Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance)

by Ivey , Kimberly

  Antonio shook his head, disgusted, too. “Yes, I fear that as well. I will take my woman to sleep some distance away.”

  “A wise choice. She needs comforting. I listened to her cries in the night.”

  “Cries?”

  “She is frightened and alone.”

  Antonio knelt down and sifted his fingers through her hair. She awakened with a start and Max gave a low growl from beneath the blanket.

  “Shhh, it is only me,” he assured her, pain seizing his heart when he noted the streaks on her cheeks—dried tears. “We need to move away from camp tonight.” He gathered her and the dog into his arms, blanket and all.

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Some of the young men are drunk and before the night is over, they may all be drinking. I don’t want any trouble for you. We’ll camp near the pool.”

  Antonio carried her and the dog up the dark, rocky foot trail and over the ridge with only the light of the waning moon to guide him. His boots felt as if they were filled with lead, his knees aching. He hadn’t slept well in nearly two days and was trembling so hard that by the time they reached the water he almost dropped Halle as he set her on her feet.

  He preferred to blame his weakness on exhaustion, but in his heart he knew that his real weakness was for her. He had come close to being captured and had witnessed the deaths of two other men—one, newly married. Returning to Halle safely had been the only thought driving him.

  Unable to control his passion, he grabbed her up and kissed her hard on the mouth, a bit too hard he realized when her dog yelped, letting him know he’d been squashed in the embrace. Antonio apologized to the animal, then took him from Halle’s arms and set him down.

  “I could not stop thinking of you since I left,” he confessed as he curled his fingers into her thick silken hair. He kissed her feverishly again, tasting her deeply, rediscovering the woman he loved more than his own life. “I kept remembering our argument yesterday…so foolish.”

  Between frantic kisses she said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about that either but…”

  He drew back to look at her, but she didn’t have to speak, for he saw the answer in her sad brown eyes. Her position on his marriage proposal hadn’t changed. He had hoped their time apart might change her stance. He blew out a breath of exasperation and moved away to strip off his clothes.

  “Please don’t be angry with me, Antonio.”

  He set one of his boots aside. “I am not angry.”

  “I just haven’t had time to really think this through.”

  He glared at her. What was there to think about? What choice did she have? Perhaps she was still entertaining thoughts of returning to Albuquerque? He pulled the other boot off and slammed it down. Damn if he would ever understand this woman!

  “Marriage is a really big step, Antonio.”

  He tore his shirt off, balled it up and pitched it toward one of the far flung boots. What was she babbling on and on about?

  “And I’m really flattered that you would ask me to be your wife, but…”

  Flattered? The dark look he shot her silenced her mid-sentence.

  He dropped his pants, revealing a painful erection.

  He bathed alone in the refreshing water as she rested nearby but the bath did nothing to quell his desire. In fact, the water’s rippled caresses on his skin felt much like her tender touches. As he refreshed himself, he recalled their last intimate moments together the day before when he had nearly taken her. She hadn’t known how close he had come, or how weak his restraint grew with each passing day. Why was she being stubborn? What did she truly fear might happen if they married?

  Once he finished bathing, he started a small fire, then stretched out beside her and covered them both with the blanket. It would be difficult to spend many more nights beside her without acting on his desires. He scooted a few inches away to put distance between them, but she snuggled up to his back. Momentarily, he felt her warm hand curl around his sex.

  “No,” he protested feebly, but she could not be deterred. He was too exhausted to fight. Besides, her hand was gentle and warm. Comforting. He closed his eyes, surrendering as she stroked him feverishly. But this would not satisfy him, nor her. He needed to be inside her.

  Muttering a curse beneath his breath, he flopped onto his back, tossed off the blanket. Her eyes were wide, misted with desire, desire evident in their passionate depths. She’d also shed her clothing, much to his approval. By the flicker of firelight, he drank in his fill. Luscious lips and heart-shaped face. Slender shoulders, pert breasts and softly flared hips. He reached over, he lazily stroked her naked thigh with his knuckles. “You’re a welcome sight.”

