And touching her. He sat down right next to her while they ate. If she tried to move an inch or so away, he draped a casual arm around her waist and pulled her back. Whenever she had Little Sun on her lap, Jon curled an arm around Caitlyn's shoulders and bent his head toward the little boy. They would discuss the day's happenings, and Little Sun's vocabulary was growing quickly.
Mindful of Little Sun's heritage, Caitlyn also taught him the Nez Perce words for the English words he was picking up. Jon solemnly repeated them, also, and sometimes their conversations were a funny mixture of both languages.
Jon soon had the fire blazing and clean snow melting in the fire-blackened coffee pot.
"You want tea or coffee today, sweetheart?" he called to Caitlyn.
A mischievous gleam lit Caitlyn's eyes. "Tea, darling," she called back, a satisfied grin curving her lips when Jon glanced over at her in surprise. "With honey in it, honey."
Jon bit back his own smile and nodded. "Whatever you want, sweetie pie."
Sweetie pie? Huh, that was a new one.
Jon dug into his pack and pulled out the tea canister. "And what would my angel like to eat today?" he asked. "Let's see. We've got moose steaks, or moose steaks. Or how about moose steaks? Would those satisfy the beautiful lady's hunger?"
Caitlyn tapped a finger beside her mouth. "I do believe that I'll have the moose steaks today, love." She batted her eyes as Jon watched her. "This restaurant does have such wonderful moose steaks, don't you agree?"
"My own opinion is that it's the company that makes the meal so wonderful," he growled in a low voice. He turned back to the pack and pulled out a skillet, leaving Caitlyn standing there with a flush on her cheeks.
But she wasn't about to let him think he has bested her. A few minutes later, when he handed a plate over to where she sat on a fallen log with Little Sun, Caitlyn looked at him with a glorious smile. As soon as he sat down, she snuggled a little closer to him. She cut her steak up into various sized bites, then fed a small one to Little Sun, popped one into her own mouth, and picked up a third piece on the end of her knife to offer it to Jon.
Jon gently nipped the piece of steak from the knife, and Caitlyn nonchalantly turned back to Little Sun. Anyway, as nonchalantly as she could when Jon murmured, "Ummmm. Yours is better than mine."
"How do you know that?" Caitlyn managed in a saucy voice. "You haven't even tasted yours yet."
Jon chuckled and slipped his steak back into the frying pan to keep it warm, adding the beans beside it.
"I just know it is," he replied. He picked up his wooden spoon and scooped it full of the beans on Caitlyn's plate. "Here. We better not let these get cold."
He held the spoonful of beans by her mouth, and Caitlyn agreeably accepted them. Then she mashed up a few beans with her own spoon and gave Little Sun a bite.
The meal continued until all the food had disappeared. Jon refused to use his own plate, refilling Caitlyn's from the skillet after it was empty.
"The food tastes better off your plate, honey," he said with a laugh. "Sweeter and jucier somehow."
At one point, Ciatlyn realized she was in over her depth. But she couldn't back down now. She'd intended to show Jon that she could banter back at him just as unaffectedly as he seemed to be able to use those sweet words on her and go on about his business.
But their teasing, low-murmured conversation was wrapping her in a cocoon of coziness. When they couldn't eat another bite, Little Sun slipped to the ground and picked up Dog's bowl. Jon agreeably scraped the scraps of their meal into it and forked in the third steak from the iron frying pan.
After Little Sun set the bowl in front of Dog, he crawled onto the sled by himself and snuggled under the buffalo robe. Caitlyn started to rise, but Jon captured her in both arms.
"He's all right, sweetheart," he said as he nuzzled her ear. "He's covered up fine."
A languid contentment stole over Caitlyn, and she leaned against his chest. The fire, burning down to embers, snapped and popped a couple times, and she frowned at it. She ought to be getting chilly without its heat, but warmth suffused her. Her eyes drooped and she stifled a yawn.
But she wasn't sleepy. She was all too aware of every sense. She could feel the rise and fall of Jon's chest beneath her ear and hear his breath whisper in and out. The smell of wood smoke rose from his coat, mingled with the spicy scent of his aftershave. In her mind, his face floated, blue eyes twinkling with mischief, then darkening as he bent his head toward her, lips separating slightly as his mouth neared hers.
