Silken Savage (30 page)

“You’ve made a mistake, Tanya, a big mistake, and I’m going to see that you reap the results of your impetuous actions, my love,” Jeffrey sneered. “Get off the horse,” he ordered sharply. Tanya’s eyes darted to the faces of the men surrounding her. Some were openly leering at her; most were tired and sullen.

“Don’t look to them for help,” Jeffrey advised. “They are under my command and will do as I tell them. Besides, they are none too thrilled at having to come out on this chilly jaunt in the wilderness to retrieve you. Now, get down off the horse, Tanya.” Still she hesitated, and Jeffrey exploded, “Do it! Or I will run my sword through those brats of yours before that cat can twitch a whisker!”

Tanya blanched and dismounted warily.

“We’ll camp here for the night,” Jeffrey informed his men. “Make a fire and keep an eye on the brats, and if the cougar gives you any trouble, shoot it.”

It took about an hour for the men to get the camp set up for the evening. It was then Jeffrey grabbed Tanya roughly by the arm, directing her toward the edge of the camp.

Kit let out a warning snarl and crouched to leap. “Tell him to back off, Tanya, unless you’d prefer to see him made into a rug.”

Seeing no other recourse, Tanya issued commands in Cheyenne, and Kit settled down to guard the children.

“Very wise, my dear,” Jeffrey taunted. “Now, come along. We have a few things to settle between us.” He gave her a rough shove away from the men.

A few yards out of sight, he pulled her to a halt, swinging her about to face him. “You’ve made a fool of me for the last time, Tanya. You’ve made me look ridiculous before my men and the whole of Pueblo, and now, by God, you are going to pay for it!”

Stiff with cold and bundled in fur, Tanya could not answer fast enough to avoid him as he pushed her flat on her back in the deep snow. He followed her down, pinning her with his body and grasping her wrists tightly. Tanya had no opportunity to reach her knife, and try as she might, she could not gain the leverage to throw Jeffrey off of her. The snow, her bulky clothing, and Jeffrey’s weight kept her effectively pinned beneath him.

For several minutes Tanya continued to fight him, until she realized her agitated wriggling was arousing him rather than putting him off. Also she was futilely expending what little energy she still possessed. She became still beneath him.

When he lowered his head, intent on kissing her, she turned her head aside and his lips met her cheek instead. Irritated by her gesture of denial, Jeffrey captured both of Tanya’s wrists in one hand, and with the other he held her head still. This time his lips met their target, his teeth grinding against her tightly closed lips.

Repulsed and angry, Tanya could not lie quiescent. Her sharp teeth clamped down upon his lower lip until his blood ran with her own upon her tongue.

Incensed beyond measure, Jeffrey shouted an oath, pulling away from her. As she glared up at him, her hatred shining out of her golden eyes, he struck her sharply across the face.

“Don’t you ever try that again!” he roared. “You are going to have to mend your ways once we’re married, Tanya, or both you and your brats will pay dearly. Obviously, you do not respond to gentle handling, and I’ve reached the end of my patience with you. I suppose you’ve gotten used to being treated roughly by your captor, and if that is the only way to get a reaction out of you, so be it.”

He reached his hand inside her coat to fondle her breast roughly through her dress. Tanya wriggled in protest and felt the bulge in his breeches along her thigh. Her expressive eyes widened in alarm.

Jeffrey chuckled mirthlessly. “That’s right, honey, I want you and seeing as you’ve already been used by that savage, there is no reason why I should wait, is there?”

He squeezed her breast painfully. “I’ll show you what lovemaking is all about, and you’ll forget your Indian lover soon enough. When I’m finished with you, you’ll be begging for more.”

His hand released her breast to yank at her skirts, his breathing heavy as his knee wedged itself between her resisting thighs. His voice was unsteady as he continued, “Don’t fret, love. I still intend to marry you, if only to insure that you are mine alone. You may be soiled goods, but by God, you’ll be mine!”

Jeffrey fumbled with the buttons on his pants, his knees pressing painfully into her outspread thighs to hold her still. Tanya renewed her efforts to free herself. The thought of Jeffrey taking her after Panther’s tender lovemaking sickened her, and her panic grew as Jeffrey started to lower his body to hers. She managed to make Jeffrey lose his balance momentarily with her thrashing as her outraged scream split the air.

