Chapter Six
"I want you to learn how to draw and shoot this gun quickly," Chase asserted as he and Leah stood beside the river.
They were well out of sight of camp and Leah loved this time with him. He had been bringing her to this wide bend in the gentle river every day and Leah loved the chance to feel the sun against her and smell the fresh air.
It had been one week since Chase had been attacked by the mountain lion and while he had never complained about being in pain, Leah could tell that today was the first day he could move about freely.
In the last week she had truly learned how to read Chase. She knew what each tiny line on his face meant and how to interpret the raises of his brow and each tiny nuance in his expression. Leah was still attempting to understand the feelings that Chase stirred within her.
She couldn't explain how she knew him so intimately when they had not kissed, had barely touched other than brushes of their hands while passing each other things and yet Leah already knew him more thoroughly than she had ever known anyone else.
"I already know how to shoot," Leah argued. "I shot you, didn't I?"
Chase patiently took her gun from the holster on her hip. He had insisted that she wear the holster he had gotten for her, though she hadn't asked where he had gotten it from. He checked the ammunition and slid it back inside. "Yes, I remember," he assured her, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "I know that you know how to shoot but you need to learn how to do so quickly. I may not always be around to protect you."
Leah glared at him but managed to keep from saying anything in her own defense. She had seen his brow raise just a little and his lip twitch and she knew he had been trying to get a reaction from her. Chase somehow seemed to know her just as well as she knew him.
"Show me how quickly you can draw," he urged as he took several steps back.
Leah rolled her eyes and went for her gun but before she even had it grasped in her hand, Chase had his own gun drawn and aimed at her head. "Too slow," he grumbled.
"Well sure I'm slower than an outlaw who has built his entire life around being the fastest draw and has Indian blood flowing in his veins!" Leah exclaimed defensively.
Chase shook his head and put his gun away. "A quarter of my blood is white," he countered with a smile that took Leah's breath. Chase didn't smile often. She had only seen him do so a handful of times in the two weeks he'd been in this camp and he never smiled around anyone other than her.
"I didn't know that," Leah admitted, forcing herself to look away from his face and the way his cheeks and the corners of his eyes crinkled and his dark eyes shone with his good humor.
"Yes." Chase walked to the river's edge and sat down. "My father was a half blood, my mother full."
Leah sat down beside him, enjoying the peaceful surroundings. "Did you ever live in a tribe?"
"No." Chase tossed a rock into the water and they watched the ripples dance over the once calm surface. "My father was born to a white man who had raped a helpless Indian maiden. Her tribe abandoned her and she was forced to seek refuge with her attacker. My father said one day the man went crazy with rage and the maiden. My father was eight years old at the time and hid as he heard his mother draw her last breaths. He was later found by a teenage boy who ran with other orphans and called himself Boss. Boss took my father in and a friendship was born."
"That explains why you run with men so much different than yourself," Leah stated.
Chase frowned as he glanced over at her. "Different?"
"Beneath," she amended. "You are not like these men. You don't belong here."
"Don't get confused, Leah. I have killed and I have stolen and I will do both again." Chase's tone was stern and let her know he didn't wish to argue the point further.
"But I have been here for two weeks and I have yet to see you murder anyone."
Chase's jaw tightened with annoyance. "I do not murder, I kill."
"Is there a difference?"
Chase shoved himself to his feet and his dark eyes flashed. "Of course there is."
The thought of Chase killing anyone was nearly more than Leah could comprehend. He seemed so patient, so kind, so thoughtful as he saw that her every need was met while at camp. But Leah was also no fool. Chase had a reputation among the men and they showed him a certain amount of respect and also fear—those things had to have been earned by him somehow which meant he must have proven himself worthy of them both.
Leah stood as well and shoved her hands into the pockets of her skirt. "Perhaps you could explain it to me?" she inquired softly.
Chase stared at the river, his expression grim. "I steal what I need to in order to survive and I kill for that same reason. White men look at me and they see nothing but a savage. They spit at my feet and go for their guns if I so much as attempt to walk among them. They won't hire me to work. They don't want me near their cattle, their wives or their children. I am hated, despised and feared for reasons beyond my control. I had to become a certain way or I would have died long ago."
