The Bearwalker's Daughter

by Beth Trissel

  She murmured his name against his lips. “You are a prayer come true. I waited ages for you.”

  “I didn’t know I sought you, until I staggered through your front door.”

  “Stay with me always,” she implored him.

  “Always,” he repeated to the only one he’d ever made that pledge to, and ever would.

  For starters, he could remain eternally at her mouth, but deeper urges compelled him on. He should constrain himself before this progressed any further. They weren’t yet wed, and there’d be hell to pay, worse than there already was if he were accused of seducing this near sacred virgin. But how could he possibly pull back now when he wanted her more than he’d ever wanted anyone or anything in the whole world?

  Was he taking advantage of her innocence if he loved her more than his life, if he intended to wed her at his earliest opportunity? God only knew when that would be—

  Hold on. He hadn’t been in the Shawnee tribe all those years for nothing. “Karin, will you marry me?”

  She lifted her head, cocking it endearingly to one side. “Haven’t I already agreed?”

  “Just say the words, darling.”

  Light suffused her eyes. “Yes, Jack. I will wed you.”

  So radiant was her smile, he thought he couldn’t bear the piercing ache in his heart. “And?” he prompted.

  “Be your faithful wife.”

  “Now,” he said.

  A puzzled look came into her face. “How?”

  “You just did, the Shawnee way. And I promise to be your faithful husband, my dearest love.”

  She stared at him. “Just like that? Is this exchange of vows all there is to it?”

  “Not quite. The two become one flesh.”

  “Oh.” Only that halting word escaped her, until she blurted, “Grandpa would not agree that we’re wed.”

  “None of our kinfolk would. I shall marry you properly as soon as may be. But we’re on the run now, darling. Lord knows for how long.”

  She considered his argument in that way she had of immersing herself in thought, and then asked, “What of my father?”

  “Shequenor may argue your choice of mate but not your method. ’Tis how he wed your mother.”

  “Well, then. ’Tis how his daughter will wed.”

  A thrill of deepest joy ran through Jack. Reclaiming Karin’s mouth, he drew her back down to him. With the question of whether he should or shouldn’t take her banished, her lips parted beneath his, and heavenly curves sculpted against him, all he could think of was her.

  Like a rush of wind, surging passion lifted him up toward the heights where only two could venture. And he would lead her there, he determined, sliding his hands down her back beneath what was left of her blankets and cupping her smooth round bottom.

  ****

  Goosebumps flushed over Karin’s incredibly responsive skin...and it was as if starlight flooded her soul, dusting her with glitter from the jewels sparkling up in the sky. She’d waited so long for Jack, knowing in her heart of hearts that he was coming. She’d heard him in the wind and now he was here, wrapping her tightly, his hands where no man’s had been, cupped around her bare bottom.

  How amazing the sensation of skin against skin. Her slender arm slid over the bulge of muscle in his, her breasts pressed his hard, hammered chest, her chin brushed his neck, far thicker than hers. How divinely different they were. Nothing but the blanket at his provocative waist and the remainder of hers formed some boundary between them. When the wrappings went, what then?

  A hint of uncertainty surfaced in the marvelous tide rising in her. Jack will know what to do, she assured herself, running her hands over his hard back and sinking further beneath his spell.

  Want pounded in her with the hypnotic beat of a Shawnee drum. How she’d known that, she wasn’t sure. She’d never heard one. Her Indian ancestry must be reverberating inside, the rhythm making her want to join in the dance. And she couldn’t seem to get near enough to him.

  Drawing back slightly from his seductive mouth, she asked, “What comes next?”

  The corners of his lips curved upward. “You ask the most astounding questions. But I delight in answering.”

  She caught her breath as Jack rolled over with her so that she was beneath and he poised above her. Not so that he crushed her, but gracefully and with a protective aura…a gentle though sudden spin, as if she were tumbling into some new realm.

  In a sense she was, and searched his eyes. “Why like this?”

  He smiled. “Did you wish to be on top?”

  Her heedless lips fell open. She hadn’t thought

  “This way is easier the first time,” he explained.

  “You mean my first?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, settling his mouth over hers before she could probe further into his past.

  It bothered her a little that he was much more knowledgeable than she. Briefly, she wondered with whom he’d had dalliances, but she supposed it didn’t matter as long as he remained faithful to her from this day forward. They had only each other to answer to now and she savored their first sacred moments together as a wedded pair...of sorts.

  More goosebumps followed as he pressed his lips down over the curve of her oh, so sensitive neck. He left no tremulous inch unattended. Chills shimmered to her knees and she squirmed under his heated brand, but he didn’t pause there. He kissed down over her shoulders, circling lower and lower, until her breasts came under his sensuous assault. Her nipples firmed like ripe berries and tingled at his touch. Prickles flushed over her entire shivery body.

  It was rather like being thrown headlong into a stream. Until Karin was completely immersed, she’d had no way of experiencing the all-encompassing flow. And nothing she did could halt the rushing current, any more than she could stop the unbearably heightened sensations mounting in her now.

