“Dan,” Loraine said quietly. Only then did he turn his eyes to her. She closed the book she had been reading and climbed down, hopping lightly onto the trampled grass.
Her long, golden curls hung loosely to either side of her breasts. She wore a long, gauzy, cream-colored nightgown.
It was free from embel ishment, but hung off her shoulders and clung to her hips in a way that both revealed her curves and begged for removal.
“Where is Selena?” he asked. He had no patience for her wiles now.
Loraine blinked up at him with uncertainty, then cast her eyes down and hooked a strand of hair behind her ear before peering up at him again.
“Where
is
she?” he demanded. Harshness had slipped out in his voice, unbidden, and he knew it was unfair. “I’m sorry,” he amended.
He real y was. Loraine couldn’t be blamed for what the world had made her. While Selena was cloaked in a blanket of vulnerability, Dan sensed that Loraine was cloaked in a blanket of scars, although she was good at masking it. The way she seemed to have accepted her abuses turned his stomach. This was a woman who had been raped and beaten, who knew how many times, and had adapted to such treatment as a normalcy. Dan often wondered what her miserable brother had to say for what had been al owed to happen to her. In Loraine, he could stil feel a mournful longing to be treated the right way, but laced with a wil ingness to be used for any appetite, no matter how dark. If Selena weren’t in the picture, he might have been tempted. A part of him felt the lure to show her what it means to have a good partner. But he also knew that his carnal need to dominate would be not only welcomed but encouraged by this woman, who considered such a thing normal. Here, his principles won out entirely.
In her eyes, Dan was cut from the same mold as those who had hurt her in the past. He was a man.
It rankled deeply that if he took her to bed, what she expected was almost certainly what he would do. Loraine would be beautiful y submissive, but she shouldn’t be subjected to any more aggression than she already had.
What she needed now was love, kindness, and a healing tenderness. And what Dan needed was a woman with the spirit to withstand him, with the ability to equal him, not a woman to be defeated by him. As long as he had Selena, he would never slip with Loraine.
“It’s okay,” she answered softly.
Dan squelched the desire to argue.
“You’re not going to like this,” she whispered.
His senses sharpened as the adrenaline instantly began its infiltration of his blood.
“Jack warned me that Selena went to listen in on your conversation with Josie,” she said apologetical y. “But he tried to talk her out of it,” she added quickly. “We had some notion of what she was going to want from you.”
A hundred possibilities ripped through his mind.
“Jack told me he would keep an eye on her. He hasn’t come back yet.”
Selena would have listened from the trees. How much had she heard? If she stayed for the whole conversation, she would have had no reason to run off. Why wouldn’t she stay? Why wouldn’t she wait for the conclusion? Josie had made a lazy attempt at seduction, and he hadn’t stopped her. Josie’s words echoed in his mind.
I get the sense that you would do it just the way I like
it.
Selena would have left then. She couldn’t be blamed for it. But there was also the possibility that Jack had concocted some scheme to separate her from him. She was already tense about the negotiations. How much would it take to scare her away? He knew how she responded to force, but Jack was coercive. Dan had no idea how resistant she would be to the right words.
Loraine stared at him with al the marks of genuine concern. There was also a tinge of fear in her eyes. Rage was something she knew how to recognize, but she didn’t shrink back or take a defensive posture, only stood prone before him, ready for what he might do. Her expectation planted a seed in his mind, and that made him angrier.
“Why do you think they haven’t come back yet?” he unclamped his jaw to ask.
Loraine seemed taken aback by the question. “I think she heard something she didn’t want to hear and stormed off.”
“And?”
Now Loraine brought a hand up to her neck in a gesture of protective discomfort. “And I think ... I think Jack went after her and he’s trying to talk her into leaving with him.”
Dan glared at her hand, and then into her worried eyes. He rushed toward her to stop just inches away. She didn’t back up. She didn’t move at al , but her eyes glazed over and became unfocused in a strange way.
“Stop it! Look at me!” he growled, grasping her shoulders.
She obeyed, but the look in her eyes was the same.
