The two Frenchmen kept up a lively chatter after several hours, sometimes arguing as to when it would be safe to stop. They rode their horses up several shallow streams, presumably to try and cover their tracks, and make it harder for Daniel to find where they had gone. After a while, Françoise removed her mouth gag.
“No need for this anymore, cherie,” he whispered in her ear. She shuddered involuntarily, and her skin crawled in disgust. “If you try to scream here, no one will hear you. Soon you will be screaming with passion.”
“Over my dead body,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“Oh, what a shame that would be, for it is a beautiful body to behold,” Françoise cooed. His hand around her waist moved up and fondled one of her breasts. “Non, I am sure we will be enjoying you for a long time, wild one. Where did Daniel find such an exquisite creature?”
Aimee didn’t reply. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her mind to become numb, and tune out all feeling as the man continued to grope at her.
“When is it my turn?” Pierre asked. “She can ride with me as well. I want to have a feel, too.”
“You will get your turn soon enough,” Françoise said gruffly. “For now she stays with me. This was my idea, so I get her first.”
Pierre made a disgusting noise, but didn’t argue the point. Aimee surmised that Françoise was the leader here.
At some point, she reasoned, they would have to stop, and perhaps she could try and make a run for it. If she could escape into the dense forest where the horses couldn’t follow, she might have a chance.
“Where are you taking me?” Aimee asked. She noted that they had veered in a more northerly direction.
“Ah, cherie, we are headed for the Roche Jaune, not that it should matter to you where we go,” Françoise answered.
So she had been correct, she thought. They may not be going to the Grand Canyon, but they were headed for the Roche Jaune, the French name for Yellowstone River, nonetheless. She had covered many hiking trails in that area, and she hoped to see some familiar landmarks that might help her in her escape.
Aimee was not used to sitting astride a horse, and her inner thigh muscles screamed in pain. Several times she wanted to ask if they could stop for a while, but then thought better of it. At least while they were on the move, she was safe from what they intended to do to her when they did stop. She knew it was only a matter of time. The horses couldn’t keep moving forever, and it was well into late afternoon. At this point, she didn’t think Daniel would find her in time. They had covered a lot of ground fairly fast, and Daniel was on foot.
Please, let me be strong to endure this.
She had dealt with her share of rape victims in the ER, and it was always a horrific experience. What would this do to her? She needed to stop thinking about that, she realized, and concentrate on a way out of this situation.
Thoughts of Daniel flooded her mind. I love you, Daniel. An overwhelming feeling of regret came over her. Why hadn’t she told him how she felt about him, and seen where that might have taken them. She recalled his looks of desire the day in the river, the gentle way he held her the night of the storm under the canopy of pine trees. Would he look at her with desire in his eyes after these men were through with her? She doubted it. Would she even ever want to be with a man again after such an experience?
The horse underneath her stopped, jolting her out of her thoughts. The Frenchmen had stopped in a clearing surrounded on all sides by forest. A small creek gurgled as it meandered snakelike through the tall grass. Perfect! She had plenty of opportunities to make a run for it here.
Francoise and Pierre both dismounted their horses, and Francoise dragged her out of the saddle. Her feet touched the ground, and she couldn’t hold back a cry of pain. Hot needles shot through her leg muscles, and she buckled to her knees.
“Cherie, you need to get up and walk. The cramps will go away.” Francoise hoisted her back up. Aimee suppressed another cry as he hauled her off to the creek.
“Drink.”
She fell to her knees and put her mouth to the water. At first, she wanted to tell the Frenchman to go to hell, but then she remembered Daniel telling her to never refuse an offer of food or water.
How was she going make a run for it if she could barely walk? Struggling back on her feet, she suppressed another cry of pain. With her hands tied, she couldn’t even rub her sore muscles.
“We will make camp here,” Francoise announced. Pierre was already busy unsaddling the horses, which vigorously plucked at the tall grasses.
