Only 06 - Winter Fire

“Coming after me.”
    â€œI doubt it. From what Ute said, the only place those two are going is straight to hell.”
    Case blinked and rubbed one hand across his eyes.
    â€œOther Culpeppers,” he said.
    His left hand moved as though reaching for a gun. His fingers found nothing but bare skin.
    â€œGun,” he said hoarsely. “Where?”
    â€œLie down. You couldn’t fight a baby chick in your condition.”
    Case shook off Sarah and tried to stand. A wave of pain slammed through him. Stifling a groan, he sank back down onto the bed.
    â€œGot to—get up,” he said.
    â€œI’ll bring you a gun if you’ll just lie down,” she said quickly. “Please, Case. If you move around you’ll start bleeding again and then you’ll die!”
    The urgency of Sarah’s tone got through to him. He stopped struggling and allowed himself to be tucked in again. Then he watched with pain-hazed eyes while she stood and went to get his gun.
    As was her custom, Sarah was dressed in men’s clothes. Skirts and petticoats were worse than useless when she was climbing the stone canyons searching for treasure, or tending sick animals, or riding one of the skittish mustangs Conner and Ute had caught to provide mounts.
    â€œMen’s clothes,” Case said in a blurred voice.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œPants.”
    She flushed brightly. “I, er, that is…”
    Her voice faded as she remembered the picture Case had made when she undressed him. Even bloody and half-dead, he had been enough to make her heartbeat quicken.
    Ninny , she told herself. Just because he kissed you sweetly as a butterfly doesn’t mean he wouldn’t hurt you for his own pleasure .
    He is, after all, a man .
    A big one .
    â€œI’ll bring your shirt as soon as I get the blood off it,” she said. “But you shouldn’t wear it or pants for a time. All the rubbing would just make it harder for your wounds to heal.”
    He looked confused.
    â€œI was talking about your clothes, not mine,” he said carefully.
    â€œGood thing,” she retorted, “because you’re not wearing any to speak of at the moment.”
    He tried to answer, but dizziness was breaking over him like a long winter storm. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth, and fought to keep a clear head.
    But it was one battle Case knew he would lose.
    â€œHere,” she said. “I emptied the first chamber.”
    He felt the cold, familiar weight of his six-gun pressed into his left hand.
    â€œNow lie down again,” she ordered.
    He allowed himself to be pushed back onto the pallet. When she bent to tuck the bedcovers around his shoulders, one of her braids fell forward. It brushed across his cheek like a silken rope.
    â€œRoses,” he said.
    â€œWhat?”
    He opened his eyes. He found himself staring into eyes that were the color of mist and silver intermixed, compassionate and wary and admiring all at once.
    â€œRoses and sunshine,” he said thickly. “I kissed you.”
    â€œYes,” she whispered. “You kissed me.”
    â€œDumbest thing…I ever did.”
    â€œWhat?”
    There was no answer. Case was unconscious.

4
    S arah sat cross-legged next to the pallet where Case slept restlessly, gripped by pain and fever. Except to care for the wounded hawk, she had barely moved from Case’s side for the past three days.
    â€œEm…” he said hoarsely. “ Emily .”
    The agony in his voice made Sarah’s throat ache with tears she had forgotten how to shed.
    She didn’t know who Emily was. She knew only that Case loved her. He called out other names, too—Ted and Belinda, Hunter and Morgan—but it was Emily’s name that was torn from him in naked anguish.
    â€œCase,” she said, using the voice she reserved for frightened animals. “You’re safe, Case. Here, drink this. It will help the fever and pain.”
    As she spoke soothingly, she propped up his head and held a cup to his lips.
    He swallowed without a fight. He knew with a gut-deep certainty that the murmurous voice and cool hands would help rather than hurt him.
    â€œRoses,” he said hoarsely, sighing.
    Sarah’s smile was as sad as the mist-gray eyes that watched his flushed face. She had taken care of many hurt creatures in her life, but never had she shared their pain in quite this way.
    â€œSleep,” she murmured.