Warrior in Her Bed (10 page)

“It's not worth the extra money for a year permit,” she persisted in the face of his generosity. Especially since I won't be here too much longer…

“
You're
worth it,” Johnny countered, kissing her right on the lips in front of Jack Crow, the owner of the establishment, as well as several customers who stared at them unabashedly.

“Maybe he wants to keep you around a little longer,” Jack told her with a knowing wink.

Johnny didn't bother arguing with him.

“Maybe I do,” he confirmed, kissing her again so thoroughly that there could be little doubt left in anyone's mind that he meant what he said.

That is, except in Annie's.

Just because she was enjoying the most phenomenal sex of her life on a daily basis was no reason for her to believe that Johnny was willing to sacrifice his independence to maintain it. It wasn't as if he had offered her a full-time position at Dream Catchers or even so much as suggested that she look for a more permanent job in the vicinity. He offered nothing more than only mind-bending kisses as an incentive for sticking around beyond the summer term. Annie appreciated the fact that he wasn't one to string a lady along, and consequently made a determined effort to relish every minute of the remaining time they had together.

The fact that his boat was lashed to the roof of his pickup didn't dampen Annie's enthusiasm any. She had never been lake fishing before, and Johnny promised the experience would be one she would never forget. He was right. Smokey, who had accompanied them, clearly was offended by the fact that Annie took his usual spot in the small flat-bottom boat. Apparently he had a fondness for fishing and liked marking every fish reeled in by biting it once gently before it was put into the ice chest. When Johnny told him to “Stay” and play along the shoreline while they fished without him, the dog gave Annie such a dirty look that she feared he would never forgive her.

“I don't think he'll ever take to me,” she told Johnny.

Not particularly comfortable with the big dog yet,
Annie still jumped every time she stepped into the backyard and imagined she saw a bear sizing her up. Although lately she had taken to feeding Smokey by hand in hopes of winning him over, she couldn't quite get over her fear of becoming dinner herself.

“He's just jealous. You've got to give him time to get used to you.”

Annie supposed the advice applied to his family, friends and the general population of the reservation, as well. With only two short weeks left in the summer term, Annie was tempted to remind him just how precious their remaining time together was, but decided against it. She didn't want to rock the boat, so to speak. Johnny didn't have any trouble with that idea, however, as he proceeded to tease her by deliberately moving the boat from side to side as he launched it in the shallows. Luckily, it didn't take long for the craft to settle easily into the deep waters of Bull Lake.

Not visible from the highway, the lake is considered one of the jewels of the reservation, and the indigenous Native Americans are understandably protective of it. The natural beauty of the area impressed Annie. Nestled against the base of the mighty Wind River Mountain Range, the lake was crystal blue and unusually calm. The glacier-fed waters were far too cold for water-skiers, tubers, and any but the heartiest of swimmers. Consequently, other than a few picnickers dotting the shoreline they were among about less than a half dozen other fishermen on the lake.

Since her efforts at rowing resulted in Johnny getting far wetter than when he simply manned the oars himself, Annie settled comfortably upon the seat
across from him and squinted against the brightness of the day. The sun behind him gave the illusion that Johnny was wearing a halo. His muscles strained against the white T-shirt he wore. Enjoying the view, Annie didn't bother diverting her gaze.

It wasn't simply Johnny's good looks that made her enjoy his company so. Trailing a hand along the surface of the lake, she realized how safe she felt in his presence. A man willing to lay down his own life for his fellow soldiers would not hesitate to do the same for her if a sudden gale were to tip their boat over in the middle of these freezing waters. Or some thug was to try to snatch her purse along a crowded street. A dozen frightening scenarios played through Annie's mind. In all of them, Johnny emerged as the hero.

“Something wrong?” he asked, noting goose bumps on her arms in the glare of the sun.

“Just hoping you're not expecting me to bait my own hook,” she replied, avoiding the real answer to his question.

Johnny rolled his eyes in response, causing Annie to flick water from the tips of her fingers at him. The only riffles in the water that she could see were where the oars rhythmically dipped in and out. Partway across the lake, he stopped rowing and rigged up their poles. A true gentleman, he did indeed thread a minnow on the hook. Discreetly Annie turned her head so as not to watch.

“All right, Miss Priss. Here you go,” he said, handing her a rod and bidding her to pay attention as he instructed her in the art of setting the hook.

Annie stared intently at the water, eagerly awaiting a bite. She waited. And waited. And waited some
more before her attention waned. Luckily, passing the time was easy in such a peaceful setting. The sun's reflection on the water made it look as smooth as a mirror. Taking a sandwich out of the picnic basket she had packed, she bribed a mallard paddling nearby into coming closer. He proved to be a very greedy duck indeed.

