Candace McCarthy (17 page)

He thought hard to remember Pamela, and a lesson learned too late, but he couldn’t picture his dead wife … or the best friend who had cuckolded him. All he could do was see and feel Amelia with his body and in his mind.

Amelia felt Daniel’s strong hands lift her and lay her back on the sleeping mat. Clinging to his neck, she pulled him down to her, and they kissed, a frantic joining of open mouths.

Heat spiraled from her abdomen to all pulsing points of pleasure. Daniel raised his head, and Amelia’s breath
caught as he gazed into her eyes with desire. She wanted it, too. To be close to him, skin against skin. The feelings she had were frightening and new to her, but she didn’t want them to stop. She’d been kissed before, but not like this. Never like this. She knew that the intensity of emotions she was feeling was all wrapped up in this one man.

She grabbed his head, cupped his jaw with her hands, so that she could capture his gaze with a look that revealed all that she was experiencing. A flame burned brightly in his blue eyes. As she ran her fingers tenderly over his features, he closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure.

When his dark lashes lifted, he gazed at her with blue eyes glazed over with passion. He caught her straying hand and held it to his cheek, then turned his head to press a kiss into the center of her palm. Amelia was moved by the romantic gesture.

“Daniel.”

He wanted to take her, to bury himself deep into the softness between her thighs. He knew he shouldn’t touch her, but for the life of him, he couldn’t remember why. “Amelia, we—”
Shouldn’t.
He couldn’t say it.

“Touch me.”

He shook his head. “I—”

“Touch me, Daniel.
Please.”

“Yes,” he said, unable to deny himself for even a moment longer.

She lay on her back, he on his side but half-draped over her. He moved to grant himself more access to her soft, feminine curves. Lifting himself away, he sat up and placed his hand on her leg where the tunic edge touched bare skin. Holding her glance, lest she want him to stop at any time, he caressed her knee, the area of lower thigh that was available to him. Then, he slowly, gently, began
to raise the doeskin, revealing a form so beautiful that he had to remind himself to breathe.

She appeared unafraid as he lifted the tunic past her thighs and higher. He felt his mouth go dry as he saw the tiny nest of dark curls that sheltered her womanhood … the perfectly rounded curve of her hips … her flat white belly. He barely touched her, skimming her skin with the soft brush of his knuckles, but from the look on her face and the small sounds she was making deep in her throat, one would have thought he was touching and stroking her to his heart’s content.

He released the garment hem when she was bared from the waist downward. He wanted to see all of her, but she would have to sit up to accommodate the removal of the Indian dress. He stared at her, his whole body pulsating with the desire to love her, waiting for a sign from her to continue.

Amelia felt a loss as Daniel moved away. One glance into his eyes and she understood what he was waiting for. Unashamed by her near nakedness, she sat up while holding his gaze, then reached for the garment hem and tugged upward. Daniel reached to help her, pulled the dress gently over her head. She heard his sharp intake of breath as he tossed the garment aside and stared at her body. She had a brief moment of embarrassment, until his eyes met hers and she saw the homage being paid to her by his hot look of longing and desire.

Her gaze locked with his, she lay back on the pallet as naked as the day she was born but for the small touch of hair and face paint. He took so long to look his fill that she began to feel a niggle of doubt and started to roll onto her side to escape his scrutiny.

“No,” he said in a rasping voice. “Let me see you.”
His hand cupped her hip and gently rolled her back. “Don’t hide your beauty from me.”

He hadn’t removed his hand from her hip. His other hand joined the first one to span both of her hips and caress her along the curve up to stroke the outer sides of her breasts and downward again.

Daniel was tormenting her with his little touches. She wanted more of him. She wasn’t a fragile china doll—she was a woman, and she wanted to feel his strength and the weight of his hot muscled length pressing her into the furs that lined her bed.

She started to rise up so she could touch and undress him as well, but he placed his mouth on her belly, and she gasped and fell back as hot coils of sensation filled her with pleasure and made her burn. He trailed kisses from her stomach up toward her breasts, but he had yet to capture a nipple. When he placed his mouth to suck, her nipple had already pebbled and peaked.

