Yellowstone Origins: Yellowstone Romance Series, Book 6

by Peggy L Henderson

  Cam pushed the straps down her shoulders while watching her reaction. She arched her spine when his hands snaked behind her back and fumbled with the hooks. Vague memories filled his mind of huddling with his friends, watching things on computers or leafing through magazines; things they ought not to have been looking at. He smiled sheepishly. When the clasp gave way, Cam tossed the article to the side.

  “What’s that smug look for? You look like a young adolescent boy who got past the parental control on his mother’s computer.”

  Riley squirmed beneath him, her wet hair spilling around her face. His smug look increased. She was way too perceptive for her own good.

  “The real thing is much better,” he answered, leaning over her.

  She met his kiss with a soft purr and pulled him closer. Cam covered her with his body to shield her from the chill in the air. Somehow he managed to pull the second sheep hide over them without losing his mind when Riley removed the belt that held his breechcloth.

  His hands slid along the curves of her waist, hips, and thighs, pulling the last article of clothing Riley wore down her legs. His fingers returned to her face, stroking and caressing, then cupped the back of her neck. He braced on his elbows and brought his mouth back to hers.

  Riley’s lips parted under his tender assault. Her arms wound more firmly around his neck, pulling him fully on top of her.

  "I can't stop at just a kiss," he murmured against her lips, then moved to tease her neck, and nuzzled her ear.

  Riley sucked in a quick breath, and her fingers traced along the indentations of the scars that ran down his back.

  “Neither can I,” she breathed.

  Cam explored her slowly, his hand sliding along the curve of her hip, lingering at her waist when a slight shudder passed through her. He moved further along her outer thigh, and back up until she writhed beneath him.

  His mouth tasted her lips, her neck, lingering at her breasts, and lower along her abdomen, then back to her mouth. To keep from crushing her, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to a sitting position. Riley squealed, and gripped his shoulders. Her eyes were dark, glazed over with passion for him, and her wet hair framed her face, water droplets running down her chest.

  “This is one time I don’t mind you making noise.” He grinned.

  Cam raised his hand to brush her hair behind her ears. He’d never tire of looking at her, seeing her like this. Her swollen lips glistened in the sunlight, forming a soft smile that was for him alone. His hand cupped her cheek, and a fierce surge of protectiveness washed over him.

  “I love you, Riley,” he rasped. The words flowed easily from his mouth.

  He brought her head toward him for another kiss, his hand sliding along her neck, down her back, and up her arms. He cupped her breast, his thumb stroking across her nipple. Riley leaned into his touch and moaned softly. She shifted slightly, and Cam lowered her onto her back again, bracing on his elbows.

  “I know now what my destiny is,” she whispered.

  Her smile, and the trust and love in her eyes, drove him over the edge. She wrapped her arms around his back, tugging him closer. As he eased himself inside her, Riley raised her hips, and his strokes deepened. She rocked in time with him, driving him past the point of any endurance he may have had.

  “Most of my life, I’ve cursed the Sky People for bringing me here,” he murmured against her ear, trying to prolong their joining. “Now I thank them for the gift they’ve sent me.”

  His mouth came down on hers, taking what Riley offered. In this woman’s arms, his future was set.

  Riley raked her fingers through his hair, and gripped tight to his shoulders, arching her back to meet his thrusts. Her release came seconds before his own, and Cam collapsed on top of her. He rolled to the side, pulling her with him, her skin as slick and covered in sweat as his. He pulled the sheep hide over her that had fallen to the side, and held her head against his pounding heart.

  She sighed, and stroked her palms along his shoulder. Cam slowed his breathing, his body alive and aware of every inch of Riley next to him. He kissed the top of her head, raking his fingers through her hair.

  She raised her head slightly, resting her chin on his chest, and stared at him. The satisfied look in her eyes brought a grin to his face.

  “What should I call myself now?” she asked.

  Cam’s brows furrowed.

