The Tracker by Mary Burton

Author:Mary Burton
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-03-25T16:00:00+00:00

ELLIE SHOULD HAVE BEEN exhausted when she climbed into her own bed that night. But she wasn’t. Worries about Nick twisted inside her. The ceiling above her head creaked with his footsteps as he paced. He couldn’t sleep, either.

She rolled onto her back and stared up at the plank ceiling. It struck her then that she wanted Nick with a power so fierce it rattled her like a bucking bronco.

Ellie had never been with a man before, but she wasn’t a prissy miss, either. She knew what a man and woman did in bed. And she knew it wasn’t always about business for the women. She’d heard the girls giggling and whispering about what they’d done.

She’d never felt any desire for a man before. And she’d come to believe she was immune to such feelings—which had always been just fine. She didn’t want to be like her mother and the other women at the Silver Slipper.

But this desire for Nick was singing in her veins. It was changing her—making her want things she’d never wanted before. The change frightened her.

Ellie rolled onto her side and stared at the patches of her quilt. She considered counting each of the tiny stitches that surrounded each square. She sighed. It would be hours before sleep came. She rolled onto her back.

A crash outside had her sitting up in bed. Suddenly her heart was pounding in her chest. She tossed back the covers and sprang out of bed.

Nick’s footsteps pounded down the stairs as she lit a lantern and hurried into the center of the cabin.

Nick had strapped on his holster and was checking the bullets in the chamber of his gun.

“Do you think it’s Frank?”

Lantern light glowed on the hard edges of his face. “I don’t know. Kill that light.”

Ellie blew out the flame. The darkness surrounded them. “I wasn’t expecting him this soon.”

“I was.”

He strode across the cabin as if it were the middle of the day. He pushed back the red-checked curtain with the tip of his pistol, allowing moonlight to shine inside the cabin.

Ellie stepped forward. Her hip bumped into the corner of the kitchen table. She winced and set her lantern down on the table. “Can you see anything?”

“No.”

“Should I get my gun?” she said.

“No!”

Nerves had her chattering. “I would think Frank wouldn’t make so much noise. Are you sure it’s not an animal?”

He sighed. “All I can hear right now is you talking.”

“Sorry.”

Nick stared out the window. Time dragged. Finally he stood and took the latch off the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“To greet our visitor.” He opened the door.

Shadows flitted across the front porch. A chill hovered in the air and a ring of mist circled the full moon.

Another crash to their right had Nick turning with lightning speed. He took a step outside and Ellie trailed behind, hovering close to him.

They peeked around to the side porch. Moonlight shone on a bear cub sitting in the bathtub on the front porch. The animal lay on its back, its overlarge paws thrust in the air.

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.