Duke was cursing God, the mother earth and anybody else that man had ever worshipped as he went about setting up camp that night. What the devil had he been thinking when he'd agreed to take this woman to a town? He had never once gone out of his way to help somebody else and he was really beginning to believe that she was some sort of witch that had placed a spell on him.

Bedding her had been unlike anything else he had ever experienced and God help him but he wanted to do it again. And he wanted to lose his mind to her again. He wanted to get lost in her softness and feel her hands on his skin again. He wanted to breath in her scent and this time he wanted to let her on top so her halo of thick raven black hair could surround him.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he removed the saddle and saddle bags from his horse to allow the beast some time to rest.

"Can we start a fire?" Carol asked, speaking for the first time since he had told her to be quiet earlier in the day.

"Nope."

"Why not?" she asked as she lifted her skirts slightly and looked for somewhere to sit down. Duke leaned against the small, wind blown tree they were camped beneath and shrugged.

"Injuns." he replied as he lit his cigar. "In case you hadn't noticed, the land is crawling with 'em around here."

"I noticed." she said with a shiver. Duke growled and pushed himself away from the tree. He grabbed a saddle blanket and spread it over the ground and then motioned for her to sit. "Thank you." she said cautiously.

"I was just tired of watching you look around like a goddamned dog hunting for a place to squat."

"You're charming." Carol said dryly as she sat down and spread her skirts out around her.

"You're the first person to say so."

"I was lying."

"I figured you was." he replied as he tossed her a sack. She looked inside and curled her nose.

"Jerked beef?"

"We're fresh outta steaks and taters." he sneered as he stretched out on his bedroll and stared up at the darkening sky, filling with stars. Usually this was when he felt the most at peace. But right now with that damned enchanting woman sitting feet from him he felt anything but peaceful.

"Why are you so mean?" she asked suddenly.

"I'm actually being real nice."

"Really?" There was disbelief in her voice and he grinned as he nodded.

"Yep. I haven't killed you yet and I even brought you with me." Carol snorted and he heard her hunting through the jerked beef for the piece she wanted.

"You wouldn't really kill a woman or leave one to die out here." she argued and he looked over at her, just barely able to make out her face in the dying light. His eyes locked with hers.

"Yes I would." he vowed and he saw her shiver as she quickly averted her gaze.

"I guess I should feel special then." she replied quietly. Duke just grunted and rolled onto his side, offering her his back. "Don't you want some of this?" she asked, shaking the sack and Duke shook his head.

"Nope." Carol sighed and seemed to give up on conversation and for that he was grateful. What was the woman thinking calling herself special? There wasn't a damn thing special about her. She was just damn beautiful and he had a moment of weakness and decided to help her. Curly would kill him if he was still alive to find out.

The old outlaw had found him as a baby after his mama had tossed him in a ditch. Curly had raised him and taught him how to be cold and ruthless. How to take what he wanted and not care about anyone else. Duke had failed in that regard today.

It wasn't completely his fault.. Hell this woman had to be just a bit touched in the head to have thrown herself at him like that. And damned if she wasn't the best lay he'd ever had. But special? No she wasn't special. He refused to even acknowledge that possibility.

It wasn't too late to fix his mistake. He could wait a few hours, let her fall fast asleep and then take off in the night and redeem himself in the eyes of the dead outlaw who had raised him. He grinned as he closed his eyes. That sounded like a plan to him.

888

Carol wasn't sure what caused her to wake up. The blackness of night pressed down on her from all sides. Not even the moon and stars offered any light behind the thick clouds covering them. She heard a sound off to the left and then she heard voices whispering. She could tell instantly that these were Indians and fear and panic gripped her heart.

She was about to jump to her feet and take off running when a strong hand clamped around her mouth and firm lips pressed against her ear.

"Don't move and don't make a sound." Duke whispered. Carol nodded and he removed his hand. "You stay." he ordered and she was helpless to do anything but nod again and then she heard him slip off into the night.

Was he going to save her or was he going to abandon her to these Indians. With him it seemed impossible to tell. He had already told her that he would murder a woman or leave her to die. She believed him too, despite the look that had been in his eyes in that wagon when he'd been inside of her.

She heard the whispering voices getting closer and she shivered and wrapped her arms tighter around herself, struggling to keep from crying out loud.

Suddenly in the quiet of the night, Carol heard the sound of a brief struggle, followed by the sound of someone choking on something wet. Cries of alarm went up followed by yells and shouts and more sounds of a scuffle. The commotion lasted less than a minute but it was the longest minute of Carol's life and then she sat there in the black darkness and waited.

Had Duke killed them or had things gone the other way around? She wanted to call out for him but was afraid to. She felt a relief fill her when she heard boots approaching her. Indians didn't wear boots did they?

"Duke?" she whispered fearfully. "Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me." he replied tensely.

"Are they dead?"

"They ain't alive." he snapped.

"Where did you learn to move that quietly?" she asked and she was able to make out his shadowy figure as her eyes adjusted to the darkness and he sat down on his bedroll.

"A man learns what he has to out here on his own."

"You saved my life."

"Just go to sleep." he said with a grunt as he curled up on his bedroll. Truth be told her nerves were still humming too quickly for her to be able to sleep. And she didn't like being so far from his protection. Call her crazy for wanting the mean, dangerous man to hold her but that is exactly what she wanted.

Instead of standing, she crawled across the ground to him and curled up against his back. She felt him stiffen.

"What the hell you doin?" he demanded gruffly.

"I'm scared and it's growing colder." she replied truthfully. Duke merely grunted and she realized he wasn't going to hold her. She wrapped her arms tighter around herself and scooted closer to him desperate for whatever warmth he could provide.

888

Duke waited until he knew she was sleeping and then gave in to the temptation that proved to be too strong to ignore. He had never before held a woman in his arms as she'd slept. He rolled over and pulled her against him, cursing when he realized that she was indeed cold. He used the toe of his boot to hook the edge of the saddle blanket and pull it to them, covering them both.

She moaned in sleep and cuddled up into his embrace and he felt a tug in his chest which he quickly dismissed. This woman was not special, it was just cold and they were sharing warmth. His arm was burning where one of those damn injuns had managed to stab him but right now he didn't care. He put his nose in her hair and let himself drift off to sleep, his plan of taking off in the night completely forgotten.

A/N: Hope you all are enjoying this story! Only a few more chapters to go i promise. I had planned for this to only be about 3 but now that i'm writing it it is taking on a life of its own. It still will be rather short compared to the others in this series.