forward with her heels. Three more lunges and the snow became a bit more shallow. The horse broke into a trot. She rode another fifty yards, then stopped at the edge of a spa.r.s.e forest of lodge-pole pine and aspen. Turning in the saddle, she searched the horizon, but man and mule were nowhere in sight.
Where on earth had he gone?
Feeling the hairs at her nape stand on end, she urged the horse into a faster trot and started into the trees. Every cell in her body was being jostled by whatever gait this horse was trained to take, but she was making good time. She supposed she could put up with the jarring as long as it was putting some distance between her and Jake. Her brains might be scrambled by the time she got to the interstate, but at least she"d be free.
Another twenty yards and the trees opened to a gently sloped hill with a deep gully washer that stretched like a scar to a frozen pond at the base. Steering the horse clear of the gully where the snow had drifted and was probably chest-deep, Abby guided the animal north, toward Interstate 70-and hopefully a trucker in need of some company.
She"d just pa.s.sed a tall jut of ice-crusted granite when a noise behind her made her turn in the saddle. Her pulse jumped at the sight of man and mule bearing down on her. For a split second Abby stared, incredulous that he"d been able to cover so much ground so quickly and sneak up on her. Yelping once, she slapped her hand down on the horse"s rump. "Go!"
The animal lunged forward, but it was too late. The mule was already alongside her. Jake yelled something but she didn"t understand the words. Out of the corner of her eye Abby saw the gunmetal gray of his eyes, the firm set of his mouth. His angry expression told her he wasn"t going to make this easy for her.
Gloved hands reached for her mount"s reins. "Hold it right there!"
"No!" she shouted back.
But he was too fast. Her horse spun, kicking up snow. Jake"s knee b.u.mped hard against hers. She saw his gloved hands reaching for her and she screamed. Twisting in the saddle, she shoved at him with both hands. She may as well been trying to move a mountain. Strong arms went around her waist, toppling her balance. She screamed again, felt her foot slip from the stirrup. She reached out to grab hold of the horse"s mane, but her fingers found only air.
An instant later the ground rushed up and knocked the breath from her. Next to her, she heard Jake grunt. The horse shied away, then stood watching them with her ears p.r.i.c.ked forward. Reminding herself that this was her last chance at freedom, Abby tried to scramble away. Before she could move, a strong hand shot out and gripped her shoulder. Abruptly, she was flipped onto her back. Thinking fast, she tossed snow in his face. He spat, but it didn"t faze him. She saw a flash of angry gray eyes, and the next thing she knew Jake was on top of her.
"What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing?" he snapped.
Defeat tasted bitter at the back of her throat. She fought him for all she was worth, squirming and kicking out with her feet. Animal sounds tore from her throat. Snow flew like powder, coating her face, getting into her eyes and mouth, creeping down the back of the duster she"d worn.
"I"m not going back!" she shouted. "d.a.m.n it, let me go!"
"Calm down," he snapped.
"Get off of me!"
"Stop fighting me and I will."
"I can"t breathe!"
"Yes, you can. Just...calm down."
"I"m not going back. I don"t care what you do to me. I"m not going. I"d rather die first." Her breath rushed raggedly from her lungs.
"Keep this up and that can be arranged."
Turning her head, she blew out a mouthful of snow. "You could"ve shot me, but you didn"t, did you, tough guy?"
"You keep pulling stupid stunts like this and you won"t need any help from me. You"ll get yourself killed all by yourself."
"Get off me!"
"Not until you calm down."
She tried to slap him, but he easily deflected the blow. "Don"t make me cuff you," he snapped.
Blinking the snow from her eyes, Abby glared up at him, breathing hard, defeated and angry. "Okay. I"m calm, d.a.m.n it."
He was breathing hard, too, his nostrils flaring slightly. He"d lost his hat at some point and there was snow in his hair. His jaw was set and firm. Anger shone bright and hot in his eyes, but Abby also saw something else. Something she didn"t want to deal with. Something she certainly didn"t want to name.
His face was only a few inches from hers. His hands had captured hers and held them firmly above her head. His body was flush against hers. Her legs were apart, and his body was resting solidly between her knees.
Oh, my.
