Teton Romance Trilogy Bundle: Includes Yellowstone Proposal (Short Story)

by Peggy L Henderson

  A new level of awareness of her hit him with the force of an arrow to the chest. While he’d been more than mindful that Tori was the most enticing female who’d ever crossed his path, and that there was something special about her, he’d only realized last night how deeply he truly cared for her. Searching for her in the darkness, countless thoughts had raced through his mind.

  The idea that she might not want to share his life had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and an urgent need to tell her he loved her had consumed him to the point of recklessness in trying to find her in the dark. Whatever it took, he’d win her over somehow. He’d gone about it in all the wrong ways before.

  Now that she’d told him she loved him back, no one would ever take her away from him. All he had to do now was learn to communicate more effectively with her. What she’d perceived as bossiness and an overbearing attitude had simply been his desire to keep her safe. He wasn’t used to polite talk with a woman, and he wished he’d paid more attention while growing up whenever his father conversed with his mother. His folks rarely fought, that he could recall, and even then, disputes were solved quickly without raised voices or heated arguments.

  Joseph hadn’t been the most adept man at communicating with Sophie when he first brought her to the mountains. Obviously, conversing with a female without ruffling her feathers was something a man could learn. He’d never had a problem mastering a new skill when it came to hunting game or tracking. He’d figure out how to talk to the woman he loved, too. All he had to do was pay close attention to her, study her like he studied the mountains, the Indians, the animals, and his surroundings. It was one of the things his father had taught him about survival.

  “Always pay attention to everything around you, son, because you never know what surprises lurk behind the next bend in the trail. Learn everything you can about the inhabitants and the natural forces until you know them better than the back of your hand.”

  One thing was certain. If he wanted to prove to Tori that he loved her, he had to treat her more like a woman. Regardless if she dressed in britches, and could hold her own in the mountains. She still thought like a female in many ways, and he’d best remember that, even if he didn’t understand it.

  He definitely planned to ask her again to be his wife. He could no longer imagine his life without her in it. If she refused to come with him to Fort Pierre, he’d simply bring the cavalry chaplain back to the Tetons with him. One way or the other, they’d be married properly. He couldn’t very well marry Tori the way his brother and Sophie had been married, by a Bannock shaman. Although he had many close friends among the Bannock people, he hadn’t lived with the tribe like Joseph had done.

  Even though their marriage was perfectly acceptable in these remote mountains, Joseph had taken Sophie to Fort Laramie last summer to wed up with her legally. It’s what his parents had done after they hitched up without fanfare many years ago during the heydays of the fur trade. In this remote wilderness, no one would blame him for claiming Tori without a paper saying they were wed, but it just seemed more binding, more proper, and he wanted there to be no doubt in anyone’s mind that she was his wife.

  “How much further is it to where we’re going? How alone do we have to be, exactly? It’s been just you, me, and the horse for the last hour.”

  Tori’s words pulled Lucas from his thoughts. Too absorbed in his own mind, he ought to have remembered to pay closer attention to his surroundings after the events of the last few weeks. He shrugged it off. There were no dangers here at the moment, and he’d simply pointed his mare in the direction he wanted to go.

  They’d traveled closer to the mountain range of the jagged Teewinots, which rose sharply upward from the valley floor, their white pinnacles shining brightly in the morning sun. His mare skillfully moved around the countless sedges that grew here. Closer to the mountains, firs and lodgepoles blanketed the landscape, and Lucas guided the horse in their direction.

  “A few more miles through the trees closer to the base of the mountains and we’ll be there,” Lucas answered. He smiled to himself, and languidly stroked Tori’s waist in response to her comment. Awareness of her feminine curves, accentuated by her dress, rushed through him again. Tori’s abdomen tightened at his touch, and she gripped his hand to stop his exploring fingers. Her head turned slightly to glance over her shoulder at him.

  “Why are you bringing me all the way out here, Lucas?” Her voice sounded strained.

