Never Surrender (17 page)

“You are a beautiful woman, Kate. Any man would be
pleased to be with you, but my mother taught me there was more to a woman than
what one sees. There are special qualities a man needs to find in a wife, so
his children will also be happy with the woman he chooses. You will make
someone a wonderful wife someday.”

An emptiness filled Kate. Was he telling her to look
elsewhere for a husband, that he wasn’t interested in her?

When she turned toward Taima, their mouths were mere
inches apart. She remembered what it felt like when those tender lips had
touched her neck at the healing waters, how his knowing caress had made her
knees weaken. He wouldn’t have kissed her like that had he not been at least a
little interested.

Confusion clouded her mind regarding their
relationship. First he wants nothing to do with her, then he tracks her down to
get her back. Men! And they say women are confusing, she mused.

“Your mother sounds like she was an intelligent
woman.”

“She’s been gone three years, but she taught me many
things she’d learned in the east.” He stopped talking, as though to ponder his
past. “My father still keeps her alive in his thoughts, he loved her very much.
He and I both mourn the loss of someone we loved, but...somehow, I have a
feeling you’ve experienced the same type of a loss.”

Kate looked into the branches overhead, wondering why
she couldn’t piece her memory together better. The visions she’d seen only
served to bring bits of a tragedy to mind, but not the whole story. She had
felt a sense of loss when she’d seen the car accident in her vision that night
at the fire with Washakie. But a loss of whom? The ache the vision left was
still with her whenever she thought back on it. The man in the dream had to
have been someone she loved very much.

“Can you tell me about him?” he asked.

Taima’s fingers caressed her side, but she tried to
concentrate on the few pillowy clouds that crossed the blue sky, rather than
the intimate thoughts his touch provoked. “I don’t remember a lot of my past,
just like I don’t remember where I’m from.”

“Do you think you’re from the east? You speak like my
mother.”

“If I am, how did I get here?” She looked at Taima
again. He lifted his head and rose onto his elbow. “I should remember. And it
scares me that I don’t.” Tears gathered in her eyes, blurring her vision.
Loneliness filled her heart. She wanted to close her eyes, to forget her past.

Taima’s hand moved to cradle her upper back, his gaze
concentrating on her lips.

His head bent forward.

Kate’s pulse raced in anticipation of his kiss.
Taima’s fingers laced through her hair, cupping the back of her head. She
caressed his chest. Gently, his warm mouth took hers, his tongue quickly
parting her lips. She welcomed his comforting kiss, reveled in the healing
power of his touch, and wrapped her arms around his neck. Slowly, she moved her
hand to caress the contoured muscles of his back.

Taima released a groan as he deepened the kiss. His
tongue swept over her lips and the sensitive skin of her mouth, swirling her
into a whirlpool of desire.

He drew her closer and she rolled toward him, arching
her back. Her breasts tingled against his chest and her nipples tightened in
reaction to his hand moving down the length of her spine. The heat of his
tongue touched hers, and she kissed him with equal fervor, willing to give
herself to him if that’s what he asked for. A moan escaped her throat. Shivers
of delight followed his caress.

His mouth left hers, only to sear a hot path along her
neck to the hollow of her throat. Kate rested her head back onto Taima’s arm,
lost in his tender passion. Warm, moist air touched her flesh where he kissed
her.

The weight of his body rolled Kate onto her back, his
arousal pressing intimately against her thigh, making her liquid center flow
like molten lava. He touched his forehead to hers. “I think you are the reason
I suffer from this fever, woman. My desire for you makes me delirious.”

She kissed his mouth, coaxing a reply. It amazed her
that she could affect him in this way, yet he refused to admit he had stronger
feelings for her. “And how do you think to cure yourself?”

“I don’t think you’re prepared to hear my answer, and
physically, I don’t think I’m able to show you.”

“Then I can rest without worry of being attacked?”

“At least not by me,” he chuckled, moving to again lie
beside her. He rested his head on the grass-covered sod pillow. “Not today,
anyway... perhaps soon enough, though.”

“You sound like you need to sleep. If I promise to
stay beside you, will you nap?”

Taima cupped her cheek, drawing her mouth to his for a
brief kiss. “That will bring me sweet dreams.”

Kate covered him again with the shirt over his arm and
side. Settling herself comfortably, she thought of their conversation. Did he
only desire her, yet love another woman? She’d never ask outright. The answer
could crush her. Though Taima slept, his hold on her side stayed firm,
reinforcing his desire even while he slept.

“Is that the only way he would go to sleep?” Ahanu
asked quietly upon returning from the river. He shook his head and smiled.

Kate’s cheeks still heated when Ahanu found her
wrapped in Taima’s strong arms, even though she’d kept him warm in this manner
for days.

“As long as he rests,” Ahanu replied, dropping three
large trout onto a boulder then pulled his knife from the sheath.

“Do you want me to do that?” she asked.

“And have him furious at me because you woke him? I’d
rather do it than suffer his wrath.”

* * * * *

Kate licked the last of the delicious trout from her
fingers as the three of them ate later that afternoon. “Ahanu, you are an
excellent chef.”

“Chef?” he asked, dropping his hands to his lap.

“Cook, it means the same thing. But fish are also good
deep-fried.” She realized her mistake too late.

“Deep-fried?” Taima asked.

“The fish are rolled in a flour mixture, then immersed
in a deep-fryer of hot oil.”

Taima tipped his head slightly. “And what is this
deep-fryer?”

“It’s an electric pot that heats the cooking oil. You
have to plug it in.”

“You talk in circles, woman. We don’t know this
electric,” Taima said, shaking his head.

