Texas Proud (Vincente 2) Read Online Free PDF

her, it represented her father. She
could never sell to anyone, not even Delia and
Whit.

    She hadn't intended to ride toward Casa del Sol.
Her instinct just seemed to guide her in that direction. For a time, she galloped parallel to the
Brazos River, which was the border between the
Broken Spur and Casa del Sol. Both ranches had
benefited from the Brazos's bounty in the past, but
this year the water was low from lack of rain. In
places it was so shallow that she could ride across
without wetting her horse's girth.
    Without thinking, she plunged Faro into the
mud-colored river and rode up the bank to the
other side. Her mind took her to a place of reveries. Her reflections were of dark, flashing eyesthe eyes of a killer, Noble Vincente's eyes.
    He'd dominated her thoughts since his return
to Texas. Just like now, when a memory out of the
past flowed through Rachel's mind even though
she fought vainly to suppress it. She didn't want
to remember how she'd once adored Noble. But
the memories would not be denied. She could almost hear his teasing voice calling her Green
Eyes.
    Although Noble was only half Spanish, his
mother being from an old and respected Southern
family, his complexion was dark like his father's,
and he chose to wear the traditional Spanish attire, as had his father. When Rachel thought of Noble, he was always wearing black leather with
silver trim. Just as he had that day his image had
been stamped forever in her memory.

    Rachel's attention was yanked back to the present when a jackrabbit jumped in front of her,
causing Faro to rear. With a firm hand on the
reins and soothing words, she calmed her horse.
    Again the unwelcome past invited itself into Rachel's thoughts. She was being drawn back,
against her will, through the curve of time. She
remembered the day she had accompanied her father to Casa del Sol to buy a breeding bull from
Don Reinaldo Vincente. She'd been sixteen at the
time and as vulnerable to Noble's charms as any
woman in Madragon County.
    When they'd arrived at the Vincente ranch, her
father had driven the wagon to the corrals, where
several of the vaqueros had been breaking horses.
    Happily, she had scampered out of the wagon
while her father had conversed with Don Reinaldo. She'd hurried to the corral and hooked the
heel of her boot in the fence, hoisting herself up
to watch. She recalled her father smiling indulgently at her; he never berated her or objected to
her wearing britches and boots and riding astride
like a man. He'd prided himself on the fact that
his youngest daughter could stand toe-to-toe with
any man and beat him at his own game.
    Rachel's mind had opened up, and she was
flooded by more memories. As she rode beneath
the scorching Texas sun toward her destination, she visualized that day so long ago when Noble
first unleashed emotions that had awakened her
virginal body. Her thoughts tumbled, spinning out
of control, backward in time....

    Sam Rutledge conversed with Don Reinaldo while
sixteen-year-old Rachel watched a vaquero trying
to slide a leather halter over the head of a spirited
black mare. To her surprise Noble came from the
stable, his silver spurs jingling with every step he
took. He propped his booted foot on the fence,
tightened the strap of his spurs and then gave the
silver spike a spin. He nodded to the vaquero, who
was gripping the waiting mare's ears and holding
her firm. Then, with catlike grace, Noble bounded
onto the back of the exquisite animal, whose coat
shone like polished ebony.
    For a moment, man and beast stood perfectly
still, but Rachel knew what was to come. The
mare's ears were laid back in defiance; she was
wild, untamed and ready to challenge the man
who would try to master her.
    With a suddenness that startled Rachel, the
horse took a tremendous leap toward the sky,
carrying Noble with her. The defiant mare resisted
gravity and bounded upward again and again. She
spun and bucked in