Raven and the Cowboy: A Loveswept Historical Romance by Sandra Chastain Read Free Book Online Page B

being offered to him. It was time to see the bet or fold. And suddenly he knew he couldn’t drift anymore. Spirit woman or not, some power stronger than he had stepped in and forced his hand.
    He gave a wry laugh. “What else do I have to do? It’s a deal.” Tucker almost reached for her. He had a strong desire to seal their bargain with a kiss. But he knew the occasion was much too solemn for that. A cowboy didn’t kiss a spirit woman. He only returned her nod of acceptance.
    From behind them came the weak voice of Luce. “I pray you, beware the bronze man. Beware the dagger!”

4

    Treasure
.
    Tucker studied the woman and Luce, wondering what in hell he had gotten himself into. If there actually was a treasure, and if they found it, the possibilities were endless. But he’d never been much of a gambler. What he could be holding here was the Dead Man’s Hand. Thieves, a spirit woman, a dying old man, and he had to add himself, a fool. He could end up dead, just like Wild Bill Hickok had in Deadwood last year.
    The other cardplayers never knew what Wild Bill’s mystery card was. He had been shot before it could be revealed. But Tucker knew his; it was his spirit woman. And the cause of his death wouldn’t be a shot in the back, like Hickok. His cause was staring straight at him.
    “Listen, Raven,” he began. “I don’t know if you really believe all this treasure business, but you’ve put your life in danger by teaming up with me and Luce. I’d take you back to the nearest American settlement, but I don’t think the old man would make it. And I’m not sure we’d get past the bandits.”
    “Thank you, but I can’t go back. If I die, then it was meant to be.”
    “Why is it that every time you speak, I wait for thunder to roll and lightning to flash?” His question came out more like a threat, and he knew his tightly leashed fury frightened her. But she straightened her shoulders and jutted out her chin.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” she said. “I’m sorry I make you angry.”
    “You don’t make me angry. You make me—”
crazy, wild
, he would have said. “Damn it, Raven, you shouldn’t go around trusting strangers.”
    “But you’re not a stranger. You’re part of my—my totem. You’re the cougar in my dream. Your animal power is one with mine. Grandfather said it would be so.”
    Tucker reached out and caught her arm before he realized what he was doing. “I’d like to speak with your grandfather. It seems to me that he did a whole lot of talking without knowing what he was setting you up for.”
    Raven’s face went white. “Grandfather is dead. Just like the rest of the Arapaho if I don’t find the treasure.”
    “And suppose you do, what then?”
    “I’ll buy land so that they won’t have to live on a reservation. So they won’t have to depend on the government.”
    Tucker didn’t know what to say to that. He had his doubts that the American government would allow the Indians to buy land, but then, they would probably find a way to stop him from getting his ranch too. “This whole treasure-hunting idea is dangerous,” he said. “Don’t you understand that bandits are chasing this old man,
pistoleros
who will torture him for his knowledge? Then they’ll kill you, but only after they’ve done—terrible things to you.”
    She shook her head slowly. “No. You will protect me—and Luce.”
    Tucker groaned. He had to get through to her. Hewas no saint, even if he wanted to be. “Raven, even I’m not that good a fighter.”
    “Please.” She laid her hand over his. “You’re wrong about yourself. This is the way it is meant to be. Alone we are weak, at the mercy of evil. But we’ve come together here, in this place, to accomplish our goals—together.”
    Together
? This time Tucker swallowed his oath. Long ago, when he’d returned from the war and found the life he’d fought for gone, he’d accepted that fate played interesting games with a man’s life. If