Climbing out of bed on limbs that were painfully unsteady, she poured water into the porcelain basin, dampened a cloth, and washed her face. With a sigh, she returned to bed, but again had trouble sleeping. When she finally did doze off, it seemed only minutes till the graying of dawn began to lighten the sky outside the simple muslin curtains at the window. It would soon be morning. She wondered if the don would come.
Or if he would stay with his woman.
***
Miranda Aguilar raked her nails along Ramon’s hard-muscled thigh. Lying beside her on the bed, he stirred with the first lightof dawn and rolled onto his back. She smiled at the long, hard ridge jutting up from its nest of thick black curls, heavy and seductive against his lean flat belly.
Last night they hadn’t made love. Ramon had been too angry. She shouldn’t have gone to the woman. He had warned her against it, but she didn’t care. She didn’t care what it took—as long as the woman stayed away.
His fingers closed over her wrist, stopping the movement of her hand. “I will not tolerate your disobedience,” he warned softly, reading her thoughts, his eyes dark and boring into hers. “Treat the woman with anything less than respect and you will not like the consequences, I warn you.”
Her lips drew into a pout. She leaned over and kissed the head of his shaft, making it throb and quiver. “I am sorry I displeased you.”
“As I said last night, I will be more than displeased should you do it again.”
Ramon had a terrible temper, but he had never hurt her. Once, when she had first come to Llano Mirada, Elena Torres, the girl who was his woman then, had stolen some money from one of the men. When Ramon confronted her, demanding she give back the money, she shouted obscenities and called him vile names. Ramon tossed her over his shoulder, carried her over to the horse trough, and dumped her in the water. The woman deserved it and the dunking hadn’t hurt her. Mostly her pride had been stung.
No, he had never been cruel to a woman. Except for thegringa.Which did nothing to ease Miranda’s fears.
“Do not be angry, Ramon,” she said seductively.
Bending forward, she ran her fingers lightly over his chest, bent and took his flat copper nipple into her mouth, teasing it with her tongue. Her hand strayed down to his hardened arousal. She stroked him there and the muscles of his stomachwent taut. Beneath her fingers, the rhythm of his heart grew more rapid. She raised up to kiss him, but instead he gripped her shoulders and rolled her beneath him then began to suckle her breasts. His hand slid down to the folds of her sex. She was already wet and ready. Ramon spread her legs and drove himself deeply inside her.
In minutes he brought her to climax, then rapidly reached his own. For a moment he lay quiet, staring up at the beams over his head. Then he rolled away.
“It is early yet,” Miranda said softly. “The sun is only just up. For once can you not linger here for a while?”
“Not today,” he said curtly. Grabbing a clean linen towel from beside the basin, he draped it around his neck, pulled on his snug black breeches, and headed out the door of the cabin, making his way upstream toward the place set aside for the men to bathe.
Miranda sighed. More and more he grew distant. She was losing him, she knew, and yet there was nothing she could do. She thought of the woman, the beautiful Americana with the fiery auburn hair.
Ramon had treated her badly, but he had been beside himself with grief. Still it worried Miranda, for it took great passion for such an act. Already that passion had changed from hatred to something else. She did not wish to see it change again.
Miranda slammed a slim fist down on the feather mattress. Ramon wanted the beautifulgringa.Miranda could see it in his eyes whenever he looked in the woman’s direction.
She wondered how long it would be before he took her.
She wondered as well what she could do to stop him.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Ramon crossed the compound to where Sanchez worked with the horses, most of them captured wild from the few bands left, broken to the saddle, and trained by Pedro, Ignacio, and Ruiz.
“Buenos dias, amigo,”Ramon called out to his friend. The older man trotted the sleek bay mare he was riding over to the split log fence. Mostly the vaqueros rode stallions. Mares were for women and children, they believed. A real man rode a real man’s horse. But here in the mountains, they took whatever they could get.
“You have decided what to do with the girl?” Pedro asked.
“I am afraid not, my friend, not yet. I did see her uncle while I was in the valley. I stopped by Rancho del Robles to pay my condolences on the abduction of his niece and to offer my assistance in helping him to find her. I told him I was sorry I was away when the trouble began.”
“And?”
“He said they had scoured the high country but seen no sign of his niece or El Dragón. He is hoping there will be some sort of ransom.”
“And?”
“And he declined my offer of assistance. I got the impression the help of a Californio is the last thing he wants right now.”
“Lucky for you,” Pedro said.