  Surely, she’d be cast out of heaven for reveling in Jack and the glories of the flesh she’d heard preached about as pure wickedness. But how could that possibly be? The good Reverend must be mistaken. Perhaps he’d never known what it was to truly love.

  In growing fervor, Jack lightly tugged and then suckled on her extraordinarily susceptible nipples. She gasped, kneading her fingers through his loose hair.

  He chuckled, his breath ticklish on her skin. “You asked what next,” he reminded her.

  “This is my answer?” she managed.

  “Part of it. There’s far more.”

  “Dear Lord.” She was in a precarious state.

  “Pray hard, sweetheart,” he teased, snatching away her remaining blankets and his.

  “Jack!” Part of her preferred to proceed at a more sedate pace, while the other part was on the verge of a molten eruption over which she had no control.

  Unable to resist a peek, she darted a glance at that part of his anatomy she’d coveted a look at before. This was a great deal more than a glimpse and he far more of a spectacle than she’d imagined. His manhood rose before her in unbridled glory.

  Her jaw dropped. She couldn’t manage a coherent word, let alone tear her staring eyes away. And then she burst out with, “Good heavens! Where do you think to put all of that?”

  ****

  It came as no surprise to Jack that Karin thought him well hung, but he’d never had a reaction anywhere near to her gaping shock. And that question—was there nothing this girl wouldn’t ask?

  With a gleeful whoop, he was off again, holding her to him, convulsed against her softness. He’d never laughed so hard, so often, with anyone. There were things he needed to do, hungered to do, but he was so giddy. She was hilarious and beautiful. And he could hardly bear it.

  Groaning with the effort to constrain all-out guffaws, he buried his face in her sweet neck. She trembled at the touch of his lips on her skin.

  How responsive she was, his way made so easy if he could just stop shaking with mirth. “Oh, lass. You’ll be the death of me.”

  “Or you of me. You can’t possibly fit that
thing anywhere that I’m aware of.”

  “I will. It will,” he forced out between struggles to choke back the hoots begging his throat for release.

  “I shall be impaled.”

  “I’ve not run any woman through yet.”

  She pounced. “How many have there been?”

  Lifting his head, he gazed at her through streaming eyes. “Enough that I know what I’m about. Or would you really rather be the first?”

  She faltered, and said not a thing.

  He had her now in that hesitant moment.

  Swallowing hard, she fixed him with the unspoken plea of a woman who wants to know she’s all.

  “Dear God, you’re lovely.” He smoothed a gleaming tendril from her cheek. “Believe me, love, you are far dearer to me than any other woman could ever be.”

  She nodded slowly.

  “Trust me,” he coaxed.

  An uncertain nod.

  He slid his fingers down over her flattened abdomen. “I’ve never done this to you. In that way, it’s also wondrously new to me,” he said, and slipped his hand between her thighs as he’d wanted to almost from the first. He brushed her curly mat of hair. Then gently, so that he couldn’t possibly harm her, he slid one finger over her tender, as yet untouched, bud.

  She sucked in her breath. “Whatever are you doing?”

  He continued inside her moist flesh. “Scouting ahead.”

  “And?” she pressed, squirming under his exploration.

  “You are just as you should be.” He’d neglected to tell her that she was also rather small and tight...great for him, not for her. He must take care in this first love making or she’d never want to embrace him again.

  Tenderness sharpened with hunger took laughter’s place and he kissed her pliant mouth while stroking the most intimate part of her. She shivered and more prickles swarmed over her lightly tanned skin...perfect, except where she’d been bruised and scraped from falling down the bank. Everything in him yearned so fiercely for her that Jack didn’t see how he could ever really be satisfied, but always want more.

  Moaning softly, Karin kissed him back in that melting way she had before. Wet with need, she trembled against him.

  Jack shook to his center with wanting. The drive to possess her took hold of him with terrific force. Be a man. Not an animal, he chided himself, fighting for control over rabid lust as he had earlier over laughter.

  “Are you ready?” His voice was husky with desire.

  “Yes,” she breathed out, all expectation and none of the hesitancy left in her low reply.

  She’d feel betrayed if he wasn’t honest with her. Kicking himself, but compelled to explain, he said, “There’s more. It may hurt a bit at the start until you grow used to me.”

  She stiffened. “I thought as much.” As before,atthestream, she steeled herself, and said, “Go on.”

  He did, easing his shaft between her thighs and in the silken place that waited for him like a secret trove. Only his ecstasy was her pain, reflected in her hissing breath. Likely she’d not given much thought to this part of herself before, now become her sole focus.

  Gripping his arms, she asked between her teeth, “When does it get better.”

  “Soon,” he soothed, kissing her rigid neck.

  She didn’t struggle to escape him or beg him to stop. No doubt pride hindered her and he knew she wanted him despite the burning she suffered now. Of that he was certain and eased more deeply within her.

