Blackwolf's Redemption

by Sandra Marton

  And when she figured out that he’d deliberately baited her on their first evening in the city, she called him an awful man and ruined the effect by flinging herself into his arms and kissing him.

  Her Jesse was, yes, wonderful.

  And all at once, looking at him one morning over late coffee in his sun-filled apartment, Sienna felt as if the earth had suddenly tilted under her feet.

  She was in love with him.

  The cup in her hand trembled. She put it down and tried to tell herself it wasn’t true. She couldn’t have let that happen. Loving Jesse was a dangerous, foolish thing. Bad enough she’d become his responsibility, but to love him, to want him to love her when passion, not love, was on his agenda…

  “Sienna.” Jesse rose from his chair and came quickly to her side. “Baby, what is it?”

  “Nothing. I’m—I’m fine.”

  “The hell you are.” He drew her chair back, lifted her to her feet. “You’re not happy.”

  “Jesse—”

  “With me? Or with being here?”

  “Oh, no, it isn’t you! It could never be—”

  “Do you miss 2010?” His jaw tightened. “Do you wish you could go back?”

  He had never asked her those questions. And she hadn’t given them much thought. At first, she’d been too busy trying to accept what had happened, but yes, at the beginning, if there’d been a way to return to her own time…

  “The only place I want to be is right here.”

  Jesse felt as if he’d been holding his breath. “Good,” he said gruffly. “Because we’re going home.”

  “Home?”

  “To Montana. It’s where I really belong. And where I want—where I want you to be with me.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, I can get a job here, you know? Find a place to live—”

  Jesse silenced her with a kiss. It was a long, tender kiss; he felt her holding back, and then, gradually, her lips softened, clung to his, and when he finally lifted his head and looked into her eyes, he felt as if a blindfold had been torn from his eyes.

  Somewhere between the sacred stone in the wild beauty of Blackwolf Canyon and this very unsacred high-rise in the sophisticated beauty of San Francisco, everything in him had changed. And Sienna was the reason.

  He was in love. Deeply in love, for the very first time in his life.

  Was it too soon to tell her that? Would she want to hear it? She’d gone through so much in such a short time….

  “Jesse.” Her voice was a husky whisper. “Do you mean it? Do you want me to—to be with you?”

  He threaded his fingers into her hair, lifted her face to his. Maybe she needed some breathing room. He could say he was offering her a safe place until she decided what to do next—

  But lying to her was impossible.

  “Yes,” he said gruffly. “I want that more than my next breath.”

  She rose on her toes and kissed him. It was a kiss filled with all the promise a man could want. He drew her against him, returned the kiss, took it slow and deep and hot until she moaned into his mouth.

  Then he undressed her. Touched her. Drew her onto a chaise longue where he followed each stroke of his hand with a stroke of his tongue and when they were both half crazy with hunger, he entered her.

  And knew he wanted her to be his, forever.

  They flew back to Montana that evening.

  Home, Jesse had called it, and that was the way it felt to Sienna, but then, what was it someone had once said? Home was where the heart was. And her heart was here, with Jesse. The year could be 1975. It could be 2075. It could be anything, just as long as she was in his arms.

  He was everything she had ever dreamed a man could be. Strong. Tender. Gentle. Fierce. He was her beautiful, macho warrior.

  And she adored him.

  He introduced her to his men. They were true sons of the Old West, courteous and gallant in their dealings with her. At Jesse’s urging, his foreman selected a gentle chestnut mare for her; one of the younger hands brought her a hand-made bridle and shyly said he’d be honored if she’d accept it.

  Jesse stood by, grinning with pride.

  Mornings, they both worked, he on the ranch, she on its books. Afternoons, they rode the land together. He took her to the ancient sites shown him by his father, sites he had so recently derided. To his delight, Sienna already knew most of them. She had studied this place, learned the Blackwolf secrets.

  But one secret remained. Jesse’s secret. That he loved her.

