Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance Series Book 1) (18 page)

“
Merde
!” Françoise darted for Aimee. He grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her roughly in front of him to shield himself from Daniel’s arrows. He pulled his knife and held it to her throat.

“I will kill her, Daniel,” he called. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Let her go, and I might let you live.” Daniel’s voice was eerily calm. For a few seconds, no one moved. Aimee leaned her body forcibly backwards against Françoise, which caused him to shift his balance from the unexpected move. At the same time she raised her foot and brought her heel down hard on one of his feet. The Frenchman loosened his hold around her waist. Aimee wheeled around and brought her knee up hard into his groin. Françoise cursed again. Enraged with pain, he backhanded her, knocking her to the ground.

****

 Daniel wasted no time and sprinted across the camp. With a vicious roar, he lunged at Françoise, just as Aimee hit the ground. His body collided with the Frenchman. The impact sent them both to the ground. They rolled in the dirt, and Françoise frantically struggled to gain the upper hand. Daniel threw his full weight against the Frenchman. He straddled the man’s hips. Francoise stabbed wildly in the air with his knife.

“No man touches her and lives,” Daniel snarled. Françoise’s eyes widened in terror. His knife made contact with Daniel’s upper arm. Daniel grabbed hold of the man’s wrist and squeezed. The Frenchman’s sweat-soaked face turned red from strain. His arm trembled.  Turning Francoise’s wrist so that the knife now pointed downward, Daniel pushed the man’s arm until the sharp weapon plunged deep into Francoise’s chest. The Frenchman looked up in surprise for a split second before his face froze. His body went limp.

Daniel pushed himself up off the ground, and caught his breath for a moment, hands on his knees. He swiped his arm across his forehead, then looked around to where Aimee had been thrown to the ground. She had pulled herself to a sitting position and watched with wide, fearful eyes. He approached her slowly. Had he been too late? His beautiful, brave little wildcat had once again amazed him with her quick thinking and actions.

“Aimee,” he said softly. He dropped to his knees in front of her. She wordlessly held out her hands to show him her bound wrists. Cursing, he pulled his knife from its sheath, and with one quick move, sliced through the leather ropes binding her hands. Like a coiled spring that had been released, she threw herself at Daniel and wound her arms tightly around his neck. The impact almost knocked him off balance. With an anguished sigh, he wrapped his arms around her, and crushed her against his chest.

Her body shook in his embrace and she sobbed into his chest. Silently, he held her and let her cry. He gently stroked her back, and combed his fingers through her loose hair. His mind reeled from one emotion to the next. Anger, fear, joy, love.

He wanted to kill those two bastards over and over again for what they had done to her. He reveled in the joy of holding her close to him, knowing she trusted him. He feared what might have already happened before he found her. Consumed by a burning love for this woman he held in his arms, he suddenly realized he couldn’t let her go. The thought of losing her today had tested his strength and endurance to the limit. Daniel knew he would do it all over again if he had to.

Chapter 16

After what seemed like hours, Aimee stirred in his arms. She sniffed and wiped her nose and face on her sleeve, and raised her head from his shoulder. He cradled her dirty, tear-streaked face in his hands while his thumbs caressed her cheeks. His eyes devoured her.

“You came for me.” Her voice was a mere whisper.

“I would follow you to the ends of the world if I had to,” Daniel said in a sultry tone.

Aimee smiled weakly and touched a trembling hand to his cheek.

Daniel cleared his throat, and slowly rose to his feet. “I’m afraid my legs are numb from kneeling so long,” he said with a tentative smile. He held out his hand to help her up. She placed her small hand in his, her eyes on his face. He pulled her to her feet, and she cried out. Her knees gave out, and she sank back to the ground. Startled, he reacted purely by reflex. With one arm under her knees and the other at her waist, he scooped her up and held her close.

“What is it?” He searched her face for answers. What had those animals done to her?

“My legs are so sore, I can barely stand,” she answered with a weak smile. 

“Did those bastards . . .” he hissed, unable to finish his question, dreading her answer. Aimee shook her head.

“No, they didn’t . . . not in that way.” Her words alleviated his fear. His tense muscles relaxed. “I haven’t ridden on a horse in years, and muscles that I didn’t know existed are protesting.” Aimee gave him a reassuring smile.

Daniel set her feet down on the ground gently, but held her at the waist. She sucked in a deep breath, and her hands reached out to hold on to his shoulders for support. His gaze locked intently with hers. “No man will ever touch you again.” Then, in a whisper, he added, “No man but me.”

