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saw
her. “Why don’t you spread your clothes over that chair near the
fire?”
    Nodding, she did as he suggested, carefully
draping her shirt over her bra so he couldn’t see it. Wet or not,
she had kept her panties on.
    There wasn’t much in the ways of furnishings
in this room, either—a dilapidated couch, a rough-hewn table, and
two chairs. A rifle stood in one corner; a canteen and a gunbelt
hung from the back of one of the chairs, a pair of saddlebags were
draped over the other one.
    “ Make yourself to home,” he said, and
disappeared into the bedroom.
    Bonnie moved closer to the fire. Holding her
hands out to warm them, she wondered who her benefactor was and
what he was doing out here in this Godforsaken place in this dreary
two-room cabin. She didn’t think he was married, since there were
no feminine touches to be seen in this room or in the bedroom.
    She tensed when the door opened. He had
changed into the pants and blue shirt. His hair was still damp. Now
that she was warm and dry, it occurred to her that she was at this
man’s mercy.
    “ What are you doing out here alone?” he
asked, moving closer to the fire.
    “ I got lost in the rain and…” She
folded her arms over her chest. “I was soaked to the skin and
wondering what to do when that white horse sort of appeared out of
nowhere. I thought he was from the dude ranch…”
    “ Dude ranch?” He stared at her as if
she were speaking a foreign language. “What the hell’s a dude
ranch?”
    “ You know, a place where people go on
vacation.”
    “ I know what a vacation is. I’m a
little confused about the dude ranch. And even more confused about
how the horse found you.”
    “ I told you, I thought he was from the
ranch. I told him to take me home, but he brought me here, wherever
here is.”
    “ Have you got a name?”
    “ Yes, do you?”
    “ Jackson Gray Hawk. Call me
Gray.”
    “ I’m Bonnie.”
    “ So, you told Relámpago to take
you home and he brought you here.”
    “ Is that his name? Relámpago ?”
    “ Yeah.” Gray shook his head. “I guess
even spirit horses get lost.”
    “ Spirit horses? What are you talking
about?”
    “ Relámpago is a legend among my
people. And not only among the Lakota, but the Apache and the
Cheyenne. Every tribe has stories of Relámpago . It is said
he is as swift as lightning, as sure-footed as a mountain goat, as
reliable as the sun. It is said if you treat him well, he will
always carry you away from danger.”
    Bonnie looked at the man called Gray and
hoped the legend was true, because every instinct she possessed
told her this man was dangerous in more ways than one. “Have you
seen the horse before?”
    “ No, but my grandfather told me the
stories.”
    “ Well, I don’t know about any legend,
but he’s certainly not a ghost. What does Relámpago mean,
anyway?”
    “ Lightning.”
    “ Oh.” Of course, she thought,
remembering the black zigzag on the horse’s rump.
    “ Do you have anything to
eat?”
    “ Not much.” He pulled a leather pouch
from the saddlebag on the table. Reaching inside, he withdrew a
strip of what looked like beef jerky and handed it to
her.
    Muttering her thanks, she stared at the
jerky, then took a bite. It didn’t taste like anything she’d ever
had before. “What is this?”
    “ Jerky.”
    “ Is it beef?”
    “ No. Buffalo.”
    “ Buffalo?” She stared at him. Where on
earth had he found a buffalo?
    He nodded. “There’s water in the canteen if
you’re thirsty.”
    The thought of putting her mouth where his
had been made her heart skip a beat.
    Her gaze slid away from his. What was he
thinking? If only the rain would stop, she could get on her horse
and get out of here. For all she knew, he could be some sort of
pervert. What rational man stayed in a place like this?
    “ You look wore out,” he said. “Why
don’t you turn in?”
    “ I’m fine.”
    “ I’m not going to hurt you, lady. Get
some sleep.”
    Bonnie felt her cheeks grow