  He longed to tell her, but how? Instinct told him the moment had to be right. Sienna understood the old ways. He wasn’t sure he respected them anymore, but she did….

  And with that realization, he had the answer to his question.

  Two nights later, he went to the safe in his office. Took out a bracelet, very old, made of braided horsehair with a sterling-silver-and-pipestone clasp. His father had given it to his mother; his grandfather had given it to his grandmother. Men of his tribe had given the bracelet to the women they loved for more generations than he could count.

  Tonight, he would give it to his Sienna.

  They ate supper before the living room fireplace, steaks he grilled and a salad she put together in a wooden bowl. His father had carved it, he said with pride. She smiled. It was easy to see he had loved his parents, that he loved this place, this land…

  “Are you really going to sell this place?” she suddenly said, her promise not to mention the sale cast aside.

  He looked at her. He’d all but forgotten the papers in the folder on his desk.

  “Years from now, someone is going to turn it into a resort.”

  He nodded. “Sooner than that,” he said, “but not really a resort. A group of homes on big chunks of property, maybe a ski lift.”

  Sienna shook her head. “The land will remain untouched until 2010. Then a developer will fill your beautiful canyon with row upon row of houses built around a golf course.”

  The muscle jumped in his jaw. A week ago, he wouldn’t have cared. At least, that was what he’d told himself. Who gave a damn for ancient rituals, for the sanctity of the land? He’d wanted to rid himself of a burdensome past filled with lies about honor, duty, history.

  Now that had changed. A woman, this woman, had brought him back to himself. He could no more sell the land of his fathers than he could give her up, and he smiled as he took her into his arms.

  “I won’t sell this land,” he said softly. “How could I, when it brought me you?”

  Hours later, an enormous white moon began rising in the black velvet sky.

  Jesse stirred, rolled on his side and stroked a gold curl from Sienna’s forehead. “A full moon,” he said softly. “Will you come out on the porch and see it with me?”

  She sat up. The beautiful old quilt from the sofa dropped to her waist, revealing her breasts. He cupped one, caressed the sensitive tip, watched her eyes darken.

  “The moon will be beautiful,” he said in a husky whisper, “though not as beautiful as you.”

  Sienna brushed her lips over his. “Can we see it from the canyon?” She smiled. “It would be the perfect end to a perfect day.”

  She was right. Still, he felt a quick sense of unease. And that was nonsense. The canyon was as much his home as this house. Hadn’t he just thought of how it had brought Sienna into his life?

  “Jesse?”

  He kissed her. Her mouth, her throat, her breasts. “You’ll have to pay the price when we get back.”

  Her soft, sexy laughter made his body harden in anticipation.

  “You drive a tough bargain, Mr. Blackwolf.”

  The dark mood that had threatened to overcome him fell away. He rose to his feet, pulled on his shirt, his jeans, felt the outline of the sterling-pipestone-and-horsehair bracelet in his pocket. Smiling, he offered her his hand.

  “Come on, woman,” he said in a teasing voice of command. “We’re wasting time.”

  She rose in one sinuous motion. The
darkness hovered over him again, but he told himself he was being an idiot, and he flashed a grin and swatted her on her naked backside.

  “Hey,” she said, with mock indignation.

  He tilted her chin up and dropped a light kiss on her nose.

  “I’ll saddle the horses while you get dressed.”

  “Perfect,” she said.

  She was right. What better place to give her the bracelet than the canyon where they’d found each other?

  What better place to tell her that he loved her, and wanted to make her his wife?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  THEY rode out slowly, the horses casting long shadows as they picked their way over the meadow.

  The night was still and cool, the sky a black colander pierced by the light of a thousand stars. A fat ivory moon rose above the jagged rim of the canyon, limning the stark peaks with an almost merciless light.

  It was beautiful, all of it. The moon, the stars, the canyon and Blackwolf Mountain, now looming just ahead…but Jesse’s feeling of unease was growing.

