Heart of Thunder by Johanna Lindsey Read Free Book Online Page B

whether the stranger was watching her or not.

    Annoyance gathered until, finally, she asked bluntly, “Do you never take your hat off?”
    Adrien gasped at her rudeness, and she blushed. The stranger grinned and, removing his hat, smoothed his wavy black hair.
    “Your pardon, señorita .”
    She found herself staring into slate-gray eyes that crinkled at the corners. Laughing eyes, Samantha thought. His eyes actually seemed to be laughing at her!
    “You speak Spanish, señor ,” Samantha said impulsively. “Yet you do not look pure Spanish. I would guess…half American?”
    “You are very observant.”
    “Samantha, really,” Adrien interrupted in a scornful voice.
    She turned her green eyes on him, and her brows rose slightly. “Oh! You are speaking to me again, Adrien?”
    “I really shouldn’t,” he answered peevishly. Then, turning to the stranger, he said, “You must forgive my companion’s rudeness, Mr.…ah…?”
    “Chavez. Hank Chavez.” He nodded at Adrien. “But there is nothing to forgive such a lovely lady.”
    Samantha smiled at his gallantry. “You are kind, señor . But I really was rude—and I wasn’t even right. Your name is Mexican.”
    “ Sí , I have Indian blood, as well.”
    “But not much,” she surmised.
    “You are correct again, señorita .”
    Adrien quickly broke in with introductions, before Samantha could embarrass him further with her bluntness. She settled back then, and listened to Adrien make small talk, explaining why he was going to New Mexico. She closed her eyes and let his voice, and then the deeper voice of Hank Chavez, lull her to sleep.
    A jarring bounce woke her, and she opened her eyes to find Hank Chavez’s gray ones on her. Or, more exactly, on the deep V she had made at the top of her blouse.
    Samantha glanced down. Her breasts were revealed, just a little. She had never exposed so much of herself before. And it hadn’t even worked. After all that time, Adrien still hadn’t noticed. But Hank Chavez had.
    Her eyes met his. He was smiling. She wanted to die. A flush spread up her neck and turned her face bright pink. She didn’t know why she should be so embarrassed, but she was. Perhaps it was because he was such an attractive man, or maybe it was the way his eyes assessed her. Whatever the reason, she was utterly mortified. And she couldn’t do anything about it. If she quickly buttoned up her blouse, that would only make things worse.
    Adrien was still talking, oblivious, and finally Hank Chavez turned to him. Samantha wasn’t listening. She raised her fan to cover the front of her blouse and surreptitiously fastened one button. But she got only as far as that before those gray eyes fell on her again. She lowered her hands to her lap. Only he knew what had happened, and his gaze moved to where her cleavage had been, then back up to her eyes. He seemed to be chiding her for denying him the view he had so admired.
    Samantha grew warm under his continuing gaze and closed her eyes. She would sleep, or she would pretend to sleep, but she wouldn’t look at Hank Chavez again, no matter what.

Chapter 6
    D USK was gathering, but the coach rambled on, the next stop still several miles away. Hank leaned his head back on the seat. Adrien Allston had finally stopped talking. Hank’s ankle throbbed, and he ached to take his boots off, but he would have to wait until they stopped for the night.
    He had had to limp more than a mile, toting his saddle, in order to reach the stage line. Another ten minutes and he would have missed it. He wondered whether he should go all the way to Elizabethtown and give his ankle a chance to mend, or try to buy a horse in the next town. As he looked at the woman across the aisle from him, he decided to wait.
    What a fascinating woman she was, even in sleep. The blond was undeniably beautiful, but the dark-haired one was a vision of loveliness. She reminded him of the girl in Denver, the one with the gun. The hair, a dark