by Deanna Jewel
“You captured his mother, the same as Taima captured me!” Kate exclaimed, then looked heavenward. “I don’t believe this is happening.” She glanced back at Sakima. “Have you told Taima of these visions? Of me staying with his people?”
“He didn’t want to listen. His anger blinds him. But soon, he will realize that what I have seen will come to pass.”
“Did his mother teach you English?”
“Yes, she had been educated where the sun rises. Several of our people speak English, though on rare occasions. Now that you are among us, we shall use the language more.”
“Ahanu, Aiyana, and Kelee do.”
“Yes, Taima’s mother wanted Kelee to understand the white man. She wanted him prepared for the future, for the coming of white settlers.”
“They will destroy the buffalo, you know, until they are almost gone from your lands.” Pain began to throb in Kate’s temples as bits and pieces of history pricked at her memory. She closed her eyes and attempted to massage away the pain as she slowly rocked back and forth. An image of skinned buffalo carcasses formed in her mind, hundreds of dead animals scattered across an open plain.
Sakima’s warm hand touched her shoulder and Kate jerked, her gaze meeting his.
“You, too, have visions. I have seen this happen to you before, at the stream one morning. It confuses you, but in time, all will reveal itself to you. You must have patience.”
She nodded, though still not understanding.
“When we travel to the hot springs, beware,” Sakima warned.
Suddenly a tall shadow loomed on the ground before Kate. The scent of warm leather drifted past.
Taima.
Her stomach knotted. Her heart raced, quickening her breath. She glanced at Sakima, then stared at Taima.
The spark of blue anger from Taima’s narrowed gaze could have struck her dead. A muscle twitched along his jaw. “Go back to Aiyana, now...where you belong. She has meat and hides to prepare.”
Kate rose, stood defiantly before Taima, and glared into his eyes; eyes which could easily weaken her resolve. She stormed away before the wall around her heart began to crumble and she allowed Taima to invade her soul.
* * * * *
“What do you want, Noshi?” Taima refused to sit, knowing he’d be pulled into his father’s plans for the future.
“You cannot run from what will be, Nechan,” Sakima said, gazing beyond the river.
Taima glanced across the water to the spot his father watched. At the edge of the forest, a wapiti, a bull elk, approached a female elk nibbling grass. He nudged her neck, refusing to be ignored. The cow strode a few feet away and he followed, then tried again. Eventually, they roamed into the woods together.
Taima breathed deeply to calm himself. “She’s not staying here. I’m trading her at the next Green River rendezvous.”
“You can’t trade her anymore than you can trade your own son, for it is already written.”
“Though I respect your visions and their predictions, on this, Noshi, you are wrong. She will be gone,” Taima stated.
“Was your hunt successful?”
“One buffalo and two big horned-sheep. I’ll talk with you later, Father.”
Taima turned and left. Why did his father insist on becoming friends with Kate? Taima wouldn’t allow her to stay. She’d caused him enough problems already.
As he approached Ahanu’s lean-to, Aiyana spread out the hides with Kelee’s help, staking them to the ground, while Ahanu unloaded the meat. Kate was nowhere in sight.
Aiyana glanced at him, then out to where his father continued to sit. He waited for a snide comment, but none followed. She lowered her lashes and went back to work.
“Where is she?” Taima finally asked.
Aiyana pointed to a small grouping of tall sagebrush where two slender feet protruded from the opposite side. As he approached, he saw Kate on her hands and knees, retching in the grass. Taima almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
“Get away!” She moaned. “Go back to your friends. I won’t be going anywhere. You can…” Her stomach erupted again. Taima waited a few steps away.
“Go . . .” she panted breathlessly, then collapsed on her side and curled up.
Taima exhaled and shook his head. Damn her! If she weren’t so stubborn, she would allow him to help. “When you’re able, come sit with me.”
Moments later, too exhausted to fight, she crawled over, sitting a few feet away.
Taima gave her a sidelong glance. “It will take time to get used to working with raw meat and preparing the fresh hides.”
