Warrior Moon Read online

  “No, I don’t fear him,” Vanessa said quietly, knowing they should get Phoebe to a stage quickly before Lone Wolf changed his mind or they encountered Comanche or Kiowa who might want Phoebe. Or her father did do something to stir Lone Wolf’s rage.

  “I’m exhausted.”

  “Sleep there,” Vanessa said, pointing to a quilt and hides.

  Phoebe flung her arms around Vanessa and hugged her. “Thank you for coming back to get me. I still can’t believe I’m free. Vanessa, I couldn’t bear to marry Major Thompkins. I told Papa, but he wouldn’t listen and my reluctance made him furious.”

  “We’re not safe yet,” Vanessa cautioned, giving Phoebe a squeeze.

  “Papa has gotten so much more unreasonable. I’m thankful to be away. And he talks constantly of Ethan and his deeds. Our brother is very special to Papa.”

  “I don’t think Papa ever wanted us.”

  “Except for his own purposes. He doesn’t like to be thwarted.” Phoebe hugged Vanessa again. “Thank you for coming back. I’ll thank Lone Wolf. I was so afraid you might not return—” Phoebe shivered. “If Papa catches us…” her voice trailed away and she moved to the quilt, stretching out and pulling a robe over her. Vanessa crossed the dark campsite to Lone Wolf, who was seated on a rock.

  “Phoebe is going to sleep. I’m exhausted, too. Do you think it’s safe to sleep?”

  “I’ll watch for a while, and then Muaahap said she would take a turn.”

  “Don’t disturb Muaahap. She needs her rest. Get me and I’ll sit up.” She reached out to touch his arm. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done this alone.”

  He studied her and then reached out, his hand going behind her neck, pressing against her nape to draw her closer as he leaned forward to kiss her. His mouth was warm on hers, his lips firm as his tongue entered her mouth. Her pulse jumped, and she kissed him in return, leaning against him as he sat on a rock, his knees touching her thighs. She wanted more of him, so much more. Finally, he pulled away.

  “How many days until we reach the stage station?” she asked.

  He stared across the campsite. “With five women—who can guess?” His gaze returned to Vanessa. “If we travel fast, we might get there within six or seven days. I don’t know whether Phoebe can keep that pace. I think Belva can. We’ll head northwest into New Mexico Territory.” His dark eyes rested on her. “You’re not going on that stage, Vanessa. I’m taking you with me.”

  She nodded, looking into his dark eyes but unable to guess what ran through his thoughts, longing for more from him than he was willing to give.

  “I’m going to sleep now. Call me to take a turn.” She walked away, aching to be in his arms. She stepped behind a large juniper for privacy and changed from the muslin dress to buckskin because it was more comfortable.

  She heard a footstep and looked around. Lone Wolf stood watching her. He walked toward her. The moonlight spilled over him, and his dark eyes held a smoldering hunger that made her heart lurch and race.

  “We have something to settle, Vanessa.”

  Sixteen

  She watched him approach and her mouth grew dry, her insides fluttery. After the strain of the long day, she wanted to throw herself into his arms and shower him with kisses as she had the night he told her he would turn back to McKavett. Instead, she stood quietly watching him, her pulse drumming as he walked up to her.

  “We rode into danger today that was as great as any I’ve ever faced,” he said in a low voice, drawing her farther away from the campsite. They moved in silence until he turned again to face her, his brown eyes intense, his hands stroking her shoulders.

  “I went back to get your sisters and risked my life today; and when I did that, I made myself a promise.”

  Her heart thudded. She could imagine what he had promised and she stared at him, torn between warring desires. She wanted him to love her and she wanted to avoid any lovemaking with him until he was ready to ask her to be his wife. She did not want to live with him and then be cast aside when he picked an Indian maiden for his mate. With every kiss, each time in his arms, she became even more his woman.

  “When dawn came I fully expected this to be the last day of my life. This morning I promised myself that if I lived through this day, you would be in my arms tonight.”

