Intimate Strangers (Eclipse Heat Book 2) by Gem Sivad

Author:Gem Sivad [Sivad, Gem]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gem Sivad, LLC.
Published: 2016-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

They slipped silently out of town during the night. Alex and Brody saw it as an adventure. Lucy saw it as a passage through hell, because much of the country they’d travel was arid and desert-like. Panic claimed her when Ambrose led them away from the trail into the vast wasteland.

He must have sensed her terror because he rode close to her and reached over from time to time to pat her leg encouragingly. She kept the Winchester ready, afraid to turn loose of it even when she bedded down at night. All but Brody shared watch.

Late on the seventh day of their journey, they rode onto Double-Q land the back way. Climbing the bluffs overlooking the ranch, they circled around to Hamilton’s cabin. Lucy steadied herself with the thought that it had been a long time since she’d had a home to come back to.

Though grateful to be in any cabin, Brody made her laugh when she looked at the one room with a bed and a chair and pronounced, “Uncle Hamilton needs a wife.”

Ambrose smiled. “You’re right, Brody, he does.”

First thing, Lucy looked around for a tub. She needed to wet her skin and soak water into her pores. Surely Hamilton bathed, since he never appeared dirty. Ambrose, seeing her searching gaze, left the cabin, returning with a drying cloth and a piece of soap.

He said, “I bet you’re ready for a bath.” She must have looked as desperate as she felt, because he stopped teasing and said almost gently, “Come on, honey, I’ll show you where you can get clean.”

Brody piped up and said, “I want to get clean too, Pa. I’ll show Mama where the spring is.”

Lucy could see that Ambrose had had other plans that didn’t include an eight-year-old daughter, but Lucy was glad he’d not be accompanying her. She wasn’t ready to show him or anyone else the scarring that marred the parts of her body hidden by clothing.

She hurried behind Brody and they climbed up the bluff to the rocky area behind the cabin. As soon as she saw the bubbling sulfur water, she understood why Hamilton had built where he did. It was glorious. His own hot bath whenever he wanted it. A circular lip of stone hung over the edge of the pool of water, creating a natural swimming hole heated year-round.

Brody hurried out of her clothes and jumped into the water before Lucy reached the rocky outreach beside it. Lucy disrobed down to her chemise, unstrapped her knife, folded her dress and laid her gun on top where it would be handy.

Then she slid into the water beside Brody. It was heaven as she felt her parched skin sucking up the moisture. The moon shone across the water, casting a silver reflection as it bathed them too. The smile in Lucy’s heart matched the one on Brody’s face.

When they had both washed their hair and scrubbed their skin free of the red dust that coated everything,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.