Jeffrey slapped her across the face once more. “Shut up!” he growled, “and lie still. You are going to enjoy this as much as I am.”

“I doubt that very much.” The voice resounding clearly through the snow-muffled air startled them both.

“Let my daughter up, Lieutenant,” Edward Martin ordered.

“Do it, Young,” George Martin advised firmly when Jeffrey did not move immediately. “If Tanya was your wife, you might have some license here, but since that is not the case, Edward has every right to protect his daughter’s virtue. His anger is justified, and if you’ve harmed her or her sons, he’d be well within his rights to shoot you where you are.”

Jeffrey levered himself away from Tanya, facing away from the others as he fastened his pants. With one parting glare at Tanya he stomped back to the camp his men had set up, George hard on his heels.

Tanya scrambled to her feet, accepting her father’s extended hand. Pulling her into his arms, Edward hugged her to him.

“Did he harm you?” he asked anxiously.

Tanya merely shook her head for an answer and returned her father’s embrace.

“God, Tanya, if he had, I think I’d kill him! If we’d been a few minute later …”Edward shuddered to think what would have happened.

He put her away from him, the better to see her face. His fingers traced the vivid marks on her cheek. “He hit you. The lousy bastard hit you!”

Tanya nodded miserably and kissed the fingers stroking her face.

Edward cradled her face between his palms, looking down at his daughter earnestly. “Tanya, darling, we love you. We always will, no matter what. How can I make it up to you for the way I’ve acted since you’ve returned? I’ve been an ass, but put yourself in my place. How can I let my princess, my daughter, leave when she’s just returned to us? How can you expect your mother and me to let you go when we grieved over your absence for so long? Come home, Tanya. Will you come home and stay, if only for a while longer?”

Faced with her father’s heartfelt plea, Tanya acquiesced with a reluctant nod.

Edward kissed her forehead and heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Tanya. You won’t regret it, I promise you. You needn’t worry about my accepting Hunter and Mark. I’ll proudly claim them as my grandsons, because they are yours, part of you. They are bright, healthy youngsters, and I was a fool to try to deny them. Can you forgive an obstinate old man?”

Once more she nodded, resting her head tiredly against his chest.

“Come,” he said. “Let’s see how George is managing. Jeffrey Young is sure to be in a foul mood, and I’m none too pleased with him. It’s a good thing we decided to follow along behind. He’s been acting so strangely lately that I just felt he couldn’t be trusted.”

“That’s another thing, Tanya. After this, you need not feel pressured to marry him. Your mother and I will not force him on you. We’ll leave the decision up to you.”

They spent the night camped with the soldiers, Tanya and her sons protectively flanked by her father, her uncle, and Kit. The next day they started back toward Pueblo.

Jeffrey was trying desperately to mend his fences with Tanya and her relatives. Shame-faced, he admitted that he’d gotten carried away. He tried to blame it on his anger and the heat of the moment; having just retrieved his runaway fiance. He apologized profusely, promising it would not happen again, and repeating how much he loved Tanya and wanted her for his wife.

None of the Martins accepted Jeffrey’s excuses for his behavior, but for the sake of a peaceful journey, they did not argue with him. There would be plenty of time to deal with the problem once they were back in Pueblo. In the meanwhile, they treated him with cool politeness and kept their distance.

&nbps;

Once back in Pueblo, Tanya resumed her life with little change from before. The one exception was that her family was united in their efforts to shield her from Jeffrey’s persistent attentions.

Jeremy felt terrible that Tanya had been caught and brought back. “I’m sorry Tanya,” he told her with a sad little sigh. “If only I could have kept them from knowing you were gone for a while longer, you might have gotten away.”

“No, Jeremy, it’s not your fault,” Tanya assured him with a smile. “You were a great help.”

With a look so hopeful it tugged at Tanya’s heart, he asked, “You’re not mad at me?”

Tanya shook her head. “How could I be angry with you, my little friend? We tried and failed, but the blame lies with the weather and my impatience, not with you.”

“Are you going to try again?”

“No; at least not for a while. Jeffrey will be watching too closely, and I promised my father I would stay for the time being. I must learn to be more patient, it seems.”

“Will you still teach me how to be an Indian?”Jeremy’s eyes pleaded with her.

“You bet!” Tanya grinned at him, using one of Jeremy’s favorite expressions.