  “Then you should have asked me this morning, because you made that decision without—”

  “Vanessa,” he said softly, interrupting her, her name drawn out in a slow drawl that played over her like a lingering caress, a husky tone that held promises of ecstasy. His hands slid to her nape and stroked her and she drew a deep breath, feeling her nipples become taut.

  With deliberation, he pulled off his shirt and spread it on the ground, the muscles in his chest rippling as he moved.

  “I think that we—” she began again, but he leaned forward, his mouth brushing hers.

  He picked up her braid, looking at her as he began to undo it. The faint tugs on her scalp were the same as a caress because his dark eyes held a longing that made her breathless.

  He loosened the braids, running his large fingers through her hair, combing free the locks so they fell around her face. He framed her face with his hands, turning her mouth up to his as he bent his head. His mouth slanted over hers, his tongue entering her mouth, sliding in a sensual draw across the inside of her lower lip.

  She moaned softly, knowing she could not resist him. She was bound by his caresses and her love. Her hands drifted across his strong shoulders, sliding down his smooth back as his arm went around her waist and he pulled her up tightly against him.

  She loved him, wisely or not, and her future was here on this untamed land with a man who was equally wild.

  “Vanessa.” He whispered her name, trailing kisses along her throat as he removed her buckskin dress. She hadn’t put on her underdrawers and she was bare beneath the leather. He inhaled swiftly, stepping forward to cup her breasts and kiss her, his tongue playing over her taut nipple.

  With a groan he picked her up and lowered her to his shirt, kneeling beside her. His dark eyes bored through her and Vanessa ached with wanting all of him, his heart as well as his body.

  “I love you,” she whispered, stroking his chest.

  His eyes narrowed a fraction and he stroked her leg, bending his head to trail his tongue along the inside of her thigh, moving higher. She gasped as his tongue flicked over her soft folds, probing, a satiny, heated pressure against her that made her close her eyes and arch her hips and clutch his strong shoulders.

  “Please,” she whispered and felt him move between her legs and lower himself, his hot shaft entering her, filling her slowly as his arms banded her.

  “Vanessa,” he whispered and she kissed his throat, her hands playing over him, sliding over his firm buttocks, pulling him up against her as she held him, tightly and wrapped her legs around him, wishing she could wrap herself around his heart. For this moment, he was hers; they were one, their hearts beating together.

  His control vanished and he thrust hard and fast, taking her as she moved wildly beneath him. Spasms rocked her and she felt his body shudder with his hot release. “Vanessa, love…”

  Dimly she heard his words and clung to him, wanting all of him for all time.

  Gradually they quieted, bodies damp with perspiration while he stroked her. “You’re a very brave, strong woman.”

  She turned her head to kiss his hand, pleased by his words but longing for so much more from him. “If I were really so strong, I would get on the stage with Phoebe and go to California,” she whispered. “I can’t be satisfied with only part of you.”

  His dark eyes studied her, and then he moved away, pulling her up into his arms to kiss her again.

  “We should go back,” he said when he released her. “And we must be up and on our way early. They could ride all night after us and we’d lose any lead we have.”

  She nodded, realizing she should rethink her future, her plans to stay, because she would
always feel this yearning for him, wanting his love as well as his body.

  They walked back quietly, and he left her to return to his chores while Vanessa packed the green dress and lay down for the night.

  Stretched out beneath a buffalo robe, Vanessa stared at the hundreds of twinkling stars overhead in the midnight sky. She should take the stage with Phoebe and leave Lone Wolf to his Kiowa way and his memories.

  Her gaze shifted to Lone Wolf as he settled with his back against the trunk of a tree, his rifle across his knees, a robe thrown across his shoulders.

  The logical thing would be to go to California. She turned to study his arrogant profile, knowing she loved him completely. Could she forget him in time?

  Sleeping only a couple hours, she stirred and sat up with the first graying of morning. Lone Wolf was packing the horses and getting ready to ride.

  She combed her hair from her face with her fingers and went to wash. When she returned, she went to Lone Wolf, who was seated on a rock eating fruit and jerked beef. White Bird sat close beside him, devouring a plum, her mouth wet with purple juice.

