Ride The Wild Wind (Time Travel Historical Romance) (21 page)

“Two of Sonny’s men wanted to trade their horses to me in exchange for
you. I told them you belonged to me but they did not believe me. One Ear wants
you for his wife. He doesn’t believe we’re lovers and has challenged me to a
fight. A moment ago he was watching us over the ridge, but he’s since gone. I
hope what he’s seen today has satisfied him and he’ll no longer be trouble.”

Halle shivered as he rested part his weight on her hip, then dipped to
nuzzle her ear. They were so close she could feel his heartbeat against her
own. She inclined the side of her neck to him, allowing him access. “Then what
you’re telling me is that I have to marry you in order to remain safe?”

“That is only one reason.”

“Is there another?”

 He kissed the hollow of her throat. “You need a man to take care
of you.”

Under other circumstances she might have disagreed. But this time period
was vastly different than the twenty first century. Men ruled the world and
women were often treated no better than property. Those who were fortunate
enough to nab a decent man were the luckiest women of all. “Are those the only
reasons, Antonio?”

He ducked down to take one nipple into his mouth, obviously avoiding her
question. For a man who had proposed marriage, he was certainly evasive. And he
had said nothing about loving her. Pleasure mounted and once again she was lost
in her overwhelming need to connect with him physically.

“I promise to never abuse you,” he murmured against her damp breast.
“And I will not come to our marriage bed until you ask me to join you. But I
want you, Halle. And we both know that someday soon you’ll take me inside your
body whether or not we are married and that a child may come of it.”

Her need for him grew as he suckled. She did love him. Of that she was
certain. But why couldn’t he say the words? Why couldn’t she? Possibly because
she knew instinctively he didn’t feel the same way. Would she only be a
convenient body to warm his bed at night? A woman to raise his motherless child
and bear him more kids?

“How long will I be your wife?” Hot tears sprung into her eyes. “If I
piss you off will you give me to another man?”

He stilled, raised his head slightly to look up at her. “The Navajo
never give women away like property.”

“But you could have more than one wife if you choose?”

He hesitated. “Yes, I could, but I do not want another wife. I want you.
Onlyyou.”

Easing away, he rose to his feet and began pulling on his pants. Halle
realized she’d wounded his pride. She gathered her clothes and was about to
dress when he hurriedly returned and yanked her to her feet. His hands seized
her by the shoulders as his smoldering gaze perused her breasts, then her face.

“Most women would appreciate a marriage offer from a man of my
standing.”

She gasped at his audacity. “What, is being an outlaw something to be
proud of? She snorted a laugh. “You are so
full of yourself, Antonio.”

“I have been accused of worse.” Releasing her, he backed away and
snatched up his shirt. “Perhaps we will speak later when you are reasonable.”

“Oh, I’m not ever going to be ‘reasonable’ about this situation, so if
you have something to say you’d better come back and say it now, mister.”

He paused and turned around, then threw out his hands. “I must be insane
for even attempting a civil conversation with you.”

Halle grabbed her clothes. ”Know what I think?” She shimmied into the
shirt. “I think from the beginning—from the moment we met— it’s only been sex
you really wanted from me.”

“The day I found you unconscious and near death?” A look of disgust
crossed his face. “Do you believe I am an animal who would take advantage of a
woman in her infirmity?”

“You looked at me the way a man looks at a woman when he wants to sleep
with her.”

He laughed harshly. “For one who claims to have no sexual experience you
should talk.”

She started to speak, then snapped her mouth shut. Okay. He had a point.
“But you kissed me.”

“You condemn me for finding you attractive?”

“You touched my breasts.”

He pursed his lips together and glanced down at the ground.

“And when you returned to Elena’s the other day—when you burst through
the door and found me in her boudoir, wearing her gown—I saw the look in your
eyes.”

His gaze lifted to meet hers. “I thought you were the most beautiful
creature I had ever seen. I could not believe it was truly you.”

She swallowed hard. Crap. Not the response she expected.  A few
moments of awkward silence stretched between them.

Finally, he took a step toward her. “I can only do so much to protect
you. I am out numbered forty to one. I promise on my life that if you are my
woman—my wife
—
no
harm will come to you from these people.”

