Twelfth Moon by Lori Villarreal Page B

that! It was humiliating enough that he’d so easily prevented her escape, but to have him witness her bout of tears was intolerable. “No!” She swiped the moisture away with her sleeve. “Got dust in my eyes.”
    She avoided making eye contact with him, hastily scrambling to her feet. Ignoring her aches and pains, she busied herself with rolling up her blankets.
    “Everything else is done,” Jonah said softly. “I’ll just wait over there.” He hesitated a short moment and then strode off.
    Cadence imagined he might have pointed in some direction, but hadn’t looked up to find out. She was afraid he’d see her reddened nose and eyes, and tear-spiked eyelashes. What a horror this has all turned out to be! Maybe she should just tell him the truth – tell him everything right from the beginning.
    Maybe – just maybe – he could help her.
    And maybe pigs could fly! He was a U.S. Marshal. His job was to bring in criminals like her and that was the end of it. Plus the man she’d killed happened to be Jonah’s brother. He wouldn’t help her. She would just have to find another opportunity to escape.
    She grabbed the bedroll and headed toward her horse. When she looked up, Jonah was standing next to it, waiting for her. He took her bundle, stuffing it in the saddlebags.
    “Come here.”
    She paused for only a moment, and then stepped closer to him. He reached toward her face, holding a dampened bandana. But when he tried to wipe her cheek, she swatted his hand away. “I don’t need that.”
    “It needs to be cleaned, or it could get infected.”
    “Fine.”
    Cadence held her breath, her heart beating rapidly as he placed two fingers on her chin, tilting it up. He raised the cloth in his other hand. With gentleness she wouldn’t have expected from such a large, masculine man, he wiped away the dirt.
    His touch, just those two fingers supporting her chin, sent a riot of sensations zipping through her body. She inhaled slowly through her nose, his scent intensely pleasing.
    He smelled of shaving soap, smoke from a wood fire, and the salty tang of male sweat. And it was so enticing, her knees weakened, her breasts tingled, and she felt a languid heaviness settle in her loins. She grew moist down there and had to struggle to keep her breathing even.
    She wanted to let her eyes drift shut and savor it. Instead, she studied his rugged face. Without a hat, his dark hair curled over his broad forehead, behind his ears, teasing his collar. His black eyebrows curved gently over eyes the color of frosted silver. His nose was long and straight. There was only a faint shadow where a beard would grow quickly if he didn’t keep it under control, so he must have shaved this morning.
    Then Cadence stared at his mouth. Mistake. His lips were full and supple, her own lips tingling as she imagined what it would be like to kiss him. She almost leaned in, but halted herself just in time. What a fool! Jonah would not take it too well to be kissed by a boy, or at least that’s what he’d think, before he pummeled her into the ground.
    He produced the can of ointment and she allowed him to dab some into the cuts on her cheek. But when it appeared he was going for her throat next, she’d had enough. She couldn’t take anymore contact with him or she’d leap on him. She snatched the can from him. “I’ll do it, if you don’t mind.”
    He raised his hands in surrender, stepping back. “Okay, suit yourself, kid.”
    She dipped a finger into the ointment and smeared it on her neck, but without having actually seen where the bruising was, she wasn’t sure if she was getting it in the right place.
    With a sound of impatience, Jonah pushed her hand aside and rubbed the ointment slightly above where she’d been applying it. Cadence groaned. His touch shot sparks of desire through her veins.
    Jonah snatched his hand back, suddenly feeling awkward. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
    “I-It’s okay.”
    Jonah waited while