His hand reached up to gently cup the side of her face. His thumb stroked her satiny cheek, tracing where a bruise appeared from being struck by the Frenchmen.

“Daniel . . .” She breathed his name. Slowly, he lowered his face to hers. He hesitated for a moment. Searching her face, he waited for her to tell him to stop, waited for her to stiffen. When she did neither, his lips brushed hers gently, and Aimee let out a soft moan. Her arms crept up around his neck, and she leaned into him. His heart pounded in his chest. Daniel deepened the kiss, and wrapped one arm around her waist to draw her closer to him. His fingers caressed her cheek, her eyelids, her forehead, and finally entwined in her hair, then he cradled the back of her head. He groaned as Aimee returned his kiss with equal passion. The hunger for her that had been building in him for weeks threatened to overtake him again, but he remained in control of his emotions this time.

He savored her mouth, nipping, tasting, cherishing. When he could bear no more, he pulled back. He was not going to take advantage of her. And he would be taking advantage. The way she clung to him and kissed him back was almost more than he could stand. He trailed a few more light kisses along the side of her mouth, her cheek, and down her neck before pulling his face several inches from hers.

How often had he dreamed of holding her, kissing her, making love to her? He cursed himself for the timing. He released his hold at her waist, and took a step back. With a heavy sigh, he said, “We should get away from here. I know where we can make camp and you can rest for the night.”

 Aimee grabbed his upper arm. “Daniel.” Her eyes turned large and round, the deep blue pools shimmering with need. “Daniel . . . I . . . I want to be with you.”

Adrenaline surged through him. Had he understood correctly? He stepped close to her once more, and cradled her face in his hands, tilting her head upwards to search for answers in her eyes.

“You’ve been through hell today, Aimee. I have dreamed of hearing you say those words, but . . . not here . . . not now. Not like this.” This was not how he wanted to make her his, with her mind and body battered and bruised. He wrapped her in his arms and whispered in her ear. “I have done everything to try and get you out of my mind. I thought sending you away would be the solution, but I realized today that . . . by God, I can’t let you go.” His voice was husky with want.

****

 The strong front that Aimee had mustered all day crumbled completely. She was exhausted, both mentally and physically, and her entire body screamed out in pain. She cried into Daniel’s shoulder like she hadn’t cried since the death of her parents. She clung to the one person who represented safety and security. This man, who had become her whole life over the course of the last six weeks, had once again, selflessly, come to her rescue.

What she asked was going to cause her more pain than she could imagine later on, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving this place and time without giving in to her desires for him. After today’s ordeal, she couldn’t deny her love for him any longer. It didn’t matter anymore what happened in a couple of months. She needed him now, in this time, and she would be able to carry that memory back to her time. It would have to be enough.

She wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his chest, inhaling deeply of his woodsy scent that she’d come to associate completely with him. Being held in Daniel’s arms was pure heaven. Nothing would harm her here, and she never wanted him to let go. With a deep shuddering sigh, his words were a stark reminder that she only had a few short weeks left, and then both needed to live their lives in their own time again. She raised her head to stare up into his smoldering dark eyes. Desire and something else reflected back at her.

Aimee wrapped her hand around his neck, and pulled his face back down to hers. She kissed him desperately. Daniel groaned as he responded, and she molded herself to his rock solid form.

“We need to leave this place,” Daniel panted, and pulled his head back. His hands spanned her waist and held her away from him. “I’ll get the horses ready.”

“I can’t ride anymore today,” she protested.

“You don’t have to. We can walk, and I will lead the horses, but you’ll be glad to be able to ride tomorrow. It’s a long way back to the cabin.”

Aimee sighed wearily, but Daniel was right. They needed to get away from here and find a different campsite. Hesitantly she glanced at the two bodies on the ground. Pierre’s body had put the fire out when he fell on top of it, and Aimee shuddered to think what he looked like. The heat would surely have burned him. Francoise still had the knife in his chest. Aimee looked at them with a mixture of pity and disgust.

“Come away from here, Aimee,” Daniel called from where he stood with the horses.

“Are we just going to leave them like that?”

“Yeah.” There was not a hint of remorse in his tone. “The wolves and bears can have them.” 

“You wouldn’t want to bury them?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about leaving the bodies for predators to find.

Daniel walked over to her, and gently took hold of her elbow to lead her away.

“After what they did, and wanted to do to you, you want to bury them?” he asked, disbelief in his voice.

“They’re human beings,” Aimee argued weakly.