Before Annie knew it, he had eaten most of her lunch and was demanding more. Johnny had no trouble ignoring his loud quacking. Though Johnny couldn't help but admire the drake's iridescent green head and the funny way he stabbed the water with his wooden-looking bill gobbling up floating potato chips, he selfishly refused to share any of his ham and cheese sandwich with him.

Annie leaned back in the boat to stare into a cloudless sky so bright a blue that it hurt to stare at it for very long without sunglasses. She wondered if it were possible for people born and raised here to truly appreciate the pristine quality of the air. And the quality of life. Though such perfect days eluded a painter's brush, Annie intended to imprint it upon her mind forever. She couldn't remember ever feeling quite so content and happy.

Joking that she wasn't going to catch more than a bad sunburn, she nonetheless held dutifully on to her fishing pole. When the rod jerked to life in her hand, she jolted upright almost upsetting the boat in the process. Everything Johnny had told her about setting the hook slipped her mind as she started reeling for all she was worth.

“He's a fighter. Keep your tip up,” he commanded, grinning from ear to ear to watch her catch her first lake trout.

Annie was surprised by just how hard that was. When she offered to hand the pole to Johnny, he politely declined.

“If you can reel me in, you shouldn't have any trouble with a little old fish,” he told her.

Annie wasn't reassured.

“I thought you were uncatchable,” she replied, biting her lip in consternation as she focused all her remaining energy on landing what she was certain would prove to be a shark or some other such monstrous creature.

“Rumor has it,” she wheezed, “that you're more a catch-and-release kind of guy yourself.”

Johnny reached out to help her steady the fishing pole. Immediately it became easier for Annie to keep reeling. His nearness, his strength, his humor—made everything so much easier to bear. Annie looked at the contrast between the two pairs of hands wrapped around the same fishing rod. No doubt they were an unlikely team. Next to his, her skin was the color of milk. The well-defined muscles of his arms made her strength look delicate in comparison. Still, Annie refused to give up.

Five minutes felt like five hours as she wrestled the fish to the surface. Her wrist hurt. Her arms hurt. And when the line suddenly went slack, thinking she had lost the fish altogether, her pride hurt worst of all.

A silver flash, a splash and the buzz of her reel made her question what she had done wrong.

“Nothing,” Johnny reassured her. “You just keep on doing what you're doing, honey. That clever old fish's just making one last valiant run.”

Annie reeled furiously.

Slowly but surely the fish relinquished the fight, turning on its side as Annie brought it to the edge of the boat. Johnny got the net and scooped it up for her to see. He identified it as a rainbow trout. At seven pounds, it was a magnificent catch. Annie admired the iridescent purple stripe along its sides.

“Want to throw it back?” Johnny asked.

Part of Annie wanted to release her noble foe back into the wild. The other part that had worked hard to land it wanted to eat it for supper. She had a funny feeling that there was more at stake here than dinner alone. Somehow the struggle to reel in a trout had come to symbolize her feelings. She gave Johnny a wide smile.

Training her eyes on him instead of the fish, she made her decision. “This one is definitely a keeper.”

I
n the halcyon days that followed, Annie became even more convinced that Johnny Lonebear was indeed a keeper. Their temporary relationship assumed a more permanent tone as they slipped into a daily routine that became comfortable far too soon. Since they were both morning people, there was no problem with starting the days early and ending them the same way—snuggled up warm and naked in bed. And despite Annie's claims that her lover was insatiable, she had little problem keeping up, herself.

She never felt so beautiful and vibrant as when she was with Johnny. As a roommate he was considerate and orderly, perhaps a result of his military training. She seldom, if ever, had to pick up after him. As a lover he proved far more than merely considerate. Without ever insulting her sensibilities, every day he taught her new ways to please him and
always gave her pleasure unstintingly in return. There was something magical about his touch that took their lovemaking beyond its ever-certain physical culmination to a higher spiritual plane that left Annie feeling not only sated but also, and more importantly, cherished.

She found Johnny's protectiveness inexplicably endearing. When he learned that he would have to go to Denver to attend a three-day conference to help him hone his grant-writing skills, he insisted on leaving her with his personal security guards.

“This one's Big, and that one's Bad,” he said, placing two adorable, identical pups in the middle of the living room rug.

Twin gray fuzz balls regarded Annie with startling blue eyes before proceeding to lick her to death. She was as immediately enthralled with her new protectors as they were with her. For puppies, she found their hair was unusually coarse against her skin.

“What about Smokey?” she asked with concern.

If the big dog was having a hard time adapting to a human intrusion upon his master's affections, she could just imagine how he would react to a couple of four-footed interlopers. In Johnny's absence she could easily imagine him doing away with the pair in two gulps.

“Since I'm driving, I'll just take him along. I know you're not completely comfortable with him yet. If it makes you feel any better, Smokey's taken to you better than anyone else before. I'll have a talk with him on the way to Denver and explain that you're a part of my life now.”