Caitlyn's lips parted in answer to the soft, gentle caress on her mouth. When Jon started to pull back, she cupped the back of his head and twisted in his arms to stand. Wrapping one arm around his neck, she kissed him — once, twice, then again.
Jon pulled her onto his lap. Kneading her slim hip with one hand, he swept his tongue around her lips, then tasted inside her mouth, savoring the silkiness and the gentle rasping of his tongue against the even teeth. At her almost inaudible moan of surrender, he slipped his hand under her jacket, stroking the slender back before he almost urgently traced a path around her ribs to cup her breast.
Caitlyn's arm tightened on his neck and her head fell against his shoulder. Jon kissed her cheek, nuzzled the hair away from her ear and breathed her name. He licked at the delicate earlobe, then circled his tongue on the satiny skin of her neck before he gently nipped a path downward. Beneath her jacket, he ran his thumb over her nipple, which surged against the callused pad.
Neglecting the breast a necessary second, he reached beneath her buckskin blouse and teasingly danced his fingers across bare skin, back toward her breast. When he cupped it again, Caitlyn choked out a gasp and tightened her fingers in his hair.
"Jon," she said with an aching sob of need. "I didn't mean...oh, God, Jon."
"What, darlin'?" he whispered, pulling his hand free and unbuttoning the wolfskin jacket with no resistance from Caitlyn. "What did you mean?"
He unlaced the front of her blouse as he kissed a path along her collarbone.
"I only thought...the little kisses," Caitlyn admitted in a forced voice, "weren't long enough."
Jon pushed the buckskin blouse from her shoulder and found her breast again. "You only had to ask, sweetheart. I've got all the kisses for you that you could ever want."
"I didn't want to want them!"
Jon looked into Caitlyn's half-open eyes, now a deep, aquamarine pool of wanting. "Neither did I at first," he said in a rueful voice. "But you've crept into my heart, darlin'. And I want more than kisses from you. I want all of you — now and forever, Caitlyn."
The aching need swept through Caitlyn when he kissed her again, whispering over her body at first, then flaming into a yearning want that swept away any thought of not yielding to his caresses. She gasped with loss when he broke the kiss, only to emit little whimpers when he closed soft, wet lips over her breast. A trail of wanting followed his fingers across her flat stomach, bursting into demand when he slid his hand beneath the thongs holding the front of her buckskin trousers.
He cupped and massaged her at first, gently then more firmly swirling his palm against her. When he reached inside to touch her, a blazing shiver of heat ran over her, crescendoing into a shatter that swept her entire body. She swirled with the feeling, glorying in the wondrous fulfillment and crying his name over and over.
When she could think again, it was only thoughts of Jon. Jon's kisses — Jon's hands. Jon whispering her name again, his own aching need echoing in the word.
He pushed the hair away from her face. "God, Caitlyn, darling, I want you. Let me love you. Please don't stop me now."
She kissed him for her answer, and Jon swept her into his arms to carry her over to where the low-hung boughs of a huge pine made a sheltering nest. Snow showered them both as he ducked through the branches, but it failed utterly to cool the demands of their bodies. He only released her long enough to shrug out of his heavy buffalo-skin coat and toss it down for them
to lie on.
Lips greedily transmitting his need, Jon pushed Caitlyn's jacket from her shoulders and tossed it aside. He cupped her hips and pulled her against his throbbing want, moaning deep in his throat when she didn't pull away, and sinking down onto his robe.
Caitlyn tugged against his shirt, and Jon rose above her briefly to pull it off. He reached down and pushed her blouse from her shoulders, unable to stifle a gasp of enjoyment when she pulled her arms free, baring both her breasts to him. He'd neglected one and he immediately lowered his head.
Caitlyn instinctively wrapped her arms and legs around him. Her hands stroked his back, and she tossed her head, tendrils of hair escaping from her now useless braid.
"Jon?" she murmured. "How can it feel like this?"
"Like what?" he asked with a groan as he raised himself to gaze down at her.
