Enchanted Ecstasy Read Online Free PDF

laughed. "Maybe you are going to be more useful to us than I thought, if you think Mangas is a gentle man. Perhaps you have seen a side of him which has not been revealed to others."
    Maleaha stood up proudly and faced Major Benedict. "I will be waiting outside the gates. Good-bye, colonel. I do not know how long it will take, but. give us two weeks."
    Kane stared at Maleaha and then turned to the colonel. "You do not expect me to ride out with a . . ." His voice trailed off.
    "A squaw, major?" Maleaha finished for him. "I will wait for you for ten minutes! If by that time you have not come, I will ride for home." She spoke softly, but there was anger in her voice.
    After she had left Colonel Johnson turned to Kane. "You will treat Jonas Deveraux's daughter with the utmost respect, major. Do I make myself clear? She is the only thing that stands between you and hell. If she were so inclined, she could ride home this minute and where would that leave us? You have less than ten minutes, I suggest you get a move on." The colonel's voice was angry and Kane knew there was no use telling him he had not intended to call the Indian girl a squaw, he had merely meant to call attention to the fact that she was female.

 
     
    3
     
    When Kane mounted his horse and rode through the gates, he found the Indian girl and her two companions waiting for him. He wondered what his father would think of him if he could see him now, riding to meet a potentially dangerous enemy, with a beautiful Indian girl and two white-haired Indian men as his guides.
    As he rode to the side of the girl, she did not look at him but nudged her horse in the flanks and moved forward.
    Maleaha had resisted the urge to ride away and leave the man who apparently had no respect for her. He thought her little better than a savage. Her Indian blood had been offended. She had no wish to tell him she was probably as "civilized" as he was. Let him think what he would, it didn't matter to her. If only this mission were not so important, she would leave him in the desert somewhere, she thought angrily.
    Lamas and Salador rode just behind her, and Maleaha felt comforted by their presence. The two brothers were from the Jojoba tribe. They had lived at the Deveraux ranch since her mother had come there as a bride. They usually worked with the cowhands, but Maleaha knew they were also there to look after her. Whenever she rode away from the ranch, one or both of them would mysteriously appear at her side. Long ago they had both been accepted by the people of Santa Fe as her protectors. Maleaha knew they were always watchful for trouble of any kind. She suspected they had been ordered by her grandfather to look after her after what had happened to her mother. Maleaha never felt like she needed guarding. She had never been treated with anything but the greatest respect. Until today. Major Benedict had treated her as if she were a lowly piece of humanity. For the first time in her life, Maleaha could feel some of the pain her mother had experienced.
    Kane could sense the Indian girl's anger as he rode along beside her. Every once in awhile he glanced at her, but she kept her eyes straight ahead, never acknowledging his presence. No woman had ever ignored him as she was doing. She was rude and infuriating, he thought.
    They skirted the town of Santa Fe and rode to the south into open country. The two old men did not attempt to draw even with Kane and Maleaha, but rode just behind them.
    After they had ridden hard for about two hours, Maleaha pulled up her mount. "We walk now, major. The horses need to rest," she said, dismounting.
    Kane clamped his teeth tightly together in anger, knowing it should have been he who gave the order to dismount. Who did she think she was, telling him what to do? He was in charge. He bit back his angry words and dismounted. He had never liked aggressive women, and he liked this one less than most.
    He removed his canteen from his saddle horn and offered