Raven and the Cowboy: A Loveswept Historical Romance (34 page)

Lucky climbed back on a calm and obedient Jonah, Raven on Onawa, and Tucker on Yank.

They camped by the river at nightfall, at the spot where they’d first discovered Luce. When a light rain started to fall, Raven walked down the canyon and removed her dress, allowing her body to be sluiced free of the evidence of their journey. Her dress was ruined, but with one of the nuggets, she could buy a new one for her trip back.

She wondered about the valley of the butterflies. Had the earthquake destroyed it? What about the treasure that hadn’t fallen into the river? Was it waiting for another seeker?

Now, standing nude in the soft, warm rain, Raven felt life and hope return to her body. They hadn’t needed all the treasure. What they’d found was more than enough. Their lives had been in danger, but Tucker had saved them.

Over and over, she’d put her life in his hands and he’d protected her. It came to her that love was trust, the giving and accepting of it. If she really loved Tucker, she’d ask him to stay with her.

But that would be selfish. And she’d spent her life being selfish, for Flying Cloud and the Arapaho. No, she’d let him go to Oregon and start his ranch. Even if her heart would break, there would still be enough money for her to return to her people in Colorado. She’d buy land enough for all. They would be free to live and die on their own land.

Lucky would write a story that the world would want to read, and his family would be forced to see him in a different light.

Everything was settled. Why then was she so despondent?

As the rain continued to fall she made her way toward
the cliff and sought the shelter of an overhang. As she sat she began to feel an odd prickling energy settle around her. There was an alien flutter of wings in the night air, and in the distance she heard the cry of a mountain lion.

Through the rain she could feel him, the essence of the man she’d called her mountain lion. There was a warmth in the coolness. It brushed against her at first, teasing, then more boldly painting her with heat.

Since the beginning she’d been able to reach out to Tucker, connect with him and share his thoughts. But this was different. This was a conscious effort to meld with him. Her need was deep and desperate, not to join with him so much as to become a part of him.

The energy around her became a delicious reminder of Tucker’s kisses, an urging that grew as she sat in the darkness. In her mind she brought him into view, tall and beautiful, not in darkness but in the light. Tucker belonged in the sun just as she belonged in the darkness. He smelled male. He tasted male. Every nuance of his presence swept over her like hot fog.

He was leaving, soon. She understood that. This might be their last night together. Distance would weaken the connection, eventually killing it. Tonight might be all they’d have.

Tucker, my protector, my cougar, I love you
.

Down the river Tucker felt a stab of need in his gut. He’d washed himself and stood out in the open, letting the salty moisture from his eyes be rinsed away with the rain. The adventure was ending. Tomorrow they’d reach Albuquerque, and once their jewels had been banked, Raven would go one direction and he’d go the other.

This was their last night together. Lucky was already sleeping. The horses were bedded down and Raven had left the camp.

She was taking his heart with her, and he didn’t know
how to stop her from going. Even entertaining the idea of keeping her was selfish. Grand things were in store for Raven. She might not understand yet, but he did. Swift Hand might take over the tribe, but Raven was its heart, and without her they’d wither and die.

The pain in his gut intensified; his head throbbed. The backs of his knees tingled and his heart beat faster. Every part of him trembled as if he were standing at the edge of a cliff, staring down, knowing that at any minute he would fall.

And then he felt her, through the soft rain, through the night. Tentatively at first, then stronger, her spirit was reaching out to him.
I love you
. There was a curious uncertainty in her words, an asking that he couldn’t comprehend.

Raven?

Tucker?

Down here
.

She was down the canyon from the cliff on which he stood, asking.

What do you want from me, Raven?

Only you, Tucker. Only you
.

Tucker started toward her, his steps slow but unfaltering. As he walked the thrumming in his head grew quiet; his knees were firm and his heart full. He knew even as he walked that he’d conquered mountains for this woman. She’d taken his pain and now his fear, replacing it with confidence, with need. He could want again. He did want.

He wanted Raven.

Their spirits melded first, creating a circle of warmth that transcended time and place. Along the walls of the canyon, the shadows of the Ancient Ones watched. Overhead and beneath, the spirit world joined to enclose them in a place of joy.

And then they were together in the flesh, touching, silk against sand, rough against soft, dream against reality. There was a song in the rhythms of their touch and their breathing, a chant that caught in the rain and intensified as it hit the textures of the valley. The murmur of the river, the high, sweet sound of the wind and the baritone of the rocks. All became the music of their love.