Awareness of their precarious position zinged through her like a bullet. The cold and the anger and the hurt melted away beneath the heat. In the span of an instant the dynamics of the situation flip-flopped. Suddenly, Abby was no longer a convict, but a woman who hadn"t been held for a very, very long time. Jake was no longer an iron-hearted lawman determined to bring his fugitive to justice, but a man with hungry eyes and a mouth that could tempt even the most cautious woman.
Abby definitely fell into the cautious category. In the last year and a half, she"d been hurt and betrayed and forgotten. But she was still a woman. A woman who"d been alone for so long she couldn"t even remember the last time she"d been held. Or listened to. Or even looked at like a human being.
Jake Madigan looked at her like she mattered.
She didn"t plan on kissing him. It was an impulsive, stupid thing to do. But one moment she was staring at that chiseled mouth, the next she"d leaned toward him and pressed her lips against his. He jolted as if he"d been hit with a thousand volts of electricity. His entire body went rigid. She felt his grip on her wrists loosen. Then, growling low in his throat, he moved against her, pushing her more deeply into the snow. His mouth softened against hers. He kissed her back, tentatively at first, and then with an intensity that stole her breath.
Abby had been kissed by men before; she wasn"t a stranger to intimacy. But the things Jake Madigan did to her mouth dazed her. She"d thought by distracting him that she would be able to take control of the situation. Somewhere in the back of her mind she vaguely remembered that she had a plan. But one taste of the silky, dark depths of his mouth and her plan was forgotten.
She didn"t remember opening her mouth to him. But the next thing she knew her tongue was warring with his. A war she was destined to lose because the man made her head spin. Her body burned where he touched her. She couldn"t think, couldn"t remember, why she should run away from him.
He kissed her as she"d never been kissed in her life, until she was mindless except for the need streaming through her. Everything around her faded to gray. The snow beneath her turned liquid and warm. He pressed against her, his mouth working magic on hers. Vaguely, she was aware of him releasing her hands, and spearing his fingers into her hair.
Arousal coursed through her veins like liquid fire, pooling in the pit of her belly and streaking to the place where she felt the hard pulse of him against her. He growled something dark and forbidden in her ear, but Abby was beyond understanding words. She knew what he wanted; she knew what she wanted.
She knew better than to offer an open invitation to disaster. This man was going to ruin her life. He was going to use her for his own pleasure, make promises he had no intention of keeping, then discard her the same way Jonathan Reed had.
Abby knew better than to let herself be swept away. But Jake"s kisses were like an avalanche, shaking her and tumbling her until she was senseless.
Jake knew what it was like to want a woman. It was part of being a man, and he accepted it without complaint. It was a sweet ache that intensified over time and needed to be taken care of on occasion. That had always been fine by him. Jake kept it under control. No problem.
Only this time he didn"t quite have a handle on the control thing. Here he was, lying in the snow, kissing a convict, knowing better, but unable to stop because she tasted so d.a.m.n good. He"d never wanted a woman the way he wanted Abby. She was the only woman he"d ever known who could break his control with nothing more than a look. Wreak havoc on his common sense with little more than a touch. Jeopardize the strict code of honor by which he lived because he couldn"t bear to see her hurt. He"d never given up those things for anyone. Certainly not for a felon.
But her mouth was wet and soft beneath his, and he couldn"t get enough. She tasted sweet and mysterious and forbidden, and the need for more pounded through him like a drum. He could smell her hair, a tantalizing mix of woman and the out-of-doors. He ran his hands through the unruly locks, felt them tangle in his fingers. Cradling her head in his hands, he angled her mouth and kissed her deeply.
When she mewled and shifted her body closer to his, Jake felt his brain rattle, his common sense scatter like dandelion seeds in a high wind. He was painfully aroused, his body rock hard and crying out for release. He knew he should stop kissing her. Logic demanded he put a stop to this before things got out of hand.
Things had already gotten out of hand.
While his intellectual side knew fully this was a mistake, his body didn"t give a d.a.m.n one way or another. His mouth fused with hers. He wanted his hands on her flesh. Wanted to look into those violet eyes of hers and see them wild with desire. He skimmed his hands down her sides. Her body felt fragile and small beneath his hands. The gloves hindered him, he wanted them off. Wanted to feel her bare flesh, but he was afraid if he paused to remove them the moment would be over.
