by Pamela Clare
Sage. Cedar. Sweet grass. Smoke. Heat.
Then the door went down, the darkness total.
Jason willed himself to relax into the rhythm of the inipi.
The hiss of steam on hot stones. Scalding heat. The cry of an eagle-bone whistle. The beating of Old Man’s drum. Voices raised in song.
Jason didn’t know the songs, so he turned his thoughts inward, thanking Creator for saving Winona’s life and Naomi’s, asking God to heal Winona’s leg and Naomi’s body, praying for the Source of Life to protect the two women and baby Shota. But beneath it all flowed a single persistent plea, straight from his heart.
Help me, Father. My path leads me away from Winona, but I love her. Help me to find the answer.
Winona was in the middle of another walk on her crutches when Kat stepped out of the elevator. She smiled when she saw Winona and hurried over to her.
“You’re up and walking already. You’re doing so well.”
The nurse agreed. “Isn’t she?”
“I don’t feel like I’m doing well.”
Kat walked beside her. “It’s hard, but I know you’ll get there.”
Winona reminded herself that Kat had been through this. She had watched Gabe recover from the amputation of his leg below the knee, an injury he’d sustained saving Kat’s life. Gabe had cut a climbing rope, surrendering himself to death rather than pulling Kat over the edge with him. He’d fallen more than three hundred feet, landing in deep snow, which had saved his life. But he’d hit his leg on the cliff wall on the way down, damaging it beyond repair.
“One step at a time,” the nurse said.
When Winona was back in her bed and had taken her next dose of pain pills, Kat drew up the chair and sat beside her. Kat already knew what had happened, so Winona didn’t need to repeat the story. For a time, they kept the conversation light, talking about Kat’s kids, her job at the newspaper, and the Cimarron, which Kat had visited many times because one of her coworkers was Nate’s sister-in-law.
It was Winona who changed the direction of their conversation. “The doctor says he’s pretty sure I’m going to keep my leg.”
“I’m so glad. Gabe and I have been praying for you. But if the worst happens, you know we’ll be there for you. Gabe knows what it’s like. That’s why he’s at the inipi.”
“That means so much to me. Thanks.” Then Winona remembered. “He’s not engaged.”
“Who’s not engaged?”
“Jason. He’s not engaged. His fiancée was arrested for drug smuggling six months ago and is in prison. He broke up with her the day she was arrested. I don’t think it’s easy for him to discuss. He felt betrayed.”
“Of course, he did. Poor Jason.” Kat let out a breath. “I never did like Elena. I’m sorry he went through that, but I’m also relieved. I’d heard that the two of you had grown close. I was worried.”
Winona told Kat how she and Jason had ended up at the Cimarron, with Jason cutting sign, helping Jack and Nate resolve the mystery of the wolf. “It was inspiring to watch him work. I was so impressed. I felt so guilty being attracted to him. But when I found out he was single, I suddenly felt nervous around him.”
Kat laughed. “I would have loved to see your face when you learned the truth. I’m married, and I love Gabe. I love him and find him incredibly sexy. But I still have eyes. Jason is hot.”
“You’re right about that.” Winona told Kat how Jason had comforted her after a nightmare, how he’d loved watching her feed the eagle, how he’d made her feel safe when she thought she might die on that mountainside.
And then her emotions overflowed, tears filling her eyes. “I love him, Kat. My heart tells me he’s my half-side, but he’s leaving.”
“Oh, Win.”
“He made a death-bed promise to his grandmother not to leave his O’odham people. If I want to be with him, I would have to close my clinic, move to Sells, and live far away from my family. I can’t imagine watching little Shota grow up through photographs and text messages or not living next door to my brother and Naomi or being far away when Grandpa…”
She couldn’t finish that last thought.
“Does Jason feel the same about you?”
“I’m not sure. I know he cares about me. He said so, and he’s proven that. But he’s also made it clear that he won’t leave Arizona.”
“I’m sorry. That’s hard.”
“How did you and Gabe work it out?”
“You really can’t compare our situation to yours. I was working at the paper in Denver when we met. No one had to give up anything or move for us to be together. We visit Kaibito for a couple of months every year to see my grandma and teach our kids about their Diné heritage. I gave birth to my two older children there. But when Grandma Alice passes, I’m not sure we’ll be able to maintain that connection.”
Winona and Jason’s circumstances were completely different. She lived here. He lived in Sells. Neither of them had a career that enabled them to take long vacations to visit the other. She’d only met him because he’d been placed on administrative leave.
Kat took her hand. “Life has a way of working these things out. That probably sounds hopelessly optimistic, but I believe it’s true.”
Winona wasn’t so sure.
“When Gabe cut that rope, I watched him fall. I knew he was gone. My heart truly seemed to break. I lay there shouting for him for maybe an hour. I don’t know for sure. I was injured and hypothermic. My memory is foggy.”
“I can’t imagine how horrible that was.”
“When I was in the helicopter on my way to the hospital, the rescuers got word that Gabe was seriously injured but alive. He’d fallen more than three hundred feet, and he was still alive. It felt like a miracle. After that, no obstacle we’ve faced has seemed insurmountable.”