  “What do you want to be called?” His hand stroked absently along her lower back, eliciting a quiet moan from her. His grin widened. “Woman Who Screams at Squirrels?” he suggested.

  Riley shifted her weight slightly, and raised up on her elbow, looking down at him. She didn’t play along with his teasing.

  “Am I now Mrs. Cameahwait, or who am I?”

  Cam laughed. He reached behind her neck to draw her down for a kiss. “You’ve been Mrs. Cameahwait from the moment I traded my bow for you.”

  He winked, then his face sobered. His fingers caressed her cheek. The answer to her question had come to him the moment she’d said she loved him, and had chosen him over a life in the future.

  “From now on, you’re going to be Mrs. Osborne. Mrs. Cameron Osborne.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “What do you remember about your life in the future?”

  Riley traced the outlines of Cameron’s scars with her index finger, standing over him while he knelt by their campfire. A sage grouse roasted over a spit, making her mouth water. Her stomach growled in response to the hissing of fat droplets as they hit the hot coals. Food had been the furthest from her mind, and no doubt Cameron’s mind, since yesterday.

  They’d eaten the last of their provisions late in the afternoon the day before, just as the sun had gone down, and then been content in each other’s arms for the rest of the night. The sun shone through the trees, bringing with it a new day.

  A whole new life for you.

  Riley smiled. Today was the first day of a new life for her. Happiness flowed through her, overshadowing the fleeting moments of insecurity about what she had done. Yesterday she’d made a life-changing decision, and there could be no regrets. There were no regrets. With Cameron, she was complete. There was nothing in the future for her that was worth giving him up.

  Cameron looked over his shoulder, smiling up at her.

  “I used to miss pizza,” he said, turning the meat over the fire. “It’s the one thing I really longed for when I first came here. That, and not being able to instantly communicate with my friends. But the desire for these things goes away after time.” He shot her a thoroughly wicked grin, and his eyes smoldered. “They get replaced with new desires.”

  Riley returned his smile. “I’ll be too busy learning everything here to really miss much about my old life.”

  Cameron stood, and pulled her into his arms. “There’s still time to change your mind,” he mumbled against her ear, stroking the back of her head.

  Riley leaned away from him. “You’re willing to give me up that easily already?” Her brows raised. “That’s not what you said yesterday.”

  “I keep what’s mine.” He stared at her, the depth of emotions clearly written in his eyes. “But I can’t hold you against your will.”

  “And you’ll never have to.” Riley stood on her toes, and kissed him.

  Cameron held her against him, and Riley leaned into his embrace. This was right where she belonged. She breathed in deeply of the masculine scent coming off his skin. She tilted her head to look him in the eyes.

  “I love you, Cameron, and I won’t abandon you.”

  “You won’t regret your decision.” His hands slid up and down her back, rubbing the doeskin of her dress against her skin. “Today, I’m going to show you the place I call home, but first . . .”

  Cameron grinned at her without finishing his thought, scooped her in his arms, and carried her to their hides. By the time they returned to the fire, the grouse was burned, nearly too crispy to eat, but Riley had worked up enough of an app
etite that she finished her share.

  Cameron reached for her hand when it was time to leave, and gave it a squeeze. He kicked dirt onto the fire and glanced around their camp, the place where she’d truly become his wife, one last time to make sure they left nothing behind, and led her through the forest.

  “Are we going to be anywhere near the canyon?” Riley asked after several hours of navigating through dense forest. “I didn’t get to see it on my one and only quick trip to Yellowstone, but I heard it’s spectacular.”

  “If you listen closely, you can hear the roar of the falls, the lower falls of the canyon. The falls further upriver are not as tall, but just as beautiful.”

  Riley tilted her head. The gentle rush of wind through the trees wasn't the sound of wind at all, but the rumbling of water. Twenty minutes later, a gaping crack in the earth forced her to stop abruptly. She stepped out of the forest, and her eyes widened while her jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Cameron grabbed her arm.