  Maybe coming out here hadn’t been such a good idea.

  Halfway into the canyon, he reached for the mare’s reins and brought both horses to a halt.

  Sienna looked at him in surprise. “Why are we stopping?”

  Why, indeed? He, of all people, didn’t believe in premonitions. Besides, he wasn’t having a premonition, he just had this uncomfortable feeling…

  “Jesse? I thought we were going to ride all the way into the canyon, to Blackwolf Mountain.”

  He draped Cloud’s reins over the saddle horn and slid to the ground.

  “The view is perfect here,” he said, reaching up to Sienna. “See? The stars, the moon right overhead…” He smiled as she slipped into his arms. “Besides,” he said, “it’s been too long since I kissed you.”

  She laughed softly as she linked her hands behind his neck.

  “Much too long,” she agreed, and lifted her face to his.

  He kissed her, his mouth gentle on hers, tasting the sweetness that was hers alone, gathering her tightly to him until their bodies seemed to be one. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote sent a mournful cry into the night.

  Sienna shivered.

  “Baby? Are you cold?”

  “No. It’s just…” She hesitated. “There’s such a sense of peace here, but there’s also—there’s something else. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a feeling—”

  “Yes. I know.” He did. He felt it, too. An indescribable sense of peace and—and something more, something that made the hair rise on the nape of his neck.

  It was as if the canyon was filled with the old beliefs tonight. Nonsense, of course. Besides, he’d brought Sienna here for a reason. This was where he had found her. It seemed right that this should be where he told her how much he loved her.

  “Sweetheart?”

  “Mmm?”

  “I have—I have something to tell you.”

  She tilted her head. “Something bad?”

  Great. Just great. That was one hell of a start, but then, he’d never done this before. He and Linda had just sort of ended up married; he’d never been able to remember actually proposing.

  The coyote howled again—or was it a coyote? The sound was too deep, too wild, too filled with loneliness. Sienna caught her breath.

  “Jesse, that’s a wolf! I didn’t know there were wolves left in Montana. There will be, in my time, but not now.”

  “Yeah. It’s a wolf, all right. I’ve seen him. A big guy. A male.”

  “Ah,” she said, the word filled with compassion. “He must be lonely.”

  Jesse nodded and raised her face to his. “He is,” he said quietly. “He needs a mate. A mate he can love, who will love him forever.”

  His voice was low. Sienna’s heart began to race.

  “What a lucky female she’ll be.”

  He smiled. “You think?”

  “I know. To have a mate like that…”

  “Sienna. I’m in love with you.”

  She didn’t move. Didn’t answer. His gut knotted. Why hadn’t he waited? It was too soon. She wasn’t ready. She might never be ready. Maybe what she felt for him was gratitude.

  He was a fool. He was moving too fast, asking too much of a woman who was still trying to understand what had happened to her—

  “Oh, Jesse…”

  He swallowed hard. “Yeah. I know. Too much, too fast, too—”

  “Jesse, I love you, too. I adore you!”

  Jesse whooped as if he were a warrior counting coup. He’d learned the victorious cry from his father, passed it on to the men he’d led into battle—and had never imagined making such a joyous sound again. Sienna laughed as he caught her in his arms, whirled her in circles and kissed her, over and over.

  When he put her on her feet, their laughter stopped. He looked deep into her eyes.

  “I have something for you,” he said softly. “I know I’ve told you I don’t believe in the old ways, but…” Moonlight lit the bracelet as he took it from his pocket. “But I believe in this.”

  Sienna caught her breath. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”

  “It’s old. Very old. My father gave it to my mother. His father gave it to his mother. The men of my father’s family have given it to their women for hundreds of years.” He paused. Sienna’s eyes were on his. What was she thinking? She’d said she loved him, but another woman, one to whom he’d never given this bracelet, had once used those same words…

  “I know what it is,” she said softly. “It’s a totem. A token.” She reached out and put her hand on his chest. “And I am honored that you offer it to me.”

