Cherish the Dream by Kathleen Harrington

Author:Kathleen Harrington [Harrington, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0380776995
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

With his dark blue cape for a blanket, Theodora lay on the ground beside Captain Blade Roberts and stared up at the stars. Unlike the previous evening, no clouds obscured the sky, nor did rain force them to huddle together for protection. Yet since nightfall she’d remained close enough to reach out and touch him. She knew he was awake now, though he’d been silent since she’d edged closer to him in the dark.

“How’s the sunburn?” His tone was as tender as a lover’s touch.

“A little uncomfortable. Enough to make it hard to fall asleep.”

He chuckled sympathetically. “Sorry there’s nothing in my saddlebag for it. That’s one problem I’ve never had to worry about. But you wouldn’t have gotten so badly burned if I hadn’t used your sleeves for bandages.”

“Nonsense.” She turned her head, pillowed on his blanket, to look at him. “It was my idea. Besides, your wound is a lot more serious.”

Theodora didn’t regret the loss of her sleeves. After eating the turkey he’d roasted for them late that afternoon, she’d insisted on checking his wound.

Then she’d turned to her own needs. She felt grimy from the long day under the hot sun. She wanted desperately to go farther downstream to wash, but that privacy was denied her. He vehemently insisted that she stay within eyesight.

“If you want to bathe, I’ll turn my head,” he’d said with matter-of-fact aplomb, not looking up from the inspection and cleaning of his carbine. “But if I hear anything strange at all, don’t count on keeping your modesty. Our first priority is staying alive.”

In the end she’d compromised and removed her tattered blouse and ripped skirt. Dressed in camisole and torn pantaloons, she sat on a boulder and splashed cold water on her burned arms, neck, and face. She indulged in the luxury of washing her hair with a bar of soap he’d provided from his saddlebag. She scented the rinse water with wildflowers she’d found on the bank and poured it over herself, delighting in the icy tingle.

Refreshed, she waded out of the stream, but before she could replace her blouse, Blade walked over.

“I want to take a look at that sunburn,” he said. He touched her lightly here and there on her neck and shoulders and arms to determine just how badly she was burned. She felt stripped and vulnerable in front of him, until his nonchalant manner gradually allayed her fears. Satisfied, he ran his forefinger lightly down the bridge of her sore nose. “I’ve never seen such a red little bluenose,” he teased. “You sure you’re not really part Indian?”

She lifted her eyebrows in mock disdain. “Do I act like one?”

“Sometimes.” His ebony eyes sparkled with amusement. “When you lose that fiery temper of yours, I’d swear you were part Comanche.”

“Not Cheyenne?”

“My people are much too civilized to threaten to cut off someone’s—”

“Do you have a comb, Captain?” she interrupted, and he produced one with a mocking grin. But he’d kept to safer topics after that, and his easy manner had helped her relax and accept their unorthodox situation.

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