Page 44 of Teton Sunrise

Alex pulled away from her and ran his hand over his face. He wheeled to turn around.

“I’m no good for you, Evelyn,” he said, his voice strained as he stared off at the distant mountains. “I’m sorry for what happened to your folks and Henry, and that you ended up here. I made a mistake when I decided to take you further into the mountains with me. I didn’t know what to do at the time when I . . . when I bartered for you.” He paused, and glanced at her before turning his head back toward the mountains. “I’ll make sure you’re taken care of in St. Louis.” His jaw muscles clenched and unclenched.

Evelyn stepped around him, and stared up into his hardened face. She reached up and touched his cheek, forcing him to look at her.

“What if I want you to be the one to take care of me?” she whispered. “As you’ve reminded me before, according to the law of the land, you’re my husband. I see it in your eyes that you have feelings for me. I can feel it in the way you kiss me.”

Alex’s chest heaved. “It doesn’t matter what I might feel for you, Evie. Don’t you understand?” His words sounded forced. “Your safety is more important to me than what I want.” He pried her hand away from him, and held on to her wrist.

“Alex Walker, you are making no sense.”

“I hurt you once, Evie. Remember?” He lifted her wrist to her eye level. “I don’t ever want to hurt you like that again.”

“Then don’t,” she said in a sultry voice.

“Evelyn . . .” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head, avoiding her eyes.

Evelyn yanked her arm free of his grip, and fisted her hands at her hips. “Don’t be a warthog, Alex Walker.”

Alex’s head shot up, and his eyebrows furrowed. For a moment he just stood glaring at her. He sighed audibly. His eyes roamed her face, and Evelyn held her breath. The firm set of his jaw tensed even more. Abruptly, he stepped away from her. “Time to get back to camp. It’s getting dark.”

Without another glance at her, he turned and headed toward the glow of the campfire. Evelyn stood in stunned disbelief.

“I’m not going back to St. Louis. You hear?” She stomped her foot and yelled after him. “Damn you for the stubborn mule that you are.” With her hands still on her hips, she stared after him. Her vision blurred, and she sniffed. Had she been mistaken about him after all? She’d almost declared her feelings for the one and only man she ever loved. Perhaps she was just being naïve, and he truly didn’t care about her.

Evelyn listened to the crickets chirp and the soft gurgle of the water as it flowed past. She didn’t know how long she stood at the creek’s edge, but something was different all of a sudden. The frogs stopped their chorus.

Her head shot up just in time to see Alex in the distance wheel around and pull his pistol from his belt. He was almost back at the campfire. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. He called her name, but it sounded like a faraway echo, just before a firm hand clamped over her mouth, and someone dragged her away from the creek. She tried to kick out at her assailant, but a steely hand slapped her across the cheek, making her head snap to the side. She blinked away the pain and darkness before her eyes, and a firm arm wrapped around her middle. The breath left her lungs when she was thrown over someone’s shoulder. She tried to call Alex’s name, but no words escaped her lips. Her captor ran through the brush and into the forest as the sounds of gunshots reverberated all around her.

****

Alex realized something was wrong the instant it happened. The crickets and frogs ceased their loud noise for a brief moment. The hair at the back of his neck stood on end, and by pure reflex he pulled his pistol from his belt. At camp, Laurent and Jasper both shouted at the same time. Several horses whinnied, and shots rang out.

Evelyn!

Everything seemed to happen at once. With his pistol in one hand, he yanked his knife from his belt. A scream filled the air; the scream of the woman he cherished above everything else. He wheeled around, his pistol cocked and ready to fire.

Evelyn struggled against the hold a Blackfoot warrior had on her arms. He backhanded her across her face, and her head snapped to the side. Rage like a wildfire out of control consumed Alex. Visions of his father hitting his mother flashed before him. He raised his pistol and took aim. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, the warrior threw Evie over his shoulder and took off into the thicket. Alex cursed loudly. He couldn’t fire his weapon for fear of hitting her. He charged after the Indian, determined to overtake the savage. His fingers gripped the knife tighter. The Injun would pay with his life for touching her.

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