  “Just in case you decide to go for another tumble.” He winked at her, a wide grin on his face.

  Before her yawned a spectacular canyon, its sheer sides dropping hundreds of feet to the bottom, where a turquoise river carved its way through the rocks. The walls shimmered in multiple hues of yellow, gold, and red colors as if an artist had painted the rocks with long, sweeping strokes of his brush.

  The roar of water grew louder, and Cameron pointed to the left. A massive waterfall plunged to the bottom of the canyon, the spray from the force of the water creating a dense mist, through which shone a colorful rainbow.

  “It’s absolutely breathtaking,” Riley whispered. “There are so many reasons this place has to be protected in the future, and this is one of them.”

  Cameron led her along the edge of the canyon, until the roar of the waterfall grew loud enough that they had to raise their voices to be heard. Riley spent hours sitting in different spots along the edge, just staring in both directions. Wherever they stopped, there was something new to see, or the colors changed with the movement of the sun. No two moments seemed to produce the same colors.

  By the time she’d had her fill of looking at the falls at the upper end of the canyon, Cameron hurried her along.

  “We have a lifetime to come back and look at its beauty,” he told her.

  “How far from here is your home?”

  “Not far. A few more miles.”

  A short distance past the upper falls, the canyon widened into an expansive valley. The rolling green hills seemed to go on forever, like waves on the ocean. The Yellowstone River, which had plunged deep into the canyon on two occasions, then roared through the narrow gap, flowed peacefully in this valley, giving a serene and tranquil feel to the area.

  Several tributaries created shallow marshlands teeming with waterfowl, otters, and beaver, around which Cameron navigated to reach a large stand of aspen, willow, and cottonwoods.

  “The river looks so tranquil here,” Riley remarked, her eyes drifting to the wide body of water, as it meandered through the valley. A large herd of bison grazed in the distance.

  “It may look peaceful and calm, but it can be deadly,” Cameron warned. “The current is strong, and even a seasoned swimmer will get swept down river. No one survives going over the falls.”

  “No, I can’t imagine anyone would survive that.”

  Riley shuddered at the thought. While the falls were an awesome spectacle to look at, the sheer force and volume of the water would crush a person instantly.

  Cameron pointed to a gentle slope in the distance, overlooking a bend in the river. Aspens and cottonwoods swayed in the breeze, and nestled between them stood a small cabin. The first structure of civilization, other than the Tukudeka village, she’d seen here looked oddly out of place amid the spectacular natural splendor of this valley.

  “That’s your home?” Riley’s eyes lit up. She met Cameron’s gaze, and smiled.

  “And now yours.” He returned her smile. “Although, I won’t want to share that particular cabin with Mat and Pikowan any longer.” His arm snaked around her waist, and rested at her hip. “I’ll build us our own cabin before winter sets in. Until then, we’ll make do somehow.”

  “I won’t mind a wicciup. The one I had at the Tukudeka village was quite comfortable.”

  Cameron nodded. “Only for a short while, until I build you a cabin.”

  A man with long, unkempt hair sat cross-legged on the ground a short distance from the front of the cabin. He looked up as they approached, but didn’t move otherwise. As she and Cameron came closer, more details about the crude structure came into focus. The cabin didn’t look much bigger than her college dorm room when she was an undergrad.

  There was a door, but no windows, at least none in the front. A stone chimney rose from the left side of the dwelling, and the roof appeared to be made mostly from thatch and dirt. Moss and green grasses even grew in spots. Over the door hung an impressive set of bleached moose antlers. It looked exactly as she would expect an eighteenth-century settler or trapper's cabin to look.

  By modern standards, it might be less than impressive, but Riley smiled. This, or one just like it, would be her home from now on. Hers and Cameron’s home, and this beautiful, expansive valley would be her front and backyard. Her heart sped up with excitement. She would be spending the rest of her life here.