Halle’s knees buckled as the reality of what he was asking began to sink
in. He wanted her to live with him and the Navajo, to cook and clean for him and
possibly bear more children. Even if she did consent, what kind of life was he
offering, that of a fugitive’s? She wanted to cry at the hopelessness of the
situation. She loved him—the first guy she’d ever given her heart to—and it
hurt so damned bad because it was all wrong. There was no future for them as a
couple, only the here and now. Only sweet kisses and tender caresses in his
arms. Would that be enough for how ever long they had together?

Perhaps it was all they’d ever have.

But before she said yes, she had to be certain of one thing in
particular.

“If I agree to become your wife, do you promise to never to hand me over
to Frank Cole—for any reason?”

”I promise.”

“How will you get money to buy food and guns?”

“I’m not certain, but somehow I will raise the money I need to aid my
family. But if you will agree to live with me as my wife, I will take care of
you.”

She was about to ask him if he’d give her more time to consider his
proposal, but he snatched up his boots and walked away.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 Antonio had mounted up and was preparing to leave when Halle
caught up with him. He didn’t look at her or acknowledge her presence. Sonny
had tethered his own horse to an ancient pinion tree and was stretched out on
the rocks, leisurely whittling a piece of wood. The other men were gone.

Without speaking to her or his cousin, Antonio clucked to his horse and
trotted away.

Fear seized her as a million questions hit her all at once. Where was he
going? To join the men who’d ridden ahead? Would he return soon? Or at all? She
looked to Sonny, who politely acknowledged her, then resumed whittling as if he
hadn’t a care in the world.

“Antonio!” She ran after him. “Don’t leave! Come back!”

“Do not fear,” the other man called. “My cousin will return before the
sun appears tomorrow.”

Halle’s jaw dropped. Sonny spoke English? A devious thought flitted
through her mind. She’d pick his brain and find out exactly what Antonio and
those men were up to.

“Where did Antonio go, to raid or to get weapons?”

Sonny said nothing, confirming her suspicions Antonio was involved in
illegal activities. She’d recently read in a newspaper that Union troops had
moved into the Arizona territory to round up and remove the Navajo to a
detention center in Bosque Redondo in the New Mexico Territory. The Mescalero
Apaches were already there.

Because of their resistance, General James Carleton had ordered the
slaughter of all Navajo males and the capture of Navajo women and children. She
recalled from college history class about these people’s pursuit by the army,
the Long Walk, and four years of forced incarceration. Thousands died, not only
from the grueling trek hundreds of miles to the detention camps, but from
starvation and disease. When the survivors were released four years later, it
was only to a portion of their former homelands.

She had to warn Antonio of the impending danger, and the fate awaiting
these people, but how? He’d never believe she’d come from the future. Sonny
wouldn’t believe her story either.

“Tell me where Antonio’s gone,” she asked, not wanting to know the
truth, but needing to. “Was it to Fort Dennison?”

Sonny stared, although she detected the answer in his eyes. Antonio had
gone to raid a fort.

“You ask too many questions for a woman. Go tend the fire before it
dies.” He set aside his knife and wood carving, then patted his belly. “I am
starting to be hungry. You will cook tonight. Antonio says you cook well.”

Halle lifted a brow.
Why, of all the nerve.
Did this rude man
expect her to wait on him? She was no servant. She was a
seamstress-slash-hairstylist-slash secretary. Oh hell. Scratch that job title.
She was fast becoming a nineteenth century gangster’s moll.

“I will rest while you gather more wood.” Sonny placed his hands behind
his head and stretched out leisurely as if for a nap. “Antonio said you were
hungry. The little dog ...” He glanced at Max who sat at her feet. “We could
eat him.”

Halle’s heart dipped. Was he serious? She scooped Max into her arms,
just in case. “You stay away from my dog. If you harm one hair on his teeny
little knot head, there will be hell to pay!”

The man shrugged disinterestedly as if her outburst hadn’t affected him
in the least. “Not enough meat on your dog anyway. We will eat rats instead.”

Halle’s stomach lurched.
Rats?
She was hungrier than she’d ever
been, but with God as her witness, she and Max would never resort to eating
rats. She lifted her chin a notch. “I am not your servant, Mr. Sonny, and I
draw the line at eating vermin.” Her stomach did another dip at the image in
her mind of this man feasting on crispy, spit-roasted rodents.

A few minutes later after her stomach settled, she said, “If you want
rats for dinner, be my guest, but you’ll cook them. My dog and I on will wait
for real food.”

He shrugged. “If that is your wish, I will not catch any for you.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s definitely my wish.”

