Love of a Bounty (Sequal to Unexpected Romance but can stand alone)

Chapter Six

Richard woke the next morning when his hat was pulled from his face and the sunrise hit his eyes. He instantly realized that Tessa was no longer in his arms and he felt a moment of disappointment. Then he heard her laughter and his heart skipped a beat at the sound. He rubbed his face and sat up and saw that Horse had his hat in his mouth and was looking down at him with his big brown eyes.

"You damn flea bitten ass! I'm gonna sell your stinking hide in the next town we come to, to some business man making soap!" Richard said as he yanked his hat away from the stallion and put it back on his head. Tessa could see the smile on his face and knew he wasn't really angry at the black stallion.

"Breakfast?" she asked handing him a tin plate full of leftover snake and stale biscuits. He nodded and started eating. She poured some coffee into a tin cup and handed it to him. He took a drink and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted.

"You're gonna get me spoiled, Tom." he said. She blushed and smiled and poured her own cup of coffee.

"I figured we'd both be better off if I made the coffee seeing as how horrible yours tastes." she said.

"I'd say you figured right." he replied and took another drink. "How'd you sleep?" he asked her.

"Fair I guess." she replied. Truthfully she had slept better in his arms than she had ever slept in her life. She had never felt so safe and warm than she had wrapped up against him.

"How did you sleep?" she asked him. Richard shrugged.

"Fair I guess." he replied. Truthfully he had slept deeper than he ever allowed himself to sleep. The fact that she had been able to get up and make coffee without waking him proved that.

"Did you find your gun?" he asked. She looked down at her empty holster.

"No." she said. "I didn't want to wander off and have you wake up and yell at me the way you yell at Horse." Richard laughed.

"I'd yell at you worse. Horse get's special treatment cuz I like him so much." Richard stuck the last of the snake and biscuit in his mouth and stood up.

"Where ya going?" Tessa asked.

"Find your gun, brave heart." he teased. Tessa stood up and put her hands on her hips and he recognized the sign that her temper was rising. He fought to hide his smile.

"The damn thing lunged at me and I fell." she said defensively. "Not my fault the damn gun slipped."

"Calm down, sharp shooter." he said. He could hear her cursing under her breath as he walked away and started looking for her gun. He found it quickly enough and on his way back he stopped at the bush and looked at the snakes head lying there in the sand.

He cursed at the image in his head of her lying face to face with that giant rattler. He didn't know what he'd have done if he hadn't gotten to her in time. He walked back to camp to find that she had their bedrolls put away and was stomping out the fire.

"Here ya go, Wyatt Earp." Richard said tossing her the pistol. She glared at him as she put it in her holster.

"You think you're something don't ya?" she demanded. He shook his head as he jumped up on Horse.

"Nope." Was all he said. Tessa jumped on her mare and they started down the trail.

"I bet I can outshoot you!" she said before thinking. The grin he gave her when he looked over at her told her that her mouth had just overloaded her backside big time.

"Ya think so huh?" he asked. She nodded though suddenly she didn't feel so sure. He looked out over the horizon.

"See them crows flying around up there?" he asked. Tessa looked and saw the black specks up in the sky above them. She nodded.