Yellowstone Deception (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 5)

by Peggy L Henderson

  “We have to get to the valley.”

  “I know. I think we’re really close. I saw a bunch of smoke plumes this afternoon to the southwest. I believe that was the Norris Geyser basin. We’re less than a day’s walk from Madison.”

  Dan tightened his arm around her, and gave her a reassuring squeeze. Jana lifted her head upwards, and kissed his cheek. “We’ve almost made it,” she said wistfully. “And then we wait for Hastings, right?”

  Dan’s body reacted immediately to Jana’s kiss, regardless that it was just an innocent peck. He suddenly became acutely aware of her hand that rested on his bare chest, and the nerve endings on his skin all around where she touched him sprang to life. He sucked in a breath of air, and his gut tightened at his sudden reaction.

  “Yeah, then we wait for Hastings,” he managed to say between clenched teeth. He rolled slightly sideways from his back, and wrapped his other arm around Jana’s waist.

  “You’ve been amazing these past weeks,” he whispered, and held her close. He slowly moved his hands up and down her back, and kneaded the tension from the muscles along her spine. Her soft moan of contentment fueled his sudden desire quicker than a raging forest fire. She relaxed and leaned into him, her body molding to his. Heat coursed through him.

  Dan leaned over her, kissed her cheek, and let his mouth glide along her jawline until he found her mouth. Slowly, deliberately, he kissed her soft lips, his tongue probing along the seam of her mouth. When Jana wound her arms around his neck, he groaned, and pulled her tightly to him. His hands roamed along her back, and worked their way under her shirt. He wanted . . . needed to feel her bare skin on his.

  He slid his hands up along her ribs, molding his palms to her feminine curves. He pushed her shirt upwards, and Jana lifted her arms for him to pull it completely over her head. Dan tossed the cotton garment to the side and a hot wave of desire flushed through him. She’d acted almost flirty with him today, and memories of this morning came rushing back. Her response when he held her in that clearing by the lake, the way she’d wrapped her legs around his hips. He’d started to tell her he would never do anything she wasn’t ready for, just before those trappers interrupted them. He had wanted to tell her so much more. How much he loved her. How he couldn’t envision his life without her.

  His mouth left hers to trail kisses down her neck while he fumbled with the hooks on her bra. His lips followed the path of the bra strap over her shoulder and down her arm. With nothing between their upper bodies, he wrapped his arms around her, and rolled onto his back, lifting her on top of him.

  “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, nuzzling along her neck.

  “You can’t see me,” Jana gasped on a sharp intake of breath.

  “No, but I can feel you,” he mumbled hoarsely. To prove his point, he ran his palms up along the sides of her curves, from her hips to her shoulders, and back down across her back. Jana shivered. “I can feel you, and you feel so good. So beautiful.”

  Jana stroked her fingers along his jaw, and kissed him tentatively. It was all the encouragement he needed. He entwined his fingers through her hair behind her head, and deepened the kiss. With a throaty groan, he rolled her over onto her back. His heart rate accelerated out of control, and perspiration formed on his forehead and back. He was quickly approaching the point of no return.

  “I love you. You have no idea what you do to me,” he mumbled against her lips.

  She’s your wife now. Elk Runner’s words echoed in his mind. How simple it was in this time, for these people. Would she agree to marry him when they returned home . . . if they returned home? You’re here, in this time. According to the Sheepeater tribal custom, she’s your wife.

  “I love you, Dan,” Jana whispered, and tightened her grip around his neck. When she pressed her lips to his, his resolve crumbled, accepting her unspoken invitation. He took command of the kiss, and pulled her closer. She responded to him with a passion that drove him nearly mad. Barely aware of how his pants and Jana’s had come off, he leaned over her, and nudged her legs apart. Gripping her hips, he pulled her toward him. Jana arched her back to meet him.

  “I love you, Jana,” he said again, and slid into her moist folds. He froze. “Jana?” The last thing on earth he expected was the barrier he came up against. She’s never been with a man.