She grabbed his head, tilted his face up so she could see him. “Daniel, please,” she gasped.

He nodded, then rose to untie the strings of his breechclout. As the garment fell away, Amelia felt a tightness in her chest for a brief moment before she felt her heart pound rapidly beneath her breast.

His manhood was thick and hard, rising from a nest of light brown curls. His arms, stomach, and legs, especially his thighs, were corded with powerful muscle. Dark blond hair covered his chest and formed a V that crossed his stomach until it joined the curly hair between his legs.

Amelia felt suddenly frightened. She’d never been with a man, and she experienced the impact of what she was about to do. Still, as he knelt on the mat by her side, she gave in to the urge to touch his leg. He bent and kissed
her, and all her doubts disappeared in the glory and the lightness in her feelings for this man.

They came together, kissing gently at first, until desire spurred them on to greater heights. She didn’t know when Daniel had stretched out beside her or how she’d ended up lying on top of him with their mouths joined, his hands fondling her from back to thigh.

She was aroused and unafraid, and it became more important to give him pleasure than to seek her own. But in giving she received, and soon it was she who lay beneath Daniel, feeling his weight as she’d dreamed.

They kissed, caressed, and fondled each other until both were gasping and wanting release. Amelia didn’t hesitate in opening her legs when she felt a light nudge from Daniel’s knee. She cupped his buttocks as he gently probed her with his staff. Wanting and needing him inside her, she arched up to force his entry, then gasped from the pain.

Daniel froze at her soft cry and started to pull away. He didn’t want to hurt her.

“No!” she cried, and pulled him down as she raised herself to complete the joining. He felt big, stretching her to fullness, and while it had hurt, she didn’t want him to leave her.

She met his gaze, saw his concern. “Are you all right?”

She beamed at him, and he groaned and kissed her.

“I’ll try not to hurt you.”

Amelia nodded. “Just make love to me.”

Daniel began to ease himself in and out of her, thrusting gently, then with more power when Amelia whimpered with pleasure and clung hard. He set a rhythm that she began to follow, and the two of them brought each other to the point of ecstasy and beyond using lips, teeth, tongues, hands, and their bodies.

Amelia felt the sweet ache of pleasure that pulsed through every part of her body. She gloried in the weight of him, in his hands and mouth on her breasts, in her hands and lips on his face, neck, and nipples.

She heard Daniel’s rasping breath, then became aware of her own seconds later when the dizzying ride to the top reached the summit. She and Daniel shuddered and cried out, then clung to each other for the slow gliding trip back to earth.

He didn’t say anything for several minutes, but she knew what he was feeling by the sounds he made, sounds that echoed her own … the rasp of labored breaths, the thundering of heartbeats.

He felt heavy, but she liked it. When he rolled to her side, she was disappointed by the feeling of loss, until he pulled her against his side, covered the both of them with a large fur, and nuzzled his face in her hair as they both drifted to the lazy plane that precedes sleep.

“Daniel?”

“Mmmmm?”

“Miigwech.”

He moved her then and kissed her hard on the mouth, and then to her astonishment, she began to feel again. And so did he. This time their joining was slower, as though each wanted to savor every titillating moment, each caress designed to invoke pleasure in the other partner.

They came together smoothly, slowly, and the climax they reached was slow, satisfying, and stronger than the last one they’d shared.

“Pa? Pa!”

Amelia was jolted awake by the sound of Susie’s voice. Startled, she lifted Daniel’s arm from about her waist and scrambled out of bed to dress quickly.

“Pa?”

“Daniel! Wake up!” Amelia bent and shook his shoulder. “Daniel.”

He stirred in his sleep, then opened one eye to gaze at her blearily.

She heard the little girl calling Daniel. She could tell from the sound that the child was approaching.

“Daniel, please. It’s Susie!”

That seemed to bring him to full wakefulness. “What?”

She pulled on the first garment at hand—the Indian dress. “Your daughter will be here any minute.”

“Pa?”

