After the Ashes(42)
She grabbed his hand and entwined her fingers in his. “That’s not what I want. Do you?”
He pulled her tightly against him. “No.”
A deep silence said what neither wanted to say.
Lorelei couldn’t take the strain of emotions unspoken. “I don’t expect you to be a different man than you are. All I ask is that you be honest with me. I’m taking a risk, and I want you to too. You have to let me know who you are, Christopher Braddock.”
He remained silent.
“Do we have a deal?” she asked, not sure what she wanted from him or what she expected, but if they were to be lovers, she didn’t want to be the only one exposing herself, risking her heart.
He buried his nose in her hair, then kissed the back of her neck. His growing erection nudged her bottom.
“Yes,” he said fiercely, as if the word were yanked from him. “We have a deal.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lorelei hummed an Irish lullaby while she cleared a circle for their night’s camp.
“‘Sleep, oh, babe, for the red bee hums the silent twilight’s fall,’” drifted to her lips like a warm memory she had forgotten existed.
When they were little, her mother had sung to them as she tucked them in at night. She’d start with Devine and Donnan, but Lorelei had heard her voice drift down the hall while she'd waited under her quilt of pink stars. Even when her mother had sung to the boys, Lorelei thought the song exclusively for her.
“‘My child, my joy, my love, my heart’s desire, the crickets sing you a lullaby beside the dying fire,’” Lorelei sang as she picked up small pieces of wood for kindling.
After a climb through narrow red walled canyons, they had reached a wooded area at a higher elevation. A hot meal over a roaring fire would cure the aches from two days of hard riding. Last night’s dinner of canned beans had left everyone hungry, especially Corey.
Their mother had stopped singing by the time he was born As Lorelei strained to remember the rest of the words, they faded like the once brightly dyed cotton of her favorite royal blue gloves. She continued to hum, not letting anything sour her good mood. Soon she’d be in Christopher’s arms. Like the coyotes that sang to the moon, she’d begun to live for the night.
She dropped her load of wood in the clearing’s center. While she massaged a knot in her lower back, she tilted her head and marveled at the tallness of the pine trees. Their tented tops seemed to brush the amber cast clouds that streaked across the sky. The vibrant green seemed a lush gift after so much sand. As she went to gather more wood, she caught herself waltzing.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She turned abruptly. Corey led his horse into the clearing. “Get him out of here. You’re supposed to stake the horses away from the camp,” she told him.
“This isn’t our goddamned parlor, Lori. We’re being held prisoner.”
“What are you talking about?” She braced herself for her brother’s anger. In her deliriously exhausted state, the long days of riding had given her plenty of opportunity to avoid him. And when the night came she didn’t think of him at all. The realization of how thoroughly she had removed him from her mind prompted her to lower her gaze, weaken her stance.
He must have sensed her sudden shame, because he marched toward her with fire and brimstone in each step. “Don’t think I haven’t heard you when you think I’m asleep. You sound like a cat in heat. I can’t believe you’re my sister.”
She tried to take deep, calming breaths, but all the sacrifices she had made for him surged up her throat, unwilling to stay swallowed.
“You could believe it well enough when you sent me to do the very thing you condemn me for.”
“I didn’t ask you to take up with him. Are you on his side?”
“We’re all on the same side.”
“If you believe that, you’re a bigger fool than I thought. He’s just taking what he wants and filling you with empty promises.”
“Christopher hasn’t promised me anything.”
“Like I thought.” He stalked past her. “Where’s his saddlebag? I’m getting my guns and heading out.”
She stepped in front of her brother, blocking his path to Christopher’s saddle and their supplies. Christopher had slipped away to shoot a rabbit for dinner. They’d have a stew with fresh meat tonight. Corey couldn’t leave.
“Where do you think you can go?”
“Anywhere but here. Get out of my way.”
She stood her ground. Her brothers had never been able to lay a finger on her. Her father gave them the spanking of a lifetime if they even raised their voices to her.