by Marie Harte
***
“Don’t know why you seem so surprised over a simple cookie.”
Thais stared at the woman in shock. “What is this flavor? I have never before tasted its like.”
Dozie smirked. “Well, well. Guess you don’t know everything, do ya?”
Too enthralled to take umbrage with Dozie’s attitude, Thais reached for another cookie on her plate.
“Yeah, I make the best molasses cookies west of the damned Divide, see if I don’t.”
Thais nodded, willing to agree to anything if she could find a way to snag yet one more treat. “Delicious. Even better than the honey cakes we ate at home.”
“So you’re really from the Amazon, eh?”
Though she hadn’t expected Hinto to keep totally silent about her origins, she hadn’t thought he’d go so far as to share her history with everyone on the ranch.
“Don’t go blamin’ the boy. I know things.”
“That’s right. Dan said you did.”
“Never wrong. Sometimes I see the past, sometimes the future.” Dozie put down the bowl she’d been stirring and gave Thais a strange look. “You really love my boy, don’t you?”
Squirming inside at the thought of discussing her awkward feelings with the harsh woman, Thais didn’t answer.
“Don’t have to answer, I can see it. Still, it’s not right.”
“What’s not right?” That she loved a man? That she had the nerve to care for someone not of her tribe, or that she poached in Dozie’s domain?
“The future, it’s cloudy…” Dozie’s brown eyes darkened to black, her pupils all but disappearing as she concentrated on Thais. “Oh hell. Sorry, darlin’.”
Dozie sad alarmed her more than Dozie at her most obnoxious.
“What?”
“I don’t know everything, though it seems like I do. I see spots in time. Some from yesteryear, some from tomorrow, like I told you. That woman you’re lookin’ for, she did some bad things, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“But it wasn’t so much what she did as who she let do it. Aaron Bartel, he said his name is, ‘cept that’s not his name.”
“No?” No wonder she’d had such a hard time finding Aaron Bartel in the Territories. “Do you know his name?”
The darkness in Dozie’s gaze drew her deeper. “Nah, can’t see that. But I see others like you, huntin’ and trackin’. The boy’s a good tracker, you know?”
“I know. What else do you see?”
Dozie blinked and her eyes returned to normal. “I saw enough. Plenty to last a lifetime or two,” she muttered and turned back to her cast iron oven. “This trip you’re takin’ to find McKenzie. You’ll find the woman there.”
“At the ranch?”
“Yeah. This Pilar. She once stole your mother’s spear, but your ma found it and beat the shit outta her, right?”
Thais stared in astonishment. “Yes.”
“And your ma. She had a flower tattooed on her cheek like Pilar, right? But your ma’s was more blue than purple, on account of your Goddess picking her to be lead guardian. Right?”
“Yes,” Thais whispered, wondering how Dozie could know such things. She’d never told Hinto about the color of her mother’s flower, or what it meant.
“Ah, yeah. Thais, here’s the thing you gotta know.” Dozie’s expression grew into one Thais couldn’t read. “On this new journey o’ yours, the one tied to Hinto’s, you’re gonna die.”
Thais froze. Much as she wanted to credit Dozie’s warning to fanciful imaginings or wishful thinking, the woman appeared regretful. And from what she knew of Dozie, “regret” didn’t factor into the woman’s vocabulary. On top of the news came a panicky thought.
“Will Hinto die? Will something bad happen to him if he comes with me?” Her worry for him outweighed any fear for herself.
Dozie looked away, stirring the batter in her bowl with quick, agitated strokes. “No, he’ll be fine, or right as he can be when it happens.”
“I should go alone, then.”
“No, no,” Dozie yelled and made eye contact once more. She appeared genuinely upset. “Uh, no. He goes with you. It’s predestination, or some such as Dan’s always sayin’. You take the boy and the others with you when you go. Mind me, now. Keep Hinto and Wolf close. Don’t ask me stupid questions, just listen. Do what you have to do, and events’ll unfold as they oughtta.”