Tucker asked and Raven gave, riding the currents of their desire, caressing the sure softness of their acceptance. Turbulence followed gentleness, until the fever of their dance erupted into one final firestorm of love that exploded the cocoon and joined them with the elements. Nature accelerated their climax into an explosive tempest that melted every painful memory they’d ever kept. Then time stood still as the rain stopped and the moon moved out from behind a wall of gray.

“Oh, Tucker—” Raven said, her voice tight in her throat, “I don’t understand how this happens to us, but I don’t want it to be over.”

For a long time, Tucker did not speak. Then, finally, he raised up on one elbow and looked into Raven’s eyes. “This isn’t over, Spirit Woman, and this isn’t a dream. You’ve taught me something about myself.”

“I have? What?”

“Everything I ever cared about was lost to me, so I quit caring. When I did that, I quit living. You came into my life with an impossible goal. Nothing stopped you and you reached that goal.”

“Yes,” she said softly, “I did. But I learned something from you as well.”

His face was washed with surprise. “What could you possibly have learned from me?”

“That a person can’t be single-purposed.”

“Single-purposed? I don’t understand.”

“I never thought that I might have a life for myself.
I was so careful to close off anything that might interfere with my duty, I forgot that I’m a woman.”

“So what did I do to change that?”

“You made me see that riches shared are twice as rewarding. Flying Cloud never told me to rely on anyone else to find the treasure. He said the spirits would send me help but the responsibility was mine alone.”

“It was,” Tucker agreed. “I’d have quit long ago—or at least
once
I would have. When I saw how strong and dauntless you were, I began to see that I’d given up on my life too easily. If I’d given up this time, I would have lost you.”

She simply looked at him, not daring to ask what he meant. He might not have lost her, but he would leave and the end result would be the same.

“You made me believe in the impossible—a future.”

“I didn’t do that, Tucker. You’ve always had a future. You just had to work through the past to see it.” She took a deep breath. “When will you leave?”

“Leave? Where would I go?” His surprise was too great. As she watched she could see a little quirk in the corner of his mouth.

“Oregon?”

“Now, why would I want to go to Oregon when the woman I love is going to be in Colorado?”

“The woman you love?”

“The woman I love. I can’t imagine leaving you. Who will protect you? Besides, nobody else knows the secret of the red berries.”

“You’d really come with me, knowing that the land I buy will be for my people?”

“The way I see it, there’s going to be too much land for one man to ranch. I thought we might make a deal with Swift Hand and his men. They run the tribe and give
us a hand on the ranch. In return, we can deal with the government on their behalf.”

“You’d do that?”

“I’d do that,” he said, “if the woman I love loved me too.”

“Oh, Tucker, of course I love you. I love you so much I think I would die if you left me.”

“There’s something I have to clear up first, before we can find a preacher,” Tucker said in a low voice.

“What?”

“When I rode away from Sand Creek, I never went back. I have to square myself with the army before I can help anybody. I don’t know what they’ll do to me, but I’d like to think that there is someone who would wait for me if I have to serve some time in jail.”

“Someone will, your wife. Remember, Mr. Farrell. Father Francis is God’s representative, and in his eyes we are already married. You have a wife who loves you spiritually, even if we aren’t legally married under your law.”

Tucker grinned. “A wife who loves me?”

“Of course, Tucker. I loved you before I even knew you. It just took me a while to know what that kind of love meant.” She reached out and touched his face. “I’m not sure I understand it all yet. Do you suppose you could show me some more?”

“I wouldn’t dare refuse a spirit woman,” he said softly. “But I think it might take years to complete your education. What do you say?”

“I say I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The following article appeared in the September 1, 1877 issue of the
New York Daily Journal:

Bestselling and award-winning author, Sandra Chastain has written thirty-four novels since Bantam published her first romance in 1988. She lives with her husband just outside of Atlanta and considers herself blessed that her three daughters and grandchildren live nearby.

Sandra enjoys receiving letters from her fans. You can write to her at P.O. Box 67, Smyrna, GA 30081.

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Next month, enjoy two timeless romances from Linda Cajio: ALL IS FAIR…, where a practical joke turns into a high-stakes game of love and passion, and RESCUING DIANA, in which a guileless Diana engages in a sensuous tango with a man determined to show her the ways of seduction.

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