  “Get some food. I’ll wake the others in a minute.”

  “You didn’t wake me during the night to watch for soldiers. Did you stay up all night?”

  “No, I woke Muaahap.”

  Vanessa stared at him, wondering why, and then she understood. “You didn’t want me to take Phoebe and Belva and slip away in the night!”

  His dark eyes gazed at her with his unreadable stare. “I didn’t want to have to get up this morning and ride across the country to find you.”

  “I had no intention of running away with Phoebe.”

  Only the slightest arch of his eyebrow indicated his doubts. “Why would you stay? You told me you don’t want to be my woman.”

  “And you’re not going to let me get on the stage,” she said, wondering whether he would try to stop her or not.

  “No, I’m not.” He answered calmly as if she were in full agreement. “I went back for your sister, but you’re mine and I’m taking you with me.”

  Vanessa drew a deep breath, knowing that if she wanted to go to California, she could get away from him in Tucumcari, certain that he would let her go if she really wanted to leave. “Don’t get Muaahap up again at night. You can tie my hands to a tree, but she needs her sleep.”

  A faint glint of amusement lighted his eyes as he studied her. “Very well. Now sit and eat. We can’t risk a fire, so this is all you can eat.”

  “Mama, eat?” White Bird asked, smiling at Vanessa, who knelt down in front of her and smiled in return.

  She slanted him a look, aware his knee was only inches away. “If the soldiers do come and are about to take us, we’ll divide. I’ll go with Phoebe, and you take Muaahap and White Bird and ride away.”

  Lone Wolf studied her and knew why she was making the request. “You would let them take you so that we could escape?”

  “Yes,” she said, glancing at White Bird. “She wouldn’t be safe and neither would you or Muaahap.”

  He looked beyond her and felt a surge of anger as he thought about Abbot Sutherland. How badly he would like to meet the man face to face, each free to fight the other. Yet, Sutherland and men like him did not fight their own battles. They hired men to run the risks. He had to be a wealthy man to be a railroader, yet Vanessa gave little indication of coming from wealth.

  “Will you do that?”

  He looked at Vanessa and curbed the impulse to reach for her again as he had in the night. Her lips were full and rosy in invitation as she studied him. “Yes, I’ll do that because of White Bird.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You are brave, Vanessa,” he said again.

  “Thank you,” she said. “That pleases me for you to think so. Now I’ll have breakfast. Shall I call Muaahap and my sisters?”

  “That will end the quiet, but, yes, you should call them. We need to go as soon as possible.”

  Within the hour they had eaten and were mounted. They followed Lone Wolf, White Bird with Muaahap. Phoebe followed with Belva, and Vanessa came last. Several times during the day, her back prickled and she looked behind her, praying they weren’t being followed and trying to reassure herself that Lone Wolf would know if they were.

  As the sun rose in the sky, White Bird became wiggly and Phoebe glanced back at Vanessa more and more often as if looking for an indication that they might stop.

  They crossed a wide, clear stream, and the water reminded Vanessa of her hunger.

  Muaahap looked around at Phoebe and then pulled out her long stick and jabbed Lone Wolf. He jerked around, looking mildly annoyed, and said something to her in Comanche. He turned back to continue riding.

  “Sua yurahpitu,” she snapped and jabbed his back again.

  He looked around and frowned, his eyes narrowing as she jabbered and motioned and waved the stick at him. Vanessa knew he was losing the battle and reined in her mount. Instantly, Phoebe halted and dismounted.

  With a serene smile, Muaahap handed White Bird to Phoebe and then she dismounted and walked away. Frowning, Lone Wolf sat on his horse as Vanessa walked closer and placed her hands on her hips to look up at him. “You might as well get down and rest.”

  “I’ve had men under my command in the army. I’ve had warriors who obey me without question; and my wife obeyed me, as well as my mother and my sister-in-law. But this—” He broke off and waved his hand. “I think you encourage her.”

