Sweet Savage Heart (20 page)

Nathan turned back when he saw that Travis was making little progress in his argument with his granddaughter. He fretted over their conflict, asking, “What’s wrong, Travis?”

“Just a battle of wits and wills, Nate. I’ll explain later. Ride a little ahead and keep an eye out for visitors while I settle her down.” He watched as Nathan reluctantly gave in to his order, which Travis knew would keep his older friend from making a slip. To Wild Wind, he said in Oglala, “We do not have time to exchange harsh words. You ride with me until I know you can be trusted.”

“No,” she protested, and tried to slip from his saddle and arms.

Travis hurriedly caught her, then placed her bound hands over his head and settled them around his waist. “Behave, or I will twist you over my knee and whip your fanny. Maybe that is what you need.”

Wild Wind decided to test him and to get free of his
unsettling embrace and nearness. It was difficult to locate any extra flesh around his middle and to imprison it between her fingernails, but she worked until she was pinching him painfully. “I will ride Cloud or walk.”

Travis grabbed her mischievous hands and held them away from his body, scowling at her. With her teeth, she caught the tender flesh at the function of his arm and chest. She bit him, then gradually increased her pressure as he struggled to break her tenacious hold with his other hand. Nothing seemed to encourage her to stop biting and resisting him. She wanted him to toss her to the ground or place her on Cloud’s back, for she realized she did not enjoy his pain. Though she would not unclench her teeth, she added no more pressure.

Travis grimaced in discomfort, but he had endured more pain than she was giving him. He did not cry out or strike her. Instead he stared down into those turbulent blue-gray eyes. “How can someone so beautiful be so damned mean and savage? You’re gonna force me to hurt you and cause more trouble between us,” he mumbled to himself in English. In Lakota he stated, “Wild Wind, I will have to gag you again when I get that lovely mouth free. If you stop biting and behave, I will let you ride Cloud soon and I will untie you so you can signal your brother.”

As he was speaking, he had grasped her head between his hands and indicated his resolve to obtain freedom at any risk or threat of pain. Given an opening, she ceased her reckless action. “Your word of honor?” she probed, implying that his offers were the reasons for her rapid release of his flesh.

Travis nodded, then whispered softly and gratefully,
“Pilamaya.”
He tied the bandanna around his neck, showing her that he would not gag her again. “A truce, woman? Your word of honor to behave?” After she nodded, he pulled on the reins to turn around his horse.
As he sat her up straight before him and cut her bonds, he muttered in English, “So very beautiful and dangerous, and as cold and wild as a Texas blizzard. You’re gonna be one tough and delightful vixen to tame, if any man has the cunning and strength to do it…”

Travis watched her use sign language to relate her love and farewell, and her hopes for Lone Wolf’s happiness and survival. He watched her ask for forgiveness for her previous action and saw that Lone Wolf returned her signals in kind. Thoughtfully, he noticed that tears brightened her lovely eyes as he saw her send Lone Wolf one final smile and wave.

The flaming-haired beauty with steel blue eyes looked up at Travis and whispered softly, almost seductively,
“Pilamaya, mihigna.”

Travis smiled mysteriously as he responded in Oglala, “You are welcome, my wife. Remember your promise: no more fighting with words or hands. We go home… We should take care of that name right now,” he suggested, as if an idea had just struck him. “You will need a white name to prevent any hostility toward you and any nosy questions. My name is Travis, Travis Kincade. Can you say it?”

“Travis, Travis Kincade,” she repeated obediently.

“Very good,” he remarked cheerfully. “I will call you Rana, a soft, beautiful name for a beautiful and hopefully gentle woman.”

Rana shuddered as the vaguely familiar name rifled across her mind. She stiffened and paled. “I do not like that name. I am Wild Wind.”

“You are my wife, and I am naming you Rana, Rana Michaels,” he insisted, perceiving the effect of the name of her and observing her ensuing actions. He hoped that Nathan would not return now and interfere.