The agitation in Chase's voice grew with every word he spoke. Leah hated hearing it. She hated seeing him so distraught and upset and she hated hearing how difficult life had been for him.
Had she really only a short time ago believed that all Indians were little more than animals and deserved to be locked away on reservations? Her father had been the one to drill that lesson into her head but Leah was realizing that he'd been very wrong.
Thinking of her father caused sadness to fill her as she thought of never seeing him again. Quickly, Leah shook her head to clear those thoughts and focused on Chase. She stepped in front of him and laid a gentle hand against cheek.
Chase inhaled sharply as her soft hand caressed his skin. It wasn't in his nature to rant the way he had but he wanted Leah to understand him. He wanted her to want him for who he was and not what she hoped he would one day become.
"I understand," Leah promised softly and she did. Indians were seen as savages. They were thought to be less than human and they were mistrusted by all. Chase had done all he knew to do in order to survive. He had been raised an outlaw and it was part of him. But you're wrong. Not all white skins are like you say. I am not afraid of you and I certainly don't hate you."
Chase stared down at her and Leah felt his arms circle around her waist and pull her body close against him, his touch full of possession. Chase was strong, powerful and being close to him, wrapped in his embrace, was the first time Leah had truly felt small and fragile.
Chase knew there were a million words he could and probably should say in that moment. He should tell her that he loved her. That he wanted her and only her forever. He should let her know that she was the missing half of his soul and only with her could he ever be complete. Then again, he had always been a man of actions and not words.
He brought one hand up to push her dark hair away from her face, letting the silky strands fall across his fingers and reveling in the way it made his heart pound when she leaned into his touch. His skin appeared much darker against her alabaster cheek and Chase simply took a moment to study the differences between her soft innocence and his rough edges.
Leah was trembling as she stared up at Chase's rugged face, unable to look away from those intense black eyes gazing back at her. Never had she been held this close against a man. She had never been gazed at with such intense heat and passion. Chase was wild, untamed and all the things that her father had once said was wrong with the world but Leah couldn't turn away from him. Everything within her cried out for the man—was drawn to him in a way that she could never hope to put into words.
Leah had never before kissed a man but she wanted to kiss Chase. He seemed to read her mind as he tilted her head back and lowered his face slowly toward hers. Leah's eyes slipped closed as she felt his warm breath wash over her skin. She felt his lips, as soft as a butterflies wings, flutter against her eyelids and her cheeks. She whimpered impatiently, wanting nothing more than this sweet torture to end and felt him smile against her skin.
When his firm lips finally met hers, Leah felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck her body. She felt the tingle and the heat from his touch down to the tips of her toes, lighting her afire.
Leah moaned his name. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer as she rose up onto her toes. Chase deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue between her parted lips and plundering the sweetness of her waiting mouth.
He became lost in her. Lost in the tiny moans that escaped her as she pressed herself against him. Lost in the softness of her fully body and the way it felt against his sharp angles. Leah was the complete opposite of him in so many ways and she was all he needed to feel complete. Never before had a kiss made him lose himself so completely. His free hand traveled up her soft waist and cupped her full breast.
Leah knew she should be frightened by Chase's passion given her innocence but she was not. Instead, she was hot, tingling and aching. She wanted more of him. All of him. Leah had seen much of what happened between men and women while in this camp and she wanted Chase to be the man she lost her innocence to.
Leah pressed her body against his arousal, feeling powerful somehow to know the effect she was having on the outlaw. When Chase's fingers moved over her breast causing the tip to harden into a tight peak she lost all control of herself and all sense of where they were. All there was in the world was Chase and this moment.
It threw her off balance and off kilter when Chase suddenly pulled away from her and shoved her behind him, shielding her with his body.
"Well what do we have here? Looks like this part of the river is a regular old hot spot today," Yancy drawled as he came into view leading Louisa behind him.
"We are leaving," Chase replied coldly, all evidence of his earlier tenderness and heat gone from his voice and posture.
"You don't have to rush off, chief. We could have us a regular old savage gathering," Yancy exclaimed as he adjusted himself in his pants. "Besides it looked like things between you and the squaw were getting pretty exciting."