"Like...like I want something — something I don't even know what it is I want — and the wanting almost hurts."
Jon knelt over her and slowly began slipping her buckskin pants downward. "Me, too, sweetheart. But it's more than want — or need. It's wanting to love you — and to have you love me back."
He slipped her moccasins off along with the pants, then removed his own pants as he stared at her wonderful nakedness. Caitlyn stared at him in return, her eyes stroking over his body, with Jon feeling every sweep of her gaze.
"This is a part of love, then," she murmured in a throaty voice. "This need I feel for you."
Jon leaned over her on one arm, cupping himself and nudging against the heat between her legs. "It's a wonderful part of love, Caitlyn, darlin'. Let me show you even how much more pleasurable."
She opened her legs wider to him and Jon settled against her, prepared to make her his own.
But before he made that final thrust, he kissed her, then looked into her eyes. "I love you, Caitlyn. Do you think you can ever love me back?"
"Yes," she replied in a breathless voice. "I already do."
Her gasp of pain was swept away at once in the rapture that came when Jon filled her. As much as she gloried in her own feelings, Jon's desire for her needs to be met, as well as his evident enjoyment of her, completed more than just her physical wanting. A sense of her own womanhood shadowed her thoughts.
She was giving this man — this wonderful man who loved her — every bit as much pleasure as he gave her in return. And he told her so with murmured, nonsense words of love — words that took wing in her heart and echoed in the beautiful wilderness around her.
"I love you, Jon!" she cried at the moment of both their final fulfillments.
****
Chapter 18
Jon carefully rolled aside and wrapped them both in his buffalo-skin robe. When Caitlyn shivered, he cuddled her even closer, and Caitlyn snuggled a flushed cheek against his chest as her breathing calmed. She wrapped an arm around his waist, and her slender fingers traced a path back and forth, tantalizing Jon with the gentle pressure.
As she tried to sort through her feelings, Caitlyn remained aware of every masculine inch of the body lying entwined with her own. She loved him. All right, darn it, she did. No sense even thinking about hiding that now, when she'd cried it out for the entire wilderness to hear.
Why didn't he say something? He'd definitely had plenty to say up until now.
Love. Huh, love and lust. There really was a difference, like Sky Woman had tried to tell her. And the best thing she could see about this love business was having it returned by the person you picked to love.
Well, this other part was real nice, too. But enjoying it so much must have something to do with love. Otherwise, why had she taken such pains to keep Tall Man away, as well as any other man who looked on her with a leer?
Little Sun!
Caitlyn pushed urgently on Jon's chest. "Jon, let me go. I have to check on Little Sun!"
"Shhhh, darlin'. I can see him through the branches, and he's fine. Dog's curled up beside him."
"He's not Dog's responsibility," Caitlyn said with another push. "He's mine."
Jon captured her hands and dropped a kiss on her nose. "All right, settle down. I'll go. Just let me get my clothes back on."
Caitlyn stared up into his face, so near her own and so dear to her. Sweat-dried wisps of blond curls layered his forehead, and his blue eyes gazed at her tenderly. He dropped her hands and reached out to brush back a tendril of hair from her face.
"Are you all right?" he asked softly.
"Yes," Caitlyn replied. "I...."
When Jon quirked an eyebrow at her, she gave a languid sigh. "I don't think I've ever been more all right in my entire life," she admitted.
Jon gave a low growl and buried his face on her neck, his hand curling in her raven hair. He held her tightly for a long instant, then drew back to gaze at her again.
"I...." When Caitlyn pursed her lips and lifted an eyebrow, he chuckled softly and continued, "I feel like I've just been given the world on a silver platter. And it's all wrapped up in a beautiful package named Caitlyn."
A flush climbed Caitlyn's cheeks. "Took you long enough to say anything," she grumbled.
"I was trying to think of words strong enough to say it, darlin'. But I guess I love you is about the best I can do."
He ran his index finger down her cheek and around her mouth before he kissed her, gently nibbling at first. In answer to Caitlyn's tug on his shoulder, he deepened the pressure, kissing her as though he could linger forever.
