Simply Heaven by Patricia Hagan Read Free Book Online Page A

even if I did know where she is, I wouldn't tell you, because he cannot be a good man if he owns slaves."
    Steve was equally snappish. "I'll find her without your help if I have to, Little Crow, so quit dragging your butt and get us to the reservation where I can hire a guide who isn't so hard to get along with."
    The heat was becoming unbearable. Steve took off his shirt and stuffed it in a saddlebag. The sun was brutal on his back, and he dared not be unprotected for long, but for a little while, at least, he could feel the breeze on his skin.
    Raven darted a glance at him and caught her breath. His hand moved to rub his chest, and she could see how the mat of dark hair there glistened with perspiration as it trailed across his flat belly to disappear out of sight below the waist of his tight trousers. His fingers moved slowly, kneading the flesh as though the muscles were taut, begging to be massaged. She was mesmerized and could not look away. He was, without a doubt, the finest figure of a man she had ever seen, and being so close to him this way was taking its toll on her nerves.
    Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness and realized her eyes had locked. With a shake of her head, she focused once more on the trail, swallowed hard, and felt an almost hysterical urge to talk, to say anything to dispel the tortured thoughts she was experiencing. "This man, does he have a large family?"
    He looked at her and laughed. "Still nosy, aren't you?" He noticed how she was sweating. "Your shirt is soaked. Take it off for a while like me. You'll feel better."
    Raven felt another dizzy wave. "No, I"—she faltered, groping for a reason to decline—"I don't want my skin to burn."
    "I didn't think Indians worried about things like that. Most of the ones I've seen are half-naked. That shirt you've got on is way too big for you anyway. You' 're bound to be miserable with all that cloth wadded up around you."
    "No. I'm fine." Dear Lord, make him stop!
    "What's the matter?" he teased. "Ashamed of your scrawny body? Come on. There's just us, and it doesn't make a damn to me what you look like naked."
    Yes, it would , she thought with panic, oh, yes, it would.
    "Does he have a family?" she repeated, feeling desperate now, fighting to keep her voice even and deep.
    Steve gave up. If the boy wanted to hide his body and swelter, so be it. "His wife is dead. He has a son and daughter." No need to explain Lisbeth and Julius weren't really Ned's. He was only making conversation to pass the time.
    Raven fumed inwardly. So he had married. That was why he had not kept his promise. Maybe all along he had a wife and children and had just used her mother to help him get well so he could go back to them.
    "It's my turn to ask questions," Steve said, suddenly curious about a few things himself. There was something weird about the boy, like the way he wore heavy clothes in the hottest weather and allowed his hair to fall down as if he didn't want anyone to see his face. "How is that you speak such good English? How old are you anyway—fifteen? Sixteen?"
    "Eighteen. Before my parents died, I was educated at a mission school." That was true, but there was no need to add that Seth had also taught her to speak his language flawlessly.
    "So why don't you do something with your life besides go around smelling like a horse and letting your hair grow down over your face like a wild animal? Get some clothes that fit and take a bath. The way you look, you're never going to find a wife."
    "I... I don't want a wife," Raven said shakily. He was really upsetting her now.
    "Well, I can understand that. I don't either. But what about a woman in your bed once in a while? Even a whore likes a man who's halfway clean. When's the last time you had a bath?"
    "I bathe," she replied chokily. "You just don't see me."
    "You really baffle me, Little Crow. Why are you so ashamed for anybody to see you naked? A man is a man, for God's sake. It doesn't matter if you aren't big in