She stared curiously at the red-coated cattle in the distance.

"They're the same color as yours," she remarked, nodding to- ward them. "Are they the same breed?"

"Santa Gertrudis," he agreed. He eased back in the saddle, gri- macing a little.

"Is your back all right?" she asked with concern.

He glance at her with a wry smile. "It was until a few nights ago."

She actually gasped out loud.

He chuckled helplessly. "My G.o.d."

"Do you mind?" she asked breathlessly, her color flaring.

"My back is all right," he a.s.sured her "A little stiff, but it gets that way from routine work. I can a.s.sure you," he added in a soft tone, "that I'd much rather have a stiff back from what we did together than from going on stakeout."

She cleared her throat. "I see."

"Coward. You were the one who brought it up last time." He caught her hand in his and brought it to his mouth. "Thank you for the gift you gave me that night."

She really colored then. She couldn't manage words.

94.

He stopped his horse, and hers, and clasped her hand against him until she looked his way.

"I felt like a whole man," he said slowly. "Even if I couldn't give you a child."

She winced. "Dane, a child isn't the only reason two people marry."

"Perhaps not," he said wearily. "But it can destroy a marriage."

His face went hard. "G.o.d knows, it destroyed mine."

"I'm not Jane!" she cried.

He looked at her hungrily. "There's no doubt about that," he said quietly. "She could barely suffer having me in bed." His high cheekbones went ruddy. "You didn't, though. My G.o.d, you..." He couldn't even find the words. He pressed his mouth hard into her palm, his eyes closed on an anguished scowl. "I've never had it like that," he said in a rough tone.

She flushed, too, at the unfamiliar emotion in his deep voice. "I thought it was always good for the man."

His dark eyes caught hers. "I all but pa.s.sed out in your arms,"

he said huskily. "Just thinking about how it was arouses me."

Her lips parted. It aroused her, too. She sensed his vulnerability, and just for an instant she thought he might be weakening.

The sudden sound of approaching horses distracted him, too soon.

He let go of her hand and his eyes narrowed under the wide brim of his hat.

"Two peas in a pod," he mused, watching two tall riders ap- proach.

Tess shaded her eyes. "Who are they?"

"Cole Everett and King Brannt." He kicked his boot out of the stirrup and looped his leg around his saddle horn while he lit a cigarette. He grinned as the two men galloped up beside him and stopped. He knew they'd seen him with Tess and had moved in for a better look. It was, as they knew, unusual for him to bring a woman to the ranch.

"Nice day," the older of the two remarked, his narrow silvery eyes appraising Tess's flushed face.

"Good weather, too," the other man agreed, his dark eyes twin- kling in a lean, formidable countenance.

95 "Her name is Teresa Meriwether," Dane told them with exag- gerated patience. "Tess for short. Her father was going to marry my mother until the wreck, so she's...family. She's my secretary at the agency."

Cole Everett pushed back his creamy Stetson and eyed Dane cu- riously, his silver eyes quiet and steady. "Do tell." He glanced at Tess. "Nice to meet you," he said, smiling. He had a warm smile, not sarcastic or mocking.

"Same here," King Brannt agreed. He was pleasant enough, but he had a cutting edge to his personality that intimidated Tess. She smiled shyly in his direction, wondering absently how his Shelby had ever gotten up enough nerve to marry such a wildcat.

Everett, too, had an untamed look, but he was older than the other two men, graying at the temples.

"How's Heather?" Dane asked Cole. "Still teaching voice?"

"And writing songs," Cole replied. "She sold one last year to a group called Desperado, based up in Wyoming, and their lead singer won another Grammy with it. Heather was over the moon. So were our boys." He chuckled. "They're just at the age where they like pop music."

"My kids like it, too," King mused. "Dana's got a keyboard and Matt has drums." He held a hand to his ear. "Shelby spends a lot of time working in the kitchen garden while they practice. They're all in high school. His three hang out with my two," he muttered, glaring at Cole. "G.o.d knows, I'll go insane one day and start howl- ing at the moon from the noise."

"I send them over to his house so that we can have some peace and quiet at ours," Cole explained dryly. "Shelby told Heather that she wished she had more than two kids of her own." He pursed his lips at King. "You aren't too old yet, are you?"

"Speak for yourself, Grandpa," King returned. He glanced at Dane curiously. "Ever think of marrying again?" he asked bluntly.

Dane didn't bat an eyelash. "No. Anything in particular you wanted, besides a look at my houseguest?" he added with a mean- ingful stare.

"We could use a new bull," Cole reminded him. "King's got one he's ready to sell, and he needs a new one of his own. Since 96.

you and I are ready to unload...er, sell...that bull of ours, King thought we might work out a trade, when you've got time to discuss it." He grinned at Tess, ignoring King's dry glance in his direction.

"Not today, of course."

Dane chuckled at the blatant excuse. He saw right through them.

"Okay," he said. "I'll come over next weekend and we'll talk about it." By then, he thought, he'd have sprung the trap on Tess's as- sailant and she'd have moved out. The thought depressed him.

"Suits us," King said. "As for unloading your bull on me," he added with a mocking smile at Cole Everett, "that'll be the day."

"You watch too many reruns of old John Wayne movies," Cole pointed out. "You're starting to sound like the character he played in The Searchers."

The younger man c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "All the same, you won't slip a worn-out bull under my nose."

Cole looked insulted. "Would I do that to a business partner?"

"Sure," King said pleasantly. "Like you tried to land me with that gelding last year when I wanted a new stallion for my stud."

