Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (106 page)

 Dan set a fast pace away from the canyon, up a steep mountain that leveled out to a flat plateau, no doubt wanting to make up for the time they had lost while he’d been battling his infection. The going was slow and strenuous, and it took them an entire day to reach the top.

For the next two days, Jana observed Dan closely to make sure he didn’t overexert himself, sometimes feigning exhaustion to slow him down, certain that he would never admit to her that he was worn out. His body still needed to recover from the fever that had raged through him.

“This looks like a good place to stop,” she suggested casually the evening after climbing Bunsen Peak, surveying her surroundings. They’d left the canyon and river an hour or more ago, and were traveling through an open meadow. Up ahead stood a large grove of aspens. A wide stream meandered through the tall grasses, and they’d come upon several clear ponds that were hidden amongst tall reeds.

“You sure you don’t want to go any further?” he asked. “We’ve got plenty of daylight left. We could get a few more miles behind us.”

It was probably best to let him think she was tired, rather than suggest that he was the one needing to slow down after the last two strenuous days. “I’ve had enough for today. We’ve covered a lot of ground.”

Dan smiled softly. He stepped up close to her, and touched her arm. Jana’s heart reacted instantly to his warm hand. She sucked in a deep breath. This was a different touch than the indifferent way he held her close at night. She swallowed, suddenly nervous. His eyes on her face wouldn’t let go.

“I’ll admit, I’m a bit tired myself,” he said, still staring straight into her soul.

“We’d better not tell anyone that you fought with a goose, and the animal won. Your reputation as a ranger will be ruined.” Jana grinned, trying to lighten the sudden tension she felt.

“Oh, yeah?” Quite unexpectedly, he slid his backpack from his shoulders, and pulled her up against him. Jana’s smile left her face, and she gazed up into his intense eyes. “Geese are quite ferocious, you know. Almost as dangerous as a bear.” His voice was mesmerizing.

“I’ll try and remember that,” she whispered. She suddenly couldn’t breathe. Dan’s fingers brushed against her cheek, just before his hand slid behind her neck.

“I think I’m going to kiss you,” he said, his voice deep and husky.

“I think I want you to kiss me,” she murmured without a second thought. Dan’s eyes widened for the briefest of seconds. His hand at the back of her neck tightened, and he cupped her cheek with the other. Slowly, he brought his mouth down on hers. His firm lips moved softly across hers, as his hand kneaded the back of her head. Jana raised her arms to grip his shoulders.

He groaned deep in his chest.  His arm wrapped around her waist, and he pulled her up against him. The pressure of his kiss intensified, and Jana parted her lips in answer to his demand. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed against him. Suddenly she couldn’t get close enough to him.

Dan broke the kiss, and brushed his rough cheek against hers. He buried his face in her hair, and inhaled deeply. His heart beat wild and strong against Jana’s breast, and she hugged him even tighter. His warm, firm hands spanned her waist, holding her flush up against him, and heat seared through her veins.

“I was so afraid you were going to die,” Jana whispered against his neck. “Please don’t ever do anything crazy like that again.”

“You won’t mention to Aimee and Daniel that I almost got killed by a goose, will you?” Dan leaned back, and grinned. Jana gave a short laugh, and released her hold from around his neck. Her hands lingered on his chest, the warmth from his skin radiating through his shirt into her palm. Dan’s hand covered one of hers, and he held it firmly over his beating heart.

“Feel that?” he asked huskily. “That’s what you do to me.” His eyes darkened, and the grin left his face. “Jana . . .” He hesitated, and gazed at the ground between their feet, before his eyes met hers again. “I want more than just a friendship with you. I have no right to ask this after the way I used you, and lied to you, but . . . I love you, Jana. When we get home to our time, I don’t want you to walk out of my life again.”

Jana’s breath caught in her throat. He hadn’t been talking gibberish in his fevered state after all.

“Dan, I . . . I think I love you, too, but I don’t know if –”

“Shhhh, don’t say anything right now.” He put a finger over her mouth. “We’ll figure out what to do one day at a time.”

“Okay,” she whispered softly, and leaned her head against his chest. He inhaled a deep breath, and held her tight. They stood like this for countless minutes, entwined in each other’s arms in this wide, open meadow. Jana listened to the evening crickets serenade their confession of love, and wondered how to proceed from here.

Chapter 20

Dan sat on the ground with his back propped against one of the countless trees lining the banks of the lake he and Jana had stopped at for the night. He leaned his head back against the trunk, his forearms resting casually on his bent knees. With his eyes closed, he listened to the swooshing sound of the breeze blowing through the tops of the lodgepoles, some of the trunks groaning and creaking as they bent in the wind. The sounds lulled him into a serene state of mind. From the far side of the lake, the mournful, eerie call of a loon reminded him of a wolf’s lonely howl. He should really be building their campfire for the night, but he wanted to savor the peace and tranquility that infused him at that moment.

