Heart of Thunder by Johanna Lindsey Page B

forbidden, perhaps? For all his smiles and his laughing eyes, she had seen the other side of him. Wasn’t she a little afraid of what she saw?
    “Will you allow me to walk you back, señorita? ”
    “Yes, thank you. I’m finished here.”
    He put his hat on at that rakish angle and, picking up the lantern, took her arm. His hand on her elbow was warm. His shoulder was nearly touching hers, and the nearness of him was unnerving.
    “ El hombre Allston, what is he to you?” he asked abruptly. The bluntness of it stunned Samantha. She wasn’t really affronted, though. And, after all, hadn’t she questioned him as boldly in the coach? But she didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t want to tell him about her feelings for Adrien.
    “He is my…escort, he and his sister. I went to school with Jeannette, and we became very close friends.”
    Hank was too much aware of his desire at that moment to notice Samantha’s hesitation and the note of evasion in her voice. She had not answered him, not really, for a betrothed could also be an escort. A lover could be an escort. But he did not consider the fact. He could think only of how much he wanted this woman.
    She was so close that he could smell her hair. It smelled of roses, and, if he leaned just a little closer, he could—
    What was he thinking of? He had only just met her that day. She was a lady and would expect to be treated like one. Ah, if only she were not a lady, I would have her on the ground in two seconds, Hank thought devilishly.
    Too soon, they were inside, and he had to let go of her arm. He could not even have that innocent touch anymore.
    She walked away from him to get a plate of food, and Hank quickly followed her, then sat across from her at an empty table. The others had eaten. JeannetteAllston was sleeping in a chair by the fire. Her brother and Mr. Patch were stretched out on benches, and the driver was in the front, seeing to the horses.
    Hank was alone with Samantha Blackstone—yet not alone. He wanted to know about her. He wanted to know everything. Por Dios! What was the woman doing to him?
    “I know why Señor Allston and his sister go to Elizabethtown,” Hank remarked as they ate. “But why do you go there?”
    Samantha kept her eyes on her food, afraid that if she looked at him again, she wouldn’t look away. “I’m just going along, you might say. For their company. I don’t like to travel alone.”
    “Will you stay in that gold town?”
    “Not for long. And you?” she asked slowly.
    “I have business farther south.”
    He became aware of her evasive manner. Either she wasn’t used to talking very much or she did not want him to know where she was going. But he wanted to know.
    “Where will you go when you leave the Allstons?” he asked directly.
    “To Santa Fe. My father is sending some of his vaqueros to meet me there.”
    “ Vaqueros? ” he asked in surprise.
    She looked up at him then and grinned impishly. “Yes. My home is in Mexico, señor . Did you really think I was from the East?”
    “Yes, I did.” He grinned back at her.
    “Well, now you know better.”
    “We have that in common, then. Yet you are certainly not Mexican.”
    “No, I am American and English.”
    “I have a sister in England.”
    Her brows rose, and she laughed. “And I have a brother there. Another thing in common, eh?”
    She was relaxing, and they talked of incidental matters. Now that she was over her nervousness in being near him, she found she liked Hank Chavez, liked him very much. She felt at ease with him. With Adrien, she had to be forever on guard, forever checking her temper, always behaving in a ladylike manner. With Hank she felt comfortable. He made her laugh. He was charming and witty, yet a gentleman at all times.
    Why couldn’t Adrien be that way? Why couldn’t he sit there and talk to her, show such an interest in her? He hadn’t even told her good night or made sure she was all right before he went to sleep. Adrien