Angel Creek Read online

  And she would never love any man as much as she loved this damn place, he thought savagely. He would rather have had Kyle Bellamy as a rival than Angel Creek, because he could fight Bellamy, but how could he fight the land? He remembered the look of dreamy ecstasy on her face the morning he had come to her in the dawn and found her out in the meadow, and sharp jealousy pierced him as he realized it had been for the land, for the wash of golden sunlight, for the crystal flow of water, and not for him.

  The hell of it was, he loved the Double C just as fiercely. He couldn’t condemn her when they were so much alike. That was why he was so relaxed with her, because she matched him strength for strength. But damn it, it wasn’t like he’d be asking her to move to another country.

  He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Let’s go inside,” he said abruptly. He needed her. God, how he needed her.

  But she didn’t take his hand, just gave him another of those cat looks. “If you rode all the way over here just for that, you’ll have to be disappointed. I’m having my monthly.”

  He was disappointed but felt no inclination to leave. Even if he couldn’t make love to her, he needed her in other ways. He kept his hand extended. “Then come sit on my lap and drive me crazy,” he said.

  Her face brightened with interest, and she put her hand in his. She was always willing to drive him crazy.

  But as it happened they spent more time talking than snuggling. He had been serious about her sitting on his lap, so that’s what she did, both of them in the big chair in front of the fire. He told her about his breeding plans for his herd, about his expansion ideas, how he planned to use the politicians in Denver to further his ambitions. The citizens of Colorado were supposed to vote to ratify the state constitution on the first of July, and it would then go to the federal government for a vote to admit them to the Union. He told her what statehood would mean, and she sat up to frown at him.

  “I don’t know if I want crowds of people coming out to settle. I like it the way it is now.”

  “It’s progress, honey. With more people we’ll get more businesses, and more railroads. Railroads are the key. Colorado can’t be completely civilized without them.”

  “What difference does it make?”

  “Money,” he said simply. “You can’t do anything without money.”

  “But I don’t want things to change.” She nestled her head back on his shoulder and said pensively, “I don’t like change.”

  “Everything changes.” He combed his fingers through her long hair and pressed a kiss to her temple. She turned her face into his throat, and he held her tighter, as if he could protect her from the changes that were inevitable for them both.

  It had become customary for Olivia to go riding every Sunday afternoon. Sometimes she would return without seeing Luis, her disappointment carefully hidden behind her calm demeanor. But most of the time he would join her at some point. She seldom saw him at any other time, for his duties on the ranch kept him busy. The days between those stolen Sunday afternoons crept by at a snail’s pace, while the few hours she spent with him were gone almost before she knew it. She was so obsessed with seeing him that she even neglected to ride out to see Dee and felt guilty because she had so much to tell her.

  She couldn’t seem to think of anything other than Luis. Her heart would begin hammering as soon as he appeared at her side, making her feel as if she would suffocate in the heat. She had already ceased wearing the fitted jacket of her riding habit, but convention insisted that she keep her blouse firmly buttoned all the way up to her throat and the sleeve cuffs fastened at her wrist. The unusually warm weather was uncomfortable, and her physical reaction to Luis made it seem even worse.

  She would often look at the open throat of Luis’s shirt and envy men the freedom of their clothing, but it wasn’t long before the smooth brown skin visible in that open neckline would distract her from the details of clothing, and the heat would intensify.

  Luis saw the way her gaze would linger on his open shirt and the flush that would soon climb to her cheeks. Though she didn’t realize it, she was becoming more accustomed to the physical desire between them, and as each Sunday passed without anything more than kisses she was becoming hungrier. She was innocent, but she was a woman, with a woman’s needs. The day would come, and soon, when her desire and curiosity would grow too strong, and she would reach out for him. He only hoped it would be soon, for the frustration was killing him. He had never waited so long for a woman before, but then no other woman had been Olivia.

  As June progressed the heat became even more oppressive, and riding during the afternoon was almost unbearable for both riders and animals. On a Sunday afternoon toward the end of the month Luis found a spot of intense shade under a stand of big trees and reined in his horse, dismounting with the fluid, catlike grace she found so fascinating.

  “Let the horses rest,” he said, reaching up for her. “We’ll start back when it cools down some.”

  Olivia was more than glad to rest in the shade. She patted her face with her handkerchief and sat down under a tree while Luis gave the horses a little water, then tied them with long lines so they could graze. That done, he sat down beside her and placed his hat on the ground, then wiped his face with his sleeve.

  “Do you want some water?” he asked.

  She laughed, amused that he had taken care of the horses before offering any water to her. “Is there any left?”

  “1 brought a full canteen.” He plucked a blade of grass and tickled her nose with it. “Always take care of your animals first. They’ll keep you alive.”

  “Since we’re less than an hour from town, I think we’ll make it before we run out of water,” she said gravely, then she laughed again.

  He looked up at the blue bowl overhead, and the searing white sun. “If it doesn’t rain soon, the water situation could really get desperate. The creeks on the Bar B are almost dry, and I imagine the other ranches are in the same shape.”

  “I hadn’t realized things were that bad,” she said, ashamed that she hadn’t thought of it. “Are the wells going dry, too?”

  “So far, no, but they could.”

  All of the ranchers, big and small, kept their money in her father’s bank. If they went broke, then the merchants would lose money, too. She had always imagined the bank as permanent, but in a flash she saw that it depended on the solvency of the people who used it, which could never be guaranteed. Prosper itself had seemed invulnerable to the vagaries of boomtowns, as firmly rooted as any of the cities back East, yet could it survive if a drought destroyed the ranches? People couldn’t stay if there wasn’t any way to make a living. Shops and stores would close, neighbors would move away, and Prosper would die.

  Everything people built was so fragile, at the mercy of weather or disease or just plain bad luck, and survival was no more than a matter of chance.

  She looked up at the sun with both fear and worry in her eyes. Luis was sorry he had mentioned the growing dry spell, for there was nothing that could be done. He was a fatalist; life had taught him to accept what couldn’t be changed, and he had learned early that either you survived or you didn’t. If a drought destroyed Prosper, then he would roll up his bedroll and saddle his horse, and when he left he would take Olivia with him. Life was too short to fret over changes. He could be just as happy with her sitting at a campfire as he could in a house with a roof over his head.

  But she was already fretting about the people she knew who would be hurt by a drought, and he wanted to pull her head down to his shoulder and protect her from those worries. Instead he stretched out on the ground and pillowed his head on her lap, nestling down on the softness of her thighs.

  The pressure of his head made her lower body tighten in reaction to his nearness. Olivia held her breath, almost overcome by the sensation flooding her. Her breasts began to throb and swell, yet at the same time she felt oddly protective toward him. Tentatively she touched his damp black hair, then smoothed it away