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Pumpkin just shrugged.
Chapter Three
Aiden decided to go ahead of the others and try to find a pathway the tribe might have made. Before he took off Angus gave him some advice. 'Look, since you're going it alone out there, you look for circles in the snow, usually close to trees or rocks."
"I will certainly keep my eye out for the traps, thanks Angus."
Still by noon, he wasn't having much luck and he stopped to make some coffee and have a bite to eat. The sky was gray and hung gloomily over the glimmering snow. The trees hung heavy like weighted angel wings as the snow covered its branches. It had snowed so much that any passerby was hidden from their trails.
At the rate he was going he could be out here all winter looking for the tribe. Not only that but he had to worry about bear traps and a Cougar.
Aiden didn't particularly like the job he was given. Especially about bringing Lucy in. Lucy was a touchy spot with Aiden. He knew her story and how she'd been captured so long ago. How the Indians had raised her and not one soul had ever come to claim her. Even if her parents had been killed, surely someone would have come to look for her. But they hadn't. He remembered how hurt she'd been because of it. Although she usually hid that hurt well, it was there in the depths of her clear blue eyes. He knew her well, maybe better than anyone in the world. He had a feeling for Lucy that even he couldn't define. He understood her hurts, and how deep that hurt went, she had tried over the years to hide them, but he recognized her vulnerabilities. He wanted better for her. Over the years he'd known her, he'd become protective of her, just as the Indians were.
He'd thought about taking her from the village many times, but he knew she would face a life of scorn with the white people. He'd seen it too many times. Women dragged back to what they called civilization where the other white women jeered at them and men disrespected them. Out here, a woman was expected to kill herself rather than let an Indian have them.
Lucy was but a child when she was captured by the Blackfoot. Carried off at six, she never saw her parents again. And at that age she was old enough to miss them terribly, and young enough not to understand why they didn’t' come for her.
In her own defense she became Indian.
When the Cheyenne took her from the Blackfoot village, she'd again been ripped from all she knew. Adjusting was part of her life. But the Cheyenne raised her as their own. She would have been miserable had she not accepted the love they offered her.
It seemed there was no place for her in life, and his heart ached for her. She didn't deserve the life she was leading, and she sure didn't deserve the ridicule of others. She was despite it all a survivor and few realized just how much.
The Sergeant's words echoed in Aiden's head, "Unless maybe you like her a little yourself."
Aiden thought about that. He had feelings for Lucy, he just wasn't sure which way they went. She was only sixteen the last time he saw her. Just becoming a woman, and more beautiful than he wanted to admit.
No, Lucy was a survivor, and he respected the hell out of that.
He was just putting the coffee pot back on the fire when someone jumped him from a tree above him.
Aiden landed in the snow face first, and it didn't take him but a second to roll over and grab the offending person and wrestle him under him. Stradling the stranger he took his knife out and put it up to the stranger's throat when he realized who it was.
"What in the world!" he shouted at her as he put his knife away and jerked her to her feet. "Do you realize I almost killed you?" His voice was harsh, his frown set.
The woman smiled now, a warm inviting smile that melted the snow around them. "Hello to you too, Aiden!" Came her soft, sweet voice.
Her voice was melodious and teasing. The glint in her eyes had him smiling. The huskiness in her voice brought an awareness between them instantly. Aiden jerked her up by the collar of her coat and brought her menacingly close.
Dear God, she'd gotten to be a beautiful young woman. It startled, pleased and scared him all at once. His attraction to her was instant and he fought it with his better sense, but her smile always curled around his heart.
But before he could say a word, she stood on the top of his boots and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck and proceeding to make him very aware of who she was. Her hands danced against the nape of his neck, her fingers delighting in his rich thick goldish brown hair. It wasn't a peck on the cheek either kind of kiss. It was a get-down kind of kiss, the kind that made a man have urges. He couldn't stop it, or change it, all he could do was respond to warm lips that melted the ice from his own.
Her lips massaged his, until he began to respond and pull her closer. His male instinct took over from there. The kiss suddenly deepened and finally had her backing off. Now his hands went to the back of her head and moved her so their lips could explore each other further. He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him, so she wouldn't fall. He felt the thud of a heartbeat, the scent of a mate, the temptation of a woman.
She jerked herself away, blowing an icy breath at him, "That's a little nicer welcome." She smiled, her eyes shining into his. "That's the first time we've kissed, Aiden, it sure was something. I wondered what it might be like."
"Yeah," he stared for a long moment. "I guess it was." His frown began to fade away. How could a man be angry with a kiss like that?
They seemed to stare at one another for a moment, sizing each other up, mentally and emotionally.
"Your standing on the top of my boots you know?" He smiled sexily at her.
"Does it hurt?" she asked softly.
"No," he grinned, "Just letting you know where you were."
"It doesn't hurt me stepping on your toes?" she chuckled.