  She bit down on her lower lip and looked away. He had the odd feeling she wanted to say something but was uncertain.

  “Are you angry with me?” Disappointment was evident in her quiet voice.

  He sighed, rubbed his eyes. “No. I am not angry.” And he wasn’t, but merely exhausted. The raid on the fort had not gone well despite his weeks of meticulous planning and surveillance. Instead of confiscating grains and smoked meats, a few younger men defied his orders and stole liquor. Two of Sonny’s men were also dead. How would he tell their families the mission failed? No, that he had failed. Doubt crept in once more as he questioned whether he would ever win this insane fight for The People’s freedom.

  Realizing how harsh his reactions must seem to Halle, he reached up and stroked her cheek to reassure her. “I am only tired. We should sleep now.” He tucked his hands behind his head before closing his eyes. “Besides, we have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow.”

  “Antonio?”

  “Yes?”

  “You led these men on a raid against one of the forts, am I right?”

  “I don’t want you involved in any of this.”

  “Was it Fort Dennison?”

  “Let it go.”

  She sat up. “But I need to tell you something important.”

  “Lie down and go to sleep.” He’d not meant to sound harsh, but he wasn’t up to a discussion.

  She did as he asked, turning on her side away from him. Although he could not see her face, he knew he had hurt her feelings. Still, she had no business getting involved in his clandestine affairs. No need to make her an accessory to his crimes.

  A while later, she spoke quietly into the darkness. “Antonio, please don’t shut me out. I’ve already figured out what you’re up to. You’re supplying guns to the Navajo. You’re raiding the forts for food and livestock.”

  “The Navajo’s stolen livestock,” he corrected.

  She turned onto her side and scooted close. “Don’t you realize you’re in danger? If you keep this up, you’ll be killed.”

  “You don’t understand. I have no choice. Without me, innocent people will die…babies and children….the elderly.”

  “But you’re the one who will die if you continue. The government will execute you when you’re caught.”

  “Perhaps, but at least I will die with honor. Can the army claim such in their slaughter and maiming of innocent women and children?”

  He clenched his eyes shut, hoping she would not pursue the topic. She was silent and he realized she could not possibly know the incident to which he referred. His heart seized in his chest at the thought of Lukachukai and Mariposa—the horror of the attack. Tears threatened as guilt clawed a gaping hole deep in the middle of his soul. He should have been there for his wife and the children. He never should have gone to California, leaving them to fend for themselves.

  Opening his eyes, near total darkness greeted him. The fire had nearly burned out. Making his way through the inkiness, he hacked off limbs of low growing brush with his knife and then tossed it on the ashen coals. Once the tinder relit, he returned to their shared blanket. He rolled over to make certain she wasn’t cold and felt the wetness on her cheek when he brushed the back of his hand across her face.

  She started to turned away, but he quickly gath
ered her in his arms and pulled her snug against him. Cradling her head with one hand, he breathed in the sunshine scent of her hair, nuzzled the softness of her damp cheek. She wept quietly as he held her, his heart breaking.

  “Why…” He choked on his words as he struggled to retain composure. “Why are you crying, Halle?”

  She didn’t answer.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Only a handful of men, including Sonny, remained with them the next day as they journeyed northwest into higher elevations. Halle’d watched the others ride out shortly after dawn.

  They made another grueling trek across the rocky, sun scorched terrain and into a mountainous region populated with fragrant fir and spruce trees.

  The first night they camped, Halle lay quietly beside Antonio, not touching or speaking. He’d held her in his arms the night before, but now an invisible gap had widened between them. It felt as if they were strangers all over again and she didn’t understand the silence. Before dusk the following evening, they arrived at yet another encampment, this one filled with women and children and a few of the same men she recognized from the raiding party—One Ear, included.

