Tagalong Bride (Love Under Desert Skies Book 1) by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin [Nordin, Ruth Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Lucas stirred in his sleep. Something had disturbed him. What was it? He thought he heard something slither or scurry on by. His eyes flew open, and he sat straight up. The moon was full tonight, allowing him plenty of light to see what was going on around him. But there was nothing nearby that should alarm him. His horse grunted as if it was laughing at him. He glanced at the steed. Horses didn’t really laugh at people, did they?

Forcing the question aside, he looked at the spot next to him. Gail was sound asleep. Zeke slept on the other side of the campfire, which was mere embers by now. Zeke had warned them that they wouldn’t be able to light a fire tomorrow night in case the bandits saw them. The warning made sense. They needed to catch Bower and his men by surprise if they were going to have any chance of getting Bernadette. Still, the lack of a bright fire did add to the eeriness of the night.

Lucas scanned the area one more time. He didn’t see anything that posed a threat. He released his breath and collapsed back into his bedroll. He was exhausted. Ever since he arrived in Arizona, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. If he didn’t get a good night’s sleep tonight, he didn’t know how he would manage through tomorrow. From what Zeke said, they would arrive at the southern portion of the canyon by evening.

He heard Gail’s deep, slow breathing and turned his attention back to her. How he envied her. How could she be in this wild territory and not let it affect her sleep? Didn’t it occur to her that some creepy thing might slither up to her at any moment?

A breeze swept over him, and he shivered. Without thinking, he shifted closer to Gail until their bodies were touching. At once, he felt better. His heart rate was still pretty fast. He was still acutely aware of the strange sounds that were going on around him. But he did feel better. Not only did the chill ease, but there was something about touching her that calmed him. He released his breath and stared at the sky above him.

“Is something wrong?” Gail whispered.

Unaware she had woken up, he turned in his bedroll so that he was facing her. “I can’t sleep,” he whispered in return. He debated whether or not to add the next part, but in the end, he admitted, “I thought I heard some strange animal sneaking up to me. It turned out to be nothing.”

“There are a lot of unusual noises out here.”

Thankful she hadn’t laughed at him, he relaxed. “I miss Pennsylvania. We were all safe there.”

“It was safe there, but isn’t it fun to see somewhere new?”

Sure he hadn’t heard right, he asked, “You like being out here?”

She chuckled. “I don’t like being in this situation. It’s terrible what’s happening to Bernadette. I would much rather be in Arizona under better circumstances.

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