Travis worried over what to say. If he confirmed that the soldiers were gone completely, would the Apaches run wild and try to kill everyone? Or would they relax, seeing the threat against them leave with the soldiers? Either way, he was not prepared to deal with the consequences of having Cochise find out later that he’d lied. Cochise was a man of honor, even if it was a different kind of honor than Americans understood. He deserved the truth.
“The soldiers did not leave because they thought they were beaten.” This comment brought mumblings from the men with Cochise, but Travis ignored them. “Far to the east there is a new war they go to fight. The states in the North are fighting the states in the South. All soldiers have been called to those battles. The fighting could move to this territory, and then you’ll have two armies here. But if that doesn’t happen, then be certain that as soon as the war is over, the soldiers will return.”
Cochise stared into Travis’s eyes for a long minute, then nodded sharply. “I believe you. Thank you for telling me.”
Some of the men with Cochise were obviously displeased with their chief for his decision to trust the white man, but Cochise seemed to accept their displeasure as a matter of fact.
“And now, my friend,” Cochise said to Travis, “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“If it’s within my power, I’ll be glad to do you any favor.”
“My people need to understand more of the white man’s ways, and your language. I have two young boys with me who would like to work for you and learn these things, if you have need of extra workers.” Cochise motioned and Chee and Shanta came forward.
“You’ve been listening to my prayers, Cochise.” Travis grinned at the two boys. “Are you two any good at breaking wild mustangs?” he asked them. Both boys nodded yes with caution. Travis turned back to Cochise. “We have a couple dozen wild mustangs that need a lot of work. I could use the extra help.”
“It’s settled then. Shanta and Natzili-Chee will work for you, and you will teach them your ways.” Travis and Cochise shook hands in the white man’s fashion. “We must gather my cattle and horses and go. We have many miles to cover before the moon sets tonight.”
Cochise and his men herded the bride gift of ten head of cattle and ten horses off toward the east, leaving two suddenly uncertain boys behind among strangers.
Daniella and Matt took the two boys in hand and tried to make them feel welcome, but it was Rosita they took to. Over the next week the cook tempted and coaxed them with special treats. By the end of two weeks, the boys had settled in amazingly well to ranch life.
Also by then, Travis noticed, Dani had her old figure back, with the exception of her increased bustline. He enjoyed this new trim wife. Her skirts swayed gently when she walked, and he yearned for the day they could share a more intimate relationship.
Each night was torture for him as he lay next to her in their bed. Most of the time he had to turn his back on her just to be able to sleep. But usually he woke during the night with her soft warmth pressed against his bare back, and it was all he could do to keep from attacking her.
The days turned into weeks, and as Christmas drew near, secret smiles and hushed whispers filled the house. An odd combination of pine boughs and piñatas decorated the rooms. Tempting aromas drifted from the kitchen.
Christmas Eve, Jason and Travis presented their gifts to the staff at the annual Triple C Christmas party, and laughter echoed through the house. Everyone was in high spirits. Everyone except Travis. Daniella noticed he was unusually quiet. Every time she looked his way he was pale one minute, flushed the next.
“Are you feeling all right?” she asked.
He took another healthy swallow of brandy and stared off at some point beyond her shoulder. “I’m fine,” came his curt reply. His lips curled up, but it could not be classified as a smile.
Something was definitely wrong. All evening he’d been either staring daggers at her or ignoring her completely. “If you aren’t ill, then are you angry about something?”
“No. I’m not angry.” His eyes flicked down the length of her, then away.
Daniella put a hand on his arm and felt him shudder.
“Travis, what is it? What’s wrong,” she whispered, not wanting to be overheard.
“What’s wrong is that goddamn dress you’re almost wearing!”