  “It’s okay, Dan,” she said, her voice quivering. “I . . . I want this. I want you.” Her hands pulled his head back toward her, and she kissed him, not giving him a chance to reply. His heart was sure to burst at her words, and it was too late for him to turn back now. Slowly, he pushed past her innocence, and his kiss drowned out her soft cry of pain. He waited for her to relax again beneath him, then moved inside of her, holding her hips, guiding her to move in time with him. He felt her release just before his own, and held her tight while she shuddered in his arms. Rolling to the side, he wrapped his arms around her, too stunned for words that she’d given herself to him, and him alone.

  Chapter 24

  Daniel Osborne swung his ax high over and behind his head, bringing the blade down onto a round log with a well-aimed blow. With a loud splintering sound, the wood split in half, each piece tumbling off the ancient tree stump that had served him as a chopping block longer than he could remember.

  He stood facing an old cabin nestled against several tall lodgepole pines. The structure had been his home for nearly all of his twenty-six years, and his father’s before that. Swiping a hand against his sweaty forehead, he pushed some strands of hair from his face, and glanced toward the much larger cabin to his left. The corners of his mouth rose in a soft smile.

  His new home was nearly completed. The only thing that was missing was the stained glass he had promised his wife, Aimee. The cabin was built in a strategic location to overlook the entire Madison Valley, with the river some fifty yards to the south. She had insisted on large windows, so that she could look out and see the river from their main room. For now, burlap covered the open squares.

  By the end of the summer, he hoped to have glass in the windows. When he’d asked his father’s old friend and fellow trapper, Josiah Butler, last winter to buy the expensive commodity in St Louis, and bring it with him when he returned to the mountains for the fall trapping season, the man had looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses.

  “What ye want glass in the wilderness fer?” he’d asked, wide-eyed.

  “My wife wishes it,” Daniel had said simply, as if the man was blind and didn’t see the answer right in front of him. “She is in no condition to make the journey to St. Louis, or I would go myself. I need your help, my friend.”

  The grizzled old man had shaken his head. “Women,” he scoffed, and spit tobacco juice at his feet. “Mark my word, Dan’l. Ya start goin soft and coddlin’ yore woman, and next she’ll be wearin the britches an hen-peck ya mornin’ to night.”

  Daniel could only smile. Little had his friend known that Aimee already wore britches. Not in the sense his friend had implied. Aimee was not a conventional woman, but there was nothing Daniel wouldn’t do for her. He considered himself the luckiest man alive. She had made a life-altering sacrifice to be with him. Love for him alone reflected in her eyes, and Daniel swore that he would show her every day how much she meant to him. Sometimes he feared she would regret her decision to leave her old life and all she knew behind in order to be with him.

  In recent months, Aimee had given up wearing britches. His face sobered, and he trained his eyes on his new cabin. Not a day went by when blinding fear didn’t threaten to rob him of his sanity. Aimee was due to give birth to their first child any day now. Looking at her, one might think she carried a litter of cubs. These days, she wore a simple buckskin gown that hung down her body. She’d outgrown all of her britches many weeks ago.

  Cold sweat trickled down his back. What if something went wrong during the birth? He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to his wife. His own mother had died in childbirth, and the thought of Aime
e dying while bringing forth his child was more terrifying than facing down a mother grizzly bear. His foster mother, Morning Sun, and sister-in-law, Little Bird, had come to live with them nearly a month ago, in preparation for the birth. Neither one of the women had seen a need to come so soon, but at his insistence, had acquiesced.

  Now that Aimee’s time was near, the two women scolded him every day to keep out of the cabin, and to stay away from her. If it were up to them, he’d be banished to the old cabin, or better yet, away from the valley entirely. They couldn’t understand why he would even wish to be here. A man was not present when a woman gave birth. He was reminded of this custom on a daily basis. If not for Aimee telling them to allow him to stay, explaining that where she came from it was all right for a man to be by his wife’s side at a time like this, they would have beaten him off with sticks by now like a coyote being chased off a kill by a pack of wolves.