“Hardly,” Daniel scoffed. “They will be a warning to all others that I protect what is mine,” he said fiercely. “Come.”

She stared at him for a moment. His words were a harsh reminder of the differences between their worlds, and she finally nodded in acceptance. She was too tired to ponder the full meaning of his words.

She turned away from the camp, and followed Daniel without further question. Setting one foot in front of the other was pure agony. Her inner thigh muscles seemed to have lost all their elasticity, and she couldn’t possibly sit astride a horse at the moment. The sun had set fully, and a near-f moon illuminated their way.

“We’ll only walk a few miles. I think I know of a spot you’ll like,” Daniel said gently. “But walking is good. If you don’t use the muscles, they’ll only hurt more.”

“I know that, that’s why I’m not protesting,” she said between gritted teeth.

Daniel led her through the darkness for about an hour when he finally stopped. “This is a good place to camp for the night,” he announced. She couldn’t make out much of the landscape, but a stream trickled nearby.

Daniel unsaddled the horses and hobbled their front feet so they couldn’t wander off too far.

“There were a couple of blankets tied to the saddles. They must not have gotten much use, because they don’t reek like those bastards back there.” Daniel’s voice was still full of venom. “I’ll start a fire. It shouldn’t be too cold tonight.”

“Well, I do have my own personal heat blanket,” Aimee said wearily. “You radiate so much heat, there’s no way I could possibly get cold.”

 Daniel didn’t respond. He quickly made camp. He unrolled the two blankets, and had a fire started in no time. She drifted in and out of awareness while standing up until Daniel scooped her in his arms and carried her away from camp.

“Where are we going,” she asked sleepily.

“There’s a reason I chose this spot.” His deep, husky voice close to her ear sent shivers down her spine. “There are several hot water pools here, and I believe it would do your aching body some good to soak in one of them.”

Aimee tensed, her mind instantly alert.

“Hot springs?” she asked in alarm. “But Daniel, that’s   ill . . .” She stopped herself before finishing the word
illegal
. Bathing in the hot springs was definitely illegal in modern times, but this was 1810.

“Ill? You won’t get sick, I promise.”

“I meant to say ill advised.” She quickly amended her original word. “How do you know which ones are safe, and which ones are too hot? Surely people have boiled to death in these pools.”

“Do you trust me?”

“Yes, I trust you,” she said without hesitation. There was not another person on earth she trusted more.

“Then just relax.”

Daniel set her down, and she strained her eyes, trying to focus on something in the dim light. They stood near the edge of a hot spring. The slight smell of sulfur permeated the air.

“This one should be just about right.” Daniel bent down to feel the water. Aimee did the same.

“Oh, that feels great!” The combination of over a month without a hot shower and her aching muscles was enough for her not to hesitate about what she was about to do. She had never imagined she’d ever be “hot-potting” in Yellowstone!

Without any reservation, she pulled her t-shirt off over her head, and unzipped her pants and wriggled out of them. She didn’t care that Daniel stared at her. She stood unashamed in front of him in the moonlight, clad in only her bra and panties. She smiled tentatively up at him.

“Are you going to join me, or am I on my own?” Aimee asked.

“I believe it would be best if I gave you some privacy.”

She waded into the steaming pool. “Aaaaaahhhhh, this feels sooooo good,” she sighed as she sank down into the water.

“I’ll be back with a blanket for you to dry off.” Daniel turned to head back the way he came. “l’ll see if I can find us something to eat, too. Call out if you need anything.”

She smiled as she watched his quickly retreating silhouette. She should be terrified after today’s events, but once Daniel had shown up, her world was put right again. She felt completely safe when he was near. He had proven over and over again that he was her protector, provider, and teacher. And now, would he also be her lover? The look in his eyes earlier, and the way he kissed her told her without question that he wanted her.

She sank up to her chin in the water, and closed her eyes. It was just about as hot as she could stand it. Her skin tingled, and her pulse quickened. The hot water soothed her aching muscles, and she relaxed.

Aimee didn’t know whether to laugh for joy, or cry in despair. What was she going to do? She loved Daniel more than she thought possible. Today was a turning point in their relationship. There was no doubt in her mind that he had feelings for her, too. Everything about him felt so right. Making love with him was the right thing to do. She would take what she could get now, and live every moment with him to the fullest. The weeks she had left in this time would have to last her for a lifetime. Her only regret was that she would hurt him when she disappeared from his life. Was she being selfish? Absolutely. Was there a way to stop what was happening between them? Absolutely not.