A Ransomed Heart by Alex Taylor Wolfe Page B

brief insanity Annabelle reached out and tried to snatch them away from him. He grabbed her wrist and before she could react he had her against his body. “Don’t play with me , girl. I’m a desperate man, and desperate men sometimes do desperate things.”
    His face was inches from hers and she could see the moisture from his tongue as it traveled across his lips. Unconsciously her own tongue mirrored his and she could hear her heart beat rapidly in her ears. “Make no mistake, Miss Casey; I’ll do what I have to, to insure I get what I want.”
    There it was again, h is big, fat, cocky mouth had snapped her out of her trance. “You’re a brute,” she hissed, and yanked her wrist free from his iron grasp.
    “And you’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are , Bella.”
    Her mouth gaped open in surprise.
    “You didn’t fool me with your smiles and flirting. You might have poor Kit wrapped around your finger, but not me.”
    Annabelle beat her little fists against his rock hard chest for a moment before he caught them up in his own capable hands, freezing her tantrum mid air. “I hate you, Logan Bailey, absolutely and completely hate you,” she yelled.
    He threw her hands down and clutched her pale chin in his hand. “Then the feeling is mutual , darlin’.” His eyes traveled from her eyes to her lips, not once, but twice before she jerked away from him and marched purposefully back to her waiting horse.
    Logan led her horse the rest of the way. She didn’t even try to talk to Kit, but he remained by her side giving her smiles of encouragement whenever she looked in his direction. She hated how Logan made her feel crazy.  From the moment he scooped her up off the Wyoming dessert he had made her blood boil for one reason or another. Oh, how she hated him and his mouth. How he looked at her and how he said her name. She just wanted to wring his neck. She would wait though, until she could catch him alone, then she would really tell him what she thought of him and his silly plan. So Annabelle waited patiently. Finally they reached the top of a ridge, but when she looked down and saw the tops of homes she was more than a little excited.  Without thinking she reached over and grabbed Kit by the arm.
    “Look, we ’re there!” she exclaimed.
    Logan turned in his saddle and looked at her but she ignored him. He was taken aback by her excitement.  Her hand was small and snow white against Kit’s tanned skin and suddenly it was the vibrancy of her voice which shook him. It was the way she looked at Kit with excitement in her eyes. Pushing his strange frustration away he reminded himself that his little town of Hope could not be as exciting as where she had come from, or where she was going. She let go of Kit’s arm and lifted up as best as she could from the back of her horse to see a little bit better. Her face shone and her eyes wandered every nook and cranny of the tiny community; he couldn’t help but smile at her exuberance.
    The sight of any life at all was heaven to her.  The little town sat in the bottom of a bowl. The hills rose above the valley floor and offered the area some protection from the constant wind. There wasn’t much to see, one or two small cabins and a large barn in what seemed to be the center of the town.  There were several sod houses built near the hill they had just breached, most likely the homes had been dug out of the earth and extended back under the ridge.  There were a large amount of sheep up one side of the little valley and with them were mingled horses and a few milk cows.  Near the barn, Annabelle could see the chickens as they walked around, their heads bobbing to the earth eating ants. Towards the back of the basin, was a single Teepee, she assumed it belonged to the Indian Warrior who had been riding with them. Various other animals could be seen from dogs and cats to goats. 
    What held her attention the longest was the way things had been laid out.