  Nothing could prevent him from being near his wife when her time came. He might not be of much help, but Aimee wanted him close by, and a herd of bison couldn’t make him leave her side. Putting up with the ridicule of two other women was a small price to pay. Hell, he already faced the scorn of the entire village for breaking with tradition. Although he was a white man, he had grown up amongst the mountain Shoshone who made this wilderness their home. All his life, he had embraced their values and traditions, but this time, he would go against everything he’d been taught.

  Movement along the river to the west caught his attention. Daniel swung his ax, and buried the blade in the chopping block. He groaned silently. The man emerged through the early morning fog that hovered over the meadow and along the river like an apparition. He would most likely be quick to point out what the women had drilled into him for weeks. What was his brother doing here at such an early hour? He must have walked half the night if he was coming from his village.

  Daniel straightened his back, and headed toward the river. That his adoptive brother, Elk Runner, would even come near the valley at this time was a complete surprise. As a male relative, he would be expected to stay away as well, until the child was born. Most likely Elk Runner was here to tell him again that he had a duty to his wife and clan, and leave the valley for a hunt. It was expected that Daniel would provide the village with meat in celebration of the birth.

  Elk Runner stopped abruptly when Daniel approached. Daniel frowned. His brother apparently didn’t want to come any closer to the cabin than where he already stood.

  “It is good to see you, brother,” Daniel greeted in the Tukudeka dialect, extending his hand to Elk Runner. The man’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward, assessing Daniel as if he’d never seen him before. He did not extend his own hand, but rather walked a slow arc around Daniel, his eyes roaming up and down his body.

  Daniel’s frown deepened. What was his brother up to this time?

  “Explain your behavior,” Daniel said impatiently. “I have no time for your practical jokes.”

  “The spirits have not whisked you away,” Elk Runner said. “It is you?” he asked, doubt etched on his face.

  What the hell sort of question was that? “Have you taken leave of your senses?” Daniel asked, not hiding his annoyance.

  “The spirits have made it possible for you to be in two places at once.”

  Daniel frowned. What new ploy had his brother worked up now to lure him out of the valley?

  “I feared the sky people had taken you away. I traveled half the night to get here and see for myself. I believed they are angry with you for disobeying tradition. You should be out on a hunt, not sitting in your lodge like a woman.”

  “I have told you this already,” Daniel said between clenched teeth. “I will not leave Aimee’s side until the baby is born. Then I will go make meat and present gifts to the village.”

  Elk Runner’s face lightened all of a sudden. “I believed the sky people took you away and replaced you with another,” he said, as if to himself. “Maybe I have mistaken what the spirits have planned.”

  “Stop speaking in riddles,” Daniel said, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone.

  “The man who shares your likeness, I believed that he was sent here as your punishment, since you are unwilling to act like a proper Tukudeka hunter.” He paused and studied Daniel’s face some more. Then his lips widened in a grin. Elk Runner walked around him, his hands clasped behind his back, studying him from top to bottom as if he was some prime pelt he wanted to trade for.

  “I think I like the other version of you better,” he said finally, lifting his chin. “He is not as obstinate as you. At least he follows my advice, and is not as foolish as you.”

  Daniel closed his eyes, praying for patience. His brother made no sense.

  “Daniel.” A soft woman’s voice called from the cabin. Daniel’s head turned instantly, and he watched his wife waddle across the meadow toward him. He left his brother’s side, and headed in her direction.

  Aimee favored him with a wide smile that never failed to make his heart beat faster. She reached her arms up to his shoulders, and leaned toward him for a kiss. Daniel ran his hand over his wife’s swollen abdomen. She looked and felt as if she would burst at any moment.

  “Is it all right for you to be out here?” he asked gently.

  “Daniel,” Aimee huffed, her hands at her sides in the vicinity where her hips used to be. “I can’t sit in that cabin all day. Moving around and walking is good for me and the baby.”

