San Antonio Rose (Historical Romance) (21 page)

"But they were Americans. These were Santa
Anna's soldiers. They would not have harmed
me, for fear of reprisal from him."

"Its of little matter now." He squinted toward the horizon. "We have no food, water,
blankets, or horses. And we're probably lost. So
if you have any idea where we are, you must
guide us." He looked doubtful. "We can't stay
here. Do you feel like going on?"

She nodded. "I know where we are. We are
on land that belonged to my father before
Santa Anna confiscated it. If we walk in a westerly direction, we will come to Talavera."

Ian turned to her and smiled. "I have fond
memories of the stable there."

She gave him an angry glance, and he held
up his hand in surrender. "I was merely remembering. You can't blame a man for that."

Emerada was still feverish, and her head
throbbed every time she took a step. She knew
they must go on. They had to find shelter before dark.

Once she stumbled and fell, and Ian picked
her up and carried her. When she tried to
protest, he silenced her with a glance.

She laid her head against his shoulder, feeling as if it belonged there. She had been right
the first day when some sixth sense told her that
her life would be interlocked with Ian's. Every
time she left him, fate seemed to pull her back.

She delighted in the feel of his muscled arms
about her. Turning her face against his neck,
she felt his pulse throb against her lips.
Warmth flowed through her body like a flood ing river. No man would ever make her feel the
emotions that Ian did.

He shifted her weight and looked down at
her with a passionate glance. "If you don't stop
that, Emerada, I can't promise not to retaliate,"
he said in a deep voice.

She felt the blush on her cheeks and hid her
face. With the fever raging through her, she
wasn't sure what was real and what was imagination. But she knew that he wanted her as
much as she wanted him, and she would have
to fight against those feelings.

"You can put me down now. I can walk."

He placed her on firm ground and dabbed at
his forehead with his neckerchief. "Do you feel
like you can go a little farther?"

"It is not much farther now. Talavera is just
over that next rise."

"Lean on me," he said. "When you need to
rest, let me know."

Emerada didn't think she could take another
step as they made their way down the hill. It
was almost dark, and the stable was a welcome
sight.

Ian saw her stumble and lifted her in his
arms once again. "I'll carry you the last few
steps, Emerada. You shouldn't even be out of
bed in your condition, let alone hiking through
the countryside."

"It's good to be home," she said, too weary to
protest.

"Do you still think of Talavera as home?"

"No matter where I go, or what I do in the future, this will always be my home. Even though
the Mexican government confiscated it, my
family paid for this land in blood, and so will I,
if I have to."

He carried her as easily as if she were a child.
"I wonder why you haven't asked Santa Anna
to restore the land to you."

She glared at him and wriggled to get out of
his arms. "I would not ask anything of him. I
want no favors from that cowardly president
general who remains well behind the lines
while his men die."

"Be still or I'll drop you, Emerada. Anything
can set off that Mexican temper of yours."

"You can, Ian. Especially when you think I
should ask Santa Anna for a favor."

He entered the stable and placed her on her
feet. "Emerada, I never know what's in your
mind. What makes you think you have to take
on Santa Anna all by yourself? You might consider allowing the Texas army to get him for
you."

"I have cast my lot with Houston, but I am
no longer sure he is the man to confront Santa
Anna."

Emerada moved into the cool interior, realizing she no longer had a fever. It had been hot
today, but as the sun began to set, there was a
chill in the air.

"Houston knows what he's doing," Ian said
curtly.

"I pray you are right."

She glanced at him, and he noticed that her
lips trembled. "One way or another, it will be
all over soon, Emerada. Then we can create a
new life here in this wonderful land."

"A new life for you, and the woman you are
betrothed to. I will not stay in Tejas when the
war has ended."

He couldn't deny that he was betrothed to
Pauline, and he wasn't really free to ask anything of Emerada. But he couldn't let her go either. "You know I will help you, Emerada. I
want to take care of you."

"I do not want your help any more than I
want Santa Anna's. I want to owe no one."

"You are setting yourself up for a very lonely
life, Emerada."

She raised her shoulders and shrugged. "My
life has been too crowded of late. I would welcome loneliness."

In frustration, he blurted out, "I can't talk to
you when you're like this!"

She struck a flint and lit the lantern that illuminated the darkened corners of the stable. "I
just want to rest."

Ian looked about him in total amazement.
The stable had been swept, and there was fresh
hay in the stalls and supplies on a shelf.

Emerada picked up a bucket and thrust it at him. "The well still has fresh water." She
smiled at the bemused expression on his face.
"Domingo cleaned and laid in fresh suppliescanned goods and blankets-on the chance
that I might need to hide out here later, should
circumstances go against me."

Ian gripped the bucket handle and walked
toward the door. "Everything we need but a
horse."

After he left, she dropped to her knees, too ill
to move. It wouldn't be safe to lay a fire, since
there were so many soldiers about, but she
should get the blankets and make the beds.
Wearily she made her way to the tack room
and gathered several blankets in her arms.
Moving to one of the stalls, she spread a blanket over the fresh straw and lay down, rolling
up in it to keep warm.

When Ian returned, she was already asleep.
He quietly opened a can of beans he found with
the supplies and ate them in the near dark. Afterward he put another blanket on Emerada
and went to the next stall to make his bed.

Although he was tired and every muscle
ached, it was a long time before he fell asleep.
He had visions of the last night he'd spent there
with Emerada, visions that turned to dreams
when he at last fell asleep.