“Not a damn bit of concern for yourself, Loraine?” he uttered angrily. “But when your stupid brother puts himself in a dangerous situation, you’re upset? What’s wrong with you? You think he’s better than you? You don’t have the same rights as anyone else? Are you going to say enough is enough or are you already dead?”
Her eyes were completely present now, and it was obvious no one had ever spoken to her like this.
He let her go in disgust and stepped away to turn his gaze anywhere else.
“H—how do you see these things?” she asked.
“How do you know
anything
about me?”
“Everyone can see it,” he told her. “You might as wel be naked.”
“No,” she whispered, mystified. “No, they can’t.”
“It doesn’t matter Loraine,” he said severely. “What matters is that your brother is a dangerous menace, to you as much as anyone else. I’m not surprised you’re used to abuse, but I
am
surprised he didn’t prevent it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat angrily.
Dan turned to face her again and held her gaze sternly.
“I don’t?”
Loraine stared back fiercely for a moment, but then her chin began to tremble and her brows pinched together.
Crap.
She ran toward him instead of away, and flung herself against his body. She tucked her head in against his chest and wrapped her arms around him, clutching hold desperately and trying to keep her sobbing quiet.
For a moment, he stood stiff with surprise, but couldn’t bring himself to deny her comfort. It was his fault she was crying, and he sighed with chagrin. At the same time, he didn’t regret what he said. Someone needed to talk sense to her. He reminded himself that she was merely surviving the only way she knew how. He wasn’t real y angry with her. He simply wanted to kil her brother.
Dan placed his arms around Loraine as lightly as he could manage and stared at the starry sky while she cried.
Her nightgown was unsettlingly thin, and although he could feel al the contours of her beautiful body against him, his stormy fury began to wel once again. Where was Selena?
And what was she being subjected to? How the hel was he going to find her in the mess of tracks around this hive of people?
Loraine,” he murmured as gently as he could, which wasn’t very.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, pul ing away and turning her back to him. She covered her face with her hands and took a few shuddering breaths. “You have enough to worry about.”
“I need to find Selena,” he agreed. “I’m going to ask you something you might not like, but I need you to tel me the truth.”
She waited, and he moved to her side so he could see her face.
“Is your brother violent with women?”
“No,” she breathed, wiping her tears and trying to hide the redness of her face in shame. “No, I swear it. Amy wil swear it too. It’s his cleverness that gets him what he wants.”
Dan had assumed the same, but felt the need for assurance regardless. It hardly improved the situation. His stomach roiled at the thought of Jack alone with Selena for any length of time, much less out in the wilderness trying to take her away. Dan didn’t trust him to keep Selena safe, judging by what he knew about Loraine.
Could Selena want to leave him after what she saw Josie do? How difficult would it be for Jack to coerce her?
And how far would he get? Could he talk her into giving herself to him? Would she enjoy it?
As these torturous thoughts snaked through his mind, Dan’s fury was blinding. He wanted to roar out his frustration so that everyone for miles would know about it.
Better yet, he wanted to hunt Jack down and remove the man once and for al , whether he’d ever hurt anyone directly or not.
“Dan,” Loraine whispered, staring at him with wide eyes.
He started at the sound of her voice. He’d forgotten about her entirely.
“I’m begging you again,” she pleaded. “Don’t. Please, for me. For Amy.”
The chemicals had flooded his bloodstream again, and his hands shook when they found nowhere to go.
He turned to leave.
“Dan,” Loraine cal ed plaintively again.
He paused to look back.
“Selena is lucky. I wish I had what she has.”
He fought to keep his breathing steady in the face of al the chaotic emotions that had been bombarding him throughout the past hour.
“You deserve someone more gentle than me,” he answered.
He walked away and found himself standing in front of an empty orange tent as his brain worked hard to solve this problem. He unzipped the door and knelt down to peer inside. His things had been brought from his saddle, probably by Angela. Selena’s pack wasn’t there.
So she
took it with her.
He made his way back to where the horses were tethered, near Josie’s tent. Star was gone. He frowned at the spot where the mare should have been.
