Wild West Wife. Susan Mallery

      “I—” She clamped her lips shut. She was not going to thank him. He didn’t deserve it.

      He also didn’t seem to expect it. He moved away and began setting up the camp. He filled a coffeepot with water and put it on a flat rock he rolled into the fire. Next came cans of beans and some hard, flat chunks of bread. He heated the beans in their can, then used a bent fork to push them onto two plates.

      Somewhere in the process, he removed his hat. Haley didn’t notice the exact moment he did so, but suddenly he wasn’t wearing it. As he crouched by the fire, the light illuminated his features. Stubble darkened his jaw, making him look forbidding. Dark eyes and a straight mouth gave nothing away. She didn’t know what he was thinking and she decided she didn’t want to know. When he stood up, she realized he was much taller than she. The top of her head barely came to his chin. He’d already proved he could physically overpower her without a moment’s pause.

      The fear returned and with it a sensation of helplessness. She glanced around, but there was no one to help her and nowhere to run. The vast star-filled sky seemed to mock her. In the middle of the wilderness, what did the fate of one unknown woman matter to anyone?

      * * *

      The woman had gotten real quiet.

      Jesse told himself it was a good thing, that her silence was better than her threats, but to tell the truth, he’d spent a lot of the past two years in his own company and he’d gotten tired of the quiet. But he couldn’t think of anything to say. And if the little glances she kept throwing at him were anything to go by, she was terrified. Despite the large fire and his coat, she kept shivering. He knew her dress was wet from where she’d fallen in the snow, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that. It was unlikely she had a spare in her small carpetbag and he didn’t have one with him, either. She was just going to have to shiver until she dried out.

      But he could try to reassure her fears. Somehow.

      He searched his brain, wondering what he could say that would bring her a measure of comfort. He felt another of those darting glances. She’d cleaned her plate and set it on the ground beside her. From here he couldn’t see if she’d finished her coffee or not so he reached for the pot, rose to his feet and headed toward her.

      She sat in a half crouch across from him. As he approached, she stiffened, then slowly stood up. He’d untied the ropes around her wrists so she could eat. She’d pushed her arms through the coat sleeves. The garment hung down to her thighs, making her look small and childlike.

      “More coffee?” he asked, holding up the pot.

      She dropped her cup to the ground as her hands curled into fists. “Stop it,” she said softly. “Just stop it.”

      He paused in midstep. “What are you talking about?”

      “This.” She made a motion that took in him, the camp and the horses. “All of it.” She cleared her throat and her voice got stronger. “I’m not afraid. You can do whatever you have to and I won’t be afraid. But don’t make me wait and wonder. Just get it over with. Whatever you’re going to do to me, I can bear it. I just can’t stand the waiting!”

      Jesse took a step back and stared at her. The firelight illuminated half her face. Her green eyes had darkened to the color of shadow while her skin seemed to glow. But it was her mouth that caught and held his attention. Her lower lip quivered. He didn’t know if she was terrified or just close to tears and he didn’t want to know. Dammit all to hell, he hadn’t wanted to do this from the start. If there’d been another way to make Stoner listen to him...

      But there hadn’t been, he reminded himself. The past six months had proved that. Stoner was too smart to make a mistake and Jesse had no choice but to force his hand.

      “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.

      She made a sound that was half laugh, half strangled sob. “Yes, I’ve heard the men always say that right before they ravish the woman. That it won’t hurt. That she’ll like it.” Her chin raised slightly in a gesture of defiance. “I don’t care because I won’t be afraid of you. So ravish me or kill me, but just do it now.”

      Her words sank in slowly. Jesse felt an unfamiliar heat on his cheeks, then realized he was blushing. “I’m not going to do that,” he said quickly and returned to the fire. After putting the coffeepot back on the rock, he shoved his hands into his pockets.

      “Kill me or r-ravish me?”

      “I’m not going to hurt you at all. You’ve got this all wrong.”

      “Forgive me for misunderstanding the kidnapping. Perhaps you merely meant to show me this beautiful countryside. Of course. How silly of me. Allow me to admire the beauty of the night sky. There are so many stars out. It’s lovely. You are a thoughtful host.”

      He had to admire her guts. She was still visibly shaking with cold and fear, yet she spit at him like a barn cat facing down a coyote. She had about as much chance of winning this encounter, too, but by God she wasn’t going to let her fear best her. He had the brief thought that life would have been easier for Claire if she had had a little of Haley Winthrop’s spirit. But Claire couldn’t help what she’d been and he knew better than to speak or think ill of the dead.

      He pointed to the log he’d rolled over for her to sit on. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeated. “You might as well make yourself comfortable.” He sat on the ground on his oilcloth and stared at the flames. She didn’t move.

      “I didn’t want to kidnap you,” he said, figuring he owed her some explanation for what had happened.

      “So you made a mistake. How unfortunate...for all of us.”

      Her frosty words almost made him want to smile. Almost. “I have a ranch, or rather I had one with my father. It’s a few miles from here. A great piece of land with plenty of room for grazing cattle and there’s lots of water.”

      “How lovely for you.” She was just as sarcastic as ever, but he noticed she’d lowered herself onto the log and was leaning toward the fire.

      “A couple of years ago I headed south to bring up a herd of longhorns from Texas. We wanted to breed them with the stock we already had and build up our cattle.” He paused, remembering the plans he and his dad had made. The dreams they’d had for success as ranchers. There were opportunities available to men willing to work hard. He remembered his mother and Claire. The land wasn’t as forgiving when it came to women.

      “Did you?” she asked. “Did you bring the herd north?”

      “Yeah. Nearly two thousand head of cattle. But when I got back, the ranch was gone.”

      That caught her attention. She straightened in her seat and stared at him. “What do you mean, gone? The land is still there, isn’t it?”

      “Oh, yeah, the land is there, but the cattle had been scattered and the house was mostly burned. My father was dead.”

      He stared into the fire and remembered that time. Those days—the shock of seeing the half-burned house. The silence broken only by a few birds flying overhead.

      “What happened?” she asked.

      “He was murdered. Falsely accused of helping renegades who have been attacking local ranches.” Rage welled up inside him; the familiar heat had kept him alive through the long, cold winter. “I know my father as well as I know myself. He was a decent man who never broke the law. He wouldn’t have helped any renegades. I asked around in town and found out there had been a quick arrest and a quicker trial. He was hanged in two days. It happened about four months after I left for Texas, so by the time I got back with the herd, people had mostly forgotten.”

      He heard Haley catch her breath. “I’m sorry for your family,” she said. “But what does this have to do with me?”

      “I know who’s responsible. Lucas Stoner is behind my father’s death and he’s