Annie's heart skidded around a dangerously sharp curve. Don't go wishing on rainbows, she lectured
herself sharply. Don't go reading more into what he just said than what he actually means.

Not wanting to ruin the moment by grilling the man about his intentions, she turned the conversation back to the pups, who were at the moment using one of Jewell's throw rugs in a game of tug-of-war.

“What breed are they?” she asked.

Judging by the size of their paws, they would grow into sizable adult dogs. Big answered for himself with a diminutive howl that echoed through the room.

“Wolves!” Annie gasped.

“Part wolf, part German shepherd,” Johnny said, tumbling her onto the floor where he intended to kiss her so senseless that she would forget about pointing out the problems of raising wild creatures in her friend's home. “Since you absolutely refuse to keep a gun in the house, it seemed like the next best form of protection.”

Annie didn't bother arguing with him. First of all because she had fallen in love with the little critters on sight. And secondly because this very special gift indicated a commitment of sorts on his part. He could hardly expect her to take a pair of wolves back home to Chicago with her.

Annie threw her arms around him.

“They're almost as adorable as you,” she told him, nibbling on the spot just behind his earlobe that always drove him wild.

Aroused, Johnny growled with satisfaction. The lusty look he gave her left no doubt about who the real big bad wolf was in the house.

“Even if it's only for a couple of days, I hate like hell leaving you here all alone,” he confessed.

“Don't be silly. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, but I'm sure I'll appreciate the company, anyway.”

In truth Annie was miserable at the thought of spending a few days away from Johnny. A woman proud of her independence, she hated to admit it, though. Instead she promised herself to use the time alone to thoroughly think about the repercussions of committing to a more permanent relationship. However, at the moment she had a far more pressing question to ask him.

“I don't suppose by any chance that they're housebroken?”

 

Henceforth the brothers Big and Bad became a permanent fixture at Annie's heel and did indeed prove a comfort in Johnny's absence as he had hoped they would. Unfortunately, the series of events that happened during that short interim made Annie reconsider the viability of a long-lasting relationship with a man who had such a completely different background and personality from her own.

Monday started out badly when Crimson Dawn reported surreptitiously after class that over the weekend her mother had intercepted a manila envelope with a return address from the college in St. Louis on which she had her heart so set on attending. Along with promotional information and a financial aid package, it also contained an application form. The fact that the school was Annie's alma mater didn't help the girl's cause any in the ensuing argument that she had with her mother. The end result of their heated exchange came when Ester carried the
parcel out to the trash can and burned the whole thing up right before her eyes.

Mother and daughter had not spoken since, but Crimson thought it only fair to warn her mentor that Ester placed the blame for their family discord squarely on Annie's shoulders. Still maintaining that it would not be wise to let Crimson move in with her as a temporary solution to her problems, Annie found herself in the unenviable position of simultaneously alienating both Johnny's sister and his niece. Try as she might, she could think of no way to avoid being the ultimate loser in this battle of the wills.

Later that same day, as Annie was picking up a few things from the grocery store, one of Johnny's so-called former girlfriends stopped her to point out the uncanny likeness between her son and Johnny.

“Like peas in a pod,” the woman crowed.

Annie didn't find the resemblance particularly striking, but she refrained from saying so. She saw little point in antagonizing someone bent on hurting her. Seeing how half the women in the county fancied themselves in love with Johnny Lonebear, she supposed such uncomfortable confrontations were to be expected. Not that she could blame any of those lovelorn ladies for trying to break them up. He was, after all, incredibly handsome.

The snickers of the woman and her friends echoed in Annie's mind as she approached the checkout line. Buying the woman's boy a sucker, she wished them all a good day over the lump in her throat.

Dinner that night was a dismal affair consisting of gourmet canned dog food for the puppies and a rock-hard gallon of rocky road ice cream for herself. Summer was almost over, and Annie was no nearer to
knowing her destiny than when she had arrived in Wyoming nine weeks ago. Fate seemed to be conspiring against her. From start to finish, the whole horrible day had been a case of serendipity in reverse.

Annie couldn't help but wonder if God wasn't trying to tell her something. She wished that she could explain away the weepy feeling that was hanging over her like an ominous cloud. It was hard to believe that a couple days without Johnny could reduce her to such a state of emotional despair. Paranoia was even starting to set in.

Annie didn't know why, but she definitely got the feeling that something was wrong.

As if sensing that their mistress was not quite herself, Big and Bad looked at her quizzically. Feeling queasy after just a few bites of ice cream, Annie set her bowl down and let the two of them have at it. They were duly appreciative. She heard them push the bowl across the tile floor with their noses as she made her way to the bathroom where everything suddenly became clear to her.

She was late.