Dozie didn’t seem too put out about Thais’s impending death, but Thais had more questions needing answered. “But Wolf’s not going.” At Dozie’s glare, she threw up her hands. “Fine. I’ll keep Hinto and Wolf close.” Wolf had pledged to remain home with Mahpee to watch over their father while Hinto saw to this mission of his own making.
“Now eat that last cookie you been itching to lay a finger on. I figure you earned it, comin’ all the way out here to Shine with my boy and all.”
Thais munched, her belly full, her mind oddly at peace. Hinto would survive this confrontation. The possibility of his demise had worried her. “Thanks, Dozie.”
The woman flushed and tripped all over herself to make Thais forget they’d ever had the conversation.
But as the day dragged on, Thais couldn’t help thinking about it. Dozie’s never wrong, Dan had said. The woman knew about Pilar, that Bartel wasn’t who he said he was. That Thais was going to die.
Strangely enough, her regret mostly centered around the time with Hinto she’d never have. She would miss her sisters, of course, but their paths had changed so much in the years they’d been away from a home she no longer considered hers. Yara and Isadora would return, try to build a life for themselves among the ruins of the once great Amazons. With Yara’s help, they might just restore the tribe to the greatness it once was.
Luiza’s heart had filled with hate since the day the Territory men had come. A true hunter, she lived for nothing so great as the kill. Despite Chow Yen’s teachings and her sisters’ pleas for justice, not revenge, Luiza would not be swayed. It tore Isadora apart to see her twin so angry all the time. But Thais understood better than the others. Like Luiza, she had felt a calling to defend the tribe. To have failed left a hole in her heart, one now filled with affection, and even love, for a man.
Hinto Dakota, a male who fought like an Amazon, had a warrior’s pride, honor, and strength. One who did what was right because his integrity demanded he do so. Hinto had no reason to seek out the McKenzies, but he’d do it to protect other innocent lives. And, she told herself, because Butch dared harm me. He’s doing it to protect me.
After spending the day doing much thinking, Thais had come to a heart-shattering conclusion. She was in love with Hinto. The truth, however, didn’t set her free, because she had little time to show him. Tonight would be the start of something special. Something she would remember for the rest of her life—however long or short that might be.
Chapter Eighteen
Later that night, Hinto seemed withdrawn, burdened with his own problems Thais desperately wanted to ease. As they said good-night to everyone and neared the stairs, she took his hand and led him toward the front door.
“Thais?”
“I would like to show you something.”
He sighed. “All right. But then I need some sleep. This has been a really shitty day.”
She didn’t ask questions. The time would come for talk, but not now. They donned their jackets and walked hand in hand away from the house.
“Where are we going?” He frowned.
“Come.” She tugged him forward along the path to where they eventually had a view of the river, where she’d earlier laid out a blanket, an overlarge fur, and some snacks, compliments of Dozie. The gruff woman’s turnabout in attitude toward Thais had confounded the family, but Thais recognized guilt when she saw it. She’d been living with the same emotion for years.
“What’s this?” In the full moonlight overhead, Hinto’s expression glowed with surprise.
“This is for us.”
He blinked at the blanket and back at her. “Huh?”
Ignoring the cold, and the fact that anyone who ventured away from the main house would see them if they followed the familiar path, she dropped her jacket and unwound her hair from its braid.
Hinto’s eyes grew wider as he watched. She saw his breath pool in mist around his mouth, his excitement noticeable. “Is this what I think it is?”
She unbuttoned her vest and shirt and tugged off her boots and pants. Beneath the shirt, she wore no binding to constrict her breasts. They felt heavy under his stare, her nipples stiff not just with cold, but from arousal.
“Fuck me,” he whispered, his gaze fastened to the juncture of her thighs.
“I intend to.”
He whipped his eyes to hers, speechless.
She chuckled. “The great Hinto Dakota, scary bounty hunter, stunned by a mere woman.”
“Nothing mere about you, honey,” he said thickly.