Winona could understand that. “What he did was incredibly brave and unselfish.”
“He loved me. He was willing to die to save me.”
Winona remembered Jason taking her hand and warning her when they first encountered Graham. He’d shielded her body with his when they’d hurried inside the cabin from the hot tub at the Cimarron. He’d fought to save her life and had done all he could to comfort her after she stepped into the bear trap.
Maybe he did love her.
“You need to focus on getting better. Try not to waste your strength worrying about what comes next.” Kat smiled. “If Jason truly is your half-side, then nothing will keep you apart for long.”
Jason drove through heavy traffic on I-25 toward the hospital, Grandpa Belcourt’s words still running through his mind.
A promise is a sacred thing. So is the love of one’s half-side.
It could be that it’s time for you to break free of your anger toward your sisters so you can consider your path in a new light. Be certain you’re not making decisions out of resentment toward them.
Still, Jason was no closer to having an answer.
He’d spent these past five days driving back and forth between the hospital and the clinic, working with the installers to get Winona’s security system in place, checking in with Dr. Keene and Lexi about the animals at the clinic, and doing his best to keep Winona’s spirits up. But today, after six days in the hospital, Win was coming home.
He parked at the hospital and made his way upstairs to her room, where he found her ready to go. “Someone is eager to get out of here.”
“That someone is me.” She sat in the chair, dressed in a white T-shirt and a purple broomstick skirt he’d brought from home, her leg elevated, her belongings in a plastic hospital bag on the bed. “I’m just waiting for my discharge papers.”
He walked over to her, kissed her, then pulled up another chair to wait with her. “Lexi says hello. That woman could command an army. She gets things done. She had Megs cleaning up fox poop this morning.”
Until Winona’s incisions had healed, she was still vulnerable to infection, so Lexi had made a schedule covering the next six weeks. S
he had even called the university and asked for an intern or vet to give Dr. Keene a break.
“Megs?” Winona laughed. “I wish I had seen that.”
“I knew you’d say that.” Jason pulled out his cell phone, opened his photo library, and turned the phone so that Winona could see.
She smiled at the image of a glowering Megs with the poop scooper. “Wow. I’m touched. Everyone has been so helpful and kind.”
“The people of Scarlet love you. I’ve seen that for myself.” Jason couldn’t wait for her to see the welcome the town had set up for her.
Even more incredible was the financial support the town had shown. Joe’s donation jar at Knockers had brought in enough to pay for Winona’s rescue flight and her hospital bills. She didn’t know it yet, but she wasn’t going to owe a dime. That wasn’t Jason’s news to share, so it would have to wait until later.
He brought her up to date on the security system. “You’ll be able to see on your phone who’s at the doors. If anyone breaks in through a window or a door, it will notify both you and the Scarlet PD. You can leave the clinic’s front door unlocked during business hours or, if you’re alone, set it up so that you have to buzz people in.”
“And how much is this costing the clinic?”
“Nada. I couldn’t even get the man to show me the invoice.”
“Why are the Wests doing this? They already gave the clinic a huge donation.”
“They’re good people.” That’s what everyone had told him, and it had turned out to be true. “I think they feel partly responsible for your being injured.”
“That’s nuts.”
The nurse walked in with papers and a smile. “Let’s get you out of here.”
She went over the discharge instructions with both of them. No baths, but showers were okay provided she kept the incisions dry. Leave the dressing on the incisions for another week. No weight on her injured leg until she was given the okay. A prescription for pain meds. Call her doctor immediately if she got a fever higher than 101 or if her leg became more painful or swollen or there was redness.
“I’ve got it all printed out for you. You can pick up your prescription at the pharmacy downstairs. And here’s your ride now.”
An aide pushed a wheelchair up to the door. “It’s not a limo, but it will do.”
Jason helped Winona into the wheelchair and set her belongings and the discharge papers on her lap. “I’ve got your crutches.”
Fifteen minutes later, Jason was helping Win into the passenger seat of his truck. “Watch your leg.”
He stowed her crutches behind the seat, covertly sending a text message to Chaska telling him they were on their way. Then he climbed into the driver’s seat. “Next stop, Scarlet Springs.”
“Oh, thank goodness!”
They talked for the entire hour-long drive, Jason more at home in her presence than he’d felt with a woman before.
A promise is a sacred thing. So is the love of one’s half-side.
Soon they left the city behind, drove through Boulder and up into the canyon, passing the spot where Hank drove off the highway and getting closer to town.
Jason tried not to give anything away, but he couldn’t get the smile off his face.
Then, there it was—the town limit sign for Scarlet.
He slowed, gave her every chance to spot it on her own.
“It looks like most of the snow has melt… What?! Oh! Do you see that?”
Scarlet Springs Town Limit, Pop. 1,469, Elevation 8,936
Home of Wolf Whisperer Winona Belcourt
“I do.” He chuckled, slowing even more.
It was only a temporary change written on paper and taped to the sign, but it was the thought that counted. And the thought was sincere.
They left the canyon behind and headed into town, Winona’s head turning this way and that, taking in all the balloons and cardboard and paper signs stuck in the windows of homes and businesses and at the ends of driveways.
