Raven’s Prey(10)
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz

“I’ll listen. I’m making no promises beyond that” He refused to let himself offer any further comfort and as she turned back to the cot he was aware of her mixed reaction. She was depressed because she hadn’t completely gained the upper hand and relieved because at least she’d accomplished something with her fierce attack. What kind of female was he dealing with? Judd asked himself for the thousandth time.

He lay back down on the hard floor, adjusting the makeshift pillow and the tattered blanket Across the small expanse of space separating them he watched her climb back into bed and pull the covers up around her chin.

The thought that had been hovering at the back of his mind ever since he’d walked into the cantina finally came forward. She was real.

My God, was she real, he repeated, touching the small wound on his cheek with a grimace. He had the marks to prove it now.

But for the past few days he had felt as if he were chasing down a fantasy. It had made him uneasy at first, telling everyone he met that she was his runaway wife, but gradually the fiction had seemed to cross the bounds of reality in his own mind. Every time he glanced at the photo he had wondered what it would be like to have a real claim on her, to know that when he found her he could keep her.

Loneliness had never been a problem before, Judd thought fleetingly. He’d been on his own for so long that he had a hard time imagining any other sort of life. He preferred being alone. It was natural for him now. A habit. People who lived with each other had skills he couldn’t even comprehend. They laughed together and they talked together. Flying airplanes seemed a whole lot easier and a hell of a lot less demanding. Since the day he’d gotten his license, airplanes had seemed a good substitute for the unreliable friendship of humans, especially women.

No, being alone had become a way of life and he had been stoically satisfied with his path. Until this past week when he had found himself tracking down a woman he was claiming as his wife. What would it have been like, he’d wondered, if she really had been his mate? What would it be like to have a woman who was his and his alone? Since the day he’d been left to the casual care of a series of foster homes he’d had no one he could really claim as his own. As a man he had known women but he’d never had the feeling that any of them truly belonged to him. And none had seemed anxious to claim him permanently, either.

But a strange new sensation of possessiveness had grown within him as he’d traced Honor through Mexico. It filled him with a restlessness that he didn’t understand.

It was only then, as silence descended and a semblance of superficial peace settled on the room, that Judd allowed himself to think about what he had felt when he’d lain on top of Honor Knight and trapped her soft, twisting body with his own.

It would have taken very little to push him completely over the edge during those few minutes. His body hadn’t completely quieted down even yet. It was easy to imagine what it would have been like to tear off her shirt and find the curves of her br**sts. He could also feel the budding ni**les beneath his palms, and if he’d gone that far he wouldn’t have been able to stop. Judd drew a long breath, knowing he could easily have un-snapped her jeans and stripped them from her hips, leaving her open and vulnerable. She might have fought like a wildcat but she was’ no match for his masculine strength. He could have slid between her legs and buried himself in her warmth, taking her completely.

And it would have been good. So good. Damn it to hell. His body was hardening again just at the imagery. Maybe he should have taken her, Judd told himself violently. She had certainly been asking for it the way she had first attacked and then taunted him.

Maybe he should have taken her and taught her that she couldn’t get away with treating him first as if he were some kind of mercenary bounty hunter and then as if he were impotent. Christ! The woman sure knew how to [_get at _]a man! No wonder her father and brother were in such a turmoil over her. She must have been running them ragged for years.

Honor Knight needed someone to take her in hand, Judd decided not for the first time that week. She needed a man who could control her, one whom she couldn’t manipulate. Once that crazy quirk in her personality was straightened out, the one that made her grab for unnatural attention and try to manipulate every man in her orbit, she might be one hell of a woman. She didn’t lack guts and she didn’t give up easily. Furthermore, there was a sensuality about her which intrigued him far more than he wanted to admit.

What would have happened if he had, indeed, taken her? Judd finally dozed off into a light sleep with that question still burning in his mind and in his loins.

Chapter 3

The familiar knock of the neighborhood boy who brought her fresh eggs three times a week brought Honor out of her restless sleep the next morning. As she struggled awake she automatically glanced across the room. The bedding Judd had been using during the night was neatly folded and stashed on the crate that served as an end table. From the tiny bathroom she could hear the sound of running water. He must be shaving, Honor decided, pulling herself out of bed and padding barefoot across the floor to open the door.

 [_”Buenos dias, Paco. ¿Qué tal?” _]Judd might have been right about her Spanish being lousy but it had been improving daily in this land of strangers who spoke no English.

The small, black-haired boy on the front step grinned up at her and shyly handed her the carton of eggs. “I am fine,” he answered formally in Spanish, remembering to slow down so that she could understand him. “I’ve brought your eggs.”

“Wonderful. I’ll go and get the money.” Honor didn’t kid herself. This was a poor village and her willingness to pay well for good food and vegetables was much appreciated locally. Solemnly she counted out the proper amount for the eggs, the coins disappearing into the child’s grubby little hand.

“My mother wants to know if you’ll be needing more eggs now that your man has found you?” Paco asked gravely, peering unabashedly around the corner to see if he could catch sight of the stranger who had taken the [_gringa _]out of the cantina last night.

“Tell your mother that I’ll let her know” Honor told him dryly. In a small town like this the arrival of Judd Raven was hardly likely to go unnoticed.

“Do you think your man will give me a ride in his airplane?” Paco asked hurriedly.

Honor didn’t catch every word but she got the gist of the question. “You’ll have to ask him,” she said smiling, and in the back of her mind a glimmering of an idea began to take shape. The airplane was the means ,by which Judd Raven eventually planned to get her out of the country. He would never let her near the Cessna unescorted but he was going to have a hard time keeping all the curious village children from hanging around the exotic machine. If worse came to worst and Raven refused to pay any heed to her explanation, those children might offer her a possible way of sabotaging that damned plane.