Dark Warrior: Kid (Dark Cloth Series Book 2) by Lenore Wolfe

I’ve been raised with—from my childhood on….” Pain racked her heart as she looked into Kid’s eyes. “I’m going to have to leave.” She shook her head, laying a single, pale finger against his brown lips. “No,” she whispered. “I’m not asking your permission.” A tear broke free and rolled down her ashen face. “I’m going. And you mustn’t try and stop me, because if you do—people I love could die.”
    Kid’s gaze narrowed on her face. “Then, I’ll go with you,” he said simply. This time, he shook his head at her when she would have argued.
    “I will only follow you,” he said, “if you refuse.” He kissed her gently then. “That’s what husbands do when their wife’s in some kind of trouble.”
    She sniffed—then smiled—then grinned as relief flooded through her. She nodded. “We’ll set a trap for the gunman,” she said, with a nervousness that caused her to giggle.
    Because, Kat still knew she’d have to leave him behind.
    She couldn’t let him follow her—not where she had to go. Kid wouldn’t survive. He’d been raised wild. He’d been raised by the people . He would hate it back East.
    He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her completely off the ground as he hugged her, which he didn’t find too difficult, given how tiny Kat was to begin with.
    She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him to her as if she’d never let him go. She couldn’t imagine her life without him in it—not even for a few months.
    What if this went on for years? she thought. What then?
    Kid pulled her into his arms, kissing away the dampness on her face until she forgot all about her plans as desire took their place, destroying any thoughts she would have formed.
    His lips brushed hers again, then again. He caught her head in his hands and bared her neck to his enjoyment, running his mouth over her pulse until she thought she would faint from the pleasure.
    Picking her up, he lowered her into a large pile of fresh hay, kissing her until her body arched to meet him.
    “We can’t,” Kat breathed. “Someone will see us here.”
    Kid grinned, then picking her up, he walked directly for the house, and he didn’t stop until he had placed her on the bed. Laughing, Kat kissed him. You’ve just given all the hands something to talk about around the campfire for the next month.
    Kid grinned. “Only for a month—I’ll have to do something about that….”
    Kat grinned, then kissed him, tearing at his shirt. He shoved at her britches, until he’d cleared enough material to bury himself in her. Pulling her breast free for his mouth. And he didn’t stop until he had Kat screaming his name.
    Later, they lay on the bed, gazing at one another, but neither of them saying too much. Kat had her mind on finding out who had put that bounty on her head. And she knew that Kid worked his own angle on that subject.
    She didn’t like the idea that Hawk might follow them, almost as soon as they left town. He seemed as upset with the man that hunted her, as she and Kid.
    They got up, getting ready for dinner, and still they didn’t have much to say. Kat didn’t know how much longer she could last like this. She felt as if she were about to attend her own funeral—instead of just going down to dinner. Every second—every breath—felt like agony, ripping its way through her chest.
    She had to leave—and, somehow, she had to keep three of the best trackers she ever known from following her.
     
    By the next morning, Kat had worked herself up into a quandary.
    How would she lose Hawk’s trail, or Kid’s—or Jake’s or Cord’s—for that matter? Worse—how could she do this to Kid?
    As she had the night before, she took her time grooming her horse and putting him out to pasture so he could get some exercise, but she still felt no closer to answers she sought.
    Kid caught up with her late into the morning, pulling her around for a kiss. As always, she wrapped her arms around his neck as