Daniel scrambled to his feet, then looked for his loincloth. Amelia pointed to where it lay in a heap close to the fire pit.

“Pa—”

Susie’s plea was answered by softly murmured words in Ojibwa. Someone outside had captured the child’s attention, turning it away from finding her father—at least for now.

“What did she say?” Amelia asked. She blushed as she
watched Daniel slip the leather breechclout between his legs, then fasten it into position with a string just above his hips. “It was Woman-with-Hair-of-Fox,” he said. “She said that she has something to show Susie if the child will spare her but a moment of her time.”

Amelia felt a wave of gratitude for the Indian matron. She closed her eyes in relief. “I thought Susie would find us—” Opening her eyes, she met his gaze, then hurriedly looked away. Memories of the night filled her thoughts, making her feel awkward in the light of day. She could feel Daniel’s stare for several long seconds before he bent to strap on his leggings.

She didn’t know what to say, how to ease the sudden strain between them. It was as if the time spent in each other’s arms had added tension to their budding relationship. It was as if both had succumbed to an uncontrollable wave of intimacy and desire the night before, something which now gave them cause for regret.

Hurt, Amelia needed to escape. “I’ll wait outside—”

“Amelia!”

She halted, then hesitated before she looked back. “Yes?”

He narrowed his gaze as he studied her. As he approached, she felt her heart trip, then thunder with joyful anticipation and a certain dread.

His voice was soft, husky as he spoke, “We cannot undo what we’ve done.”

Her mouth quivered. She looked away as she nodded, unwilling to see his scorn.

He caught her chin with his finger, raised it up so that she had no choice but to meet his gaze directly. “You’ve done nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. There was no scorn in his beautiful blue gaze, only concern … and some emotion she couldn’t put her finger on.

Then he kissed her. Amelia felt fire in her belly. He held her head still, while he wreaked havoc on her mouth, her cheeks, her chin, her throat. Sensation rocked her back on her heels as she instantly came alive under his attention.

“We’ve got one more night together, at least, in this village. We’ll have to make the best of it. I’ll tell Susie she must spend the night here.”

Amelia nodded. It was for the best, wasn’t it?

Her throat, her lips, were still tingling from his touch, but she knew it was dangerous to want more of him. They’d become caught up in the moment of the night, and had made the grave mistake of succumbing to their passionate urges for one another.

Susie burst into the wigwam and pulled up short at the sight of Amelia and Daniel. “Pa? Can we go swimming in the lake?”

He turned to her with a smile. “Yes, of course, sweeting.” He studied her attire, noticed the doeskin tunic and the way she looked like a little lady with her hair neatly done in blond braids that fell past her shoulders. “Did you have a nice time with Conner’s grandmother?”

“I had a wonderful time!” she gushed, full of excitement. “Did you like the naming ceremony? Conner said it’s a special occasion.”

Amelia stepped forward. “It was a nice time, wasn’t it?” Then she blushed as she felt Daniel’s regard and the sure knowledge on his face that the wonder of the night came afterward, between the two of them in the privacy of this wigwam.

Susie avoided giving Amelia an answer, choosing instead to address her father. “Pa, do we have to leave here today?”

Daniel frowned. “We’re not leaving today.”

“We’re not?”

He shot Amelia a glance. “For another day, at least.”

The little girl was overjoyed.

“Have you eaten?” Amelia asked softly.

The child ignored her.

“Susie,” Daniel said, “answer Amelia.”

Susie pouted “I’m not hungry. I ate with Conner and his mother.”

“Well, I’m hungry,” he said, with a smile in Amelia’s direction.

She managed to give him a weak smile. “I’ll see what I can do about preparing us something to eat.”

Daniel’s lips twitched, even while he was angry at Susie for treating Amelia so badly. “Gaining confidence in your ability to cook?”

Amelia shook her head. “I’ll ask Spring Blossom to help me.”

He felt a tug on his legging strap. “Pa,” Susie said. “Can’t we go to the lake now? Please?” she added when she saw his dark frown.

