Wild Desire

Book 1: Wild Series

by Cassie Edwards

Genres: Historical Fiction; Historical Romance; Western Romance

Synopsis

"A shining talent!" -- RT Book Reviews From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassie Edwards comes a captivating tale of forbidden--but irresistible--love. . . Stephanie Helton has long heard tales of the white boy the Navaho kidnapped and called Runner, impressed by his speed. Now he is a man, destined to be his adopted people's leader. Thanks to her father's status with the Santa Fe Railroad, Stephanie has been hired to photograph the enchanting Southwest--and will soon meet Runner in the flesh. An inexplicable thrill runs through her at the idea--but the reason becomes clear the moment she and the powerful, darkly sensual man lock eyes. The force between them can only lead to stolen kisses and overwhelming desire. . . But as the railroad betrays the Navaho nation, Runner soon finds his soul in torment. Can he lead his people yet join his destiny with this woman? Stephanie knows only that her heart may break. For how can she be both Runner's love, and his enemy. . .

Release date: April 1, 2015

Publisher: Zebra Books

Print pages: 383

Sample

1881—The Arizona Territory

The sun was just rising behind the distant mountains. Billows of smoke were pouring from the smokestack of a train. rolling upward into the sky as the locomotive rumbled onward on new gleaming rails.

Stephanie Helton sat at the window of the train, gazing at the beauty of the landscape outside. Red buttes towered above the soft, gray-green sagebrush on the valley floor, and the endless sky was the only roof in sight.

Stephanie was a photographer for the Santa Fe Railroad and had traveled by rail many times, but never before had she felt such an anxiousness to arrive at her destination. She had developed a passionate interest in Indian culture after her stepbrother had spoken of his childhood friend so often.

“Adam?” she said. She turned her eyes from the window to look at her stepbrother, who sat across the aisle from her in their private car. “How can you remember Runner so vividly? You were only five when you last saw him. Surely your recollections are not as accurate as you make them to be.”

Adam took a cigar from between his lips and smiled over at Stephanie. “I remember quite well all about my friend, who is now sometimes called the White Indian,” he said. His smile faded into a frown. “Trevor was his real name. He was my best friend when we lived at Fort Defiance. Our friendship became even closer when we were taken captive by the Navaho. I’m sure we would still be loyal friends had his mother not died. When she did, everything changed.”

Eager to know more, Stephanie moved closer, into the seat closest to the aisle. “Tell me more, Adam,” she said, running her fingers through her hair, drawing it back from her face. “I know you must tire of telling me about your experiences with the Navaho, but I don’t. I’ll be among them soon, myself. The more I know, the better it will be for me. I’m determined to photograph them, but I must draw them into accepting me first. So tell me, Adam, how your friend’s name was changed from Trevor to Runner, and how it was that he adapted to the changes so quickly.”

Tall and long-legged, Adam shifted in the small seat. He drew a gold watch from his pocket, studied the time, then slipped it back inside his pocket.

“We should be arriving soon,” he said somberly, “where the work gang is laying the rails closer and closer to Fort Defiance. My dream come true: my new spur. I’m glad Father and the rest of the Santa Fe shareholders allowed me to have my private spur to Fort Defiance, but I’ve got to go farther into Navaho territory. I want a town all my own. I want it to have my name.”

He paused, then feeling impatient eyes on him, turned his gaze to Stephanie. “All right,” he said with a grumble, “I’ll tell you more about my experience while I was held captive in the Navaho stronghold with the others from the stagecoach attack, even though you must have heard this all before.”

He paused again and looked at his stepsister. “It was because of someone like you that everything changed for Trevor,” he said thickly. “As I recall, Leonida was as beautiful and alluring.” He kneaded his chin thoughtfully. “But that was as far as the resemblance went. She was tall and willowy; you are petite. Her hair was golden; your hair shines like copper wire in the sun.”

