Blackwolf's Redemption
What better place to tell her that he loved her, and wanted to make her his wife?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THEY rode out slowly, the horses casting long shadows as they picked their way over the meadow.
The night was still and cool, the sky a black colander pierced by the light of a thousand stars. A fat ivory moon rose above the jagged rim of the canyon, limning the stark peaks with an almost merciless light.
It was beautiful, all of it. The moon, the stars, the canyon and Blackwolf Mountain, now looming just ahead…but Jesse’s feeling of unease was growing.
Maybe coming out here hadn’t been such a good idea.
Halfway into the canyon, he reached for the mare’s reins and brought both horses to a halt.
Sienna looked at him in surprise. “Why are we stopping?”
Why, indeed? He, of all people, didn’t believe in premonitions. Besides, he wasn’t having a premonition, he just had this uncomfortable feeling…
“Jesse? I thought we were going to ride all the way into the canyon, to Blackwolf Mountain.”
He draped Cloud’s reins over the saddle horn and slid to the ground.
“The view is perfect here,” he said, reaching up to Sienna. “See? The stars, the moon right overhead…” He smiled as she slipped into his arms. “Besides,” he said, “it’s been too long since I kissed you.”
She laughed softly as she linked her hands behind his neck.
“Much too long,” she agreed, and lifted her face to his.
He kissed her, his mouth gentle on hers, tasting the sweetness that was hers alone, gathering her tightly to him until their bodies seemed to be one. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote sent a mournful cry into the night.
Sienna shivered.
“Baby? Are you cold?”
“No. It’s just…” She hesitated. “There’s such a sense of peace here, but there’s also—there’s something else. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a feeling—”
“Yes. I know.” He did. He felt it, too. An indescribable sense of peace and—and something more, something that made the hair rise on the nape of his neck.
It was as if the canyon was filled with the old beliefs tonight. Nonsense, of course. Besides, he’d brought Sienna here for a reason. This was where he had found her. It seemed right that this should be where he told her how much he loved her.
“Sweetheart?”
“Mmm?”
“I have—I have something to tell you.”
She tilted her head. “Something bad?”
Great. Just great. That was one hell of a start, but then, he’d never done this before. He and Linda had just sort of ended up married; he’d never been able to remember actually proposing.
The coyote howled again—or was it a coyote? The sound was too deep, too wild, too filled with loneliness. Sienna caught her breath.
“Jesse, that’s a wolf! I didn’t know there were wolves left in Montana. There will be, in my time, but not now.”
“Yeah. It’s a wolf, all right. I’ve seen him. A big guy. A male.”
“Ah,” she said, the word filled with compassion. “He must be lonely.”
Jesse nodded and raised her face to his. “He is,” he said quietly. “He needs a mate. A mate he can love, who will love him forever.”
His voice was low. Sienna’s heart began to race.
“What a lucky female she’ll be.”
He smiled. “You think?”
“I know. To have a mate like that…”
“Sienna. I’m in love with you.”
She didn’t move. Didn’t answer. His gut knotted. Why hadn’t he waited? It was too soon. She wasn’t ready. She might never be ready. Maybe what she felt for him was gratitude.
He was a fool. He was moving too fast, asking too much of a woman who was still trying to understand what had happened to her—
“Oh, Jesse…”
He swallowed hard. “Yeah. I know. Too much, too fast, too—”
“Jesse, I love you, too. I adore you!”
Jesse whooped as if he were a warrior counting coup. He’d learned the victorious cry from his father, passed it on to the men he’d led into battle—and had never imagined making such a joyous sound again. Sienna laughed as he caught her in his arms, whirled her in circles and kissed her, over and over.
When he put her on her feet, their laughter stopped. He looked deep into her eyes.
“I have something for you,” he said softly. “I know I’ve told you I don’t believe in the old ways, but…” Moonlight lit the bracelet as he took it from his pocket. “But I believe in this.”
Sienna caught her breath. “Oh, it’s beautiful.”