  Jesse felt his throat constrict. “But?”

  She gave a low, quicksilver laugh. “But, if you don’t say the rest of the words, I’m never going to forgive you!”

  It was as if all the pain, all the despair in his heart gave way.

  “The honor is mine,” he said as he slipped the ancient bracelet on her wrist. “Sienna. Will you marry me and be my love, forever?”

  Tears glittered in her eyes. “Oh, yes. Yes, my darling, yes!”

  Jesse gathered her close, bent his head and kissed her. Her lips parted under his; the taste of her filled him. He slipped his hands under her sweater, groaned as she sighed her pleasure into his mouth.

  Thunder, deep and menacing, rolled across what had been a cloudless sky.

  Sienna jumped. “Jesse?”

  He looked up. What the hell was happening here? The moon was suddenly gone. The stars had fled. The canyon had become so dark that he couldn’t even see the horses. Through the impenetrable blackness, he heard Cloud’s terrified whinny.

  “Jesse.” Sienna wrapped her arms more tightly around him. “What’s going on?”

  It was a damned good question. He didn’t know, didn’t like not knowing. Something nuzzled his shoulder. Cloud, he thought with relief, and grabbed for the reins with one hand.

  “Come on,” he said grimly. “Get up on Cloud and we’ll get the hell out of—”

  The thunder rolled again. It sounded like a freight train aimed directly at them. Sienna screamed—and, all at once, a shaft of green lightning split the darkness.

  “Jesse!”

  He dropped the reins, gathered Sienna more closely against him. Something—the wind, the night—something was trying to tear her from his arms.

  “I’ve got you,” he shouted. “I won’t let you go—”

  It didn’t matter.

  One second, the woman he loved was in his arms.

  The next, she was gone.

  The low buzz of voices.

  A warm breeze.

  Cool water on her face.

  Sienna moaned. “Jesse?”

  “She’s coming around,” a voice said.

  “Thank goodness!” another voice added.

  “Sienna? Open your eyes.”

  It wasn’t easy, but she did. And moaned again. Her head ached. She was nauseous. Dizzy.
And the sun, beating down on her, was a brutal force.

  The sun?

  Oh, God! “Jesse,” Sienna gasped, and sat up.

  “Easy.”

  The voice was male—but it wasn’t Jesse’s. She blinked; faces came into focus. “Jack?”

  “Take it easy,” Jack said. “Don’t try to move just yet.”

  “What happened?”

  “We had one of those crazy summer electrical storms,” one of the grad students said excitedly. “Lightning, you know? It hit too close and you passed out.”

  “Jesse,” she said again, her voice trembling.

  “There’s no Jesse here,” Jack said impatiently.

  “She must have been dreaming,” the grad student said.

  Sienna raised a shaking hand to her head. There was a lump behind her ear. “What—what happened?”

  “We just told you,” Jack said, his tone accusatory.

  “A storm,” the grad student said. “And a bolt of what looked like green lightning hit the ledge up there.”

  “And,” Jack said, “you went down.”

  Sienna stared at him. “So—so, I was unconscious?”

  “Yup.”

  “But—but for how long? How many days?”

  Jack snorted. “Days? Minutes, just minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Something like that.”

  A moan burst from Sienna’s throat. A dream? Was that what this had been? Only a dream? No. No!

  “You were out long enough to miss the good news.”

  “What good news?”

  “Just had a text message from the university. We can take our time with this expedition. Turns out the land’s not for sale, after all.”

  Sienna felt her heart lift. “It isn’t?”

  “Nope. Somebody just found papers dated July ’75. Seems the guy who owned it changed his mind, turned the place into a trust that’ll stay forever wild.”

  Sienna’s head was spinning. If she’d dreamed it all, why had someone just found papers making the canyon and the surrounding land forever wild?

  And yet—and yet, such a thing was feasible. Lawyers and scholars were always turning up old documents.