  “I didn’t do anything!” Vanessa protested, laughing. He swung his leg over the horse’s withers and dropped lightly to the ground.

  “It is worth it to see your laughter, but I pray all of you will obey me if I warn you of danger.”

  “Of course we will, but everyone needed to stop.”

  “Not everyone, Vanessa. I should like to put Muaahap on that stage to California.”

  Vanessa smiled, amused at his annoyance and at Muaahap’s independence. “I don’t think Muaahap would want to go to California.”

  “No, she wouldn’t,” he said, leading Vanessa away from the others. They walked through the woods in the cool, crisp afternoon. The land was brown with winter, an occasional juniper dark green against the land. Hawks circled lazily overhead, and she felt safe beside him.

  “When we get to the stage station, we will have to be careful. I don’t think we should all be seen together. They will have my description from the church in Glen Hollow because of that woman who stood and talked with us. She may remember me and what I look like—”

  Vanessa turned to lean against the trunk of a bare-limbed cottonwood with only a few brown leaves turning in the winter breeze. She smiled at him. “Of course. She’ll remember, exactly what you looked like. She was a female.”

  He gave her a mocking look and placed one hand on the trunk over her head, leaning closer. She stared at him with curiosity.

  “Where did you learn to talk like that, Beauregard Hamilton?”

  He shrugged, his dark gaze intent on her. “When I was stationed in Louisiana and when we were in Texas.” He traced his finger along her jaw. “Vanessa, I’ve given some thought to you.”

  Her heart jumped because he looked solemn as he gazed down at her. He stood close, his arm stretched over her head. His black hair was a tangle, the part she had carefully combed now gone, giving him a shaggy appearance.

  “White Bird calls you mama,” he said, lowering his hand to her shoulder, a light touch that made her tremble with longing. “I want you for my woman and I intend to keep you and take you back to my camp.” He looked at her intently.

  “You can’t hold me if I don’t want to stay,” she said stiffly, wondering if she would ever have the resolve and strength to resist him.

  “I will marry you, and we will give White Bird a mother and father. If this is what you want, then I will take you as my wife.”

  Seventeen

  Stunned, Vanessa gazed up at him as he waited for her answer. Her heart drummed, and she thoug
ht about all he was asking.

  Could she marry and know that he still loved and grieved for his wife, that he was doing this for White Bird’s sake and to have a woman in his bed at night? She wanted him to ask her to marry him because he loved her.

  Vanessa stared into his dark eyes, thinking again of moments in his arms, wanting more than his lovemaking, wanting his heart. Yet if she refused, what would happen? She suspected he would still keep her captive and take her back to his people.

  “You ask me to marry, but your heart and your love is ever with Eyes That Smile.”

  He didn’t reply, but he didn’t need to because she knew his answer. She ducked beneath his arm and walked away, standing with her back to him, wondering what she should do. If she accepted his proposal and stayed, would she forever regret it?

  She could be carrying Lone Wolf’s child right now. “When would we marry?”

  “When we get back to my people. We will have a Kiowa wedding.”

  “We should find a local judge as well because in the eyes of my father, a Kiowa wedding would not be binding.”

  Lone Wolf’s fingers closed on her forearm, spinning her around to face him. “I would consider it binding,” he snapped, and she realized she had angered him.

  “What about Belva?”

  “I will take her as my daughter as well as White Bird. According to Kiowa ways, your sisters can become my wives,” he said with a sudden twinkle in his eyes, “but I will forego that.”

  “You’ll open your heart to Belva?”

  “Yes. You intend to care for her and you love White Bird, so it seems natural that they will be ours.”

  Ours. She turned her head, watching the few brown leaves flutter in the cottonwood.

  “Will Belva want to stay and follow the Indian road?” he asked quietly. “To go from the life she’s always known to our life will be a shock for her.”

  “If she’s loved and wanted, she’ll be content. You’ll see. Phoebe would never adjust. Phoebe doesn’t like the outdoors or animals; she belongs in a city, but Belva loves horses and being outdoors.”