“We will rest for a while,” he spoke to his companion in French. “The woman needs some time to relax her legs. She is obviously not used to riding. Even I am not that barbaric to take her when she is in such discomfort. She will not be able to spread her legs for us.”
Pierre made a noise of objection. “What does it matter if her legs are cramped. I have an ache, too, between my legs, and it needs to be satisfied soon.”
“It will be, my friend. But give her a little time to rest.”
Aimee stood by silently, taking in all they said. She didn’t understand everything word for word, but she got the general idea that they would wait a little while before having their way with her.
“Do you think we are being followed?” Pierre asked, gathering wood for a fire.
“We rode hard and fast. Even if he followed us, he is on foot, and I believe we covered our tracks well. He will not be able to track us in the dark. We will be long gone from here in the morning if he finds this place,” Francoise said. He turned to Aimee. “Cherie, we will have some supper first, and then the entertainment, no?”
“Go to hell,” Aimee spat.
“Oh, but quite the contrary,” Françoise smiled. “It will be pure heaven, I am sure.”
Once the men had a fire started, Pierre went off to find some meat. Aimee heard several shots. These men were very confident, she thought, when she heard the noise. Maybe they were too confident, which could work to her advantage. The sound of gunshot could travel quite far, and maybe if she got lucky, someone would hear.
An hour later, as the sun started to set, a couple of birds roasted over the fire. Aimee sat leaning against a tree, away from the two men. They hadn’t untied her. The soreness in her legs was more of a dull ache now as she sat there. The muscles were locked and tight, and moving her legs at all was pure agony. Her head pounded. She wanted to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, but fear kept her awake. Francoise sat closest to her, his rifle next to him, and Pierre leered at her every now and then from across the fire.
Aimee scanned the ground nearby for something, anything she could possibly use as a weapon. One thing was for sure. She was not going to let them have their way with her without a fight. Come what may, she was going to try and hurt them as much as they were going to hurt her.
Her eyes darted to where Pierre roasted the meat over the fire. He looked up at her and said, “very soon, ma petite.”
Aimee turned her head in disgust. Her mind raced as her eyes continued to scan the ground for something that might help her defend herself. There just had to be a way out of this situation. She refused to believe that this would be her fate.
*****
“Pierre! Françoise! Release the woman before I kill you both!” A loud voice broke through the sounds of crickets, and echoed through the forest. Startled, Françoise and Pierre both grabbed their rifles and darted around, trying to figure out which direction the voice had come from.
Aimee’s head shot up and her heart began to pound in elation. Daniel! He had found her! She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the shooting pain in her inner thighs, and scanned the trees in all directions, but couldn’t see anything.
“Show yourself, Daniel,” Françoise called out. “We were trying to do you a favor by taking the woman off your hands. If you wish to reclaim her, come join our camp.”
“I’ll not say it again. Release the woman.” Daniel materialized out of the forest, stri
ding calmly into view. He looked more Indian than before. Aimee had never seen him with the bow he held almost carelessly in his hand. Pierre raised his rifle and took aim.
“No!” Aimee screamed.
With imperceptible speed, Daniel raised his bow and an arrow lodged itself in Pierre’s heart before he fired off his shot. The force of the impact sent him backwards a few paces before he collapsed face down into the fire.
“Merde!” Françoise darted for Aimee. He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her in front of him to shield himself from Daniel’s arrows. He pulled his knife and held it to her throat.
“I will kill her, Daniel,” he called. “Don’t come any closer.”
“Let her go, and I might let you live.” Daniel’s voice was eerily calm. For a few seconds, no one moved. Aimee leaned her body forcibly backwards against Françoise, causing him to shift his balance from the unexpected move. At the same time she raised her foot and brought her heel down hard on one of his feet. The Frenchman loosened his hold around her waist. Aimee wheeled around and brought her knee up hard into his groin. Françoise cursed again. Enraged with pain, he backhanded her, knocking her to the ground.