Jeremy glowed. “Gee, Tanya, you’re the cat’s whiskers!”

Tanya burst out laughing. “I’ll take that as a compliment, and if I’m the cat’s whiskers,
you
must be his grin!”

Though Tanya was on better terms with her parents these days, Julie was as incorrigible as ever. The final spark that set fire to Tanya’s temper happened on her third day back. Unexpectedly, she walked into the parlor to find Julie shaking Hunter back and forth, her fingers digging viciously into his little arms, his feet dangling off the floor, and his head snapping to and fro.

Instantly furious, Tanya flew to the defense of her young son. Without thought, she launched herself at her sister, screeching and yanking at Julie’s hair until she released Hunter. With a swift glance at the toddler to assure herself he was alright, Tanya pushed her sister roughly away from him.

Julie immediately pushed back, and the fracas was on. Scratching, hissing, pushing, hitting and pulling hair, the two girls went at it tooth and nail. Heedless of the earsplitting clamor they were creating, they screamed at one another, Tanya spouting Cheyenne at the top of her lungs.

“Let me go!” Julie shouted as Tanya yanked on her hair. “It’s your brat who needs a good beating! You should see the mess he’s made of my crochet thread!
Ouch!
”

A few minutes later, it was, “Stop it, Tanya!
Ouchl
I hate you! Why did you have to come back? Everything was so nice when you were gone!”

Julie’s shoe landed a telling blow on Tanya’s shin, causing her to grunt in pain. “Ha!” Julie gloated. “That’s not half of what I’d like to do to you! I wish the Indians would have killed you or marked you up until you were so ugly, Jeffrey would never have wanted you again. But no, home you come, beautiful as ever, the poor mistreated princess who has to be pampered and coddled and catered to; and Jeffrey is as besotted as ever.”

Julie’s sleeve gave way with a loud rip as Tanya tugged on it, rapping out a stream of Cheyenne oaths.

“I wish I could get away with saying some of the things I know
you
are saying!” Julie retorted. “I wish Jeffrey could see the way you are behaving now. Maybe then he’d see I’m the better woman; and I don’t have half-breed sons to saddle him with. He was starting to come around, beginning to see me as a woman, before you showed up again!” Julie’s open hand made a perfect connection with Tanya’s bruised cheek.

“Damn it, Julie! I ought to knock your teeth down your throat!” Tanya screamed, unconsciously lapsing into English in her desire to communicate with her sister. For several seconds she’d been trying to tell Julie that she had no interest at all in Jeffrey, but could not get her message across in Cheyenne.

“Try it!” Julie taunted, too angry to realize she’d understood her sister’s words.

Instead Tanya yanked out a handful of Julie’s abundant hair.

“
Yeouch!
” Julie’s eyes filled with tears of pain.

“Are you going to listen to me now, or do I have to snatch you bald first?” Tanya asked grimly.

“Why should I?”

“Because I’m trying to tell you I wouldn’t have Jeffrey Young on a silver platter! If you want him so badly, he’s yours, with my blessings. I’d be eternally grateful if you’d take the skulking moron off my hands!” Tanya yelled.

“You aren’t serious!” Julie stopped dead in astonishment.

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Tanya retorted hotly. “I have a husband! I have two wonderful sons! I never wanted to come back here! What more does it take to convince you that I mean what I say?” Tanya’s voice was shrill.

“Truly?” Julie looked as if someone had just offered her a gold mine and she couldn’t quite believe her luck. “I thought it was just an act so everyone would feel sorry for you.”

“Julie!” Tanya sighed in exasperation. She slumped down onto the sofa, plopping Hunter onto her lap. “I can’t help it if Jeffrey still wants me. I’ve done everything in my power to discourage him.”

“You honestly don’t love him anymore?” The look on Julie’s face was so hopeful it made Tanya’s heart ache for her.

“I doubt I ever did. I don’t think I honestly knew what love was before I met Panther,” Tanya admitted.

Julie’s doubt was obvious. “That’s your Indian husband? But how can you possibly love a savage, Tanya?”

Tanya’s smile was gentle in remembrance. “If you’d ever seen him, you wouldn’t need to ask. He is the most marvelous man I’ve ever known. He’s tall and proud and noble, and extremely handsome. Panther is strength and gentleness in the same person. I love him with all my heart and I live only for the day we will be reunited.”