But the world outside their pine bough sheltered nest kept turning — the responsibilities waited. He lifted his head and covered Caitlyn's hand with his own when she touched his cheek.
"I've got to get dressed," he murmured.
"I love you," Caitlyn breathed.
"Took you long enough to realize it," Jon whispered.
"Yeah, I guess it did."
Jon kissed her again briefly, then slid free of the robe. Shivering violently, he hurried into his clothing while Caitlyn cuddled down into the warmth from their bodies.
"You're going to need your coat," she said when he sat back down near her feet to pull on his moccasins.
"Keep it until you get dressed. I'll build up the fire."
Rising, Jon ducked out of the sheltering pines, hurried to the fire and threw on some dry wood. He rubbed his hands together as the flames flickered into new life, standing as close as he dared without taking a chance of catching his buckskin fringe on fire. As soon as he soaked up a little heat, he walked over to the sled to check on the little boy.
After Jon moved away from the fire, Caitlyn reluctantly sat up, keeping the buffalo robe firmly around her body. She glanced around for her clothing and reached out to snag her buckskin blouse in her fingers first. Giggling at the her predicament, she shook her head and tried to decide whether to face the cold and drop the robe, or pull the blouse inside and somehow struggle into it.
She glanced back at the fire to see Jon again standing by it, rubbing his hands up and down his arms. With swift movements, she dropped the robe and slipped into the buckskin blouse. Missing Jon's warmth more each second, she scurried into the rest of her clothing and shrugged into her jacket. Once outside the pine boughs, she shook Jon's buffalo robe free of pine needles and carried it over to the fire.
"Here," she said as she held the robe up. "Put this on before you catch a cold."
Jon slipped his arms in, turning immediately and capturing Caitlyn before she could move away. He whirled her around once, and Caitlyn grasped his shoulders and threw back her head, her silky hair swirling. A throaty laugh echoed in Jon's ears. Instead of setting her back on her feet, he carried Caitlyn over to the dead log and sat down with her on his lap.
"Do you want us to talk about this now, darlin'?" he asked. "Or would you rather think about it for a while?"
"Guess we've already been thinking about it for a few months," Caitlyn said with a sigh. "And even if we talk until we're both blue in the face, it's not going to change things much."
"What's that supposed to mean?" When Caitlyn ducked her head, Jon tipped her face up, forcing her to meet his frown. "I told you. This is a forever thing — at least as far as I'm concerned."
"Forever in who's world?" Caitlyn asked softly. "Jon, I love you, but I love living here in the mountains, too. I've been reading about how things are back where you come from. Fancy manners — fancy meals. Fancy dances and big houses it takes a whole mess of people to keep running smoothly. I'd feel like a fish flopping around in the desert back there."
"So, we'll live out here," Jon said with a shrug.
"And just how long do you think it'd be before you got to yearning for better clothes than the buckskins I can sew up for you? To talk to your kin folks? Get a new bunch of books to read?"
"Caitlyn, there's times I wish I'd never even thought about teaching you to read." When Caitlyn shot him a disgruntled glance, Jon's eyes softened and he tightened his grasp. "I didn't really mean that, darlin'. Look, you can learn all you need to know for when we visit back east. I'll teach you that, too, along with anything else you think you might like to learn. And who knows? You might decide some day that you want our children to have an eastern education. That way, they can choose where they want to live...."
Caitlyn struggled wildly in his arms and Jon had all he could do to hold her. "Caitlyn, stop it," he demanded. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
"Let me up, dash nab it!"
Jon released her with a muffled oath and rose to his feet when Caitlyn began backing away from him, her blue eyes wide and her arms clasped across her stomach.
"Now you listen here, Caitlyn," he growled. "I intend to have children — several of them. Don't you want babies some day?"
"No," Caitlyn breathed in a barely audible whisper. "I can't."
"You don't know that you can't have children, Caitlyn. And look at how well you take care of Little Sun — how much you love him. Your own children...."
"No!" Caitlyn frantically shook her head. "It's different with him. Spirit Eagle will be back to get him. I can't...oh, God! I can't!"
Mountain Magic Page 18
