«Meltwater,» Caleb said briefly. He took Willow’s hands and rubbed them between his own, warming them. «Damn near ice. There’s a snowfield at the top of that notch.» He breathed heat over her fingers before he opened hisshearling jacket, pulled her hands inside, and smiled down at her. «Better?»

«Much.»

Willow smiled and made amurmurous sound of approval as she smoothed her hands over Caleb’s warm chest. Within a few moments, she had picked apart the button just above his belt buckle and eased one hand inside to rest against the heat of his skin. His breath hissed in as her fingers tangled gently in the line of hair that ran down his torso.

«You’re better than any fire,» Willow whispered as she turned her hand over to warm the other side. «Heat but no smoke to give us away.»

«Keep that up and there might be.»

«Really?» she asked softly, laughing up at him. «Where?»

«Don’t tempt me, honey.»

«Why not? I’m so very good at it.»

Caleb’s eyes narrowed and his heart beat with redoubled force. In the sudden, hushed silence between Caleb and Willow, the sound of the tiny creek was like a river, but it wasn’t loud enough to cover the break in his breathing when her cool fingers dipped below his belt. The width of thegunbelt defeated her attempts to touch him.

Smiling, Caleb removed hisgunbelt and big knife and set them aside. «Try it now.»

Willow nibbled at the dimple in his chin and the beard stubble that had grown once more. He caught her teasing lips in a hard kiss that made him forget for a few moments the bleak future that was coming closer with every moment they looked for Reno. When her cool fingers slipped inside the waistband of his pants, Caleb made a hungry sound.

«Much, much better,» she said approvingly as she ran her fingernails down the long muscles of his torso.

«I’ve got an idea for making it even better.»

Caleb smiled as he unfastened Willow’s coat and tugged at buckskin laces until he could ease his fingers between folds of cloth and buttons to brush the silky flesh beneath. Her breath caught, broke, then came out in a rush of pleasure.

Yet Willow’s greatest pleasure was in watching Caleb respond to her. She loved seeing the darkness and tension of his expression change as the result of her touch. She loved taking shadows from his eyes, replacing them with fire. She loved caressing him, feeling his body change. She loved bringing him laughter and release. She loved…Caleb.

And someday soon he would realize that he loved her in return. Willow was certain of it. No man could come to a woman with such intense passion, such overwhelming tenderness, and not love her at least a little.

Smiling, watching Caleb, Willow stood on tiptoe, asking for his mouth, needing to taste him once more, to have the small consummation of his kiss. With a growling sound, he took what she offered and gave what she needed, joining their mouths hungrily.

«Well,» said a sardonic male voice behind Willow, «now I know what you were doing for the weeks you were missing.»

It was too late to reach for thegunbelt and Caleb knew it.

«Matt?» Willow cried, spinning around, facing the voice.

The man had come from downwind of the horses, taking Willow and Caleb by surprise. She peered into the shadows, then made a choked sound and ran into the stranger’s arms.

«Matt!» she said in delight, hugging him. «Oh, Matt, is it really you?»

«It’s really me, Willy.» Reno hugged her in return, but there was anger as well as relief in his expression. After a few moments, he set her aside and measured the tall, hard-faced man who was at the moment flipping agunbelt into place around his hips. «Caleb Black.»

Caleb didn’t acknowledge the question buried in the two words. He simply settled hisgunbelt with a smooth movement and faced the bitter future. «Matthew Moran.»

Reno’s pale green eyes narrowed at the bleak hatred in Caleb’s voice and at the violence implicit in the other man’s stance — legs braced slightly apart, hands loose and relaxed at his sides, ready to draw the six-gun whose thong had already been slipped off.

«Looks like Wolfe was wrong about you,» Reno said bitterly. «But much as I’d like to beat the hell out of you for turning my sister into a —»

«Don’t say it,» Caleb interrupted in a voice as savage as the light in his eyes. «Don’t even think it.»

With dawning horror, Willow watched the two men she loved. She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her throat. She had expected joy, not anger, when she met her brother once more.

«Matt?» she asked finally, looking at the brother who was as tall as Caleb, as strong, and every bit as furious. «What’s wrong?»

«Are you married to him?» Reno demanded.