When he made a move to approach, she stopped him. “No, let me.”
Clad only in her shirt, she surprisingly felt little of the cold. Too excited at what she had planned, she thought.
Thais unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside. Then she helped rid him of his boots and jeans, and eventually her shirt, until they stood naked, chest to chest.
“You’re beautiful,” he said in a hoarse voice. He cupped her breast, his callused hand so warm. “So goddamn fine.”
Thais didn’t speak. She pulled on his neck and leaned forward to kiss him. By turns gentle then more demanding, she took charge of this seduction, pleased when he let her.
Groaning into her mouth, Hinto rubbed his very aroused body against hers, burning her from the inside out.
She reached down and took him in her fist, pleasuring him the way he’d taught her. The only man to make her feel so good, and he rarely asked for anything in return.
The beauty of the moment, of them standing under the Goddess’s watchful eye, enrapt in love, brought tears to her eyes.
“I want to make love to you, Hinto,” she whispered as she trailed her mouth down his jaw to his throat. As he often did to her, she nipped him there, making a mark. She sucked hard, pleased by his indrawn breath and the hardness with which he gripped her waist.
“Oh yeah.”
“Let me love you.”
His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, as if to question her choice of words. But Thais continued to kiss him all over, moving down his body. One by one, she took his nipples in her mouth, enthralled with the tight nubs, so similar yet different from her own. Caressing the clear plane of his chest and downward, kissing each cord of muscle in his abdomen, she brought out the hungry male wanting completion.
“Thais, honey, you’re killing me,” he rasped as he ran his fingers through her hair.
She moved lower and settled on her knees. The ground was cold, even through the blanket. But the heavy shaft in front of her radiated heat. Telltale fluid beaded at his slit, and she took the precious seed into her mouth as she sucked the head of his cock with loving attention.
He clenched her hair tight, but not so tight as to hurt. “Yes, fuck, yes,” he hissed as she laved him with her tongue.
The taste of his maleness fascinated her. He tasted clean, a word she never would have previously associated with a male. So strong, so powerful, his shaft throbbed as she paid him attention. With her hands, she stroked his inner thighs and cupped his firm sac, no longer soft, but hardened as he readied to spill.
Thais didn’t want him to come too soon. Not when she’d been waiting for this very moment. She knew how much it meant to Hinto. And though she knew she wouldn’t be able to give him a child to love, that she thought enough of him to allow it would have to be enough. She refused to ruin this memory by telling him of her impending death. He had enough to worry about with his father.
When Thais pulled away, he groaned his disappointment.
“No, I have something better for you,” she said as she stood.
“What could be better than that?” he whispered and kissed her with all the pent up passion inside him.
He left her breathless, her knees quaking. “Lay down on the blanket,” she managed.
Hinto grumbled but did as she ordered. His disappointment made her smile.
She stood over him, allowing him to see what he did to her.
“You’re so wet for me. Only for me,” he growled.
“Only for you.” She lowered herself over his face, not needing to tell him what she wanted. As much as she liked when he kissed her there, she thought Hinto liked it even more.
He licked her and speared her with one finger, then two. She couldn’t help writhing over his mouth, so needy, so in love with him as he gave her every pleasure. He sucked hard on her clit and she almost came.
“No, let go.”
He removed his fingers and gripped her hips to hold her steady as he devoured her.
“Please, Hinto. There’s something…more,” she ended on a gasp and moaned his name.
He eased up on her thighs and let her scoot away. Wiping away the evidence of her passion from his mouth, he gazed at her with such love it took her breath away. “You’re mine.”
Thais kept on her knees and moved back until her moisture coated his erection. She reached between her legs and positioned him at her entrance. Ever so slowly, she lowered herself until he filled her completely.
“And you’re mine.”
They stared into each others’ souls as she rode him, slowly at first, then faster as their desire grew. “I want you to spill inside me. Fill me with the love in your heart,” she whispered and leaned down to kiss him.