We love you, Winona!
Winona is our hero!
Heal well, Winona!
“I don’t understand. All I did was step in a stupid trap and hurt myself.”
“You were almost killed while trying to save an innocent animal.”
She looked over at him, tears spilling down her cheeks. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Of course, but I couldn’t spoil the surprise.” He drove through the roundabout, waving to Bear as they passed.
“Jason Chiago. Winona Belcourt! My friend Winona is home!”
Then Jason turned the corner and parked in front of Winona’s house, where her family and a few Team members stood, waiting for her—Chaska, Naomi with the baby, Old Man, Megs, Ahearn, and Sasha.
Jason got out, opened her door, and carefully lifted her into his arms. “Welcome home, angel.”
Chapter 23
On the brink, Winona’s fingers clenched in Jason’s hair, his head between her thighs, his lips and tongue driving her crazy, his fingers thrusting deep inside her. “Jason!”
It felt so good, so unbelievably good.
She hovered on the edge of an orgasm, savoring every second of it, the intensity of the pleasure overwhelming. “Yes. Oh, God!”
Then she shattered, climax washing through her in a shimmering rush, making her cry out. He was relentless, staying with her until the tremors had passed, his clever mouth and fingers coaxing every bit of pleasure from her that they could. Then he kissed his way up her body, tasting her nipples, her throat, her lips, bringing her back.
She opened her eyes, drew his mouth to hers, kissed him. “Help me turn over.”
They’d practiced over the past two days and had gotten pretty good at managing sex despite her injured leg. It was all a matter of positioning and persistence, and Jason was very creative.
She lifted her injured leg off the stack of pillows, Jason supporting her ankle as she rolled onto her right side. He moved the pillow stack and helped her gently lower her leg once more. When she was comfortable again, he slid into bed behind her, his palms cupping and caressing her bare buttocks.
“I love your ass.” He slipped his fingers between her thighs, stroked her clit, reviving the lust he’d just slaked. “You are so wet.”
Then he rolled a condom onto his erection and nudged himself inside her, the thick, hard feel of him making her moan.
He thrust slowly, his lips and teeth on her bare shoulder, one hand reaching around to fondle her breasts, his fingers teasing and plucking her puckered nipples, sending jolts of pleasure to her womb.
In this position, she could do nothing but surrender. The helplessness of it turned her on, but only because she trusted Jason entirely. She’d never been able to give herself so completely to a man before, and, oh, the reward was sweet.
In… Out...
Each achingly slow thrust sent a surge of pleasure through her belly, heightening her arousal, driving her need for him. And she did need him. She needed him to put out the fire he’d started, to satisfy the growing ache inside her.
In… Out...
She reached back, rested one hand on his hip, her other hand curled into a fist against her pillow. His powerful body moved against hers, his hands still busy with her breasts. She whimpered in frustration, wondering why he hadn’t touched her clit. He knew she couldn’t come like this. Oh, but it felt so good.
In… Out...
Slowly, slowly the tension inside her grew, thrust upon thrust, pleasure drawing tighter in her belly, her need for release becoming desperate, his cock stretching her, filling her, stroking that sensitive place inside her.
Climax snuck up on her like the slow rising of a tide, the intensity of it growing as it moved through her, making her cry out, the torrent lifting her higher and higher, until she thought she might drown in bliss.
Then his control snapped, and he pounded into her from behind, the hand that had teased her nipples now caressing her clit. She found herself rushing headlong to an amazing th
ird climax. This time, he came with her, groaning against her nape, finishing with three hard thrusts, his body shaking.
For a time, they lay there breathless, Winona’s mind blissfully empty, Jason’s heart thrumming against her back, one big hand caressing her thigh.
Gradually, the world around them returned.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.” He sat up. “I’ll make breakfast.”
Winona made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb the tangles from her hair. She slipped into her bathrobe and went to the kitchen, where Jason was busy at the stove.
“I could get used to this—you making me breakfast every morning in your underwear.”
He did have the finest ass in the entire world.
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind that.”
Over cheese omelets, breakfast potatoes, and coffee, they talked about the day.
“We should have dinner at Knockers tonight.”
“What’s with you and Knockers?” She would rather stay home with him.
They’d spent the past two days holed up in her house, Winona doing her best to savor the time she had left with him. Already, a week had gone by, the days slipping like sand through her fingers. It was Sunday, and he would be leaving early on Thursday to make it back in time for the hearing on Friday.
Four days. Four days was all Winona had left with him. After that…
“Hey, I like the beer—and I thought I’d give the climbing wall a try.”
“Really?” The thought of him rock climbing—well, it didn’t turn her off. “Okay then. You’re on.”
They talked about other things he might want to do before he left town. Visit Rocky Mountain National Park. Get a tour of Team HQ, affectionately referred to as The Cave. Visit Naomi’s shop, Tanagila’s, to see the jewelry she made.
Winona held her coffee mug. “Are you afraid?”
“About the hearing?” He leaned back in his chair, picked up his mug, sipped. “Nah. I broke the rules. I killed a man on the wrong side of the border, and I endangered myself. If they terminate me, I will have earned it.”