“Oh, Adam,” Stephanie said with a deep sigh. “Will you go on with the story instead of comparing me with another woman? What on earth does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s because of Leonida’s loveliness that Sage, the Navaho chief, took captives from the stagecoach, and Trevor became involved with the Navaho,” Adam said, closing his eyes, recalling it now as though it was being reenacted before him. “Leonida was also one of the captives. The day that Trevor’s mother died, Leonida took him under her wing. From that point on, everything for Trevor changed, for soon after, he also became a part of Sage’s life. When Leonida and Sage fell in love and were married in a Navaho ceremony, Trevor became their adopted son.”

“It was then that his name was changed?”

“No, it was a short time later. Sage named Trevor Runner because of his ability to run so fast, after Trevor outran all of the Navaho and white children in foot races.”

“You do remember it well, don’t you, Adam?” Stephanie said, gently placing a hand on his arm. “Is it painful to recall? Were the Navaho cruel to you?”

“They were never cruel,” he said, patting her hand. “In fact, I believe it’s because of their kindness that I’m able to remember everything as though it happened only yesterday. It was an interesting experience. I shall never forget it. And Runner? Hopefully soon our friendship can be rekindled.”

“If Sage was so kind, why did he take white captives?”

“He was fighting for his people’s survival,” Adam said, a frown furrowing his brow. “Like now. I’m sure the Navaho hate like hell that the railroad keeps inching farther and farther into their homeland.”

“Yet, even knowing that, you are still determined to move your spur farther into Navaho land, for your own selfish ideals?” Stephanie said, feeling somewhat guilty for her own reasons for being on the train today.

When Adam did not answer her, Stephanie returned to her seat by the window and became lost in thought as she watched the land flitting past outside. Not only was she anxious to meet this white man who now lived as though he were an Indian, she was in quest of the marvelous photographic opportunities this land offered. Scenes of grandeur were luring her to the Arizona Territory made accessible by the opening of the railroads. The quality of native life with its bond to the earth and elemental primitiveness was a palpable force she found hard to resist.

The Santa Fe Railroad had also employed her. She was to get the most intriguing photographs of the land and people to be used on calendars and postcards, to lure tourists to the Arizona Territory on the Santa Fe.

Her father was a major shareholder of the Santa Fe. She knew that because of him the railroad had been overgenerous to her. She was traveling lavishly in a specially equipped car, which included a front parlor, a fully-serviced darkroom, and living quarters. She would be paid five dollars a photograph.

Stephanie understood why the railroad was so eager for the photographs. The men in sole charge of the Santa Fe had discovered a new culture in the wilderness, and recognizing its potential, had taken up at once the task of exploiting it. America was promise. The West was a jumping off point, a fable waiting to be told. It was still a new frontier in the minds of many who sought new vistas and quick fortunes.

The West was unfolding with the Santa Fe. It fulfilled a longing for adventure and discovery. The Santa Fe was already advertising promises of holiday excursions. It proffered a new world, simple and exotic, in the wilderness of the American West.

Stephanie felt lucky that the golden era of railroading had overlapped with the golden era of photography. Both were setting the stage, paving the way for tourists. The Santa Fe was extending its campaign for a monopoly of the tourist market by circulating grand and enchanting images of Indian life and the scenery of the Southwest.

A sudden shiver rose along her spine at her realization that she was ignorant of the Indians. And since she didn’t know them, except for what she had read in books, and what Adam had told her about the Navaho, she feared them somewhat. Yet she was determined to know how they lived and what they did. She had traveled to a distant place, not only to photograph the people and the land, but also to learn.

She was recalling how fondly Adam spoke of the Navaho, again feeling guilty for what she had planned for them. The railroad was, in truth, planning to exploit the Indians. Adam, who seemed hell-bent on furthering his private spur past Fort Defiance, was going to be exploiting his childhood friend. Stephanie could not imagine the Navaho wanting to have another town spring up, especially one which would bring more white people into their land, gambling, drinking, and raising hell.

“Do you actually believe you can talk the Navaho into agreeing with you about having more tracks run along their land?” Stephanie blurted out as she looked quickly over at Adam.