She ended the kiss and sat astride him once more, rocking over him with a hunger she could no longer deny.
“Thais, are you sure?” Hinto asked, his face contorting in carnal agony. “I want you so damned much.” He teased her breasts as she bounced, pinching her nipples and shooting pleasure straight to her core.
She nodded, but couldn’t say aloud what she knew to be true, not when it hurt to know they couldn’t have more than a few tomorrows. I love you, Hinto. And I always will.
“I love you, baby. So fucking much it hurts,” he had the courage to say before he slammed up into her again, his hands moving from her breasts to her waist, for better control over her body.
He shifted his hips so his pelvis grazed her clit. Two more pumps and she couldn’t contain her climax any longer.
She shouted his name as she came, rippling around him.
Hinto swore and arched into her, his weight bearing them both from the ground as he cried out and shuddered, pouring himself into her.
He held her so tight he’d leave bruises, but he wouldn’t let go. Even after he spent, he kept her on top of him and pulled her down for a mind-shattering kiss.
“Thais, Thais. My Amazon,” he breathed and ran his hands over her back and through her hair. “We belong together, honey. You know that, don’t you?”
For as long as I can have you. “Yes.” She paused. “Hinto, no matter what happens with Butch and the others, never regret us.”
He narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t some last minute, good time fuck. You wanted me. You love me,” he dared her to refute him.
She couldn’t and let a bit of her own anger to the fore. Now that she finally knew what she wanted, her life with this man, it would all be taken away. Well, not yet! “It’s not a ‘good time fuck,’” she growled. “Don’t you dare think it so. We are joined.” She rotated over him, surprised to feel him still stiff inside her.
“Yeah, that’s me. My seed in your womb, honey. God, the thought of that makes me so hard. Even though I shouldn’t have the energy left to come again, I’m gonna. All over your insides. My woman.” He shifted her over him so she could feel him slide out, then back inside of her. She bit her lip in surrender, addicted to the feel of him. “Say it, Thais.”
“No, you say it,” she moaned and gritted her teeth. “My man. You bel
ong to me—a warrior’s treasure.”
He groaned and pulled her tight, then rolled them over onto her back and leaned up on his elbows so he could see her face while he took her. “I’m a treasure? I like the sound of that.” He withdrew until only his tip rested inside her. “And you’re my warrior. Forever.” Hinto slammed back inside and made them both groan. “Now watch, and learn, honey, how this treasure appreciates his ‘master.’”
Hinto didn’t know what had entered his Amazon’s mind, but he didn’t care. He’d been dreaming about coming inside her since he’d first really seen her, and the thought of their child sparked him into an all-consuming heat. Their future was fraught with danger. No naive boy playing at war, Hinto knew to expect the worst. He’d die to protect her from Butch, and hell, even from herself if need be. But he’d show her how much he loved her first.
Lowering his face to hers, he drank in the sight of her flush with sexual ecstasy. “Your beauty makes me forget myself,” he admitted. “That light you have inside, that spark of determination and anger and stubbornness makes your eyes shine like emeralds. But that sexual satisfaction I see now takes my breath away.” He kissed her softly, then pushed past her lips with his tongue.
He ate at her mouth, trying to consume her essence in breaths and in the slow glide of her tongue against his. She moaned, and his cock throbbed from the whisper of sound. Her pleasure meant more than his. Just as eating her pussy drove him crazy, feeling her wet and slick for him.
Kissing past her mouth, he licked her neck and teased with carnal intent. “I love watching your tits while you ride me. So full and firm, I want to bite those pretty nipples when I fuck you, to mark you as mine. Are you mine?” he asked and pinched one of her nipples hard enough to make her gasp.
But his Thais liked his firmness. “Oh yes,” she hissed, rubbing up against him. Her pussy gloved him and clenched down when he pinched her other nipple.
“You like the thought of my possession, don’t you, honey?” He slowly withdrew from her heat, then thrust inside again, overcome with the feel of his seed bathing her hot channel.