  How different from what she’d thought her future would hold for her all these years. Her plan had always been to get her doctorate in anthropology, then teach and do research. Instead, she might be the subject of someone else’s research hundreds of years from now.

  The man sitting on the ground rose to his feet. He stuck a knife in the belt at his hip, and headed toward them.

  “Mat,” Cameron called, and held out his hand. The other man clasped his wrist, and they shook hands like good friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while would do.

  Mat nodded, his eyes darting to Riley. He said something in Shoshone, then switched to stilted English. “I had a feeling you’d return with her as your wife.”

  "My good friend and brother in spirit, Matunaaga," Cameron introduced the friend he'd often talked about with great fondness. "We call him Mat, or Chief."

  “Chief? Why Chief?” Riley’s eyes went from Mat to Cameron. “I’m afraid I don’t know what Matunaaga means.”

  Cameron grinned, and glanced at his friend. “Chief, because he used to be bossy, and always tried to tell me what to do when we were boys. His name means fighter, or warrior, and he will live up to it when needed. I trust him with my life.”

  Riley stepped up to him. “Cameron’s told me a lot about you.” She held out her hand. Mat took it, but didn’t hold her hand any longer than necessary to give it a quick shake.

  She studied the two men. Although Cameron was a good inch taller than Mat, they were matched in physique, and, no doubt, strength. Mat’s dirty blond, nearly light brown hair hung in thick strands well past his shoulders, and looked as if it hadn’t seen a comb in ages. His eyes were a startling blue. He looked as if he belonged in this environment as much as Cameron did, but with his hair and eye color, he must stick out as much as she did among the natives.

  His gaze held hers for only a moment, the look in his eyes intelligent and warm. He was dressed nearly identically to Cameron, in buckskin leggings, breechcloth, and a long-sleeved hunting shirt that went well past his waist. A necklace made of teeth and shells hung around his neck.

  "Did you meet with Naatoyita?" Mat's eyes darted to Riley. There was a slight twitch to his lips and a knowing look in his gaze.

  “I did, and I will share with you what I’ve learned, but perhaps it would be good if you went to see Naatosi. He asked to see you.”

  If Mat was surprised that the Sky People elder wanted to see him, he didn’t let on. He simply nodded. What a difference between the two. Cameron would have stubbornly refused to honor the request.

  “So, you have forgiven Naatoyita?”

  Camero
n shook his head at the question. “It’ll take me some time to fully forgive him, but I understand now what he did, and why. I think you’ll find the answers to your own questions when you meet with Naatosi.”

  “I’ll leave as soon as Pikowan returns. He’s been gone for several days.” Mat gazed off into the distance.

  Cameron frowned. “Where did he go?”

  Mat shrugged. “He told me he was heading out to set some traps. I went looking for him two days ago when he didn’t come home. I found his traps, but not Pikowan. His tracks led further into the hills.”

  “If he’s not back in three days, we’ll look for him again. He’s gone off by himself before.” Cameron said. A fleeting worried look passed through his eyes.

  “You’re very fond of Pikowan, aren’t you?” Riley glanced from one man to the other, and rested on Cameron.

  “Mat and I came upon him shortly after we left the Tukudeka. Since we all shared a common past, and a common dislike for the Sky People, it made sense that we stayed together. He’s the one who built this cabin, and we’ve lived with him ever since.”

  “I look forward to meeting him.”

  She’d had her answer about Cameron’s presence in the past, but why had Pikowan been brought here, and simply been abandoned? Her inquisitive mind was eager to find the answers.

  * * *

  Days passed. Cameron and Mat gathered poles to erect a wicciup a short distance from the cabin, similar in structure to the one in which Riley had stayed in the Tukudeka village. Eager to help, she’d thrown herself into the work. Her days were filled with making the simple dwelling a home, lining the gaps between the logs with grasses to keep out the draft, and putting together a sleeping pallet for her and Cameron.