Innocence and the Outlaw

Chapter Four&Five

Chapter Four

Leah was hungry. No, she was starving! It had been hours since the man had come in that morning and she hadn't seen him since. She hadn't moved from the cot either and she could tell that nature was about to insist that she get up and find a place to relieve herself. Standing up slowly, Leah attempted to be silent and allowed the blood to return to her neglected legs as she approached the tent flap. 

Pulling it back the tiniest amount, Leah looked outside. It appeared as if most of the men were gone and she knew those must have been the horses she'd heard riding out earlier. Not everyone was gone, however. There were still a few men sitting around the tents and fires. And those women were still there, sitting in the men's laps with their skirts hiked up. Leah's face flamed red when she heard the grunts and moans. 

Leah dropped the tent flap. She knew exactly what those men and women were doing. She had once heard her brother and his friends bragging about being with women and she had, from time to time, heard her mother and father whispering and moaning to each other through the thin wall that separated their bedrooms. But never had Leah actually witnessed those acts taking place. 

She had to get away from here! Was that what these men wanted her to do? To moan and throw her head back and shake her hair like that? If that's what they wanted, if that's what this Chase wanted, then Leah had news for them. She still had her gun in her pocket. She had forgotten about it that morning but the cold piece of metal was there and she reached in her dress and closed her hand around it. 

Leah heard bootsteps coming toward the tent and knew it was now or never. She moved to the side of the flap and waited with her gun held tight. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her shaking hands were slick with sweat. The flap was pushed aside and Leah felt her heart catch when she realized it was Chase. He stepped into the tent and rose to his full height as his gaze fell on the empty cot. 

"Stop right there and put your hands up," Leah ordered, her voice holding a bravery that neither her heart nor her shaking legs felt. 

Chase did not even tense as he turned to face her. He seemed relaxed and unafraid as he reached up and moved his hat back so that she got her first clear look at his face. Without those shadows hiding his features, the sheer rugged handsomeness of him nearly took her breath... but Leah kept her gun aimed at his chest. 

It was then that she began to notice just how sculpted his cheekbones were, just how longa and straight his nose was, and exactly how dark and intense his eyes were... Leah realized something that had her taking several large steps back. 

"You're an Indian!" She had thought that all the savages were on reservations but here stood one. Tall and dark and seeming more dangerous than a coiled rattler. 

Chase stared down at her causing Leah to feel small and helpless as he pinned her in place with nothing but his gaze. He raised one arched brow and crossed his arms over his chest. The black cotton shirt he was wearing tugged and pulled at his broad shoulders with his movements. Absently, Leah noticed that he didn't wear the collared, buttoned shirts that were common among men. Instead, his shirt was loose and made of thin cotton beneath his vest--and his legs were encased in soft buckskin. 

Case reached up and pulled off his hat. Long, black hair, tied at the nap of his neck, fell from beneath his hat. The midnight black strands fell more than halfway down his back. 

"What do you want from me?" Leah demanded, her nerves getting the better of her as he stared her down in silence. Her hands were beginning to shake violently and the gun bounced with their movements.