Blackwolf's Redemption
“It’s old. Very old. My father gave it to my mother. His father gave it to his mother. The men of my father’s family have given it to their women for hundreds of years.” He paused. Sienna’s eyes were on his. What was she thinking? She’d said she loved him, but another woman, one to whom he’d never given this bracelet, had once used those same words…
“I know what it is,” she said softly. “It’s a totem. A token.” She reached out and put her hand on his chest. “And I am honored that you offer it to me.”
Jesse felt his throat constrict. “But?”
She gave a low, quicksilver laugh. “But, if you don’t say the rest of the words, I’m never going to forgive you!”
It was as if all the pain, all the despair in his heart gave way.
“The honor is mine,” he said as he slipped the ancient bracelet on her wrist. “Sienna. Will you marry me and be my love, forever?”
Tears glittered in her eyes. “Oh, yes. Yes, my darling, yes!”
Jesse gathered her close, bent his head and kissed her. Her lips parted under his; the taste of her filled him. He slipped his hands under her sweater, groaned as she sighed her pleasure into his mouth.
Thunder, deep and menacing, rolled across what had been a cloudless sky.
Sienna jumped. “Jesse?”
He looked up. What the hell was happening here? The moon was suddenly gone. The stars had fled. The canyon had become so dark that he couldn’t even see the horses. Through the impenetrable blackness, he heard Cloud’s terrified whinny.
“Jesse.” Sienna wrapped her arms more tightly around him. “What’s going on?”
It was a damned good question. He didn’t know, didn’t like not knowing. Something nuzzled his shoulder. Cloud, he thought with relief, and grabbed for the reins with one hand.
“Come on,” he said grimly. “Get up on Cloud and we’ll get the hell out of—”
The thunder rolled again. It sounded like a freight train aimed directly at them. Sienna screamed—and, all at once, a shaft of green lightning split the darkness.
“Jesse!”
He dropped the reins, gathered Sienna more closely against him. Something—the wind, the night—something was trying to tear her from his arms.
“I’ve got you,” he shouted. “I won’t let you go—”
It didn’t matter.
One second, the woman he loved was in his arms.
The next, she was gone.
The low buzz of voices.
A warm breeze.
Cool water on her face.
Sienna moaned. “Jesse?”
“She’s coming around,” a voice said.
“Thank goodness!” another voice added.
“Sienna? Open your eyes.”
It wasn’t easy, but she did. And moaned again. Her head ached. She was nauseous. Dizzy. And the sun, beating down on her, was a brutal force.
The sun?
Oh, God! “Jesse,” Sienna gasped, and sat up.
“Easy.”
The voice was male—but it wasn’t Jesse’s. She blinked; faces came into focus. “Jack?”
“Take it easy,” Jack said. “Don’t try to move just yet.”
“What happened?”
“We had one of those crazy summer electrical storms,” one of the grad students said excitedly. “Lightning, you know? It hit too close and you passed out.”
“Jesse,” she said again, her voice trembling.
“There’s no Jesse here,” Jack said impatiently.
“She must have been dreaming,” the grad student said.
Sienna raised a shaking hand to her head. There was a lump behind her ear. “What—what happened?”
“We just told you,” Jack said, his tone accusatory.
“A storm,” the grad student said. “And a bolt of what looked like green lightning hit the ledge up there.”
“And,” Jack said, “you went down.”
Sienna stared at him. “So—so, I was unconscious?”
“Yup.”
“But—but for how long? How many days?”
Jack snorted. “Days? Minutes, just minutes. Ten. Fifteen. Something like that.”
A moan burst from Sienna’s throat. A dream? Was that what this had been? Only a dream? No. No!
“You were out long enough to miss the good news.”
“What good news?”
“Just had a text message from the university. We can take our time with this expedition. Turns out the land’s not for sale, after all.”
Sienna felt her heart lift. “It isn’t?”
“Nope. Somebody just found papers dated July ’75. Seems the guy who owned it changed his mind, turned the place into a trust that’ll stay forever wild.”