He was going to have a long talk with Susie about respect and good manners whenever she spoke with adults.

“Later. I have to meet with Black Hawk and the chief. I’ll find you as soon as the meeting is over.”

Susie flashed Amelia an angry glance that accused the woman of stealing her father’s attention, then she fled from the wigwam.

Daniel turned toward Amelia. “I’m sorry, Amelia. It’s my fault that Susie has been hostile to you. I’m going to have a talk with her.”

“No,” Amelia said. “Don’t he angry with her. Better that she be angry with me than hurting.”

“I’ll not have her treating you that way!”

Amelia’s expression softened. “She needs you, Daniel. You—not me. It’ll be all right.”

He cupped the side of her face with his hand. He felt an overwhelming sense of affection as she rubbed her face against his palm.

“I have to go,” he said.

She nodded. “I haven’t forgotten my father,” she said softly. “And I haven’t forgotten all the help you’ve given me. I’m very grateful.”

Tension marked his features. “I don’t want your gratitude, Amelia,” he said and left.

Stunned by his sudden sharp tone, Amelia stood gaping at the doorway.
What did I say that’s wrong?

She remembered with heat their night together … the glorious time they’d spent learning each other’s bodies, pleasuring each other until they both lay gasping and soaring and wanting more.

The beginning of a headache centered between Amelia’s eyes. “I have to find Father. How could I have been so foolish to become involved with Daniel, a man still tortured by the memory of his dead wife … a woman he doesn’t want to admit is dead?”

Amelia was confused. If he wanted his wife so much, why did he make such sweet love to her? Unless his loneliness had prompted him to reach out for comfort … the comfort of a woman’s arms … even if the woman wasn’t his wife, the one he loved.

The headache was now a tight band across her temples. Amelia sat on the sleeping platform and rubbed her brow. She needed to find her father and her missionary friends. She couldn’t think when she was so close to Daniel. When she was near him, she wanted nothing more than to spend time with him, to kiss him … and make love.

She lay down on the platform and closed her eyes. She could feel the soft fur beneath her head and back …
recall the brush of the fur against her naked skin as Daniel held her, kissed her, and made her cry out with ecstasy.

She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to have her heart broken, but she couldn’t bear the thought of losing Daniel … he’d meant too much to her.

Daniel was at a meeting with the Ojibwa. Perhaps when he returned he’d tell her that they knew where to look for her father, and she could concentrate on getting him home. She could worry about her relationship with Daniel later.

“… But, Daniel, it’s been three days! There has to be something we can do … some news about my father!”

“They’re working on it, Amelia. I’m sure it’ll be soon. Finding him in this vast wilderness isn’t easy.”

Amelia’s eyes filled with tears. “I know it’s not easy. I never said it was.” The tears overflowed to trail down her cheeks. It had been three tension-filled days of worrying about her father, of struggling with her feelings for Daniel. Since that night, Susie had slept in their lodging between them, but the little girl was no deterrent for the giant leap of sensation Amelia felt whenever she and Daniel innocently brushed hands.

He studied her with a soft expression. He opened his arms. “Amelia—”

“No, Daniel,” she said, turning away. To be comforted by him now would only aggravate the situation. She wanted something more from him, something he wasn’t ready to give. And he wouldn’t be, she thought, unless he found out what had happened to his wife Jane.

“I’ll check again with Black Hawk. If he thinks it’ll be a while, then we’ll go home.”

Home,
she thought, as if his wonderful cabin was her home as well as his.
Wishful thinking, Amelia.

She turned to him then. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I don’t mean to be difficult—”

“You’re not being difficult,” he said. Daniel was surprised by how well she’d adapted to their time in the Indian village. As for frustration, he knew it as well as anyone. Being this close to Amelia was slowly driving him mad. He wanted to touch her, hold her … love her all night long. He’d hoped Susie’s presence would act as a buffer between them, but instead of feeling better, he found his longing for Amelia all the more.

“Dan-yel?” Black Hawk’s voice drew their attention. The couple had been alone. Susie had gone to help Conner’s grandmother, Swaying Tree.

