Captive Bride (57 page)

 
A tormented groan gushed from Hawk's lips as they flowed over her skin, cherishing the velvety softness of her. Her enticing fragrance enfolded itself around his senses, leaving him aching to become a part of this rare beauty who was as hauntingly lovely as a rose.

 
Their bodies came into familiar contact, brushing lightly against each other like shadows swaying on the wall, and Hawk found himself burning alive. He wanted this exquisite seraph as his own, craved her more than he had wanted anything else in his life. She was the vital essence that gave him purpose, his reason for being. Over and over again he whispered of his love, his mindless need to lose himself in the rapturous circle of her arms. His hands and lips touched every inch of her satiny flesh, giving and sharing pleasure. He knew that soon these delirious sensations would be beyond his grasp, that he would be floundering in a sea of agony. And knowing that, Hawk was obsessed with making this, their last night together, an interlude of incomparable ecstasy.

 
Rozalyn died a thousand times over as his skillful caresses swept across her trembling flesh like a gentle whisper of wind, enticing, arousing, satisfying. She was on fire and Hawk was the flame, igniting her passion until she could only respond with wild abandon.

 
Breathlessly, she drew him to her, whispering of her need to be possessed, to feel his body forging intimately-into hers. When Hawk lifted himself above her, he gazed down into her shadowed face. The darkness disguised the passion in her eyes, but Hawk was aware of the expression in them. He had seen it so often in the past few months that he could feel its fire as she arched toward him.

 
Hawk's raven head moved toward hers, ravishing her with a kiss that carried enough heat to set the night aflame. His hips guided her thighs apart, and he came to her, offering his body and soul.

 
Rozalyn was assaulted by one wild sensation after another. Her love for Hawk spilled through her, sensitizing her, engulfing her every emotion until her breath caught in her throat. As Hawk's powerful body moved against hers, appeasing the maddening ache that had claimed her, Rozalyn hugged him to her, arching to meet his driving thrusts.

 
For those blazing moments nothing else mattered except the overwhelming sensations that sent them skyrocketing toward the distant stars. The world stopped spinning as they soared on their intimate journey through time and space, their souls were arching across the black velvet sky like wild, free birds, spiraling higher and higher still. The wind beneath their wings was love and it sustained these graceful monarchs of the sky until they joined as one.

 
Hawk's tense body shuddered against her and a groan of sheer pleasure vibrated across her shoulder when he buried his head against her. His mind was numb, and his heart pounded in such frantic rhythm that he feared it would beat him to death. For a long, breathless moment he merely held Rozalyn's body to his, loving the feel of her. He could not let her go for this would be the last time he found exquisite peace in a universe far from reality. That shattering thought trickled through his paralyzed mind, and it was nearly his undoing. Sweet mercy, he'd known the end would be painful, but he had anticipated nothing like this! An aching had already begun to swirl in the pit of his belly, and as he drifted back to his senses, the gnawing became intolerable.

"Do you know how very much I love you? Can you, too, feel the loss, even before it begins?" Hawk choked out.

 
If only our love for each other could perform miracles, Roz thought dismally. Forcing the semblance of a smile, though her heart was bleeding in her chest, she nodded. "You love me as deeply as I love you, and the pain is indeed intolerable," she whispered back to him, combing her fingers through the crisp, wavy hair that capped his handsome face. "The months we shared were the most precious of my life. I will never forget. . . ." Rozalyn bit her bottom lip, trying to keep her composure.

"I'll come back to St. Louis," Hawk promised.

 
In five years? It might as well be five hundred, Roz thought disheartenedly. Aubrey would never allow her to see Hawk. They would be forced to sneak away together for a few stolen moments, and then the hurting would begin again. What kind of future would that be? her tortured mind screamed. And yet, the possibility that she might see him again was her only hope.