  A group of giggling teenage girls approached and snatched at her hair. One poked a stick at Max and she quickly tucked him into the leather papoose bag for safety. A few people stared as if she were the freak show in a traveling circus while others turned away in apparent disgust. Antonio called out to two women in the crowd—one, an older woman with mostly graying hair, and another who appeared to be nearer her own age. He explained something to the two women at great length in their own language and then turned toward her.

  “Go with them. My aunt and cousin will take care of you.”

  Without further explanation, Halle was led away by the two women to a semi-dome shaped, windowless hut fashioned of logs and dried clay. There were an elderly man and woman inside when she arrived and a young boy in the shadowed corner, drawing lines and figures in the earthen floor. A blue and gray blanket was thrown over one shoulder, barely covering his left arm.

  Halle’s heart lurched in her chest when she saw the scarred stump peeking from beneath the blanket. Dear God! What happened to the child’s hand?

  He wouldn’t look up, yet she felt his attention on her and Max all the same. Not uncomfortable, but one of curiosity. Perhaps he’d never seen a woman who wasn’t from his tribe. Or maybe he was fascinated by the dog. Max was a cutie, after all. She smiled softly at the boy when their eyes did finally meet, but he averted his quickly.

  “Would you like to pet Max?” She lifted the dog from his pouch and held him up for the child to see. “He especially likes to be scratched under his chin. You can play fetch with him if you like.” The boy did not respond and instead went back to scratching figures in the dirt. Halle decided he either didn’t understand English or he didn’t want to interact with a stranger.

  The old man and the boy left the hut soon afterward but the elderly woman stayed, sitting across the way. She began to sing softly.

  Halle was instructed by Antonio’s aunt to sit on the dirt floor where she was served a meat-based stew that rivaled Rosa’s tasty fare. And it beat Antonio’s dried up animal stew thingy all to hell. She picked out a chunk of meat for Max and he grinned, his tongue wagging happily as she placed it at his feet.

  As she ate, a thought struck her. Where had Antonio gone? Had he left her with these women to go on another raid? Or to see another woman?

  The three women present, the teenage girl, middle-aged woman, and elderly one, sat silently by as if she weren’t even there. While it was rather awkward to eat alone, she was starving and the stew filled her growling stomach. Once she finished, the younger girl, Antonio’s cousin, took the bowl away and left the hut, returning a moment later with a black and white woven blanket dress and a pair of tan, beaded moccasins. His aunt left, too, then returned with a tiny clay pot filled with water. She set it on the ground in front of Halle. The old woman, who’d since fallen asleep, snored heartily on a pallet of hides.

  “Wash,” his aunt ordered.

  Halle was surprised the woman spoke English, although she figured it was probably one of the few words she knew. Most likely Antonio had taught her.

  “Do you understand English?” she asked the girl.

  The girl’s gaze did not lift from the floor. “Yes.”

  “Great. Tell everyone to clear out so I can bathe.”

  “Wash,” his aunt repeated. She reached down and tugged at Halle’s shirt collar.

  Antonio’s young cousin stared at her own feet while his aunt remained at her side, dark eyes averted, the set of her jaw, firm. She said something to the girl.

  “My mother says to remove everything that is dirty.”

  “But I don’t have anything under my clothes.” Halle sensed she’d committed some breach of etiquette as the woman continued to wait.

  Halle sighed. At this rate, she’d be arguing all day for a moment of privacy. What the hell. There were only females in the room. “Fine.” She slipped out of Antonio’s shirt.

  She tried to get a casual conversation started but either the other women didn’t understand much English or they didn’t want to engage in chit chat. They stood by, their gaze averted, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary to have a naked stranger in their home.

  “Um…” Hallie held out the shirt. “Okay, now what’s next?”

  The girl took Halle’s shirt and whisked it away. She expected it might be laundered and returned. That wasn’t the case. The young woman unceremoniously tossed it into the fire pit in the center of the hut.

  “Oh, my God! You just burned my clothes!”

  “We will give you new ones.”

  Antonio’s aunt pointed to the pot of water at her feet. “Wash.”