Daniella fought to stifle a girlish giggle. The dress in question was made of crimson velvet, and was the best dress she owned. It had long, fitted sleeves and a full gathered skirt. The neckline was extremely low, and her waist was cinched in tightly by her corset. As a result, her breasts thrust upward to a nearly scandalous degree. She’d worn it on purpose. She was tired of having him turn his back to her in bed each night, not believing she was recovered from the birth of the twins. The dress was an open invitation she hoped he’d be unable to refuse.
“You don’t like it?” she asked innocently.
“Like it?” he croaked. “It’s not that—it’s—damn, Dani, it looks like you’re going to fall out of it any minute!” He reached up and tugged on the neckline, trying to raise it a notch or two, oblivious to the watching eyes and secret grins around the room. His knuckles rested boldly against the creamy softness of her swelling breasts.
Daniella felt branded by the heat of his fingers against her skin. “You think it’s a little low, then?” Again she wore that wide-eyed, innocent look. However, the rapid pulse fluttering at the base of her throat would have given lie to her calm voice, if Travis had been capable of raising his gaze that far above the temptation of her breasts.
“Yes! It’s a little low!” he hissed, yanking his hand away as if he’d been scorched.
Daniella placed her hand on his chest and looked up at him.
“Then maybe I should go take it off,” she purred. “But I’ll need help with the fastenings.” Surely he couldn’t mistake the provocative look she gave him.
Travis swallowed, feeling his pulse race out of control.
“Are you being a tease, wife?”
“A tease? I always thought a tease was someone who promised something, then refused to deliver. I wouldn’t dream of teasing you, husband.”
The way she said it, her voice low and husky, her eyes full of promise, caused such a tightening in his loins that Travis nearly groaned out loud. Without another word, he grabbed her elbow in a bruising grip and practically dragged her from the room.
Jason watched them go, a knowing smile playing about the corners of his mouth. Maybe after tonight his son wouldn’t take his short tempter out on everyone else any more.
“Where’s Dad and Dani goin’, Grandad?” Matt wanted to know.
“They’re both tired, Matt. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again tonight. Any more of those cookies left?”
“Do you mean it?” Travis asked once they were behind the closed bedroom door. “Are you sure?”
Daniella inhaled sharply at the intense passion burning like golden flames in the depths of his hot brown eyes. She stood on her toes and pulled his head down. Just as their lips met, she whispered, “Yes.”
His arms came around her and crushed her to his broad chest as the kiss continued. His tongue plunged deeply into her mouth. She tasted the brandy he’d been drinking, thinking it strange that just tasting it on his tongue could make her feel so lightheaded. She never knew it when her dress and petticoats landed on the floor with a soft whoosh.
His lips left a trail of fire down her throat and across her shoulders. The straps of her chemise fell away just as she felt her corset come loose. Travis held her desperately, as if he feared she might disappear, and arched her backwards over his arm. His lips continued their descent to her breasts, and his hands ran the length of her, pushing the chemise to the floor.
Then his large calloused palm cupped her bare breast. The heat of his fingers shot through her like lightning. His teeth took tiny tingling nibbles along the full underside of her breast, then his mouth settled where they both craved it
most, on the tight, dark peak. Daniella cried out at the sensations he created. It had been so long!
He circled the nipple with his tongue and then sucked gently, scraping lightly with his teeth. She felt a tugging sensation on some invisible string that ran from her hardened nipple, down inside her to that secret, woman’s place, now throbbing with want. Her knees went weak.
She stood in nothing more than her shoes, stockings and garters. His hands were everywhere on her flesh, searing her with their heat. She felt the hardness of his desire throbbing against her abdomen. Stretching up, she pressed against him, trying to satisfy her flaming need.
Travis lifted her in his arms and placed her gently on the bed. He kissed her again, long and thoroughly, until the blood pounded in odd places in her body. She tasted her own milk on his tongue, where it mingled with the brandy, giving it a creamy, smokey flavor. There was a moist swelling between her thighs, and she moaned against his mouth.