With his eyes still closed to soak in all of the surrounding sounds, Dan smiled. He was no longer a lone wolf.  He’d found his mate, and he would do whatever it took to keep her. Jana still seemed unsure of their budding relationship. Quite frankly, he’d been more than a little shocked at her response the previous evening when he told her he loved her. She thought she loved him, too. It was more than he could have ever hoped for.

He needed to tread lightly. He wanted her. All of her. Mind, body, and soul. But he’d be a fool to overstep the fragile new level of their relationship. The previous night, he hadn’t merely held her to keep her warm like he’d done during all those other torturous nights. For the first time, they’d lain by the campfire, and he’d pulled her into a lover’s embrace, kissing her in a way that had set his soul on fire, not to mention his body.

She’d kissed him back with a reserved passion, and the tension in her body had sobered him to the fact that she wasn’t ready for a leap to intimacy. He’d forced himself to stop before he lost complete control of his actions. And he had much more respect for her than to take her like some moose in rut.

The splashing of water on the lake brought him out of his contemplation. Jana had been looking for an opportunity at a real bath for days, and he’d suggested she take a swim now, while there was still daylight. The northern shore of the lake was overgrown with tall reeds, and countless lodgepoles that had died ages ago for one reason or another hung into the water. It was a secluded area of the lake that gave her the privacy she wanted.  To assure her there were no leeches lurking in the lakebed, he scooped handfuls of silt to show her it was devoid of the slimy suckers.  After his demonstration, she’d been more than eager to grab his bar of soap, but warned him to stay in camp.

The grin on his face after her stern warning sent her scurrying into the thicket. “I mean it, Dan. You’d better not be a peeping Tom,” she’d called to him from behind the bushes

“Scout’s honor,” he’d promised, and turned to head toward their camping spot, grinning from ear to ear. Her modesty was one more thing he loved about her.

“Dan, I told you to stay away.” Jana’s voice echoed through the hills in this peaceful little valley. Dan became instantly alert. He was nowhere near her. He leapt to his feet, and lunged for his bear spray and knife.  Was there an animal at the water’s edge that she might have mistaken for him? He hurried along the shoreline. From his vantage point, the reeds and trees gave her plenty of cover, but he could barely see the water.

He scanned the shore through the brush, leery of running headlong into a moose. This was prime moose habitat, and he didn’t like the idea of meeting up with one. The outcome of such an encounter would be far worse than his altercation with the goose.

Dan slowed to a fast walk, ducking his head to peer between the tall reeds. Where the heck was Jana? He had to be close to where she’d entered the water. He couldn’t see her, but the figure of a man crouching behind a downed lodgepole was the last thing he expected to find. Anger flooded through his veins, and overshadowed all sense of caution. The man was dressed in buckskins from head to foot, a fur cap on his head. Several pouches dangled from his side, and in his hand he clasped a flintlock rifle. He was intently staring at the lake.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not polite to watch a lady take a bath?” Dan asked firmly. The trapper had obviously been too focused on what was in the water to notice him standing a few feet behind him. At Dan’s words, the man scrambled to his feet, and nearly toppled over the dry trunk of the tree.

“Mon dieu! You put a fright in me.” The man raised his flintlock as he spoke.

“Dan?” Jana called from somewhere beyond the curtain of reeds, while the trapper looked at Dan with wide eyes. The stranger leaned forward slightly, and his pupils nearly bulged out of their sockets.  His body visibly shook, and he lowered his weapon.

“Daniel Osborne, it is you?” the man said, his French accent so thick, Dan could barely understand him.

Water splashed loudly from the lake. Dan cursed under his breath after the shock wore off that this man spoke his name. Jana needed to get out of that water before she got too chilled.

“Jana, where are your clothes?” he shouted, without taking his eyes off the trapper. His hand was wrapped firmly around his knife handle, his other hand ready to release the safety mechanism on the bear spray canister.

“They’re right over here,” Jana answered. Dan scanned the shrubbery. He had no idea where ‘here’ was.

“We have company,” he said as calmly as he could. He didn’t want to set Jana off into a panic. “Give us a few minutes to head away from this lakeshore, and then you get out of the water.”

The only logical assumption he could make was that this trapper had mistaken him for his ancestor. He definitely planned use that to his advantage. “You obviously know who I am. I suggest you and I take a walk away from the shore to give the lady some privacy.”

Dan had no idea how his ancestor would have handled this situation, but clearly, he needed to exude confidence in order to maintain some semblance of control.