  “I told you. I just want to talk to you alone. And there’s something I want to show you, but if you’d rather turn back . . .” He let his suggestion trail off. He’d leave the decision to her. Why was she suddenly apprehensive about being alone with him? Did she not trust him, or herself? He cracked a smile.

  “No, it’s fine,” she answered quickly. “I just think your behavior is odd, since you’ve been so adamant about bringing me out of the mountains, and now you’re taking me back.”

  Lucas guided his mare at a brisk walk along the shores of a large mountain lake, the blue sky and the pointed snow-covered peaks of the Teewinots reflecting in the crystal clear waters. The surface of the lake was as still as glass. He pointed far off into the distance to the opposite shore.

  “There’s a hidden waterfall at the base of the mountain. Joseph and I used to come here a lot, especially when we were children and my folks still lived at their old cabin.”

  “Their old cabin?” Tori’s eyes followed where he pointed.

  The lake was too wide across to be able to see the falls, which were accessible only by a short, but steep climb on foot up the mountain. It had always been one of Lucas’ favorite places to come during the hot summer months. The cold waters of the falls, which were fed year-round by snow melt from the higher elevations, were refreshing. Someday soon he’d bring Tori to see them, but not now. Today, he had something more important to show her. He was suddenly glad that she had refused to go up into the hayloft, otherwise the idea to bring her here might not have occurred to him. There were things he needed to say before he left on his assignment, if she still refused to go with him.

  “Yeah. My pa built his first cabin a few miles further up ahead. There are a couple of lakes strung together by some narrow channels, and it’s where they made their home, and where Joseph and I grew up.”

  “So you haven’t lived in the valley your entire life?”

  “My folks decided to move out of the mountains and into the valley when the fur trade died out. They never wanted to move back east, but pelts were no longer providing a source of income, so they decided to homestead in the valley instead. It’s a harsh life, but I can’t see them living anywhere else.”

  Lucas gauged her for a reaction. He couldn’t picture himself living anywhere else, either. The thought of setting down roots somewhere had been laughable only weeks ago. Last night, the idea to make a home here at the base of the mountains, in the cabin where he was born, and which he frequently visited for solitude, stuck firmly in his mind. Would Tori want to return to her old life in St. Louis if her name was cleared? She belonged here in the mountains, just as he did.

  “My pa never wanted to be confined to life on a farm,” Tori whispered, a sadness in her voice. Her shoulders sagged, and she leaned heavily against his chest.

  “Then why did he stay in St. Louis?” Lucas stroked her arm. The fragrant scent of her hair teased his senses, the urge to run his hands through the soft strands making his fingers tingle.

  “To please Mama. He spent years trapping in these mountains, but she refused to come with him. He finally decided to give up that life and return to St. Louis and take up farming, because he loved her.”

  Lucas’ eyes focused on the back of her head, taking in her words. The sunlight reflected off her hair, making it shimmer in hues of gold, orange, and bronze, much like a sunset descending over the Tetons. Respect for Jasper Williams grew in him. Would he be able to make such a choice, leave his beloved mountains for her?

  Tori turned slight
ly in the saddle, the soft smile on her face sending his heart up into his throat. He reached his hand to her cheek, his palm cupping and stroking the soft skin along the curve of her jaw. With a slight groan, he brought his mouth down on hers, and buried his fingers in her hair.

  “I’ve been looking for you my entire life, and didn’t know it,” he mouthed against her lips. If he was ever faced with the same situation as her father, it was clear what his decision would be.

  Chapter 21

  Tori’s lips tingled, and her entire body hummed from Lucas’ sweet kiss and the gentle touch of his hand at her waist. She gazed into his midnight blue eyes, the love he no longer disguised smoldering in their depths. She’d seen glimpses of that look before, as far back as when he stayed at her cabin, but never this intense. She hadn’t quite understood what to make of his stares in the wake of his overbearing behavior. Since his declaration this morning, she’d seen his looks for what they were.