 
Hawk propped himself up on his elbows and cupped Rozalyn's face in his hands. "I want you to remember that I love you, that I will go on loving you, Roz. The miles that separate us cannot break this bond. My father has assured me of that. He is living proof that the ties between a man and his woman can never be broken when they have taken such deep root." His lips feathered across hers and then he kissed away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "There is something you must do for me, Roz. You must never let Aubrey know there was anything between us. When I deliver you to him tomorrow, don't look back, don't let him see what is between us. It will only make your relationship with him more difficult."

 
Rozalyn was fully aware of the possible repercussions. She knew what she had to do. Raising quivering lips, she looped her arms around his neck, drawing him back to her before he could steal away into the night to return to his own tent on the opposite bank of the river.

 
"One last kiss," she murmured brokenly. "One that will keep me warm and content until we chance to meet again." If we meet again, she thought.

 
The sensuous curve of his mouth melted against hers, his questing tongue probing into its sweet recesses to share a ragged breath. They exchanged soft declarations of love and made promises Rozalyn wondered if either of them could keep when their loneliness became unbearable.

 
When Hawk found the will to drag his lips from hers, Roz swore her heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. She could feel the emptiness closing in on her and she knew the fierce, gnawing sensations of loss would never go away. When she was forced to depart from these majestic mountains, she would leave her soul behind. It would linger on the precipices like a wayward spirit roaming the towering summits in search of peace.

 
As Hawk silently slipped outside, Rozalyn muffled her choked sobs. When the dawn came to claim the mountains, she knew she would be forever in the shadows of these peaks. Hawk would take the sunshine with him when he returned to the wilderness, and she would trudge back to a civilization that held no allure.

 
 
Pained eyes, dulled with heavy regret, peered at her wigwam. Then, Hawk slammed his fist into the palm of his left hand. God, saying goodbye to Roz hurt so he wanted to scream out his frustration.

 
He had always been in control of his life, but now he had lost that control. For a time he had shared his days with the woman he loved, but, come sunrise, she would vanish . . . and he would never be the same again. Memories would seep from every crack and crevice of the mountain range that had become their secluded paradise, and he would go mad when he remembered how it had been between him and Roz.

 
If it were not for Aubrey and his stubborn . . . Suddenly, a fragment of the conversation he'd had with Aubrey during the first day of rendezvous flashed through his mind, a careless remark Hawk had overlooked in his frustration. Frowning pensively, he stared across the river and then decided to seek out the sleeping chief. Several questions were looming in his mind and he could not rest until they had been answered.

 
As if she were riding in a funeral procession, Rozalyn followed several paces behind Hawk as they crossed the river on their mounts. Her expressionless eyes were focused on the man who waited for her on the far bank, and it was with grim determination that she managed a welcoming smile for Aubrey's wrinkled features were stamped with irritation and resentment. Strange, Roz mused. This was only the second time she remembered seeing her father display more than bland indifference to a situation. How could she pretend to be anxious to be reunited with him when he was glaring at Hawk as if he would slit his throat? But, keeping her promise to Hawk, Rozalyn attempted to appear relieved when her father's stony gaze swung to her.

 
"Well, I'll be damned!" Two-Dogs grunted in disbelief and then strode away from Aubrey's side. "Bear-Claw ain't come down from the mountains in years."

 
Rozalyn's gaze shifted to the movement on the ridge overlooking Green River, and her breath lodged in her throat. Suddenly panic gripped her. Her wild eyes darted back to Aubrey to view his reaction. What was Bear-Claw doing here? Surely he knew the type of reception he could expect from her father!

 
Aubrey's narrowed eyes fastened on the crusty mountain man, but it took him a moment to recognize the hermit. When he did, the color drained from his cheeks. "Baudelair . . ." The name burst from his lips in a muffled curse. Aubrey wheeled back around to glare mutinously at Hawk. "Why the hell did you send for him? I never wanted to see him again. Damn you. You know how I detest your father."