  A ripple of keenest pleasure ran though him, while a ripping sensation added to her pain.

  She couldn’t choke back a small cry.

  Warm wetness, blood, no doubt, mingled with the moisture already slicking him. He withdrew from her and reared up to glance down at the red smear on his manhood. Not too much scarlet, but enough. “The fire will diminish now.”

  Still, she held herself rigid against him as if waiting to see. And who could blame her?

  Cradling her like the most precious being on earth, which she dearly was, he pushed his hardness back into her oiled depths. He panted like a horse, but tried not to behave like an ill-bred mount.

  Gently, he cautioned himself, as he thrust his throbbing shaft within her, bliss for him, all the while listening to her short breaths, sensing her slightest response. If only she weren’t so tense, like a drawn bow.

  Slowly, she relaxed as the pain seemed to lessen and ebb away. She did far more than only relish her freedom from the initial sting. Entwining her arms around his neck, she moved her hips in rhythm with his.

  Now. He granted himself permission to plunge inside her velveted warmth and give voice to the throaty groans he’d only just kept in check before. Exhilarating didn’t begin to describe it. He’d never known anything to equal this ride.

  But he was charging ahead of her and must slow so she could catch him. Then he detected her breathy moans echoing his, and thrilled at the sound of a woman pleasured, better than any on earth. He brought his lips back to hers as she rode with him up to the place where only lovers ventured.

  Stars burst inside him. And he thought he might come apart like the wheels of a fast-moving wagon. Then he shuddered, pulsing in rapture against her. Bliss.

  She spasmed in oneness with him, then slacked in his arms. He held her in profound silence, overwhelmed by the raw power of their union. Only their ragged pants rose and fell above the sizzle of the hearth.

  Karin sighed and nestled in the crook of his elbow. “Jack, after breakfast, could we do that again?”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Surely, no man had ever been so tormented. One deliriously passionate encounter with Karin wasn’t enough to quench the inferno fast-rekindling in Jack. Rather like trying to beat out a brush fire that kept springing back up. And here she was seated with him before the hearth, yesterday’s ills seemingly forgotten, excruciatingly bare beneath her loosely draped blanket. Awash in that tide of black hair, she leaned against him in artless sensuality while she chewed her last bites of rabbit.

  Yet, a warning reverberated in his head with the drum of hooves that might well be pounding toward the cabin. A fox on the run, he was pursued by men bent on reclaiming the woman who meant all to him and by Shequenor—hounds of Hell and the devil’s own. At least that incensed warrior hadn’t burst in on them and accused Jack of plundering his daughter—yet. He couldn’t risk that very real possibility again, or the McNeal’s party breaking down the door and crying foul as fists—or worse—musket balls flew.

  Karin loosed a breathy sigh, drawing him like a raptor. Not that she’d noticed his preoccupation with her. “Delicious,” she said, licking her thumb and forefingers.

  “You truly are,” he couldn’t resist.

  Brows arched, she looked up at him in innocence, then with growing awareness as if sparks from him were catching in her...red embers igniting ready tinder. A dizzying invitation shone back from the depths of her eyes, accompanied by a luminous smile.

  Lord have mercy.

  Jack loathed to his palpitating core having to refuse this most enticing of summons, but knew he’d better hasten them both into the dry clothes spread around the cabin. Then saddle Peki and get back out onto the trail.

  She slid her fingers over his chest and sent tingles flushing down his spine. Well, maybe not quite yet…

  Her eyelids fluttered shut in a translucent sheen fringed with black lashes and she lifted those exquisite lips to his. How could he not settle his mouth over hers for one sweet moment?

  The heat in her kiss shot straight to his groin and fire flowed through him like pewter melted for molding into shot. God in heaven, he was ready to be molded to her. He wanted her, again and again, tumbling over and over, joined together. Maybe then, the torment inside him would ease and he could cradle her against him and sleep.

  Closing his arms around Karin, he bore down on her oh so biddable mouth. Her lips parted beneath his and her breathing quickened as she dissolved in his hold. How simple it would be to bend her back and
pour himself into her again. A woman so easily inflamed wouldn’t protest his speed.

  He’d do it. Now—before anyone could stop him.

  A snarl in the fireplace broke through the potent miasma clouding Jack’s thoughts. “What the—” He jerked.

  Karin startled and they swiveled their heads at the hearth. A bear didn’t take shape in the flames, but a low growl sounded in mimicry of the one dogging the back of Jack’s mind. Alarm flashed to the fore.

  “Come on!” He sprang to his feet, pulling her up with him. “Dress fast.”

  Fear colored her eyes gray on blue. “What’s happening?”

  Jack grabbed his shirt and tossed Karin her shift. “The men have broken through the wolves or Shequenor let them pass. Either way, we’re getting out of here!”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Twigs brittle with cold snapped under Peki’s hooves. Heavy clouds spitted white flakes, but there was nothing to do other than flee with Jack further into the Alleghenies.

  “At least the wind’s not up,” he muttered over Karin’s shoulder.