“There will be nothing for you to eat.”

She scratched Max’s muzzle. “No problem.”

A faint smile quirked the corners of his mouth. “Perhaps it is Antonio
you are hungry for instead?”

Halle’s face warmed at the idea that Sonny might have spied them at the
pool earlier. How much had Antonio told him about their relationship? “Where I
come from a real gentleman would never say such an improper thing to a lady.”
Of course, that wasn’t true. At Elena’s Gentleman’s Parlor men were pretty
specific about what they wanted. Nothing had changed in the twenty first
century either.

Sonny looked her up and down. “And where you come from—” He gestured to
her clothes, “a lady wears nothing but a man’s shirt? Your legs are bare. My
people would find this improper. Would yours
not find this improper as
well?”

Oh, this man was as infuriating as his cousin! “I lost my clothes. They were
bloody after a fall. Antonio burned them so wild animals wouldn’t eat me for
dinner. His shirt is all I had to wear. Do you honestly believe I would traipse
about in nothing more than a man’s shirt if given a choice? Exactly what kind
of woman do you take me for, mister?”

A smile tipped the corner of his mouth. “I like being called Mister. You
may call me that.”

“Oh, I’d rather call you something else.”

Sonny quirked a brow in apparent understanding. “You are a woman who
burns with the same fire as my cousin. You are a good match. I believe this is
why he wants you for his own.”

Her heart did a pit a pat at the idea Antonio wanted her—that the
marriage hadn’t entirely been Sonny’s idea. Had she misunderstood his
intentions?

“Did Antonio tell you that he wanted me? What else did he say?”

Sonny frowned. “I have said too much.” He bent down and dipped his
fingers into the gray ashes, then began to mark his face.

Hallie eyed him curiously. “You got a hot date tonight or something?”

He paused.

“I mean, you’re getting all prettied up for some occasion. I thought you
might have a lady friend stashed behind a boulder somewhere.”

“It is growing dark. The ashes are for protection.” He pushed up from
the ground and dusted his hands on the front of his pants. “I will hunt now.”
Taking his rifle in hand, he paused before setting off. “Keep the fire going
while I am gone and do not wander. I saw a female cougar earlier over on the
rise. She might be looking for a kill.”

“You aren’t afraid I’ll run away?”

“You are not a foolish woman.”

The moment Antonio’s cousin left, Halle quickly went about the task of
gathering more wood and scrub brush for the fire. There was no way in hell she
or Max were becoming cat food. He was gone a short time and  returned with
two small animals, already skinned.  Her heart slammed in her chest. No,
that wasn’t…or was it?  She eyed the sickening, pink fleshed creatures and
wallowed hard as her stomach lurched. Prairie dogs? On second thoughts, maybe
they were ground squirrels.  While the fleshy carcasses of questionable
origin roasted on a crudely-made spit, Sonny sat nearby, whittling another
figurine. The first had been some type of bird.

“Is that one a horse?” she inquired.

Sonny nodded.

Halle eyed the man intently while he carved meticulously on a small
piece of wood. His craftsmanship was quite impressive.

 She piped up, hoping to start a conversation. “I’m an artist,
too.”

“What do you carve?

“Well…I don’t exactly carve, but I work with paints and clays
and…sometimes I design and sew clothes.”

He was silent, apparently unimpressed.

Wrapping Antonio’s blanket around her shoulders, she snuggled Max close
and stroked his muzzle until he fell sound asleep.

Time dragged on and night closed in early. Waiting for Antonio became
miserable hell. A disturbing thought crossed her mind. What if he never
returned? What if he was killed or captured by soldiers? The stark realization
crashed down upon her.  She must be
in love with him. Why else
would she care this much?

Her mind reeled with a hundred excuses why she couldn’t—no,
shouldn’t—
love
him
and in particular, why they couldn’t marry. There was no hope for a
future together. He was an outlaw who’d stand trial for his crimes against the
government when caught. And she’d no doubt soldiers would eventually track them
down. Antonio would be executed along with Son of the Old Ways—Sonny—and all
those men and young boys she’d seen earlier.

Pain squeezed at her chest at the thought of Antonio dying.  She
tried not to give in to tears, but emotion overtook her. Quietly, she wept,
mourning Antonio as if he were already gone. Her muffled sobs must have
attracted Sonny’s attention. Twice he’d ventured over to check on her. Both
times she pretended to be asleep, although Max growled at his approach and once
had sprung from beneath the covers, snarling.