He didn"t want this to end.
The blood rushed through his veins like a freight train barreling down a rickety track. He was breathing hard, his body trembling like that of a love-struck teenager. He barely heard the dull thud in the snow less than a foot from his head. At first he thought Abby had kicked off her shoes, but inexplicably his nerves jumped.
An instant later a rifle retort sounded. Breaking the kiss, he hovered over her, dazed, every nerve in his body screaming. "What the h.e.l.l?"
Looking bewildered and thoroughly kissed, Abby tried to rise. "That was a-"
Jake shoved her back down. "Stay down."
"But that was a gunshot!"
"I know what it was. Stay down."
"Someone"s shooting at us!"
"Well, that"s a h.e.l.l of a deduction." Scrambling to his feet, Jake looked frantically around, cursing himself for having let down his guard. "We"re sitting ducks here."
Abby got to her knees. Her hair was damp from the snow and tangling around her face. Even with his heart pumping pure adrenaline, Jake couldn"t help but notice how beautiful she looked, how badly he"d wanted to finish whatever it was they"d started.
Spotting the ravine a dozen yards away, he motioned toward it. "I want you to run to that ravine, get down on your belly and don"t move until I get there."
"But where are you-"
"Just do it. Don"t argue. I"m going to get the horse." He looked over his shoulder to where Brandywine pawed at the snow twenty yards away. "We"re in big trouble without the horse." He gazed at Abby, felt his heart do a weird little dip in his chest. He knew she would probably make a run for it. But to keep her out of the line of fire, he found himself willing to take the risk.
"Can you do that for me?" he asked.
She nodded.
Another shot echoed.
"Stay low. Go!" Jake shoved her toward the ravine, then sprinted toward Brandywine, praying the sniper"s shooting wasn"t as good as his timing.
What the h.e.l.l had he been thinking kissing her like that?
Another shot rang out just as Jake snagged the reins. Vaulting onto the horse"s back, he nudged her into a racer"s sprint toward the ravine. A bullet ricocheted off a rock face less than three feet away. Staying low, he unsheathed the rifle, turned in the saddle and squeezed off two shots in quick succession in the general direction of the sniper. Re-sheathing the gun, he took Brandywine down the side of the ravine. The terrain was too rough for a horse, but he figured it was a lot safer than getting shot at.
Who the h.e.l.l was shooting at them, anyway?
He reached the bottom of the rocky ravine a moment later. He was shaking, anger and fear and the remnants of arousal hot in his blood. He sat there, reining in his emotions for several seconds before realizing Abby was nowhere in sight. A ribbon of fear slithered through him. He found his eyes scanning the area for blood. Relief crackled through him when he spotted the tracks. Out of the sniper"s line of vision, but barely. He took Brandywine down the ravine, through snow that was chest-deep.
d.a.m.n crazy woman was going to get herself killed.
Pulling up on the reins, he tracked the path to the bottom of the hill. He spotted her just as she entered a spa.r.s.e copse of aspen. She was running away from him again.
Clucking to Brandywine, Jake eased the animal over the rough terrain and into deep snow. The horse lunged, but he moved with her in perfect balance. Not wanting to be left alone, Rebel Yell picked his way down the rocky side of the ravine, lagging about thirty feet behind.
At the bottom of the hill, Jake urged Brandywine into an extended trot. Because of the deep snow, Abby wasn"t making very good time. But she hadn"t stopped, either, hadn"t so much as looked back since they"d started this crazy chase.
What could the woman possibly be thinking? It wasn"t as if she was going to get away. And who had been taking pot shots at them? In the back of his mind, he"d been hoping it was a stray shot from a hunter. But Jake knew better. And for the first time, he considered the possibility that there was a sliver of truth to what she"d told him.
He was less than fifty feet behind Abby when he realized what she was going to do. The realization made his blood run cold. "Abby! No! Stop!"
The pond was a hundred yards wide, the frozen surface covered with new snow. Abby stepped onto the ice without hesitation and began trudging across, slipping, her gait broken.