by E. E. Burke
“Why would you do this for me?”
Did he even have to ask?
Yes, he did. He’d poured out his heart to her in a letter. He’d come to her side and taken her hand. He needed to hear her tell him what he’d already told her in so many ways.
“I love you, Jake.”
He dragged her into his arms. She clung to him, hugged him, kissed his face, his neck, nuzzled his warm skin. How good he smelled, how good it felt to hold him again.
The past month had been excruciating. During that time, she’d feared she might never see him again.
“Please don’t send me away,” she whispered in his ear.
He drew back. “Send you away? That is not what I’m thinking. I know how to say I love you in English and Tsa-la-gi. Words cannot capture what is inside…” He touched his chest. “Here.”
Another piece of her heart fell at his feet.
She drew his head down for a kiss. A lush, passionate kiss. The kind she’d dreamed about, longed for, needed so badly she thought she might die from the wanting.
When he’d left without a goodbye, her world had collapsed. She’d told herself they weren’t right for each other, that they had no conceivable future. Until she’d received his letter.
She hadn’t known true happiness before she’d met Jake. Now, knowing he loved her, she couldn’t imagine being happier anywhere else.
“Redbird.” He feathered kisses across her cheek while she combed her fingers through his hair. “Am I dreaming? If I wake up, will you fly away?”
“Darling, why would you think that?”
“I never told you the end of Redbird’s story.”
“No, you didn’t. Is it a happy ending?
He gave her a rueful smile. “Afraid not. Redbird died.”
Kate’s chest grew tight. “How?”
“Uk-te-na, the smoking dragon, destroyed her.”
“Isn’t that the name your people gave to the steam engine?” She stroked his cheek to reassure him. “Were you afraid the railroad would take me away? Destroy who I am?”
“Your spirit is like Redbird’s. Too strong to be conquered. She came back to life as a bird.”
“Why, that’s a beautiful story, and it is a happy ending.”
“In some ways, it is.” Jake pressed a tender kiss against her forehead. “Except, Redbird could never return to her family in the form of a bird. She flew away.”
“She might not return to her love…” Kate secured her hold around his neck and made a solemn pledge. “I will never leave mine. Wa-ya. My Wolf.”
At his look of surprise, she grinned. “Your uncle told me what it means, your Cherokee name. It fits you perfectly. You’re the wolf who guards his pack.”
His eyes glittered with amusement. “Are you offering to become part of my pack?”
She couldn’t wait any longer to tell him her dream. “I am offering to become your mate. Redbirds mate for life.”
He became serious. “You wish to be my wife? This is what you want?”
“More than anything.”
“Kate, my Redbird, I will go with you to Washington. I will never leave your side.” By the time he finished his vow, her tears flowed unchecked. He wiped them away with his thumbs. “Here now, I made you cry again. I never mean to, but it seems that is what I do.”
“These are happy tears. The kind you cry at weddings or when babies are born...or when you find true love.”
Jake kissed her again with her tears on his lips.
They tasted like joy.
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The adventure continues in A Dangerous Passion, Book 3 in the series, Steam! Romance and Rails
Steam! Romance and Rails
A Dangerous Passion
She writes about villains and heroes. Then meets a man who might be both.
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Lucy Forbes heads West to help her father with a difficult assignment—one that pits him against a railroad executive reputed to be as treacherous as he is charming. She anticipates having adventure, even dangerous thrills, to add to the stories she writes. What she doesn’t expect is how quickly she gets caught up in a deadly mystery.
Henry Stevens is more than ambitious. He’s an intense, driven man, guided by principles forged during an impoverished childhood. His carefully laid plans for success take a sharp turn when an investigation is launched against him. Suddenly, he is fighting for his job and his life.
It’s not the ideal time to become embroiled in a tumultuous, passionate relationship, especially with an inquisitive writer who pens tales about heroism and high ideals. Astonishingly, she expects him to live up to them. Even more surprising, he wants to.
Inspired by a true story, this fiery Western romance takes readers to America’s wild frontier in the 1870s, a time of triumphs and travails for the Katy Railroad and the man who built it.
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Read all four books in the new edition of the series Steam! Romance and Rails. Pick up your copy of A Dangerous Passion today.
Author’s Note
Welcome to the next installment of Steam! Romance and Rails. When I undertook to write this Western historical romance series, I found inspiration in stories about the expansion of the railroads across the American West. It was a time of dreams for some, a disaster for others.
In the early 1870s, the Missouri, Texas & Kansas Railway won a contest to be the first railroad to cross what was then Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma).
The railroad’s troubles with settlers and Native American tribes mounted as crews laid tracks through southeastern Kansas, an area dubbed the Neutral Lands because it was supposed to serve as a buffer between white settlers and Indian Territory. As early as 1850, whites began to squat on protected land. By 1865, shortly after the Civil War, thousands of white immigrants had settled in an area that was exclusively set aside for Native American tribes.
The Cherokee (Tsa-la-gi) people had suffered setback after setback. Thirty years earlier, their homelands in the Southeast had been taken from them and they were forcibly relocated. They’d been dragged, divided, into the Civil War, and subsequently lost more land as a result. By the time the Katy showed up on their doorstep, they were sick and tired of white men’s lies and broken promises.
An 1866 treaty gave one railroad the right to pass through their territory. It said nothing about giving land away. When Congress promised free grants to the railroad, the Cherokee Nation objected—strenuously. A bitter lawsuit ensued over the issue of who had sovereignty over their land—the Cherokee Nation or the U.S. Government.
The Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway eventually reached Texas, and became, for a time, a thriving enterprise.
Today, the old Katy railroad no longer exists. Portions of its rail bed have been turned into scenic hiking and biking paths. The Cherokee Nation has survived and thrived, ironically adapting to modern times much better than the railroad that challenged The People so many years ago.
This story was originally released in 2013 under the title, Kate’s Outlaw. I’ve expanded it, added exciting new scenes and rereleased it under the title of the legend that inspired it.
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E.E. Burke
Afterword
Dear Reader,
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Thank you for joining me on a journey of imagination into the historic past through the series Steam! Romance and Rails.
If you enjoyed Redbird, please consider taking a brief moment to post a short review. Honest reviews help other readers discover books they might like, as well as helping authors find new readers.
I wish you many happy hours of reading.
* * *
All the best,
E.E. Burke
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For updates on my travels, research and new releases, join my newsletter or visit my website at www.eeburke.com
.
Also by E.E. Burke
Series and Books
Steam! Romance and Rails
Her
Bodyguard
Redbird
A Dangerous Passion
Fugitive Hearts
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The Bride Train Series
Valentine’s Rose
Patrick’s Charm
Tempting Prudence
Seducing Susannah
* * *
American Mail-Order Brides
Victoria Bride of Kansas
Santa’s Mail-Order Bride
American Mail-Order Bride Christmas Collection
Also in audiobooks
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The Brides of Noelle
Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides
Jolie, A Valentine’s Day Bride
The Drum (Twelve Days of Christmas Mail-Order Brides)
* * *
The New Adventures
Tom Sawyer Returns
Taming Huck Finn
* * *
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About the Author
E.E. Burke is a bestselling author of historical fiction and romance that combine her unique blend of wit and warmth. Her books have been nominated for numerous national and regional awards, including Booksellers' Best, National Readers' Choice and Kindle Best Book. She was also a finalist in the RWA's prestigious Golden Heart® contest. Over the years, she’s been a disc jockey, a journalist and an advertising executive, before finally getting around to living the dream--writing stories readers can get lost in.
Find out more about her books at her website: www.eeburke.com.
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