As she drifted to sleep, her last thoughts were of Antonio. They were at
the pool again, making love.

* * * * *

The horse’s hooves tore at the dirt, sending a swirling cloud of red dust
trailing into the air. Antonio spurred his mount on, leaving the drunken,
reveling group of young men straggling far behind. After leading them to the
caves for the hidden crates of five-shot revolvers yesterday, they had ridden
to Fort Dennison to raid the corrals and storage building before sunrise. Their
attack had been successful, but not without incident. Two of Sonny’s men had
been shot.  

The night before, several of the younger men reclaimed a few Navajo
sheep seized a month before by soldiers. They’d headed back north to the hidden
Dine’
camps where his uncle, Chief Manuelito remained in hiding. One
boy, barely fourteen, boasted that he had stolen the Colonel’s favorite horse.

Antonio headed in the direction of a fiery setting sun with thoughts of
seeing Halle. He recalled their last moments by the pool. The silky smoothness
of her skin beneath his roughened hands. The sweet innocent taste of her body.
He had left in a rush, frustrated that he could not make her understand his
only concern was for her safety.  Marriage was the only suitable
alternative under their circumstances. His family, particularly his maternal
aunt would disapprove of their simply cohabitating without the formality of a
marriage ceremony. Perhaps he might broach the subject again tonight.

It was long past nightfall when Antonio arrived back at Sonny’s camp. He
found Halle sleeping soundly near a bright, hissing fire while Sonny kept
watch.

“You are weary.” Sonny came to assist. “Rest, cousin. I made food.”

Antonio shook his head, then handed the reins over to Sonny. “I am too
exhausted to eat. Two of our men died. Those who have rounded up livestock have
returned to
Dinetah.
Others will arrive shortly with a few army horses,
but I should warn you, some of the young men stole liquor.”

Sonny grimaced. “The fools will be sick as dogs. They will act crazy and
be loud. The camp will reek of their stench.”

Antonio shook his head, disgusted, too. “Yes, I fear that as well. I
will take my woman to sleep some distance away.”

“A wise choice. She needs comforting. I listened to her cries in the
night.”

“Cries?”

“She is frightened and alone.”

Antonio knelt down and sifted his fingers through her hair. She awakened
with a start and Max gave a low growl from beneath the blanket.

“Shhh, it is only me,” he assured her, pain seizing his heart when he
noted the streaks on her cheeks—dried tears. “We need to move away from camp
tonight.” He gathered her and the dog into his arms, blanket and all.

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Some of the young men are drunk and before the night is over, they may
all be drinking. I don’t want any trouble for you. We’ll camp near the pool.”

Antonio carried her and the dog up the dark, rocky foot trail and over
the ridge with only the light of the waning moon to guide him. His boots felt
as if they were filled with lead, his knees aching. He hadn’t slept well in
nearly two days and was trembling so hard that by the time they reached the
water he almost dropped Halle as he set her on her feet.

He preferred to blame his weakness on exhaustion, but in his heart he
knew that his real weakness was for her. He had come close to being captured
and had witnessed the deaths of two other men—one, newly married. Returning to
Halle safely had been the only thought driving him.  

Unable to control his passion, he grabbed her up and kissed her hard on
the mouth, a bit too hard he realized when her dog yelped, letting him know
he’d been squashed in the embrace. Antonio apologized to the animal, then took
him from Halle’s arms and set him down.

“I could not stop thinking of you since I left,” he confessed as he
curled his fingers into her thick silken hair. He kissed her feverishly again,
tasting her deeply, rediscovering the woman he loved more than his own life.
 “I kept remembering our argument yesterday…so foolish.”

Between frantic kisses she said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about that
either but…”

He drew back to look at her, but she didn’t have to speak, for he saw
the answer in her sad brown eyes.  Her position on his marriage proposal
hadn’t changed.  He had hoped their time apart might change her stance. He
blew out a breath of exasperation and moved away to strip off his clothes.

“Please don’t be angry with me, Antonio.”

He set one of his boots aside. “I am not angry.”

“I just haven’t had time to really think this through.”

He glared at her. What was there to think about? What choice did she
have? Perhaps she was still entertaining thoughts of returning to Albuquerque?
He pulled the other boot off and slammed it down. Damn if he would ever
understand this woman!