Kate stared at him, thinking back on the simple
conveniences she was accustomed to, but from what year did she come? “These are
the types of things I know of, yet I don’t know how. Even now, I can envision
what the deep-fryer looks like, the electric outlet in the wall, even a
microwave.”

“Walls? Microwaves?” Ahanu looked suspicious. “Our
people have a right to fear one who sees things not spoken of. Sakima is aware
of your visions?”

She looked at both men. The torment of existing in two
time periods was beginning to take its toll on her patience. “He had a vision
of me before I even arrived. The vision told him I would come from the future.”
Kate waited for some sort of reaction from them, but the two only looked at
each other, puzzled.

Ahanu spoke to Taima. “You should listen to your
father when he speaks. You said he tried to tell you of this.”

Taima met Kate’s gaze. The straight, unreadable
expression was neither angry nor cold, just confused. He looked away, then
stood.

Feeling more alone than ever, Kate rose. “Where are
you going? You’re in no condition to be traipsing through the woods.”

“I will return, then we’ll talk.”

As Taima disappeared into the trees, Kate turned to
Ahanu. “Why doesn’t he listen to Sakima when he talks of his visions?”

“Long ago, Sakima envisioned the capture of Taima’s
mother. Then years later, told Taima his wife and mother wouldn’t be with them
much longer. Those are only a few of the visions which Sakima has had...and
eventually they come to pass.”

“And here I am…tormenting a man who needs no more
tormenting.”

“It’s no fault of yours. Taima has to deal with your
presence in his own way. He’s not been with a woman since Witashnah died. He’s
kept away from them. He loved her very much, and I think he’s afraid to open
his heart again. Her death was a great blow to him. For months after she
passed, Taima led our warriors into battle, placing himself at death’s door
each time. The death wish he carried was a heavy one, though now he allows
himself to spend more time with Kelee.”

Kate glanced toward the trees, watching for Taima. “He
searches for a mother for Kelee, but not a woman for himself.”

Ahanu nodded. “I know. I’m not sure he would allow
himself to love another woman, even now. He’s sworn that to me before.”

Ahanu’s words nearly destroyed the hopes Kate had been
building for a relationship with Taima. If she got him to know her better,
somehow made him love her, she could break through to destroy his vow of never
loving again.

Snapping twigs startled Kate. Her heart raced,
constantly in fear of her abductor’s return.

She glanced to the trees.

Taima sauntered into view. Leisurely movements spoke
silently of his decreasing pain, though his color still wasn’t what it should
be. With more activity, that, too, would improve. She would help Ahanu see to
it.

Kate smoothed her hands down the length of her leather
dress. “Are you still up to going for a walk?”

“I think I need to. My muscles are getting too weak
from lying around like a woman.” He winked at Ahanu.

Kate rolled her eyes as she joined Taima. “Maybe
you’re healing faster than I thought.”

He walked beside her, meandering slowly into the
woods. “It’s because you took such good care of me these past few days. How can
I thank you?”

“A good place to begin might be by not starting fights
with me.”

“Do I do that?”

The sparkle in his blue eyes matched the teasing smile
upon his lips. A cool breeze blew his long dark hair over his bare shoulder,
presenting the sculptured cut of his jaw that still took her breath away. Her
heart beat faster as she remembered his tender, soul-reaching kisses this
afternoon and her gaze rested on his mouth. He could be tender when he wanted to.

His gentle finger beneath her chin brought her gaze up
to his. “I do know it’s not polite to stare.”

Her cheeks quickly heated as she looked away, pulling
her lower lip between her teeth. Kate fisted her fingers. How could she have
allowed herself to be caught admiring him? Now he would surely tease her.

She stepped in front of him to walk deeper into the
trees, but he lightly grasped her upper arm. “Kate...I was only teasing you.
I’m sorry.”

She glanced around at the dense tree cover, at the
stream behind Taima, anywhere but into his eyes.

“I also enjoy looking at you. It makes me happy.”

“I’m glad to hear something does.”

“What scares me is
not knowing
everything about
you. If Sakima is right, and you do come from the future, it would explain the
strange clothes you had on when I captured you. Wherever you came from, they
make beautiful jewelry. And those weren’t moccasins on your feet.”

His serious expression made her laugh. “Now I am
sorry. I had on a sweatshirt, jeans, and wore black, snakeskin boots on my
feet. Where I come from, everyone dresses in the same manner.”

“We’re not familiar with these. I did save your
leggings and…boots. But your shirt was torn to pieces.” Taima gently grasped
her hand. “The green stones on your finger are beautiful. They match your
eyes.”

The sun reflected in the emeralds. “Thank you. My
parents bought it when I turned eighteen.”

Kate turned away and walked to the stream. She sat on
a shaded, bare patch of ground covered with pine needles and watched the water
flow over the stony bottom. Taima sat beside her.

“Things will change for you and your people, though
it’ll take at least a hundred years. Many things will change, Taima.”

“Like what?”

She looked at him, his face serious, his eyes filled
with concern. “The white man will come west. Many of them. They will slaughter
your buffalo. Maybe not the first settlers, there won’t be enough of them, but
eventually, twenty or thirty years from now, the slaughter will begin. It has
already started with the beaver, hasn’t it?”

Taima agreed. “The white trappers bring many pelts to
the rendezvous at the Green River to trade with each other. The trappers there
respect Jim Bridger, a true friend of mine and to my people. He’s visited us
many times.”

Kate swore to herself that she would never mention the
reservations. Given the type of man she already knew Taima to be, he would
never accept it. None of his people would. Thank God, she wouldn’t have to be
around to witness their surrender to the white man. Even if she stayed, their
surrender was several years away.

Tears gathered in her eyes, and Taima’s beautiful
image blurred before her as she thought of what would happen to the proud
people she’d come to love. A warm tear slipped down her cheek.