  “Woman, you should be in your lodge, before you curse us all. The spirits will be angry.”

  Daniel smiled when Aimee rolled her eyes at Elk Runner’s words. There was an edge of panic in his brother’s voice. Daniel stepped aside to give his wife free access to his brother.

  “I believe the spirits cursed me already when you became my brother-in-law,” Aimee retorted, a wide smile on her face. Her Shoshone was still a bit stilted, but her meaning was clear. Daniel suppressed a grin. His wife never failed to try and put his brother in his place. The two made it a regular habit to spar with words. “If you are so afraid, why do you come here?” she asked, taking a step toward him. Elk Runner backed up as she advanced.

  “I have just finished telling my brother,” Elk Runner said warily, “there is another man with his likeness in these mountains. The sky people have sent him to take your husband’s place. That is what I believe.”

  “What are you talking about?” Aimee asked, throwing her hands in the air, exasperation in her voice.

  “A man with the likeness of White Wolf. He has a woman with him who speaks and dresses as you did when you first came to us.”

  Daniel shot a surprised look at his wife. Her eyes widened as well.

  “A man who looks like Daniel, and a woman who talks and dresses like me,” Aimee repeated. Then she laughed. “How long did it take you to come up with such a tale?”

  “Both she and the man dress the same.” Elk Runner scratched the back of his head.

  Daniel exchanged a quick look with Aimee. He could see it on her face what she was thinking. Two people, wearing the same clothing as she’d worn months ago. Clothing from a future time. Could it mean two people had traveled through time? How could it be possible? The device that had brought Aimee to him last summer had been disposed of. Aimee was sure that the manner in which they had disposed of it would hide it for eternity. Was there another way to travel through time than with the ancient snakehead?

  “Did the woman and man have a name?” Aimee asked slowly.

  “The man shares your husband’s white man’s name,” Elk Runner said. No one spoke. Aimee’s mouth fell open.

  “Daniel?” Aimee addressed him in English. “Are you thinking the same thing I’m thinking? If your brother is telling the truth, how could this happen?” Daniel merely shook his head. He had no answers. His brother was a known prankster, but how could Elk Runner be pulling a trick on him now. He had no knowledge of time travel. Daniel’s mind raced. A man who bore his likeness, shar
ed his name, and wore clothing from the future. What did it mean?

  “The man speaks the Shoshone language, but it is difficult to understand him at times. Some of his words are different,” Elk Runner said. “He said he must warn you of a great danger.”

  “What about the woman?” Aimee asked.

  “She does not understand us, nor speaks our language.”

  “Does she share my name and likeness?” Aimee asked.

  “No. The man, I believe, was calling her Chey-na.”

  Aimee gasped, and grabbed hold of Daniel’s arm. He quickly wrapped his arm around her back to steady her. Their eyes met. “It’s not possible,” she whispered, dumbstruck. Daniel’s eyebrows drew together. Aimee’s friend in the future was called Jana. It sounded similar to the way Elk Runner pronounced the name.

  “Describe her to me,” Aimee demanded, staring at Elk Runner.

  “She does not have the yellow color of your hair, but it is not as dark as our own. It is more the color of buffalo in summer. She is perhaps a hand taller than you, and does not share your disrespectfulness toward a hunter. The man has said she has the gift of healing, just as you do.” Elk Runner paused, and his eyes narrowed. “Do you know this woman?”

  Instead of answering, Aimee looked up at Daniel. “What if it is her, Daniel? What if Jana time traveled? You have to go and bring her here.”

  “I will not leave you,” he said firmly.

  Aimee patted his arm. “These . . . this baby isn’t coming for several days. You can go and be back before then. Daniel, you have to go and get her.”

  Daniel clenched his jaw, then glared at his brother. “Why did you not bring these people with you if they are at your village?” he asked.

  Elk Runner’s face lit up in a brilliant smile. “I have told you, the man is not as stubborn and hard-headed as you.”