  Speechless, Halle sank to the hard, dirt floor, shivering, feeling not only defeated but suddenly more naked and vulnerable than ever. She was going to kill Antonio for putting her through this.

  Realizing Max was staring, she cleared her throat loudly. “Ahem. Do you mind?”

  Giving a high pitched whine, the little dog laid on his belly and put his muzzle to the ground.

  The old woman awoke and began to sing again and Antonio’s aunt and cousin returned to scraping small animal hides in the corner and murmuring between themselves.

  Once she finished bathing, Antonio’s young cousin extended a hand and helped her stand. His aunt inspected the pink, crusty scab on her knee before smearing on a pungent smelling, greasy ointment. With the young girl acting as interpreter, his aunt inquired of the injury.

  “I fell,” Halle answered and the girl relayed the message. The two women talked quietly, then louder. The young girl’s eyes darted to Halle, then back at her aunt. Antonio’s young cousin lowered her eyes.

  “My mother asks if you carry Antonio’s child.”

  Halle snorted. “Yeah, right. Antonio has too much honor or some freaking stupid crap like that. No, I’m not pregnant.” She patted her tummy. “Just have a mild case of bloating with PMS. Tell Auntie here to not start knitting booties just yet.”

  Antonio’s young cousin turned to the other woman and spoke, then proceeded to help Halle into the blanket dress. The older woman cinched the waist tight with a sash. Although warm, the wool was rough against her bare breasts. Antonio’s cousin, carefully brushed the tangles from Halle’s hair with a short, stiff, broom-like brush and pulled it back into a mini-bun, binding it with strips of white yarn.

  Halle pulled on the pair of soft, hide leggings handed to her, then slipped into the moccasins, almost a size too small. Still, the leather was soft and comforting on her tired, calloused feet. She flexed her toes, stretching them a bit.

  Everyone left.

  She expected Antonio might come for her, or that his aunt and cousin would return in a while, but as hours passed and night fell, no one came. She began to wonder if she’d been left alone for the night without food or water or even wood to keep the small fire in t
he center of the crude log and mud structure stoked. She didn’t even know where the bathroom was.

  Some time later she heard voices. Max awoke and gave a low growl, but she stroked his chin and reassured him he didn’t need to rip anyone’s leg off.

  An old man and woman entered. Even in the near pitch darkness, she recognized the voice of the woman as the lady who’d been in the hut upon her arrival. Halle sat up and made a tight fist, not knowing what to expect but prepared to clobber anyone who touched her. They said nothing to her as they bedded down together on the skins nearby. Who were these strangers? And just where in the hell was Antonio?

  Exhausted, but feeling relatively safe these strangers weren’t going to carve her into lunch meat, she decided to give into sleep, but rats kept pestering her. The ground was cold and hard and the night sounds of the encampment strange. Babies coughed and cried. Dogs barked. She heard the wail of a wolf and the snort of horses stirring uneasily. Unable to sleep, she rose and slipped from the hut without waking the elderly couple.

  Wood smoke clung to the chilly night air and she wished she’d brought the blanket. She wandered through the sleeping encampment with Max trotting at her side, not knowing where she was going but only that she needed to find Antonio.

  She’d almost made it to the edge of the camp when she heard footfalls behind her. Max let out a string of snarls and she snatched him up and held him firm in her arms.

  A petite woman about her own size stood a few feet away. Ordinarily the sight of another female wouldn’t have frightened her, but there was something menacing about her stance. Antonio had warned her that the Navajo didn’t trust outsiders. Perhaps this woman followed her with the intention of doing harm.

  “Looking for Antonio, Crazy Hair?” the woman asked with a slight accent.

  The hair rose on the back of Halle’s neck. Oh really? She was Crazy Hair now? Ohhh, this bitch was cruising for a major ass kicking. “As a matter of fact I am looking for Antonio.” She hoped she masked the fear and anger in her voice. “Who the hell are you?”