“I want you so much,” Travis whispered hoarsely. “I’ve waited so long to have you, touch you, feel you next to me this way again.” He raised up and removed first one slipper, then the other, kissing the sensitive arch of each foot in turn through her stockings, turning her bones to jelly. Then came the garters. When he reached for her stockings, he rolled them down one at a time, slowly, following each with his lips. Her body swelled with desire, and her heart with love.
When she lay naked before him, Travis stared in awe at her beauty. As his eyes lowered, her hands spread to cover her thighs.
“No,” he whispered. He brushed her hands aside and bent to run his tongue lovingly over the scars she tried to hide.
He raised again and knelt above her, searching her face for any sign of uncertainty. But the only emotion in her eyes was passion, and it was for him. His heart swelled to near bursting when she opened her arms and clung to him with all her strength.
His lips on hers were fierce, demanding, and Daniella answered with a passion that shook them both. She fumbled with the buttons on his shirt, desperate for the feel of his skin on hers. She wanted to touch him, to cover him with kisses as he had her. His fingers brushed her trembling ones away and he stripped off his shirt, then the rest of his clothes, tossing them carelessly to the floor.
When he lay back down, half covering her body with his own, Daniella gasped with pleasure at the warmth and solidness of his chest pressed to her breasts. Then his lips caressed an erect nipple and she dug her fingers into the bulging muscles of his shoulders. His right hand trailed down until his fingers rested intimately in the hair at the juncture of her thighs. Lower they slid, until he cupped that place that throbbed and ached for his touch. His fingers slipped ever so slowly into her hot moist depths, halting her breath in her throat. When he moved his fingers gently, she thrust against his hand and moaned in ecstasy.
Her heart pounded and her breath came in great heaving gasps. She writhed beneath his skilled touch. When his hand slipped away, she whimpered in protest. But then he was parting her thighs with his knee and lowering himself on top of her.
Nothing could possibly feel so right, so wonderful, as his weight pressing down on her, shielding her, loving her. She felt his pulsing hardness seeking entry. She reached between their bodies and touched him, tentatively at first, then she boldly wrapped her fingers around him.
When her warm hand enclosed his engorged manhood Travis threw back his head and sucked in his breath. He wanted to laugh and shout out loud in triumph, but he couldn’t. He grasped her hips and lifted them slightly.
Daniella guided his entrance home, and he pushed deep within her warm wetness. When he began to move, she caught his rhythm instantly and met him thrust for thrust, wrapping her legs around him instinctively and soaring with him.
Higher and higher they climbed, until they reached the peak of pleasure together. Daniella cried out his name in wonder as a thousand colors burst inside her head, and her entire body became one huge, pulsating organ, throbbing with each ragged breath she took.
Sometime later, when they drifted down from the clouds, Travis rolled to his side and held her tightly to him. It was only a matter of minutes before Daniella felt him growing hot and hard again against her thigh.
Travis grinned at her look of amazement.
She started to speak, but the words turned into a moan of pleasure as his hands worked their magic on her once more. By the time his lips closed over a still-sensitive nipple, she was mindless with wanting him again.
With heated touches and fevered kisses, they climbed the mountain of ecstasy again, cresting the peak and hovering there, then plummeting to the other side in shared bliss, together.
Chapter Thirty-One
“I’ll be back by dark,” Travis said in answer to Daniella’s question.
“You’ve been around the house so much lately, I’ll miss you if you’re gone all day.” She nibbled at his chin, eliciting a groan from deep in his throat.
“Ah, wife, you make it hard to leave.”
She grinned. “I make it hard, do I?” She rubbed her leg back and forth against his and moved her body suggestively beneath him.
Travis groaned and laughed, then rolled away. “Woman, you’re killing me.”
“I knew it. I finally give in to you, and after only a few weeks, you’re already tired of me.” She pouted and Travis laughed again.
“Never, my love. I’ll never be tired of you.” His voice was soft and low, sending shivers down her spine. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
“Maybe as much as I love you,” she whispered.