*****
Daniel wasted no time and sprinted across the camp. With a vicious roar, he lunged himself at Françoise, just as Aimee hit the ground. The two men collided. The impact sent both to the ground. They rolled in the dirt, Françoise frantically trying gain the upper hand. Daniel threw his full weight against the Frenchman. He straddled the man’s hips. Francoise stabbed wildly in the air with his knife.
“No man touches her and lives,” Daniel snarled. Françoise’s eyes widened in terror. His knife made contact with Daniel’s upper arm. Daniel grabbed hold of the man’s wrist and squeezed. The Frenchman’s sweat-soaked face turned red from strain. His arm trembled. Turning Francoise’s wrist so the knife was now pointing down at his own body, Daniel pushed the man’s arm downward, and the knife plunged deep into Francoise’s chest. The Frenchman looked up in surprise for a split second before his face froze. His body went limp.
Daniel pushed himself off the ground, and caught his breath for a moment, hands on his knees. He swiped his arm across his forehead , then looked around to where Aimee had been lying on the ground. She had pulled herself to a sitting position and watched with wide, fearful eyes. He approached her slowly. Had he been too late? His beautiful, brave little wildcat had once again amazed him with her quick thinking and actions.
“Aimee . . . ” he said softly. He dropped to his knees in front of her. She wordlessly held out her hands to show him she was still tied. Cursing, he pulled his knife from its sheath, and with one quick move, sliced through the leather ropes binding her hands. Like a coiled spring that had been released, she threw herself at Daniel and wound her arms tightly around his neck. The impact almost knocked him off balance. With an anguished sigh, he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him.
Daniel held her. Her body shook in his embrace and she sobbed into his chest. Silently, he let her cry. He gently stroked her back, and combed his fingers through her loose hair, his mind reeling from one emotion to the next. Anger, fear, joy, love.
He wanted to kill those two bastards over and over again for what they had done to her. He reveled in the joy of holding her close to him, knowing she trusted him. He feared what might have already happened before he found her. Consumed by a burning love for this woman as he held her in his arms, he suddenly realized he couldn’t let her go. The thought of losing her today kept him going, and gave him near super human strength and endurance . And he knew he would do it all over again if he had to.
Chapter 16
After what seemed like hours, Daniel felt her stir. She sniffed and wiped her nose and face on her sleeve, and raised her head from his shoulder. He cradled her dirty, tear-streaked face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her cheeks. His eyes devoured her.
“You came for me.” He barely heard her raspy whisper.
“I would follow you to the ends of the world if I had to.” His voice was raw with emotion.
Aimee smiled weakly and touched a trembling hand to his cheek.
Daniel cleared his throat, and slowly rose to his feet. “I’m afraid my legs are numb from kneeling so long,” he said with a tentative smile. He held out his hand to help her up. She placed her small hand in his, her eyes on his face. He pulled her up, and she cried out. Her knees gave out, and she sank back to the ground. Startled, he reacted quickly. With one arm under her knees and the other at her waist, he scooped her up and held her close.
“What is it?” He searched her face. What had those animals done to her?
“My legs are so sore, I can barely stand,” she answered with a weak smile.
“Did those bastards….?” he ground out, unable to finish his question. Aimee shook her head.
“No, they didn’t . . . not in that way,” she alleviated his fear. He relaxed his tense muscles. “I haven’t ridden on a horse in years, and muscles that I didn’t know existed are protesting.” Aimee gave him a reassuring smile.
He set her feet down on the ground gently, but held her at the waist. She sucked in a deep breath, and her hands reached out to hold on to his shoulders for support. His gaze locked intently with hers. “No man will ever touch you again.” Then, in a softer tone, he added, “No man but me.”
His hand reached up to gently cup the side of her face. His thumb stroked her satiny cheek, tracing where a bruise was beginning to appear from being struck twice today by the Frenchmen.