Rana unconsciously grasped the heart-shaped pendant that Nathan had given to her and toyed nervously with it.
She remembered where she had heard the strange name Rana and had viewed the
wanapin
—in her bad dreams. Or, she fearfully wondered, were they visions of horrible days to come? Suddenly she yanked the pendant from her neck, leaving a red scratch on her satiny flesh. As she started to fling the necklace away, Travis grabbed her hand and prevented her panicky behavior. “I do not like the white name Rana and I do not like the
wanapin;
both are evil. Grandfather sent me warnings about them in bad dreams. Now you, my husband, bring them to life. As I feared, I must not trust you. You have lied to Wild Wind and tricked her; this I know is true from my dark visions. Is this not so, Travis Kincade?”

Travis kept his expression closed to her probing gaze. He knew he could not reveal the truth, not when she was so suspicious of him. As Lone Wolf had said, she needed time to become friends with them before he related the story of her past to her. Evidently she was haunted by bad memories, which she considered dreams or visions. It would be unwise to admit he had lied and duped her. Instead he tried a different path. “I will keep the necklace for you until you realize that it comes from a good heart and not a bad vision. Grandfather was preparing you to face your new destiny, one where you must live as Rana Michaels. Do not resist His revelations and will, Rana. Do not fear the bad dreams or your new life far away. You are my wife, and I will protect you from all harm.”

The nightmare she had experienced on the day of Travis’s arrival filled her mind. She was confused and alarmed by the unknown, which seemed to be surrounding her. But the man who had rescued her in her dark dreams was now at her side, her husband. She had to be brave and cunning. “I will become your Rana as Grandfather commands,” she told him, then pulled his head downward and fused their lips to test him in another way.

Taken unprepared for her action, his senses whirled madly as she greedily kissed and embraced him. His arms pulled her tightly against him and he seared his lips over hers. As his body flamed and tensed with desire, his tongue danced with hers and his fingers relished the feel of her thick hair. His lips moved over her face and he enjoyed its softness and sweet smell. He inhaled the freshness of her hair, then nibbled at her ear before his lips hungrily sought her mouth again. For a time, he was lost in the wonder of this newly discovered creature and ensnared by her potent magic.

“A storm is coming, my husband. We must return to camp and wait for it to pass,” she suggested as loud thunder filled her ears and passion’s flames licked at her body. It was no secret that she wanted this man as much as he wanted her. It was past time for them to taste the sweet pleasures of bodies joining in blissful rapture. Surely the fierce storm that was building within their bodies was as powerful as the one nature was threatening to unleash on the land. What better way to spend such an afternoon than in her husband’s arms?

Her words enabled Travis to partially clear his wits. When he leaned back, both were flushed and breathless. His gaze locked with hers. “I see a wahoo can have precious treasures as well as prickly thorns,” he murmured huskily as his thumb caressed her lips and his fingers gently held her chin. “Perhaps a few pricks and pains are worth enduring to pluck such lovely flowers and delicious fruits.”

She hinted boldly, “Let us return to my brother’s tepee before he has need of it after his joining. The storm will surround us soon.”

Travis glanced above them, then twisted to check the sky in each direction. He frowned, for many reasons. He was sitting here dallying with a ravishing woman who believed she was his wife and was eagerly offering herself
to him, while dangers from foes and nature were closing in on them. This wit-stealing vixen was far too tempting to be ignored and nearly impossible to resist, Travis mused silently. He wanted her with every burning inch and tingling nerve of his susceptible body, yet he was going to have to refuse her, though it was as clear to him as a June day that if she were not Nathan Crandall’s granddaughter, he would have unrolled his sleeping bag and taken her then and there. Travis was vexed for allowing himself to be talked into this false marriage with a wife who desired him and expected him to make love to her, a wife who would not understand his constant rejection of her many charms. He almost wished she had retained her fury and resistance, for her willingness to surrender to him was making it painfully hard to reject her. Of course, he admitted, her show of fiery passion could have been a cunning trick to captivate him in order to get her way. Whichever, there was only one way to cool her spirit and take the heat off him.

“Sorry, woman, but. we have to ride, storm or no storm. You wasted too much time this morning with your silly games. Have you forgotten that you hate me and will never yield to me? Do not use your body and a false surrender to keep us from leaving today. A husband, not his wife, chooses when and where to unroll the sleeping mat, and I do not choose this time or place.” Travis knew his words came out too harshly, punishingly, and he was instantly sorry, but he dared not apologize or explain. He had tried to come up with a clever reply that would keep her from tempting him again, for he doubted he could resist her time after time. It would not be wise for them to get too close this soon. When they reached Texas, she would have to be protected from the Caldwells and he would have to continue his fake attraction to Clarissa. Travis realized he should stop calling Rana his wife, for where they were
heading, she would not be considered so. He would have to keep her away from him, even if he had to be cruel and deceitful to accomplish it.