Kate leaned her forehead into her hands. “I will never get used to it. How embarrassing. Aiyana is probably still laughing.”
“She wasn’t laughing. What did Sakima discuss with you?” Taima asked, his voice sounding sterner than he’d wanted.
Her eyes glared at him with green fire. “If he wanted you to know, he would have told you.”
“His visions tell him you belong here.”
“Right! With the way you’re treating me?”
“You would rather I trade you?”
Kate stood, her hand holding her stomach. “Why would you want me to stay, us hating each other the way we do?” she said with a sneer, then left Taima sitting in the grass, as she strode toward Aiyana.
Taima followed at a distance, watching the gentle sway of her hips. Thoughts of bedding her tightened his groin. She was the enemy, she could remove every memory of his wife, yet he could not help thinking of her. He quickly chastised himself for wandering from his original plan to trade her.
At the lean-to, the aroma of roasting meat drifted to Taima’s nose, causing his stomach to growl as Ahanu turned a large piece of buffalo meat over the fire.
The women quietly busied themselves preparing the skins. Kate scraped the buffalo hide using a sharpened thighbone. More than once she paused, turning her head sideways each time she gagged, yet she continued with the scraping. Taima smiled to himself. He gave her credit for not giving up.
Three hours later, dusk cloaked their camp. With the meat done and the hides finished, Aiyana handed Kate an obsidian plate laden with meat and cooked roots. She ate quietly with downcast eyes while Ahanu told of their hunting excursion.
Taima bit into a piece of meat as he watched Kate, wondering what her thoughts were. Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders to frame her face. The sun had tanned her complexion in the few weeks they’d been together.
Did she want to stay, but refused to admit it because she thought he hated her? He’d allowed her to think that, and now regretted that move. Were his feelings changing? He reminisced about his father’s visions. If she belonged here, why didn’t she fit in?
“Is it possible I might go for a walk before turning in for the night?” Kate asked without looking up.
Taima still watched her. “Not alone. You tried escaping before, and I stopped you. Remember my promise,” he taunted. Kate glared at him across the fire, her eyes sparkling in the dark.
“I can go with her, Noshi. I will protect her,” Kelee stated with pride, pounding his fist on his chest.
Taima laughed at his eight-year-old son. “I bet you will. All right, but be on guard for danger and don’t be gone long.”
Kelee bound toward Kate, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. A genuine smile curved her lips as she gazed at Kelee and tousled his hair.
“If you are to be my new mother, we must know each other better. Come.”
The boy tugged Kate away from the fire as her menacing gaze met Aiyana’s, then Taima’s. Her smile disappeared and her lip curled to one side in obvious disgust.
“Are you happy about what he overheard in anger?” Kate accused. Taima only stared back at her through narrowed eyes.
After Kelee and Kate strode away, Taima looked at Aiyana accusingly, but she lowered her gaze. Kate should take lessons from her, he mused.
“Taima, I didn’t mean to cause problems,” Aiyana sa
id softly.
“Don’t worry. I will talk with Kelee.” Taima rose to follow his son and Kate, keeping back a safe distance so neither of them saw his approach. He wondered if his son would accept Kate as a replacement for his mother even though they had never discussed it. Could he accept her as a replacement for his wife? He sighed. Too much time had passed, and he’d never thought about loving another woman who would take his wife’s role at his side.
Kate’s soft laughter drew his attention. Kelee had hit her, then ran away, making her chase him along the shore of the Wind River. When Kelee slowed to turn and see where Kate was, she easily caught him and they rolled to the ground. Kelee’s squeals made Taima smile. He hadn’t seen his son this happy in many moons. But why did it have to be a white woman who made him experience such joy again?
Their muffled conversation carried on the cool night breeze. The two began walking toward him, their conversation easy to make out.
“We’d better head back to camp, Kelee. Thank you for coming with me. I wasn’t frightened at all.”
Kelee held Kate’s hand. “Are you going to like being my new mother?”
