He brought his lips to hers, feeling the instant surge of passion. "You’ve already tamed this wild savage heart, my love."
"Don’t ever go away again, Michael. Don’t ever leave me alone." She stood there, locked in his embrace, overwhelmed by the scent of horse and leather and by the quiet strength of him. The tears she had fought all through this long day burned in her throat. "I love you so much. When you left me, it was the worst hurt I’ve ever known."
His voice was a whispered caress. "I’ll never leave you again, little Cammy. I know the pain you went through. Today, leaving you was worse than the time I faced cutting off my hand. This time, I had tried to cut out my heart."
"Oh, Colt. I love you so."
He raised his head. His dark eyes sparkled with mischief. "I can see that you’re going to have to battle a love for two men."
When she raised an eyebrow, he added, "Colt, and Michael Gray."
She chuckled, then murmured against his lips, "I love both of you. Forever. For a lifetime, and beyond."
Her words were swallowed up in a kiss so powerful, she clung to him.
Once she had thought this harsh land bred harsh people. Now she knew that a certain toughness was necessary to survive this land. She and Michael were two of a kind. Neither would tame the other. But they would love with a passion. And that would be enough.
They had both traveled across a continent to a primitive, distant land, seeking their heart’s desire.
"Welcome home, Michael." Her lips opened in invitation.
In this man’s arms, Cameron McCormick knew she had also come home. And secure in his love, she was home to stay.
Epilogue
1879
Cameron bent and placed freshly picked roses on the graves of her father and mother, then moved to the grave of her grandfather, William Lampton, and wiped a speck of dirt from the headstone.
Surveying the land with satisfaction, her glance rested on the magnificent mansion which towered above the stand of trees where the McCormick land had once joined the Lampton land. Now, they were one. When their house had been completed, she had instructed the workmen to move the graves to their present site, alongside the fragrant rose garden.
Kneeling beside the headstones, she took the faded newspaper clipping from her pocket and read it for the millionth time.
August 16, 1874. The largest silver mine in the world has been discovered just outside the town of Virginia City, Nevada. Experts disagree on the value, but estimates are in the millions of dollars. The discovery is a bonanza.
Cameron smiled suddenly, recalling the letter that had arrived the week before. Quenton wrote that he and Nina had presented Alexander with a baby brother. The boy, named William, was pink and plump and so far had a fine growth of dark fuzz on his perfectly shaped little head. A portrait of Nina and the children, painted by the proud Quenton, would follow.
Ti, he added, was teaching Miriam to swim, and although she was still confined to her wheelchair, she was content, and blissfully in love.
At the top of the hill, a black stallion appeared with his tall, dark rider. Cameron’s heart stopped, and for a moment she was seventeen again on a tiny, crescent-shaped island, riding alongside a stranger toward her destiny.
She blinked, and over the hill came a pony bearing a small, dark miniature of the man. Behind the boy, her plump arms clinging tenaciously to his waist, sat a barefoot urchin, her red-gold curls bouncing about her shoulders.
Cameron stood and brushed the grass from her skirts. Michael reined in his horse and lifted Cameron easily in his powerful arms, planting a kiss soundly on her lips. The children whooped in glee. Setting her back down, he said, "A letter came today. From the Convent of the Sisters of Divine Charity."
He glanced at the children astride their pony. "I’ve been thinking. Jameson is a very capable mine foreman. We’ve sent the latest accounting to Quenton and Miriam. The house is complete. Everything is going smoothly. This would be a fine time to visit my family in Ottawa. Maybe we could make a stop first at Allumette Island."
He watched the smile of pleasure on her beautiful face.
"The dear old sisters are probably just about recovered from all those years with you, Cammy. I think they might be up to entertaining a couple of ragamuffins. Especially that one with her mother’s green eyes and fiery hair."
"Oh, Michael. Could we?" Her eyes lit with pleasure.
He lifted her gently to the horse’s back and wrapped his arms about her waist, burying his face in the wild tangle of hair.
"Together, we can do anything in the world, Cammy. Anything."
She laughed. Her eyes sparkled with mischief. She tossed her head and spurred the horse past the children’s pony. Her girlish voice rippled on the breeze. "Come on," she called. "We’ll race you home."
The End
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Epilogue
Nevada Nights Page 23
