Kathleen E. Woodiwiss Collection: The Elusive Flame, And, a Season Beyond a Kiss by Woodiwiss Kathleen E

Author:Woodiwiss, Kathleen E. [Woodiwiss, Kathleen E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781587887567
Amazon: 1587887568
Goodreads: 603385
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2002-02-28T08:00:00+00:00

13

THE RAIN HAD SEEMINGLY SPENT ITS FUROR AND dwindled to hardly much more than a drizzling mist. Hunched together against its persistent moisture, the couple rode in silence through the swamp. Jeff remained vigilant as he sought to avoid treacherous ground, but Raelynn was thoroughly spent, both physically and mentally. Though she tried to remain alert, her eyelids sagged beneath the weight of her fatigue and her head bobbed forward often until a large hand swept upward and pressed it down gently upon a sturdy shoulder. Her brow found a warm, familiar niche against a corded throat to nestle, and with a sigh, she gave up her futile attempts to stay awake. If Jeff had wanted to kill her, she mused distantly, then surely he would have done so by now.

Darkness encroached with the approach of evening and the thickening forest. Raelynn roused briefly to a vague awareness that the misting rain had ended. A cold, blustery wind had sprung up in its stead and now seemed bent on chasing roiling clouds across the face of the moon. The frigid breezes penetrated to the depths of her wet garments, evoking shivers until her husband opened his slicker and pulled her snugly against his chest. Raelynn found no energy to resist, but leaned inertly against the solid bulwark. As she drifted off to sleep again, she wondered distantly if they would ever find a warm haven.

It was much later when Raelynn struggled up from her dazed trauma and realized that Jeff had halted the stallion. She peered obliquely over her shoulder, having no awareness of how far they had come or, for that matter, just where they were presently. The hovering moon illumined the small clearing they had entered. Near the back of it, a log cabin was nestled underneath the lofty branches of several tall pines. Smoke curled invitingly from the stone chimney, and the soft glow of a lantern shone from the front windows. The ripple of a swiftly running stream drifted to them from somewhere nearby, seeming almost musical as its burbling melded with the harmonious tones of a softly hooting owl perched in a tree some distance away.

“Who lives here?” she murmured thickly through her drowsiness.

“A friend of mine who goes by the name of Red Pete,” Jeff replied, sweeping his right leg over the stallion’s rump and stepping down. He tied Majestic’s reins to a hitching post, dropped the saddlebags over a shoulder, and peered up at her. His lips twitched vaguely with the arduous task of emulating a smile. “Red Pete was once an ordained minister, so you’d better behave yourself, madam. He’s not above teaching us both a lesson or two.”

“Does he live here alone?”

“He had a wife and a son years ago, but they both died during an epidemic. After their deaths, he pretty much became a recluse.”

Jeff lifted his arms to sweep Raelynn down from the stallion, but she drew back, feeling suddenly wary. She met his gaze hesitantly and saw a handsome brow twist upward to a skeptical height.

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.