“Kelee...I think Aiyana was only teasing when she said that. It’s up to your father to decide who your new mother will be, but I know he’ll choose someone perfect for you both.”
“Then I’ll tell him to choose you!” Kelee said and he dropped Kate’s hand.
Taima watched his giggling son run the remaining short distance to Ahanu’s lean-to. He wondered if Kelee missed not having a mother. Had he been wrong to deprive Kelee just because he didn’t want to get involved with a woman again, to open his soul and become vulnerable? His heart ached to think he might have hurt Kelee regarding the absence of a mother.
Kate moved farther downstream away from Taima, drawing his attention. He followed, stepping on a twig in his path and Kate suddenly turned to face him.
“Who’s there?”
“Did you plan to go very far before I caught you?”
“A walk at night never hurt anyone, or were you hoping I’d try to escape so you could carry out your promise to bare my flesh for your pleasures?” Kate retorted, stepping closer to him. “Perhaps that’s what you want me to think so you could take me and ease your conscience by thinking it’s my fault.”
“I wouldn’t have to take you, you’d be willing enough.”
Her palm stung the side of his cheek, but Taima clenched his teeth against the pain.
“I can’t believe you’ve even thought about bedding me. But then again, you’ve been without a woman for several years, haven’t you?”
The hatred in her voice cut him deep yet he knew her thoughts were his fault. He’d not corrected her accusations when she first made them.
“I would never allow you to touch me,” she snapped.
“So you’ve stated on more than one occasion,” Taima seethed through clenched teeth.
He grasped Kate’s upper arms and pulled her against his chest. There, alone in the dark next to the purling river, his head dipped and his mouth tasted hers. Though she struggled to get free, his tongue quickly slipped past her lips to sweep the sensitive flesh of her mouth, and she stopped fighting. Taima deepened the kiss as he sensed her surrender. Her lips softened and her tongue timidly danced with his for a moment.
Suddenly, the tender lips beneath his own grew taut. Kate tried to scream, but it came out muffled and died in her mouth. Taima released her and pushed her back a step.
“You bastard!”
Taima caught her small wrist in mid-air before her palm connected with his cheek again. He spoke slowly to calm himself. “Why can you not face the fact that I will not release you into the wilderness alone? I’ll not have your death on my conscience.” He dropped her wrist.
Crickets chirped above the sound of the gurgling Wind River, combined with her rapid breathing. With her lips parted, Kate stared at him. Taima wished it were light enough for him to see the brilliant green of her eyes.
“Am I to continue sleeping in your lean-to?” Bleak resolve toward her plight edged into her voice. Had she finally accepted her confinement?
“Yes. You and Kelee will be fine in my lean-to. I will sleep elsewhere.”
A moment of silence fell between them. Her chest rose with every breath, making him even more aware of the affect she had on him.
“Just because Kelee needs a mother-figure doesn’t mean he’s forgotten the one he had,” Kate said.
Taima stepped around her to walk farther down river. “I’m not sure I am ready to replace her.”
His moccasins dug into the dirt as he walked away. Kate always seemed to have a way of making him blurt out his thoughts. He leaned forward against a waist-high boulder.
“Your wife would not have wanted you to remain alone any more than you would have wanted her to should your situation be reversed. There must be a woman among your people who has caught your attention and snared your heart; someone Kelee has feelings for,” Kate said and leaned against the same boulder.
A gentle breeze carried her light, musky scent to his nose, then he glanced in her direction. The fullness of her lips reminded him of their softness against his own. Her green eyes appeared almost caring in the moonlight.
“There is someone, but our differences are more than either of us can deal with right now,” Taima said.
He looked ahead at the mountain’s jagged outline against the twinkling night sky. Kate would never put aside her stubborn temper to admit she actually had any feelings for him. Her tender reaction to his kiss only minutes ago revealed that much to him. He remembered the silkiness of her hair between his fingers, the softness of her breasts against his chest, the surrender of her body as he kissed her. Perhaps she was right--perhaps he did need a woman for himself and Kelee.