"It wasn't my fault. I swear to G.o.d I had no idea he'd been to the vet-"

"Like h.e.l.l you didn't. He was in on it with you," he added, nodding toward Dane. "You gave it away when you started snick- ering into your hat."

"Yes, but the joke backfired, didn't it?" King mused. "I bought the animal anyway and he turned out to be one of the best stud horses I've got. The vet pulled a fast one on both of you."

Tess was laughing out loud by now. "I thought you people were friends!'' she burst out.

"Oh, we are," King agreed. "But friends are much more dan- gerous than enemies."

"I'll drink to that," Dane murmured.

"Yes, well, it pays not to turn your back on these two," Cole returned. "Are you staying at the ranch long? Heather would enjoy getting to meet you, I'm sure. I imagine your job is pretty interest- ing. He never talks about it." He jerked a thumb toward Dane.

"That's how he keeps his clientele," Dane returned easily.

97 "We're leaving in a few minutes, but maybe I'll bring her over another time."

"You do that. Well, we'll see you next weekend, then."

"Nice to have met you," King added to Tess. He wheeled his mount and started up. Cole Everett smiled and followed suit.

Tess watched them ride away. "Have your friends been married along time?"

"Years and years," he replied. "Their kids are all in their early teens now." Kids. His face hardened. "We'd better get back."

She put her hand on his upper arm as he gathered the reins in one lean hand. "Don't let it wear on you like that," she said softly.

"Dane, children aren't everything...."

"They are if you can't produce any," he said tersely. He looked into her eyes with pure malice. "Tell me you don't want a baby, Tess," he challenged coldly.

Her eyes clouded with mingled anguish and compa.s.sion, but he didn't read it that way at all. He cursed under his breath and rode quickly ahead of her, leaving her to follow behind him with her heart in her shoes. She knew then that he was never going to give in. He wouldn't marry again, because the specter of not having chil- dren was too much for him to bear. He'd never be convinced that she could be happy without them, so no matter what his feelings for her were, marriage was out of the question. He'd made that clear just now, without saying a single word.

She was sore and shaky when they got back to the barn. Dane saw her grimace and reached up to help her down. But, as always, the feel of her body triggered helpless longings in his own.

He let her slide down against him, his hands firm on her waist, his eyes holding hers.

"I like your friends," she whispered huskily.

"So do I." He had to fight to breathe normally. He looked down at her soft mouth and all but groaned. "We have to go back."

She drew in an unsteady breath. "I enjoyed the ride."

"Sore?"

She nodded and smiled. "I'm not used to horses, but I think I could learn to like riding."

He searched her eyes slowly. "I could learn to like a lot of things, 98.

if I let myself." His face hardened. "I want you so," he whispered roughly. "But I can't have you."

"Dane..."

He let go of her and moved back. "No. In a day or two, we'll wrap up your problem. Then we'll get on with our lives."

He turned to lead the horses into the barn. He had shut her out.

Just that easily, he turned his back on what had happened, on any future that contained both of them. As they drove back to Houston, Tess thought she'd never felt quite so alone.

As long as she and Dane were communicating, she'd been able to push what had happened with the attempted kidnapping to the back of her mind. That, and the trap they were going to set the following Monday night for the men. Now she worried over it until her hands were twisting nervously in her lap. If anything went wrong, she could die this time. She glanced at Dane and wondered if losing her would hurt him at all. That was unfair, she thought. Of course he'd care if she died. He was a caring man, despite his mis- givings about her role in his life.

He saw her worried face. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly.

"I was thinking about the trap," she said, surprising him. He hadn't let himself consider the upcoming event, because it disturbed him so much. Now he was forced to think about it, and to worry about what might happen if something went wrong.

His chest rose and fell heavily. "Try to remember that Nick and I are fairly competent at what we do for a living," he said after a minute, his voice deep and slow. "We'll take good care of you, little one. We'll get them."

She smiled wanly. "Okay."

She didn't sound convinced, but he couldn't dwell on that. He had to hope that the scenario would play as he and Nick had re- hea.r.s.ed it. Once the a.s.sailants were in custody, he could decide what to do about Tess. One thing was certain. He had to get her out of his life before he weakened and let her stay. For her own sake, that couldn't happen. He cared too much to let her settle for a barren marriage, even if it was going to kill him to let her go.

Chapter Seven.

The darkness outside the windows was dismal. Rain had begun to pepper down. It was a cold rain. Tess wrapped her arms around her body, because even the gray sweater she was wearing over dark slacks and a blue-and-gray-patterned blouse didn't spare her from the chill. Behind her, Dane was smoking a cigarette, waiting.

Out of sight were Nick and Helen and Adams, along with two of Sergeant Graves's best men. Some subtle investigative work had revealed that the office was being watched. Tonight, the office staff was going to take advantage of that surveillance to spring a trap.

Dane and Tess were apparently working late. The rest of the office staff had left earlier, with a great deal of noise, so that anyone watching would see them. Once out of sight, they'd parked their cars several blocks away and had crept back into position, as planned.

Dane checked his watch. He was uneasy. He hadn't wanted to do this, but he had no choice. He couldn't let it drag on, let Tess be constantly in danger. He might not be quick enough the next time.

The drug lords had already gotten to her. At least this way, he had a good chance of success in catching them once and for all.

He didn't want her threatened. He couldn't keep her, but he couldn't bear to see her hurt, ever.

"Scared?" he asked gently.

"Terrified," she confessed. "That's normal, isn't it?" she added, turning. "It isn't lack of fear that creates heroes. It's going ahead, 100.

doing what you have to when you're so frightened you can hardly stand on your feet."