As late as the Mad Hatter rushing to his tea party.

As late as Johnny in claiming the child she had just met at the grocery store….

Since Annie could set a watch by her menstrual cycle, she believed that the fact that she was late could mean only one thing. She was pregnant.

The possibility so befuddled her that she didn't quite know how to react as she stumbled out of the bathroom. Her initial response was one of utter joy. Having lost a child previously to a miscarriage, she had secretly believed herself to be barren. A punish
ment from God for her early promiscuity. Having yet another baby snatched from her arms by a legal system that cared more about genetics than the welfare of an innocent only reinforced the belief that she was being punished from on high.

The fact that she believed herself to be pregnant felt like nothing short of a miracle.

She almost phoned Johnny at his hotel so she could tell him the good news. Maybe it was the hormones flooding her system that caused her to hesitate. Maybe it was past experience with a young man who had acted appallingly when confronted with the flash update that he was going to be a father. Preferring to avoid painful subjects, Annie had never so much as broached the subject of children with Johnny. Since she had no idea how he would react, she decided to wait until she had a chance to see a doctor first. Just because she was never late didn't mean that this time might not be an exception.

And just because she might be pregnant didn't mean she would be able to carry the baby to term, either. The thought of another miscarriage pushed Annie to the point of tears. Having polished off the last of the ice cream, Big began licking her ankle with a cold tongue. Annie reached down to pick the pup up and cuddle him in her arms.

“No point in getting everyone all excited if this proves to be a false alarm,” she said sensibly.

Bad clamored to be included in the conversation. She scooped him up with her free hand. He showed his empathy by licking away her tears. Annie laughed. Then cried some more.

She couldn't get the image of that darling little boy in the grocery store out of her mind. Annie didn't
want to believe that Johnny would abandon any child he fathered, but she couldn't dismiss it out of hand completely, either. She had seen firsthand how fast a man could run in the opposite direction when confronted with the news that he was going to be financially, if not emotionally, attached to a child for the next eighteen years of his life.

How could she have been so stupid as to let this happen again? Except for that one night before Johnny had moved in with her, they had always used protection. Ruefully, Annie recalled how often she had counseled young women “that it only took once” for an accident to happen. She didn't put much stock in accidents herself.

She had done her best to turn her own traumatic high school experience into something positive by helping other girls to avoid similar situations and counseling them with kindness if perchance they didn't. Her decision to provide sexually active teens with contraceptives out of the school nurse's office had caused a considerable amount of controversy in the community where she worked.

Wouldn't the people who opposed her most vehemently find it utterly hilarious if she was in fact pregnant? She could be the poster child for irony.

Annie had never felt more stupid in her whole life.

Or as lucky.

Self-diagnosing herself as schizophrenic, she awaited Johnny's promised phone call with equal amounts of anticipation and dread. When the phone rang at last, she almost didn't answer it. Ultimately she couldn't bring herself to cause Johnny any unnecessary worry on her behalf. Fearing the worst, he
might well send the reservation police out to check on her.

“Hi,” she said, grabbing the phone from its cradle.

Johnny sounded tired. A born outdoorsman, he wasn't much of a conference type of guy. Paperwork didn't hold much appeal for him, either. On more than one occasion, he complained that the red tape involved in obtaining grants for the school was his least favorite part of his job.

Annie had volunteered to help, hoping that it might lead to a job offer—or at least open a discussion about her staying on past the summer term.

“Is everything all right?” he asked her, homing in as Big and Bad had on the negative vibes she was inadvertently sending out.

Where did one begin? She started out by relaying the information Crimson Dawn had passed on about the growing schism between her and Ester. Johnny's prolonged sigh in response indicated just how frustrated he was with the whole mess.

“Would you mind doing some research for me on a certain school that one of the speakers here highly recommends? It's called the Salish-Kootenai Tribal College. It's located in the Mission Range just below Flathead Lake in Montana, and it caters to the kids off the Flathead Reservation. I was thinking that it just might be far enough away from home to let Crimson spread her wings, yet provide a built-in safety net just in case she falters.”

It sounded like a fair compromise to Annie, but she worried aloud about how receptive Ester would be to the idea.

“As long as her daughter isn't abandoning her cul
ture altogether, I think she might be agreeable. You have to understand how protective mothers are about losing their babies. Native American parents may be understandably more so, considering the outside pressures to assimilate their children into the white man's world. It wasn't all that long ago that Indian children were beaten in public schools just for speaking their native language. They lost more than just their Indian names. Some were actually chained up and denied food and water for refusing to abandon their
savage
ways.”

He spat the word out as if it were an expletive. Annie felt a dark shadow fall over her.

“In Indian tradition, material things don't mean a whole lot. Our children are everything to us. We take our tribal responsibility to help raise and safeguard them very seriously.”