"What in h.e.l.l did you think you were doing coming out here after I told you to stay in the cabin?" he demanded as he dismounted, rage pouring out like custard boiling out of a pot.
"I wanted to go home," she said.
"I told you I"d take you as soon as the snow melted." He took her by the shoulders and spun her around. "Does this look like melted show?" he asked, forcing her to look at the world of white that surrounded them.
Daisy shrugged out of his grip. "You got through," she said, turning back to face him. "I thought I could."
"How? Do you see any wings on that mule?"
Daisy didn"t answer.
"You could have ended up dinner for that cat. Why didn"t you leave the mule and climb a tree? Cougars prefer mule meat."
"I didn"t know that."
"I suppose you didn"t know you could have gotten lost or fallen and frozen to death, either."
She had scared him half to death. Even now, knowing she was safe, his heart beat too loud and too fast. He couldn"t put into words the horror he felt when he saw Daisy fighting off the lion with a pine branch. He refused to allow himself to consider what might have happened if he"d arrived a few minutes later. It would have been a guilt he wouldn"t have been able to shake for the rest of his life. She had no right to do that to him.
"I didn"t risk my neck pulling you out of that fire so you could die in a snow drift. Neither do I like giving up my bed and half my cabin to have you run away the first time my back is turned."
"I"m s-sorry," Daisy stammered. "I just wanted to go home."
"So you steal my mule and head off into a blizzard." The snow was coming down harder.
"I didn"t mean--"
"You may not have any consideration for your own life, but you ought to think of the mule. He hasn"t done anything to you. He doesn"t deserve to die."
"I"m sorry, I"m sorry, I"m sorry!" Daisy shouted at him, her balled-up fists pressed to her temples.
"If you"re so d.a.m.ned sorry, why did you do it?"
"To get away from you!" Daisy flung at him. Her mule took exception to her tone of voice. He half reared, pulling her backwards by the rein caught over her arm.
Tyler couldn"t have been any more shocked if she"d made a s...o...b..ll and hit him in the face. "To get away from me!" he repeated, incredulous.
"I appreciate your taking care of me, but I can"t stand your bossing me around all the time," Daisy said, able to turn around only after she had convinced the mule she wasn"t mad at him.
"My what?" Tyler decided the bullet must have given her a concussion after all.
"Your telling me what to do."
"I never tell you what to do. I--"
"Yes, you do," Daisy contradicted. "All day long. I feel like a prisoner. You tell me when to go to bed, when to get up, how long I can stay up, what to eat, how fast to eat it, and how much. You hedge me in until I could scream."
"I only did what I thought was best."
"Then you decided to take me to your brother instead of Adora"s family," she said, ignoring his interruption. "He"ll probably dislike me as much as Zac. Then George will show up and blame me for Zac"s not going back to school."
With a defiant toss of her head, Daisy started back along the trial, her mule following behind her. Tyler had to follow if he wanted to talk to her.
"George would never do that. He"s a sensible man."
"That"s not the point," Daisy said over her shoulder. "I"m not a child, and I"m no longer sick." She pulled at her bandage, but it wouldn"t come off.
"I never realized--" Tyler began.
"You never listen. You go around doing exactly what you want, and you"re so big n.o.body can stop you."
Tyler was furious at how she saw what he"d done. He knew women could be blind, but he never expected Daisy to be so perversely ungrateful.
"I can make my own decisions," Daisy informed him.
"I suppose you"re used to bullet wounds in your head, being snowed in by a blizzard, and being tracked by murderers," Tyler said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"No, but--"
"I gather it"s no concern to you that the killers are still after you or that they probably mean to kill Zac and me as well."
Daisy turned back, her face drained of color. "What do you mean?"
d.a.m.n! He hadn"t meant to mention the tracks, but she made him so mad he couldn"t think straight.
"I found their tracks a couple of miles down the mountain," he said, trying to make it sound like he didn"t attach much importance to the discovery. "They are going away from us, but it means they"re still looking for you. If you had gotten down the mountain, you could have run into them."
She looked directly into his eyes. "I shouldn"t have left. I shouldn"t have taken your mule. I"m sorry."
"There"ll be time to talk about that later," he said, his voice gruff. His temper had cooled. "Here, let me help you into the saddle."
Daisy resisted, but he mounted her on his mule anyway.
"See what I mean?"
"What?" He didn"t have time to play Daisy"s games.
"I didn"t think you did."
"Hold on while I climb up," he said.
"I can ride by myself."
"I"m riding behind you. Your mule is exhausted." Tyler caught up the reins of her mule, then climbed up into the saddle. "I"m not taking any more chances. You"ve caused enough trouble for one day."
That was unfair, and he hadn"t meant to say it, but he wouldn"t retract a word. They were safe words. She would know he was angry. She wouldn"t know it was because he had been so scared for her.
And he was angry.
He was furious she had so foolishly risked her life. He was enraged she would take his every attempt at kindness and turn it back as heartless determination to have his own way in everything. At the same time he was upset that, despite everything he"d done, she felt unwelcome in his cabin.