The trapper’s perplexed look didn’t leave his face, and he ran a hand over his unshaven chin. He nodded quietly, uncertainty in his expression as he assessed Dan’s appearance. Dan motioned with his hand to indicate the trapper should step away from the lakeshore ahead of him. He stuck his knife in his back pants pocket, and extended his hand. From all of his accounts about nineteenth century fur trappers, he’d read that they were extremely loyal to their own kind, but also very leery and unfriendly to strangers. If this man thought he was Daniel Osborne, it was just as well. Whether he could pull off impersonating his legendary ancestor remained to be seen.

The trapper extended a hand, and Dan clasped it firmly. “I meant no disrespect to your woman,” the man said, a toothless smile on his face that didn’t reach his eyes.

Sure you didn’t
. Dan’s anger seethed to the surface again. He clenched his jaw, trying to hide his emotions.

“I am Etienne Bautiste. You do not remember me?”

The man’s attempt at sincerity failed noticeably. Dan kept a wary eye on the rifle in Etienne’s hand. Besides the flintlock, a pistol hung from a wide belt at his waist, along with a large hunting knife.

“Should I remember you?”
Damn.
If this was an old acquaintance of Daniel’s, he would definitely know the difference.

“It has been a long time. You were no more than a boy when my cousin and I visited your father on the Madison. You have grown into a man who has made quite a name for himself in these mountains.”

Dan shrugged. A rustling noise behind him made him turn his head. The trapper did the same. Jana walked slowly toward them, concern and apprehension etched on her face. Her hair hung in wet strands past her shoulders, the cotton from her shirt soaking up the water. The wet fabric noticeably clung to her curves. At any other time, this would have been an enticing sight. Etienne Bautiste’s eyes held a certain predatory gleam in them as he appraised Jana, and Dan knew exactly what was going through the man’s mind.

Dan was overcome with the sudden urge to hit the man, and clenched his hand in a tight fist at his side. This was a much different situation than when he had to haggle over Jana with the Crow Indian. Both men’s interest in her was the same, but the Crow had looked at her with admiration, not with raw animal lust so evident in this trapper’s eyes.

Jana cast apprehensive glances from him to Bautiste, who turned fully toward her and bowed gallantly.

“Madame, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance. I have heard rumors of the woman who has become Daniel Osborne’s bride, but they pale in comparison to your true beauty.”

Dan held out his hand to her, and Jana quickly rushed to his side. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. As a ranger, he’d gone through law enforcement training, and he had no doubt that he’d be able to disarm this man, if he presented a threat. All he had to do was stick close enough to prevent Bautiste from raising that flintlock.

“Aimee, head back to where I left our effects, while I finish my visit with Etienne.” Dan emphasized the name Aimee, hoping Jana would take the hint. She didn’t skip a beat.

“Sure, Daniel. Just don’t be too long. Would you like your rifle?”

“I’ll be along for it shortly. Hunting should be good once dusk settles.” She nodded, released his hand, and headed along the lakeshore to where they’d set up camp earlier. Dan watched her disappear through the trees, then turned to Bautiste, who had a look on his face as if he’d just allowed a season’s cache of beaver pelts to float down the river.

Bautiste cleared his throat. “I will be on my way,” he said. “I do not wish to intrude. A young man needs his privacy with his woman, eh?” He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled.

“Come visit us along the Madison sometime. I’ll be able to offer better hospitality then,” Dan answered, ignoring the insinuation. He didn’t relax his tense muscles. Getting rid of the trapper this easily didn’t smell right. After a final handshake, Dan watched Bautiste head in the opposite direction, until he was no longer visible through the foliage along the lakeshore.

****

“Why didn’t you bring a weapon other than your knife?” Jana asked as soon as Dan returned to camp. She looked visibly shaken. He pulled her into a protective embrace. The feel of her soft body against him soothed his own frayed nerves. He’d been thinking the exact same thing. His .45 Magnum sat in the drawer of his nightstand, utterly useless to him at the moment.

“A knife is much more useful and versatile in the wilderness from a survival standpoint. I didn’t pack my .45 because I didn’t want to bring modern weapons,” Dan said, regretting that decision more and more. “Of course, that was also before Hastings showed up at my barrack. Had I known what he planned, I would have brought my pistol. And,” he rubbed his hands up and down her back, “I guess my twenty-first century mind wasn’t thinking that I had to defend you against every man we meet up with in the Rockies.”

“Aimee was kidnapped by a couple of trappers,” Jana said quietly. “Daniel killed them.”

Dan’s facial features hardened.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight,” he said in a firm tone. He clasped her head between his hands, tilting her face to look up at him. Although she tried to hide it, he saw the fear and apprehension in her eyes. He softly kissed her lips. “No one’s going to kidnap you,” he whispered against her cheek. “That trapper is no doubt long gone from here.” Dan spoke the words to reassure her, wishing he believed what he said.