Only 06 - Winter Fire

mules.”
    Case put his finger beneath her chin and lifted her head until she couldn’t avoid looking into his eyes.
    â€œDon’t fool yourself, Sarah Kennedy,” he said quietly. “I don’t have love left in me. I don’t want it. I’ll never again love anything that can die.”
    She wanted to look away from the calm certainty in his eyes, but she didn’t. Instead, she let the truth of him sink into her like invisible steel talons.
    The depth of the silent, tearing hurt surprised her. Shehadn’t known until that instant how much of herself she had given to Case.
    Case, a man who wanted nothing from her.
    He was like the wild birds of prey that hadn’t wanted to be her captives, even long enough to heal.
    But that’s the nature of hawks , she reminded herself. Case didn’t start out that way .
    What drove him to shunning love?
    She didn’t ask the question aloud. There was no point. It would only bring him pain.
    â€œYou believe me,” he said.
    It wasn’t a question. He could see her belief in the quenching of light in her eyes and the utter stillness of her body, as though her heart had stopped beating.
    â€œI believe you,” Sarah whispered.
    He nodded. “Good. I don’t want any falsehood between us.”
    â€œWhy does it matter?” she asked with faint anger. “You’re just one more wild creature that came over my doorstep wounded and will leave as soon as it can.”
    â€œUte didn’t leave.”
    â€œYou sound like that worries you.”
    â€œIt should. Healing is a kind of…magic.”
    For the space of several heartbeats Sarah stared into Case’s eyes, eyes that now were the color of the first, fragile green of spring. But it was a spring that would never come for him.
    He didn’t want it.
    He shunned life the way most men shunned death.
    The smile she gave him then was as painful as her thoughts.
    â€œDon’t let it worry you,” she said. “I’m not a witch cackling over a cauldron of toads. I’m just a widow who learned the hard way how to deal with cuts, breaks, and bullet wounds.”
    The tension in his face changed. Few people wouldhave noticed it. Fewer still would have guessed that it was his way of smiling.
    â€œNo toads, huh?” he asked.
    â€œNot a one.”
    â€œTakes a load off my mind.”
    With a reluctance he didn’t show, he stopped stroking her hair, turned away, and gathered himself to resume the painful circuits of the cabin.
    Sarah turned with Case, acting as a second crutch.
    He hesitated, then accepted her help.
    â€œI’m not speaking for Lola’s salves, mind you,” she said with determined lightness. “There might be an occasional snake in her medicines. Or in her stews, for that matter.”
    â€œBig Lola.” He shook his head. “How did you end up with that old wh—er, sporting lady?”
    â€œShe came down the bluff about a month after I found Ute nearly shot to death in the Fingers of Dawn.”
    â€œNever heard of them.”
    She shrugged. “They’re not on any army map. I named them. There are so many stone shapes out there, I have to name them to keep track of where I’ve looked for treasure and where I haven’t.”
    Awkwardly Case moved around the cabin, forcing himself to listen to what Sarah was saying. It helped to take his mind off the heat surging through his blood.
    â€œI think you’ve had enough,” she said. “You look strained.”
    He simply shook his head. It wasn’t pain that was thinning his lips. It was raw hunger.
    Her right arm was around his waist. Her fingers were flexed against the naked skin above his loincloth. Her right side—breast, hip, and thigh—pressed against him with each step as she helped him keep his balance.
    Every motion of his body reminded Case of the surprisingly soft curves hidden beneath Sarah’s rough clothing.
    Is she doing it on purpose? he asked silently, savagely.
    A swift look at her face told him that she had no idea of what her closeness was doing to him.
    For a widow she’s damned naive .
    Or maybe she meant just what she said. She wants a big brother, not a lover .
    â€œCareful,” she said.
    â€œHow did Lola know Ute was here?” Case asked, determined to keep his mind on something else.
    â€œShe followed rumors of his death back to here. Then she found out he wasn’t