Selena wouldn’t take Star if she were leaving for good, unless she planned to hurry back to the Crater to help the il before departing.
He was desperate to track them down, but there was no way he could do it in the dark, and no way to know which direction they’d gone. He had no choice but to wait until morning.
He returned to the orange tent and climbed inside, zipping it shut. He laid down and stared up at the tough fabric. It rocked softly in the gentle breeze as if al was wel that night. He wanted to destroy it for the lie. His least favorite feeling was taking root. It was the same feeling he’d experienced when he couldn’t save Selena or his community of friends from Josie’s brother. It was the knowledge that there was nothing he could do. Anything could be happening to the woman he loved. While his old enemies had tried to take her away by force, Jack might convince her to leave of her own free wil . He had known how to fight his enemies in the past, but not this time.
As maddening as it was, al he could do was wait and trust her, for now. He clenched his fists, hoping that Jack would make a mistake, wil ing him to make a mistake.
The man was playing a dangerous game. Was he too smart to screw up, or would he find himself tangled in his own web? And if he was guilty of any wrong, would Dan have the restraint to spare him?
He closed his eyes and gave himself over to sleep.
Tomorrow was going to be a hel of a day.
Dan awoke to shouting when the morning light was stil weak. He rose and left the tent, making for the noise swiftly.
Gina was running toward him in distress and he hurried to meet her.
“What’s wrong?”
“You better come to Josie’s tent, quick,” she said in a shaky voice.
“God damn it, answer me!”
“They think we stole their medicine,” she told him, hurrying back the way she’d come.
That was not what he had expected to hear and he felt a mild sense of relief. He was afraid that Selena had been found and something had happened to her.
Roark’s furious voice could be heard as they approached Josie’s tent. There were a lot of people scattered around listening, and now they eyed Dan with distrust.
He took off his weapons and tossed them on the ground, striding past Angela and a few other men to march right inside.
“You don’t listen to me, Josie, and I told you —” Roark was bel owing and when he saw Dan, he fel silent.
Josie looked up as he entered. Her expression was hard.
“You have some fucking nerve barging in here!”
Roark stormed. He stood with four other men, al with a bearing every bit as threatening.
“What’s al this about?” Dan asked Josie.
“We’re missing our medicine,” she said calmly, studying him with suspicion.
He held her gaze wordlessly, knowing she would find no guilt on his face.
“It’s obvious,” Roark raged on. “We’re missing our medicine just when your people got sick and you showed up!” He thrust a finger at Dan accusingly.
“Let me through! Get out of my way,” came Gina’s voice from the entrance. She managed to push her way inside and stood behind Dan.
A flustered Angela fol owed, looking at Josie apologetical y.
“How would they even know we had any?” Josie asked Roark, looking torn as to what she should believe.
“No one mentioned it, did they?”
“Miss Josie,” Angela said in a quivering voice.
“Loraine told them.” She flicked a regretful glance at Dan. “I heard her.”
“You see!” Roark said, glowering at him and taking up a chal enging stance.
“We didn’t take your medicine, and Selena went missing last night,” he told Josie, knowing she had nothing to do with anything that was going wrong here. “She isn’t back yet. There’s too much happening at once for coincidence.”
The timing of the medicine’s theft was no accident, especial y since it happened after his discussion of terms with Josie. He knew that the great obstacle in their negotiation would only make him look guiltier. If he thought Josie was going to reject the plan, why shouldn’t he have taken it? Only he didn’t. Someone was going far out of their way to undermine what he was trying to do.
Dan turned his gaze from Josie to Roark and watched the man careful y.
Roark shot a smoldering glare back, “Wel , now we know she was the one who took it.”
Dan’s eyes narrowed. “When I’m at war, I usual y know about it,” he said icily.
“You think we’d pul stunts like
this
if we had it out for you?” one of Roark’s men guffawed.
“Yeah,” Gina blurted, trying to push past Dan. He held out an arm to keep her back. “His enemies never have the bal s to come at him head-on!”