The cold chill of the wind reminded Willow that her jacket was undone. She buttoned it and held her head high despite the flush spreading hotly across her cheekbones.

«No,» she said.

«Are you promised?»

Angrily, Caleb started to speak.

She cut him off. «No.»

«Christ. And you ask me what’s wrong. What happened to you, Willy? What will Mama say when she knows —»

«Mama’s dead.»

Reno’s eyes widened, then closed. «When?»

«Before the war ended.»

«How?» he asked roughly.

«She never was very strong. After Papa was killed, she just gave up.»

«Where areRafe and —»

«I don’t know,» Willow said harshly, interrupting. «I haven’t seen any of my brothers for years. The only family I really had was my memory.»

The expression on Reno’s face changed, all anger draining out, leaving only sadness. He reached for his sister again, folding her into his arms. Putting his cheek against Willow’s hair, he rocked her gently.

«I’m sorry, Willy,» he said. «I’m so damned sorry. If I’d known, I would have come back. You shouldn’t have had to face it alone.»

With a choked sound, Willow threw her arms around Reno and held on. Caleb watched throughslitted eyes, remembering the instant when a half-asleep girl had reached for him.

Matt, oh Matt, is it really you? I’ve been so lonely….

After a long time, Reno released his sister, blotted her eyes with his dark bandanna, and kissed her cheek. Then he looked over her head at Caleb.

«You and I will talk later,» Reno promised flatly. «Right now there are ten men out there, and they’re aching to get their hands on me, Willow, and that sorrel stallion of hers. They’d like a piece of your hide, too, but they’re going to have to stand in line. I have first call.»

«You won’t have to call. I’ll be stepping on your heels every inch of the way.»

Reno’s left eyebrow rose in a dark arc, but he said nothing, even when Willow went back to Caleb, took his right hand in hers, and kissed its broad palm before lacing her fingers deeply through his. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could speak, Ishmael’s head came up. Ears pricked, nostrils flared, the stallion drank the wind coming down the small, brush-choked ravine.

Caleb’s right hand jerked, but his fingers were tangled with Willow’s. Reno had no such problem. With shocking speed a gun appeared in his left hand. Willow stared, unable to believe what she had seen. One instant Reno had been standing with his hand at his side. The next instant, there was a cocked gun in it. She had seen nothing but a blur between.

«Matt…?» she whispered, stunned.

Reno made a curt gesture with his right hand, silencing his sister. Slowly, he started forward. Caleb’s hand shot out, restraining Reno.

«No shooting,» Caleb said, his voice a bare thread of sound. «There’s a quieter way.»

He pulled off his boots, drew his long knife, and glided into the brush on stocking feet with the muscular silence of a cougar.

A movement from Willow caught Reno’s eye. He watched as she picked up a shotgun and came to stand with her back to him. Together they waited for Caleb’s return, each one guarding a different route out of the ravine.

The long minutes of waiting gave Reno plenty of time to realize how many ways his sister had changed. The girl he remembered was a laughing, teasing whirlwind who had looked to her older brothers to protect her from their father’s uncertain temper. The sister who stood with her back to him was an unsmiling woman prepared to fight for her own life. And her man’s.

Willow never knew how long it was before the ghostly cry of a wolf sifted through the ravine, announcing Caleb’s return. She faced toward the sound just as he stepped from cover. Swiftly, she went to him, her eyes going over him like hands. When she saw the blood on his coat, she made a low sound.

«Easy, honey. I’m all right,» Caleb said, taking the shotgun from her suddenly shaking hands.

«Blood,» she said.

«Not mine.» He bent and kissed Willow fiercely, holding her. «Not mine.»

She nodded to show that she understood, and she clung to him.

Reno’s pale green eyes missed none of the currents surging between his sister and the grim-faced man who was holding her with surprising tenderness. Reluctantly, Reno conceded that Wolfe had been right — Caleb was a hard man, even a ruthless one, but he was careful of those who were weaker than himself.

«All clear,» Caleb said to Reno over Willow’s head.

Reno arched a dark eyebrow. «How many?»

«Just one. I was going to let him go, but he picked up the track of the horses.»

Willow didn’t ask what had happened. She had no doubt as to the man’s fate.

«Recognize him?» Reno asked.

Caleb nodded. «I had words with him in Denver. He made his choice. So be it.»