"You're charming," Leah muttered dryly. The last two weeks had done away with much of Leah's timidness and fear among these outlaws. She no longer kept her head down and remained silent. The true Leah, outspoken and opinionated, now made an appearance quite regularly.
"I've been told that a time or two," Yancy agreed with a broken toothed grin. "Ain't that right darlin?" he added, glancing at Louisa.
"I've always found your company more than appealing," she purred, tugging down the shoulders of her red blouse until her breasts were nearly visible.
"You're pretty appealing yourself," Yancy grunted, his eyes fixed on her chest.
Chase took Leah by the hand and quickly led her away as Yancy began fondling Louisa through her blouse. Leah noticed that Louisa's eyes never left Chase except when they met Leah's and burned with hatred.
Leah felt a burning in her gut that had nothing to do with the passion that had been coursing through her moments ago. It was rather like a raw and ugly sore and it caused her fists to clench. "You know her," she accused.
"Who?" Chase asked, and Leah wondered if he was avoiding her gaze intentionally.
"That woman. Louisa."
Chase grabbed several empty tin cans and sat them on a stump beside their tent. "I am familiar with her," was all he said in response.
Leah wondered just how familiar he was with that loose woman. Louisa had certainly looked at Leah as if Leah had taken something that belonged to her. That though merely caused that burning in her gut to intensify.
"I want you to shoot these cans," Chase stated as he came to stand beside her. If he could read her jealousy he gave no indication.
Leah put her hands on her hips. "Why?"
Chase said nothing as he looked down at her and raised his brow. Leah glared at him, knowing that was all the answer she was going to get. She pulled her revolver, aimed at one of those cans and pulled the trigger. She felt her ears begin to burn when she realized that she had missed.
"I think it's still kicking!" Tig chortled from where he sat by the big fire.
Leah's face flamed red but then her body turned to mush, hot mush, as Chase stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He put his big hands over hers on the gun and she felt his breath teasing her skin and warming her ear.
"Breath out slowly," he ordered, his voice once again warm and gentle as he whispered to her.
Leah thought about telling him that was something easier said than done as it seemed as if she couldn't breathe at all with him so close.
"Don't shake," he added with a trace of irritation.
Leah wanted to point out that she hadn't been shaking until he had begun to touch her but her voice seemed to have disappeared along with her ability to draw breath.
Leah did her best to do as he wanted and his rough hands caressed her own as they helped her aim the gun.
"It can help your aim at times to imagine a face on your target," he added. "Perhaps someone you don't have much fondness for."
Leah was certain she heard amusement in his voice. Taking his advice she pictured a certain Mexican whore on the first can in the line. Slowly she squeezed the trigger and the tin can was sent flying off of the stump.
"Hot damn she got it that time! HeeHee!!" Tig shouted.
Chase buried his face in her neck and she could tell that he was smiling and yet trying to hide his smile from everyone else. "I can keep you safe from mountain lions and dangerous men... You can keep me safe from women named Louisa."
Leah bit her lip to keep from smiling as she dropped her gun back in its holster. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind attention from Louisa," she countered.
Chase couldn't help but be amused by the jealousy he heard in her voice. He found it humorous that this woman, his life mate, his soul mate, was jealous of a woman who had meant nothing in comparison.
Chase was aware that eyes were on them and he did not want to seem tender in front of these men. That could prove to be a deadly mistake. "Go start some food," he ordered as he pulled away from her quickly and hardened his expression.
Leah looked at him with confusion, which turned to anger which then morphed into hurt and she quickly disappeared inside the tent. Chase knew he needed to speak with her but now was not the time. These men preyed off weakness and he could not let them see the weakness he had when it came to Leah. It would be best if they saw her as Chase's possession and nothing more.
Chase knew he would have to get her away from here soon. This camp and this gang were not safe. He wanted to start a life with Leah. A safe life where they could grow old with one another watching their children grow, however, homesteads required money and money was something Chase didn't have much of. That would have to be his next goal.
"Hey, Chase, come on over here for a while and sit with us," Boss called out and Chase nodded and did as the man wanted. It wouldn't do for him to turn the man down and go running to Leah.