Daniel lifted the deer flap. “
Aaniin.
Come in, Black Hawk. Amelia and I were just discussing her father.”

The Ojibwa brave entered the wigwam, and his dark gaze fell on the white woman before he turned to his friend. “I would speak with you in this man’s lodge.”

“You may speak freely here,” Amelia said.

Black Hawk shook his head. “My words are for the man—Dan-yel.”

Daniel saw the anger in Amelia’s face, saw how she opened her mouth to protest. He reached out to stroke Amelia’s arm. “I’ll be right back.” His gaze pleaded with her to allow him to speak privately with Black Hawk. It promised that he would have news for her one way or another when he was done.

“I’ll be down at the lake,” Amelia said.

There was an awkward moment as the three looked at each other, as if each was waiting for the other to make a move.

Amelia gathered a few things, then excused herself and left.

Daniel gestured to Black Hawk to sit down. “She’ll stay away until I look for her,” he assured the brave.

“We must go to this man’s wigwam,” Black Hawk said. “There are others who wait for us.”

Daniel nodded, then waited for Black Hawk to exit so he could follow him.

Black Hawk and Daniel crossed to Hawk’s wigwam. Rain-from-Sky, Thunder Oak, Sleeping Bird, and three other Ojibwa warriors were waiting inside the domed structure for the two men. The Indians nodded in greeting, but did not speak until after Daniel and Black Hawk were seated. Big-Cat-with-Broken-Paw lit a pipe from the flame in Hawk’s fire pit. The chief took a puff on the pipe, then passed it to the next man for a smoke. The pipe made its way to each man in the wigwam until it reached Daniel. Daniel drew from the pipe, then handed it back to the chief.

“We have found the Sioux village where many captives are being kept as slaves. We believe your John Demp-sey may be one of these white men.”

Daniel felt a flash of excitement. “You’ve seen him?”

One brave, whom Daniel recognized as one called Thick Head among the Ojibwa, spoke up. “I have seen this village,” he said in Ojibwa slowly so that Daniel would understand. “There are many white women, many children. This man thinks that there might be a white man as well.”

His excitement dimmed a bit. “You didn’t actually see the doctor.” He forgot and spoke in English. Fortunately, through all of their years trading with the white man, all of the braves understood, at least, a small degree of English.

“He saw someone who could be a white man. It was
difficult to see. We could not go close, or we would have been killed or captured.

Daniel understood. “Do you know how to get back to the village?” he asked in Ojibwa.

Thick Head looked offended. “This brave knows how to find our enemy, the Sioux. He can find again and again, should his people ask him.”

“
Gaagiizom.
This man did not mean to make you angry. This man forgets that the Ojibwa are much better at tracking than the white man.”

The furrow across Thick Head’s brow cleared. He nodded as he accepted Daniel’s apology.

“We will leave this night,” Black Hawk said, “when the sky is cloaked in darkness and the moon is high above us.”

“Amelia, my woman—she will want to go with us.”

“We must haste,” Rain-from-Sky said. “Your woman cannot travel as fast as the great cat or as far as the great area where the land is flat and without trees.”

Daniel hadn’t expected them to want a woman along with them. Still he had hoped to avoid a battle with Amelia, but it was bound to happen either way. He wouldn’t have taken Amelia with them even if the Ojibwa had said yes. He wouldn’t put Amelia is such great danger.

“May Amelia stay here in the village while we are gone?” Daniel asked Black Hawk.

Black Hawk inclined his head as he accepted the smoking pipe on its second time around. “Tree-That-Will-Not-Bend will be safe here within our village. We will not take all of our finest warriors. Some will remain behind to guard our women and our children, to protect all that we own.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said, relieved.

There was no question about whether or not Daniel
would be going. The Ojibwa knew that he would; it was what they’d expected from a man who sought to regain his own.

After that, there was some discussion about how long they’d be gone and what they’d need to take. The journey to the village would take two full days. Much would depend on what happened when they got there, if their mission was successful in finding John Dempsey and the missionaries and bringing them home.