Ian awoke and rolled to his feet. He went directly to the stall where Emerada had slept and found it empty. In a panic, he quickly searched
the stable, but she wasn't anywhere to be seen.

Had she left him in the middle of the night,
just as she did before?

She was ill and had no horse. He hurried to
the door-he had to find her!

A bright moon poured its light across the
grotesque, unnatural shape of the burned-out
house, and he saw her standing before it, her
head lowered, her hands clasped in front of
her. He could only imagine what horrors were
eating at her mind.

When he approached her, she turned into his
arms and laid her head against his chest. "Ian,
I can't get their deaths out of my mind. It was
the despicable act of a monster."

He clasped her to him, feeling her anguish as
if it were his own. "I understand how you feel.
And for the first time I understand why you feel
it your duty to avenge your family."

She blinked back her tears. "I need to know
how they died, but no one can tell me." Her
body trembled. "I pray it was quick and merciful." She grasped his shirtfront and looked into
his face. "I am so afraid that they were burned
alive. I must know-I must!"

Ian kissed the top of her head. "Don't think
about it, Emerada. If it is humanly possible, I
will find out for you."

She allowed Ian to lead her back to the stable
and wrap her in a blanket. "I believe we can risk a fire now." He placed his hand on her
forehead. "You don't have fever."

"The sickness of the body has passed, but the
sickness of the soul still rages inside me." She
watched him lay a fire, and her eyes focused on
the flames when they licked hungrily at the dry
wood. "It must be very painful to die by fire."

Ian went on his knees before her and tilted
her face to him. "Stop thinking about it,
Emerada."

"If only I could."

He scooped her into his arms, his hands
moving up and down her back. "Think of
something else, sweet one," he whispered
against her ear. "Think about the good times
you had with your family. Remember their
smiles, their laughter, and how grieved they
would be if they knew how sad you are."

She nodded, as his hands, which had been
comforting only moments before, now evoked a
yearning within her. She pulled back enough so
she could place her hands on both sides of his
face. With a boldness that came from need, she
moved forward, her lips lightly touching his.

Ian stiffened at first, but he could not deny
the passion that flowed through his body. He
had wanted to comfort her; now all he could
think about was taking possession of her body.

"Emerada, my sweet, sweet love," he said as
he picked her up in his arms and carried her to
the closest stall. He placed her gently on the
blanket and went down beside her, molding her shape to his, swelling against her, kissing her
until she moaned with the same burning longing that consumed him.

Emerada wanted to tear her clothes off, to
remove all barriers between her and heaven.

Ian's hand slid beneath her blouse and swept
over her breasts, teasing the nipples between
his fingers and rekindling the passion she'd felt
for him the first time he had made love to her.
But this time her yearning was deeper and
more profound, because she knew what it felt
like in that perfect moment when their bodies
melded.

"I wasn't going to do this again," he said in a
deep voice, his hands impatiently pushing her
skirt over her hips. "I can't stop myself."

She boldly slid her hand down his chest and
across his stomach. "I do not want you to stop,
Ian. Make love to me. Make me forget everything else."

"Emerada, I have never before given so
much of myself to a woman. I want you to
know that."

"Oh, Ian," she said, placing a kiss on his lips,
feeling sorrow cut into her like a knife. "Do not
give so much of yourself to me. Save it for the
woman you will marry."

Then his hand swept downward, parting her
legs and gently caressing her. Her arms tightened about his neck, and her lips welcomed his
kiss. His mouth ravished hers, drawing a moan
of unrestrained pleasure.

"My own, my heart," he said, twining his
hands in her hair and raising it to his lips.

He had been systematically undressing her,
kissing her, touching her, and soon his own
clothing lay in a heap with hers.

Emerada felt his swollen arousal hot between her legs and groaned in pleasure. She
gripped his shoulders as he glided inside her,
holding him tightly to her, wishing she could
be absorbed into him.

His smooth strokes reached deep inside her,
and she thought she would scream from the
feelings that washed over her. Wave after wave
of pleasure went through her like a ravishing
tidal wave.

He spoke softly to her, teaching her, prodding her, instructing, and she was his apt pupil.
Each new experience brought her a deeper joy.
There was no part of her body his hands and
lips did not touch.

The shabby stable was awash in golden light
and became a paradise in their shared passion.

When Ian's rhythm changed, she rode to a
higher plane of passion with him.

"Making love to you is like a magical potion."
He groaned. "I can never have enough, and I
never want to stop."

"Yes," she answered in a whisper and then a
gasp, because his lips had just settled on her
breast. "Never enough."

With each powerful stroke, her body rocked
against his. The pain was in the beauty of it and knowing that they would probably never
be together like this again.

She spread her legs, giving him easier access,
and he took advantage, giving her all of him.
Her stomach seemed to tighten, and then her
whole body quaked with fulfillment. Emerada
gripped Ian's shoulders when he rapidly thrust
forward, bringing her even more pleasure.

She cried out his name and went limp
against him as both their bodies reached for
that final pleasurable climax.

Her lips moved over his face until she found
his mouth. His arms tightened about her so
lovingly that she wanted to cry. Theirs had
been a perfect joining. They both knew it, but
neither one admitted it aloud.

"Are you all right?" he asked, releasing her
and laying the palm of his hand against her
stomach.

She shook her head, unable to say what was
in her heart. How dear of him to worry that
he'd hurt her.