Rana’s cheeks glowed, this time with anger and humiliation. “You offer truce and friendship, then cruelly insult me,” she scolded him defensively. “It is not wrong to wish to see my brother joined to my best friend. I know what I must do. I agreed to our joining to help my people and I will honor the terms of your bargain with my brother. I was not teasing you with a false surrender. My kiss was to thank you for your kindness and your vow of protection, and to seal our truce. You pretended to desire me, to choose this time and place. I did not resist your hunger, for you are my husband and I promised not to fight you again. Blame White Eagle for misleading Wild Wind with his false kisses and touches. Wild Wind will be happy if he never mates with her. But do not call her to you, then scold her for coming when it is her duty!”

Travis cursed softly through clenched teeth. He seemed to be doing everything wrong where she was concerned, and he was taking too much time trying to climb out of this bottomless pit he had dug for himself. He mumbled in English, “Hellfire, Rana, I can’t tell you why I can’t make love to you. It isn’t right for me to touch you, and I was a damn fool to do so. Lordy, I hope you don’t tempt me like that again. You don’t know the truth about us.”

He looked at her downcast head and sighed heavily. “Hear me, Rana,” he said in Oglala. “I expect only friendship and obedience and respect from you. I will not… call you to me again.”

She lifted her head and stared into his troubled gaze. “I do not understand, Travis Kincade. You do not want Wild… Rana to be your wife? You wish Rana to live as… as a sister to Travis?”

“Yes, I need you to behave like my sister,” he agreed defensively, although his entreating gaze belied his stinging words. A sisterly relationship was the last thing he wanted, but it offered some measure of safety until such time as he could reveal the truth. “Truce?” he coaxed hoarsely.

“If you will trust me to ride on Cloud,” she responded softly.

After giving her a long, searching look, he spurred his horse forward and they joined the curious and worried Nathan. Travis told the man he would explain matters later. Right now, he needed to put distance between his and Rana’s responsive bodies. “Swear you will not try anything foolish,” he demanded of her. “Promise you will obey me.”

“White Eagle traded for Wild Wind. She belongs to him. She will become Rana. Rana will obey the orders of Travis Kincade.” She watched the effect of her words on him, carefully concealing her emotions. As Travis spoke with Nathan, Rana mentally questioned his strange English words and his curious sadness, and his denial of their blazing passion. From what she could see and hear, a sister was not what he wanted her to be. She would not tell him she could speak and understand English, for she could learn more about him this way…

“I hear congratulations are in order, Papa,” Clarissa Caldwell stated sweetly as she entered her father’s office. “It seems you finally squeezed out Mister McFarland. Now you own every spread that surrounds the Rocking
C
Ranch. Once you take it from Nathan, we’ll have the largest cattle empire that ever existed. Isn’t it exciting? How do you plan to root out old Crandall? He seems dug in for life.”

Harrison Caldwell looked at his nefarious daughter. He admitted that Clarissa was a beautiful and seductive woman, but he knew she was also selfish and vain, and often too wild and reckless. The greedy Clarissa did not care about their ranch or property, except for the prestige, power, and wealth they represented. She did not concern herself with how her father made money, as long as she had plenty to spend. She rarely inquired about the methods her father used to deal with people, but she made certain that no one doubted or challenged the power and influence that spilled over from him to her. He wondered if Clarissa ever worried about her advancing age, for she was still unwed at twenty-eight. His gaze traveled over her ebony hair, dusky complexion, and deep brown eyes. Several times he had instructed her to
use her seductive talents or devious skills to aid his plots against his enemies, or to entangle those who stood in the way of his having what he wanted. Clarissa had always enjoyed those little “assignments.” She had done everything he had asked of her, except win Travis Kincade over to their side, or make Caldwell a proud father. No, he could never love or be proud of this conniving and lecherous little bitch. No doubt she would slit his throat if it suited her purposes! he mused in disgust. It was a shame a man could not trust his own child, and she could not trust him…