  Hadn’t she known, or at least suspected that she was falling in love with Lucas since the night she rescued him? What should have been a terrifying experience, racing through the night with Indians on their tail, had made her feel more alive than she’d ever felt before. Lucas made her feel that way.

  Strangely at peace with that thought, she focused on his face. His expression had become more passionate, if that was even possible. Fierce while tender at the same time, his undeniable feelings for her burned in his stare, in the way he held her, and in his kiss.

  Lost in his eyes, Tori leaned into him, savoring his fingers cradling the back of her head, and the feel of his strong arms that kept her swaying body in the saddle. At times like this, how could she have ever called him an overbearing lout? There was nothing arrogant in the caring way he held and kissed her.

  She had to tell Lucas everything. One day, her past would catch up with her, and she didn’t want to endanger his life. First Timothy had died, then her father had given up everything for her including his life. She couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Lucas because of her. He would defend and protect her from Paul the same way he had protected her against Black Sparrow, but Paul was cunning, and would never fight fair.

  Lucas drew his head back at that moment, a satisfied smile on his face. His fingers swiped across her cheek, and he motioned with his chin at something up ahead. The sound of rushing water replaced the pounding in Tori’s ears from her racing heartbeats. Lucas’ touch left a tingling trail in its wake, and her lips pulsed even though his kiss had been slow and soft.

  The gentle breeze from the morning picked up in intensity, the gust cooling her flushed cheeks. Tori forced her breathing to remain steady. The crowns of tall lodgepoles swayed all around them in tune with the wind, their limbs groaning. The pounding of a woodpecker nearby mingled with birdsong, adding to the content feeling that swept through her.

  Tori adjusted her seat in front of Lucas, every inch of her aware of his hard thighs pressed to the back of her legs, and his solid chest against her back. She looked ahead to what had drawn his attention. Nestled between a stand of pine trees, some fifty yards from the sandy shores of a crystal clear shallow mountain lake, stood a small log cabin.

  Shrubs and vines obstructed much of her view until Lucas guided his mare closer along a trail that looked to have been heavily used at some time, but was slowly being reclaimed by the forest. Foliage grew in abundance along the opposite shores of the lake, along with straight and tall lodgepoles. Beyond the canopy of the trees, tall mountains rose vertically skyward. Tori drank in the tranquil beauty of this place.

  Lucas reined his horse to a stop in front of the cabin, and dismounted. He reached his hands up. Tori fell willingly into his arms. He lowered her to the ground, the earth cold yet soft on her bare soles.

  “This is where you grew up?” Tori’s eyes widened as her gaze drifted from the spectacular scenery of the sparkling lake to the mountains, then to the cabin. It looked to be no more than a two-room dwelling, a large stone chimney taking up most of one end of the structure. The cabin door was sandwiched between two boarded-up windows.

  “Yeah,” Lucas said absently. He hadn’t released his hold on her waist. “I come here a lot when I need to be alone.”

  She looked up at him. Her heart skipped in her chest when her gaze met his. Dark and all-consuming, his eyes pierced into her, and her mouth went dry. Lucas cupped her face between his hands, and tilted her head upward, making it impossible to avoid his stare. He stepped closer until their bodies touched.

  “Why did you bring me here, Lucas?” Tori whispered the question, struggling to draw air into her lungs.

  The muscles in his face softened. “This area holds special meaning for me. My father built this cabin for my mother a long time ago. It’s where I was born, where I grew up, and where I learned about the mountains. Growing up here made me who I am.” He spoke slowly, his voice low and even. His thumbs stroked softly across her cheeks.

  “I had a lot of time to think on things last night while I was trying to find you. You’ve made me see things, want things, that I never gave a second thought to before.” He leaned down, and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips.

