All I Need Is You by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online

how fast that could be brought into action if necessary. And those catlike eyes, more golden than brown, which Damian had first thought, seemed to see things that normal eyes didn’t. There was no doubt that this kid was an impressive fellow. Damian was starting to believe Kid had caught five outlaws.
    Damian took advantage of Vince’s unconscious state to bind his wrists behind him extra tight. He then left him on his side. The man’s nose was still bleeding and that position at least let it drain. Billybob remained silent, watching Damian warily.
    With the robbers immobilized, Damian took a moment to retrieve the coat he’d removed andfolded so neatly last night, as well as his shoes. It was when he was about to stick his feet into them that he realized Kid had been unobtrusively keeping his eye on more than his cooking.
    He called out, “You really ought to shake those a bit before you put them on. You never know what might consider them a real fine bed for the night.”
    Damian, quite naturally, dropped the shoes as if they had snakes coming out of them. Billybob started snickering and got Damian’s first glare. The boy managed to hide his grin before Damian’s eyes swung to him, so all he saw was his usual bland expression. And he simply couldn’t help being hesitant about picking his shoes up again, did so by their very tips, and shook them violently before he brought them to the fire to try and peer inside them as well.
    Kid said, “I’d say they’re safe to wear now.”
    Damian glanced down at the boy suspiciously. “You weren’t pulling my leg, were you?”
    “’Fraid not. Don’t know if they’ve got scorpions in these parts or not, but in some areas—”
    “You needn’t elaborate.”
    Damian scowled and stomped off to fetch his bag and a fresh pair of stockings. He hadn’t planned to be walking around the camp this morning in his stocking feet. But then, getting robbed again, or having it attempted, hadn’t been planned for either.
    And he soon found that he should have left the dirty socks on. Removing them disturbed several of his blisters to the bleeding point. Andgetting his shoes back on after that was pure hell.
    As he limped back to the fire, he seriously hoped that Kid’s one- or two-day estimate to Coffeyville was closer to the one-day mark. If he never saw another campfire, it would be too soon.
    Reaching the fire, he was handed the plate stacked full of flapjacks and a jar of honey with the remark, “My butter went rancid yesterday, so that honey will have to do you. And it kind of spoiled my appetite, having to dish out violence so early in the morn, so you go ahead and finish that, Mr. Rutledge. I’ll gnaw on some jerky later if I need to.”
    Damian spared a glance toward Vince and Billybob. “We’re not feeding the other guests?”
    “Hell, no. If they had wanted breakfast, they should have kept their guns holstered.”
    The disgust in his tone and expression was the first emotion Kid had shown that day. At least he felt something . Just damned sparing of sharing any of his feelings, apparently.
    He stood up then, wiping his hands on the seat of his pants, and approached Billybob. “You got horses hidden hereabouts?”
    “A ways up the river.”
    With a curt nod, Kid headed off in that direction.
    Damian turned to keep an eye on the robbers while he ate his breakfast. He didn’t think Billybob would try anything with Vince still unconscious, but he wasn’t going to be surprised again either.
    He was thinking about the extra horses andthe possibility of being able to keep his traveling bag because of them, rather than leaving it behind, when Kid returned with the two mounts. Both were about the sorriest-looking horses Damian had ever seen: One was limping, the other nearly so. But still, it was a surprise to see the boy head straight for Vince and give a hard kick to his backside. Not that it would hurt all that much, coming from moccasined feet, but...
    “I really hate