 
"I didn't send for him," Hawk snapped back, apprehensive because of Bear-Claw's appearance. If his father did not guard his tongue he could ignite trouble. Thus far, Aubrey had complied with the terms of the bargain without making an attempt at revenge, but Hawk knew it would take only one small spark to set Aubrey off. The man was having difficulty maintaining his composure as it was!

 
As the lone rider steadily approached, his expression somber, the trappers surrounding Aubrey fell away, expecting the feud between DuBois and Baudelair to erupt again.

 
Cautiously, Rozalyn slid to the ground to take her place beside her father. She would have preferred to stand by Hawk, but that would have made Aubrey suspicious, and it was the last thing he needed when he faced Bear-Claw for the first time in thirty years. She watched Aubrey go rigid when Bear-Claw swung from his saddle and marched toward him.

"What do you want here?" Aubrey spat out.

 
"To make peace," Bear-Claw said calmly. Then he glanced over to intercept the warning glint in Hawk's eyes. Carefully, he gave Rozalyn a discreet look before again peering at his son. At last he focused his attention on Aubrey. "It has been a long time, Aubrey. Long enough, don't you agree?"

 
Aubrey wasn't giving an inch. His bitterness and hatred could not be dissolved in a few minutes. "Do you think you can waltz down from the mountains, offer the hand of friendship, and erase the past?" His tormented gaze riveted over Hawk's powerfully built frame. "Do you know how difficult it is for me to look upon your son, the man who abducted my daughter?" Aubrey's voice cracked with barely restrained emotion. "Dammit, he should have been my son . . . my son!" Brooding eyes shot back to Bear-Claw. "Knowing that makes the past even more difficult to bear. I look at him and I see you and her . . ." Fighting for composure, Aubrey turned away, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had become chalky white.

 
"None of us could help what happened, not you, not me, not her," Bear-Claw sighed. "We thought you had perished."

 
"Hoped I had perished," Aubrey corrected, his voice carrying a distinctly unpleasant edge. "How long did you wait, a week, a month? You were my friend. I trusted you above all others and you betrayed me." Drawing himself up proudly, Aubrey thrust out his chin and then grasped Rozalyn's arm. He did not want his daughter to hear this conversation; he felt that Hawk had had the decency to keep it from her. "Nothing you can say will make any difference, Baudelair. I never want to lay eyes on you or Hawk again. I kept my end of the bargain and now I'm taking my daughter back to St. Louis." Before hustling Rozalyn along with him, Aubrey flashed Hawk a contemptuous glare. "Don't bother to show your face at rendezvous next year. There will be no market here for your pelts. All the money in the world won't buy your supplies."

 
As Aubrey's harsh words drifted across the river, Arakashe frowned. He had prayed that DuBois would bury the hatchet and let the conflict die. But it was obvious the man was not willing to forgive for he could never forgive himself. Arakashe turned back to his wigwam, angered and disappointed that Bear-Claw had come to
 
make amends and Aubrey had stubbornly refused to listen.

 
When Bear-Claw started after Aubrey and Roz, Hawk clutched his arm to detain him. "Let him go. DuBois is too hardheaded to listen to reason," Hawk muttered, his penetrating eyes fixed on Rozalyn's departing back. "The man's heart has shriveled up like a dried acorn. I swear I can hear it rattling in his chest when he walks."

 
Bear-Claw peered incredulously at his son. "I came down from the mountains to attempt to reconcile the past because Roz means so much to you. Dammit, you know it will tear you in two to let that girl go. I never expected you to give up without a fight."

 
"A fight?" Hawk pounced on his father's choice of words. "Would you have me pull my pistol and gun DuBois down, risk having Rozalyn caught in the crossfire? Or perhaps we should go at each other with knives on the bluff overlooking Whispering Falls." A melancholy smile surfaced on Hawk's lips when he saw that Bear-Claw's anger was dwindling. "If DuBois and I take arms against each other the incident will explode into a war between his men and the trappers. Would you have me sacrifice even one life for my own personal happiness?"