Page 35 of Fool's Gold

"You will do as I say." He raised an imperious eyebrow. Then, his expression softened, and he bent to kiss her. "Don't worry, Sarah." He joked, "Remember, my word is law on the Double-H. Let's go." He pulled her forward.

She got to her knees and scrambled through the brush.

He yelled and stood, then feinted to the right as a shot rang out.

She did as she was told and kept going, knowing delaying would just put Rafe in more danger. She got to her feet after reaching the safety of the tree line and turned around.

He scrambled out of the underbrush moments later.

"Thank God. I was afraid you were hit."

He hugged her tight. "I'm fine, but I'm glad you were worried about me." He pulled back saying, "We'd better get a move on before he comes looking for us."

He grabbed her hand, and they ran around the trees until they got to Umbriago. He put his hands on her waist and deposited her onto the saddle. Then he mounted behind her.

"What about Bay Rum?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry about him. He's following Zeke." Rafe gave a twitch of the reins. "Let's get out of here."

Sarah snuggled against Rafe's warmth and tried to ignore the burning pain in her arm. She must have scraped it against the rocks. She groaned when Rafe pulled her tight and the pain intensified.

"What's wrong?" He brought his hand up. It was covered with blood. "You've been hit." He pulled up her sleeve. "Sit forward, sweetheart. I have to take my shirt off. We've got to put pressure on the wound to stop it from bleeding."

Sarah tensed as she pulled away from Rafe, and then relaxed back against his warm chest after he shrugged out of his shirt. He pressed the folded cloth against her arm. The renewed pain made her grit her teeth, but she forced herself to stay calm. She needed to be strong for both of them.

"I'm sorry it hurts, sweetheart," Rafe murmured in her ear.

Sarah was feeling woozy from the motion of the horse and her sleepless night. She closed her eyes. "It doesn't hurt that bad. Do you think we'll be okay?"

Rafe hurried the pace, keeping under the cover of trees. "Don't worry, baby, I won't let anything else hurt you."

She smiled softly and nestled her cheek against his bare chest. She placed a soft kiss on his tanned skin. "It seems funny to be called baby again."

He chuckled. "Should I be jealous? Who else used to call you baby?"

She sighed, recalling faint, sweet, memories. "My Granny Blake, but that was in a different life."

"What do you mean, a different life?"

She winced at the memory. "After my parents were killed in a plane crash, I went to live with Grandfather Maxwell. I never saw Granny again."

"Why not?"

She shook her head. "She died. When I asked about her, Grandfather told me she was dead. Even as bad as he is, he wouldn't lie about something like that."

"What do you mean bad?"

She sighed. "He wasn't a very nice man. You had dealings with him when you were trying to locate me. You saw how he was."

"He was about as cold as an iceberg. I went to the house, and he threatened to get the law on me if I didn't stop trying to contact you."

She smiled. "That sounds like Grandfather all right. By the way, I really am sorry about putting you through the whole mess back then. I thought that you only married me for my connections."

"What?"

His shocked tone made her cringe. "It seemed like a logical conclusion at the time. Of course, now I know it was a lot of bull intended to scare me off."

He frowned. "What do you mean, intended to scare you off?"

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