Their lips met in a gentle, searching kiss before Travis pulled away. “Much as I’d love to stay and prove my devotion, I hear Pace crying for his breakfast. Lucinda will be bringing him in any moment, and you know how jealous he gets over his meals.”
“That is Pace crying, but how did you know it wasn’t Serena?”
“Because Serena is a sweet, patient, polite young lady. Pace is more like an angry young lion, especially at feeding time. And in case I haven’t said it lately, I love them both very much.”
Daniella’s heart swelled with love and gratitude for this man who had changed her life so much and given her the will to live. She honestly believed now that even without the adoption papers, Travis would have loved the twins, just as he’d promised in the beginning, just as if he’d sired them himself.
Lucinda brought Pace for his morning feeding, and as the boy suckled greedily at his mother’s breast, Travis dressed and kissed mother and son good-bye for the day.
He was headed out with the other men from the ranch, including Matt, to join Natzili-Chee and Jorge, who were several miles south with a small herd of wild mustangs they’d cornered in a narrow box canyon. He would have a long, hard day, but at least the weather was mild and clear.
“Lucinda, why don’t we bundle these two kids up and go to the valley?” Daniella suggested once Serena was fed. “I’ve been promising you a visit to your grandmother for weeks. Let’s do it today.”
“Oh, Senora, I would very much like to see my grandmother. But the men are all gone. Who will take us?”
“I will,” Daniella answered. “We’ll take the wagon. If we leave right away, we can have plenty of time to visit and still be back before dark.”
“Is…is it safe?”
“Of course it’s safe. What can possibly happen to us between here and the valley?”
In less than an hour they were off. Pace and Serena were strapped securely in the ts’ał and snuggled into a quilt-lined box beneath the wagon seat. They slept peacefully, undisturbed by the jolting of the wagon over the rough ground.
The sun was bright and the sky was crystal blue, dotted with an occasional light fluffy cloud drifting northward on the gentle southerly breeze. Daniella let her shawl fall back over the wagon seat, not needing its warmth. She smiled to herself, remembering the blistering cold and blowing snow that usually covered Boston this time of year. She was glad to spend this January
at home.
Home. Home was Travis. Home was Pace and Serena, Matt and Jason. It was all the people of the Triple C. It was this land itself. But most of all, it was Travis.
Daniella had never felt such a sense of peace, of belonging, as she felt whenever Travis wrapped his arms around her and held her to his broad, sturdy chest. She hadn’t known it was possible for a woman to feel so cherished, so loved, so happy.
Lucinda twisted in the seat and leaned over the back to check on the twins.
Bless Travis for finding Lucinda.
“You miss your grandmother, don’t you,” Daniella asked as she and Lucinda swayed and bounced side by side on the high seat.
“Sí, Señora. She is my only family, and she is getting old. I worry about her.”
“Would you like to stay a few days with her?”
“Oh, no. Not unless she is ill or something. I would miss the little ones too much,” she replied. “Besides, Grandmother would accuse me of hovering over her.”
Daniella felt lucky to have someone so devoted to the twins as Lucinda was. The girl had a good sense of responsibility, despite her young age.
“Well, I can’t say I wouldn’t miss you if you stayed away for more than an hour,” Daniella said with a laugh. “But I don’t want you to feel like you’re trapped at the ranch. Any time you want to visit the valley, you just say so.”
“Muchas gracias, Señora.” Lucinda looked as if someone had just given her the moon. Admiration and adoration glowed in her dark eyes. Daniella felt humbled by the tribute.
“We’re halfway there,” Daniella said. She pointed ahead to the huge boulder and the small stand of mesquite that marked the midpoint of the trip.
When they came next to the boulder, the horses suddenly shied. A lone rider burst directly in front of them from the cover of the rock. Daniella struggled to bring her frantic team under control. The rider grabbed the harness of the nearest horse and kept the team from bolting.
Apache-Colton Series Page 38