  “Life has always been simple for me. I’ve come and gone as I pleased, done things that I thought brought me fulfillment. I’ve finally realized that I roamed the mountains, searching for something but never quite knowing what I wanted or that I was even looking. I know now what that something is.” He paused, still holding her face. His stare didn’t waver. “It’s you, Tori. I want you to share my life, become part of my life. I didn’t ask you before when I brought up the idea of getting hitched, but I’m asking this time, as best as I know how. Tori, I love you. I want you for my wife. I’ve never wanted anything as badly or been more sure of anything.”

  Tori swallowed back the lump in her throat. The sounds of the forest quieted around her, even though the wind had picked up considerably. The only thing left was this man standing in front of her. Echoes from the past squeezed their way to the forefront of her mind, and she pushed them back with all her might. Love rushed through every limb in her body, through her center, and settled deep in her heart.

  “I love you, Lucas,” she croaked weakly. “I’m . . . I don’t know what to say.”

  An unsure smile spread across his face. “Saying yes would do just fine,” he said hoarsely.

  Tori shook her head slightly. “You don’t understand. I’m not sure . . . I don’t think I should marry you.”

  “Why not?” His forehead wrinkled, and the smile on his face faded. “Did I ask in the wrong way again?”

  His stricken look melted her heart even more. “No.” She couldn’t help but chuckle. “The way you asked was perfect. I just . . .” She inhaled a deep breath.

  “I know I can’t give you much, Tori.” Lucas cut her off. “We can raise a few horses and cattle, like my folks, and do some hunting and trading. I don’t see folks settling here anytime soon, so it’ll be secluded, just the way you’re used to. That’s the kind of life I can offer you.”

  Tori reached her hand up to stroke along his whiskered cheek. “What about the kind of life you want for yourself, Lucas? I watched my pa work away at the farm in order to please Mama, but it wasn’t the life he wanted. He yearned for the freedom of the mountains. The freedom to roam and not be tied down to one place.”

  Lucas grinned triumphantly. “Isn’t that what you want, too? What I want? If we ever get itchy feet, we can go wherever we choose. You and I, we took care of each other up in those mountains, Tori. We are a good team that way, and I know we can be better partners as man and wife.” His stare intensified. “In all ways,” he added in a husky tone.

  Tori inhaled deeply. A slight shiver passed through her at his last words, his meaning all too clear. Her pulse quickened and she hastily pushed images of lying in Lucas’ arms from her mind.

  “I have to leave in a day or two at the latest. I’d like you to go with me to Fort Pierre, but I understand if you n
eed more time to think on things.”

  Tori shook her head. If she wasn’t on the run, she would have accepted his proposal without hesitation. All she could do now was break his heart, along with her own.

  “Lucas, I don’t want to put your life in danger. By being with me, you’re not safe.”

  His hands left her face, and he gripped her upper arms. His thumbs rubbed in soothing motions against her dress, igniting her skin with his touch even through the fabric. Why did he affect her like that, making her want more when she should be heeding her own words?

  “You haven’t shot me yet, Tori, even when I’ve acted my worst around you. I’m fairly sure you won’t kill me, so I don’t see why my life would be in danger around you.” He grinned widely now.

  Tori frowned. “This isn’t funny, Lucas,” she chastised. “I think you know that I’m referring to my past.”

  His expression turned serious instantly. The muscles along his jaw tightened. “I know this has everything to do with what happened back in St. Louis, and I think it’s time I got the whole story.”

  He was right. It was time he was told everything. She owed him that much. She forced her legs to step back to get out of his grasp. He needed to know that she’d marry him if she could. “I’m a fugitive. I can’t ask you to carry my burden.”

  Lucas laughed. “That’s what has you worried? I’ve told you before, I’ll clear your name. I’ve got friends in St. Louis – lawyers. They’ll help you.” His hand reached up and he stroked his thumb across her cheek. Instantly, he closed the distance between them that she’d fought so hard to create. “Let me take care of you,” he whispered. “You don’t have to be alone anymore, Tori. Let me shoulder your burden. Anyone who wants to get to you has to come through me first.”