“Daniel . . . ” She whispered his name. Slowly, he lowered his face to hers. He hesitated for a moment, searching her face, waiting for her to tell him to stop, waiting to feel her stiffen up. When she did neither, his lips brushed hers gently, and Aimee let out a soft moan. Her arms crept up around his neck, and she leaned into him. Encouraged, he deepened the kiss, wrapping one arm around her waist to draw her closer to him, while his fingers caressed her cheek, her eyelids, her forehead, and finally entwined in her hair, cradling the back of her head. He groaned as Aimee returned his kiss with equal passion. The hunger for her that had been building in him for weeks threatened to overtake him again, but he remained in control of his emotions this time.
He savored her mouth, nipping, tasting, cherishing. When he thought he could bear no more, he pulled back. He was not going to take advantage of her now. And he knew he would be taking advantage. The way she clung to him and kissed him back was wrecking havoc with his restraint. He trailed a few more light kisses along the side of her mouth, her cheek, and down her neck before pulling his face several inches from hers.
How often had he dreamed of holding her, kissing her, making love to her? He cursed himself for the timing. He released his hold at her waist, and took a step back. With a heavy sigh, he said, “We should get away from this place. I know where we can make camp and you can rest for the night.”
Aimee grabbed his upper arm. “Daniel . . .” her eyes were large and round, the deep blue pools shimmering with need. “Daniel . . . I . . . I want to be with you.”
His body felt a surge of adrenaline as he heard her words. Was this really happening? He stepped close to her once more, and cradled her face in his hands, tilting her head upwards to search for answers in her eyes.
“You’ve been through hell today, Aimee. I have dreamed of hearing you say those words, but . . . not here . . . .not now. Not like this.” This was not how he wanted to make her his, with her mind and body battered and bruised. He wrapped her in his arms and whispered in her ear, “I have done everything to try and get you out of my mind. I thought sending you away would be the solution, but I realized today that . . . by God, I can’t let you go.” His voice was husky with want.
*****
The strong front that Aimee had mustered all day crumbled completely. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and her entire body screamed out in pain. She had cried into Daniel’s shoulder like she hadn’t cried since the death of her
parents, holding on to, and drawing strength from the one person who represented safety and security. This man, who had become her whole life over the course of the last six weeks, had once again, selflessly, come to her rescue.
She knew that what she asked was going to cause her more pain than she could imagine later on, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving this place and time without giving in to her desires for this man. Today’s ordeal made her realize that. It didn’t matter anymore what happened in a couple of months. She needed him now, in this time, and she would be able to carry that memory back to her time. It would have to be enough.
She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his chest, inhaling deeply of his woodsy scent that she’d come to associate completely with him. Being held by this man was pure heaven. She had never felt so safe and protected before. She never wanted him to let go. With a deep shuddering sigh, she realized his words were a stark reminder that she only had a few short weeks left here, and then both needed to live their lives in their own time again. She raised her head to stare up into his smoldering dark eyes, and saw desire and something else reflected back at her.
Aimee wrapped her hand around his neck, and pulled his face back down to hers. She kissed him desperately. Daniel groaned as he responded, and she molded herself to his rock solid form.
“We need to leave this place,” Daniel panted, spanning her waist with his hands and held her away from him. “I’ll get the horses ready.”
“I can’t ride anymore today,” she protested.
“You don’t have to. We can walk, and I will lead the horses, but you’ll be glad to be able to ride tomorrow. It’s a long way back to the cabin.”
She let out a weary sigh, but she also knew that Daniel was right. They needed to get away from here and find a different campsite. Hesitantly she looked at the two bodies lying about. Pierre’s body had put the fire out when he fell on top of it, and Aimee shuddered to think what he looked like. The heat would surely have burned him. Francoise still had the knife in his chest. Aimee looked at them with a mixture of pity and disgust.
Yellowstone Heart Song Page 17