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“Jesse!” She ran blindly toward the campfire, her wet clothing clutched against her chest.
He came out of the darkness and caught her, gripping both of her arms. “What is it?”
“Someone was watching me.”
“Go back to camp.” He left her there and walked over to where she’d bathed, his shadowy figure nearly lost in the darkness. When he came back, holstering the pistol he wore at his hip, the look on his face showed amusement.
“What is so dang funny?” she asked.
“You.” He chuckled and pushed the front of her hat up. “There’s nothing there, Alex. If there was, they’re long gone now.”
Alex chewed her lip and stared back at the riverbank. “Who do you think it was?”
He looked toward camp. “Hard to say. I didn’t see anyone come this way.”
As much as she wanted to believe it was her imagination, her gut told her otherwise. She shook her head in denial. “Someone was there, Jesse. I could feel them watching me.”
He scratched his whiskered chin and frowned. “Maybe those Indians we saw in the distance found us. That campfire has been blazing for a while now.”
Her eyes widened. “Indians?” A quick look over his shoulder into the darkness did nothing to ease her fears. “I thought you were making that up.”
“Now why would I do that?”
“Because you love to torture me, that’s why.”
He laughed and walked off, leaving her to follow. “Do you think it could really be Indians? My pa said that’s one of the reasons he didn’t want me to come.”
“Well, he’s a smart man.” He stopped to look at her. “Do you have any idea what Indians do to yellow-haired women?”
She shivered and hated to even think.
“Best stay close to me if you don’t want to end up a slave for whatever Indians roam this part. Of course, as mean as you are, they’ll probably just scalp you and tell the story to anyone who will listen of the yellow-haired wildcat they had to wrestle to the ground just to touch.”
“You’re so full of it, Jesse.”
The moment the words left her mouth, his eyes widened and he grabbed her, tossing her to the tall grass to their right and followed her down, covering her mouth with one hand. “Don’t move.” His whispered words warmed her ear, the weight of his body solid against her own. Her heart was pounding as he lifted his head to look back at the river.
She pulled his hand away. “What is it?”
“Shhh….they’ll hear you.”
“Who?”
He gave her an incredulous look. “The Indians, you ninny.”
She lost track of the minutes as they lay there in the grass, the sounds of crickets and frogs filling the night with song. Jesse’s face was buried against her neck, one long leg nestled between her own.
Was it her imagination or was Jesse kissing her neck?
His breath was hot against her skin and her pulse leaped beneath his mouth. “Jesse?”
“Hummm….”
“Do you see them?”
“See who?”
She let out a breath. “The Indians.”