He didn"t know whether it was more her fault or his, but it just went to show he wasn"t suited to have anything to do with women. And she still hadn"t forgiven him for not helping her find her father"s killers. Well she"d get that one wish, at least. He would have to do something about the killers. He couldn"t wait until they found her again.
Daisy rode in silence, her mind and body prey to conflicting emotions. Tyler rode with his arms around her, his legs on either side of her, his body practically encompa.s.sing hers. It set her body at war with her mind and heart.
She was so angry at Tyler she couldn"t trust herself to speak. He had no right to treat her like a rebellious child any more than he had a right to take her to his brother against her will. It was cruel of him to accuse her of willfully endangering his and Zac"s lives. How was she supposed to know the killers were still after her?
A chill raced down her spine. She found herself wanting to draw closer to Tyler. That made her even madder. After what he"d said to her, she wanted to hate him.
But she couldn"t. All she could think of were the powerful arms that held her in the saddle. She wanted to stay with him, to accept his protection. Not even her anger could block out the feeling she was safe as long as she was with him.
But she felt something more than safety. As his legs ground against her legs, as his arms and chest rubbed against her arms and back, she felt a slow fire begin to build deep in her belly. She had never felt anything like it before, but she knew immediately it had to do with Tyler"s nearness. Trying to remind herself she was angry with him did nothing to stem the flow of heat that seemed to penetrate every part of her body. Intimate contact with a man was new to her. Even a simple touching would have set off fireworks in her body. His embrace had created a conflagration.
Especially in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She was acutely aware of a tingling sensation heightened by Tyler"s arms rubbing against the side of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. She tried to move away, but it was impossible. His arms held her tight against him. This was no simple embrace. She felt engulfed by his body. She felt a.s.saulted. She strove to concentrate on the landscape, the rocking of the horse, his anger. It only seemed to make her more aware of his nearness She reminded herself it wasn"t a friendly embrace. It might as well be a cage. But somehow it didn"t feel like that.
Zac was waiting outside the cabin when they returned. "I see you found her," he said to Tyler. "Where was she?"
Daisy knew he"d find out about the cougar sooner or later. She preferred he find out now.
"I was in a snowdrift about to be eaten by a mountain lion. It was stupid of me to try to escape, worse to take Tyler"s mule."
Zac wasn"t about to be taken in by a confession that didn"t sound in the least bit contrite. "You don"t have to sound so proud of yourself."
"I"m not."
"You act like it."
"Put the mules up," Tyler said. "Be sure to rub them down well."
"I"ll see to the mules, but I mean to find out why she took off. She can kill herself if she wants, but she"s got no business trying to get you killed, too."
"Get moving," Tyler said, a sharp edge to his voice.
"You knew he"d come after you, didn"t you? Even if it meant he might die in a snowstorm." Zac s.n.a.t.c.hed the reins of the two mules from Tyler and stalked off. "You"re not only selfish and stubborn as h.e.l.l, you"re stupid."
Zac"s censure forced Daisy to face the enormity of what she had done. She supposed she knew Tyler would follow her, but it hadn"t occurred to her that anything would happen to him. He seemed much too big to be in danger. She resented being called stupid because she suspected she had been.
"Don"t pay any attention to Zac," Tyler said as he started toward the cabin. "He was just afraid he was going to have to cook his own dinner."
Daisy didn"t smile. She preceded Tyler inside, painfully aware she was going to have to find some way to apologize. She wanted to retreat to her corner, to hide behind the curtain until she felt able to face him again, but she knew she had to do it now if she was ever to do it at all.
She looked at Tyler out of the corner of her eyes. He was taking off his heavy clothes, putting up his rifle.
"Did you find a deer?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Too cold, I guess."
He wasn"t going to help her. Okay, she could do it on her own. "I didn"t mean for you to follow me. I didn"t mean to put you in danger."
"I know."
"I thought I could get through. I wanted to go home."
"I know."
"Don"t keep saying that in that calm, tolerant voice. Yell at me or something."
"I already did." Tyler looked at her out of veiled eyes. "You don"t have to feel guilty."
"Yes, I do."
"Okay, if you want to."
Daisy stomped her foot. "I don"t want to. I want to hit you for making me so mad. I have to apologize, and you"re making it virtually impossible."
"I don"t want your apology," he said.
"Then you can go on being angry at me."
"Do you want me to be angry with you?"
"You ought to be. Zac is."
"He"s just afraid he"ll--"
"I know, afraid he"ll have to cook is own dinner."
"I was going to say he was afraid he"d have to rescue both of us."
Daisy stopped. "Would he?"
"Of course."
"Why? You two say terrible things to each other. You practically buried him in the snow yesterday."
"He"s my brother."
Daisy thought about that for a moment. "Then I endangered two people besides myself." She sat down at the table and didn"t speak again until Zac returned.
"I want to apologize to both of you," she said before Zac could open his mouth. "It was stupid of me to attempt to escape. I wouldn"t have done it if I"d had known it would put either of you in danger."
Zac"s gaze cut to Tyler, then back to Daisy. "Why did you run away?"