Witashnah’s image floated through his mind, her long, dark hair trailing behind her, a loving smile on her lips. It was true; she would not want him to be alone for the rest of his life.
“For Kelee’s sake, if not your own, you need to deal with this. Make that woman see Kelee’s needs,” Kate pleaded.
Without looking at her, Taima replied, “She’s well aware of Kelee’s needs, just not concerned with mine, but...my needs are unimportant at this point.”
He refused to look at her. Kate hated him, yet pretended concern. How could her feelings change so often?
Taima sighed. “It is time you returned to camp.”
From the corner of his eye, he noted she watched him for a moment before speaking. “I can sleep elsewhere. You and Kelee may have your lean-to.”
“You will sleep in my lean-to,” he said, hoping she would spare him the argument, “Kelee asked to stay with Ahanu’s son tonight.”
Without another word, she strode away.
* * * * *
Kate rolled her eyes as she turned from Taima. If there was a woman among his people who interested him, why did he continue to kiss her?
She touched her lips, still swollen from his savage touch. The memory of Taima’s tongue sweeping her inner mouth evoked tingling sensations throughout her body. His deep, sensual kiss had affected her more than the one days ago, though both were meant to punish her. Weak knees had barely supported her as he drew her body against his before she had come to her senses and stepped away from him.
How could her knees weaken and her heart race when she hated Taima for keeping her against her will? Kate denied having any other feelings besides an intense dislike for Taima. Antagonizing her daily seemed to please him more than it should and that alone irritated her. Like now, ordering her back to his lean-to rather than allowing her to stay with Ahanu. Not that she wanted to be near Aiyana. But which was worse? She wouldn’t rest peacefully at either place.
A young woman standing outside a lean-to watched Kate as she walked past. Her eerie, dark eyes sent a tremor down Kate’s spine. Could this woman hate her for occupying so much of Taima’s attention? Before Kate stepped behind the buffalo hide at Taima’s le
an-to, she glanced back at the slender woman and briefly met her gaze. Even in the dark, Kate detected a hateful glare. The woman refused to look away, and the longer they stared at one another, the more Kate felt the hatred stab like poison darts into her skin.
Jealousy rose in Kate’s heart. She certainly didn’t want Taima for herself, so why this new emotion? She couldn’t care less if he wanted another woman.
Kate looked away and stepped inside her dark prison. If she disliked Taima as much as she kept telling herself, his kiss should not have affected her the way it had. Damn him! Angry with herself, angry with Taima, she spread out the buffalo hide away from the door, grabbed her blanket, and stretched out. Kelee should be with his father, not with Ahanu’s family all the time. Her thoughts weren’t on going to sleep, but on whether she’d be sleeping alone. Taima had said he’d sleep elsewhere, but did he mean it?
A flash of lightening dimly lit the interior of the lean-to, and several seconds later a crack of thunder sounded. Kate pulled her blanket to her chin, her head resting on a roll of bunched-up hide. Deep, rumbling noises in the distance spoke of the approaching storm. Now she could smell the rain in the wind. Minutes later, another flash of lightning brightened the interior, followed almost instantly by thunder. The storms moved quickly in these parts. She listened. Rain began to pelt against the thatched roof.
Kate thought about Taima sleeping beneath the stars, out in the rain. Guilt filled her, and she squeezed her eyes shut to ward off the feeling. Taima roamed somewhere beyond the dry interior of his lean-to, likely getting soaked because she refused to allow him to sleep inside with her. But he didn’t deserve better; all of this was his fault. He should have just left her at the attack and rode off with Ahanu that day.
The hide covering the door whipped open as lightning flashed again, illuminating Taima’s rain-drenched body in the doorway.
Kate gasped.
He stepped in and dropped the flap.
Darkness closed around them.
Chapter Eight
Taima stood in the doorway of the lean-to, his narrowed eyes glistening in the dark. “I won’t sleep in the rain just to avoid you.”