“I don’t have to have their permission,” Adam said, shrugging. “Out of politeness and old friendships, I’m only meeting with them to seek some sort of acceptance of my plans.”

“My father has spoiled you rotten, Adam,” Stephanie said, flashing angry eyes at him. “Don’t expect the Indians to give in to you as easily.”

“Look who’s spoiled!” Adam retorted. “Who’s got a private darkroom all their own on this train? And God, Stephanie, your private car is far more lavishly furnished than mine.”

She said nothing in return, realizing that what he said was true; but her reason for being on the train was much more important than Adam’s. Having his very own private spur was a folly granted by a stepfather who was going far beyond what a true father would allow.

Stephanie knew that her father did everything to please Adam, in order to please his wife, Sally. She had been widowed twice. He wanted her life to be sweet and comfortable, even if that included having to do more than tolerate her greedy, spoiled son.

In truth, Stephanie knew that her father had agreed to the private spur to get Adam out of his hair. If it meant going on past Fort Defiance, so be it.

“The farther, the better,” her father had voiced aloud to a railroad associate one night, when he had not known that Stephanie had overheard.

That had been the night of the board meeting of all of the shareholders of the Santa Fe, when her father had introduced the idea of Adam’s private spur to them. He had explained that it would be a spur that would run from Ferry Station, New Mexico, to Fort Defiance, and even then somewhat farther, on land occupied solely by the Navaho.

She knew that her father had only gotten the men to agree to his son’s folly, knowing that they were afraid that if they didn’t agree, and her father would withdraw his shares in the Santa Fe, the railroad might come close to bankruptcy.

Stephanie glanced over at Adam, who was smoking another cigar and thumbing through a magazine as the train continued rumbling along. He was now twenty-three, five years her senior, yet in many ways he was less mature than herself.

It was this immaturity that she feared when he became acquainted with the Navaho again. If they didn’t bend to his wishes, he would take what he wanted anyhow, ignoring the danger in which he might be placing himself and Stephanie. When he went into council with them, flashing his diamond rings and sporting the most fashionable suits that could be purchased, revealing his arrogant nature to them, who knew what to expect?

Stephanie’s thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt when the train blew its whistle in three long blasts. Wondering why the engineer had the need to make such a racket, she lifted the window and leaned out to take a look outside.

Up ahead, hundreds of sheep were slowly crossing the tracks. The locomotive shuddered, slowed, and shuddered again, its whistle shrieking.

But to no avail. The sheep walked no more quickly, nor did the sheepherder, who had now stepped into view, hurry his pace as the train came finally to a screeching halt.

Adam moved over and crowded in next to Stephanie, peering out the window with her. “Damn sheep,” he grumbled. “But I guess I’d better get used to them. They are the Navaho’s bread and butter. There’ll be plenty roaming the land.”

He lifted a frustrated hand into the air. “Just look at ’em,” he stormed. “The dumb animals. They don’t even know to be afraid. And look at the Indian. He’s not paying the train any heed, either.”

Stephanie was hardly hearing anything that Adam was saying. Her full attention was on the sheepherder. She had imagined she would see the Navaho in poor clothing. Instead, this man was dressed in brightly colored pants and shirt, and the sun was reflecting onto his turquoise necklace. His long, raven-black hair was held back by a red velveteen band, and his knee-high moccasins were intricately decorated with silver buttons.

“Adam,” Stephanie said, giving her stepbrother a quick glance, “do you expect these Navaho to be poor? It doesn’t appear to me that—”

Adam interrupted her. “The Navaho do not measure their wealth by material things,” he said, moving back to his seat. “As for Sage, he said often that he measured his wealth in the respect his people gave him.”

The train lurched, shuddered, and slowly began picking up speed as the tracks were cleared. Stephanie settled back down onto her seat and started to lower the window, but she had waited too long. Billows of smoke wafted inside, bringing with it sprinklings of stinging soot as it settled onto her face.

Coughing and spewing, Stephanie finally got the window down. A low, teasing laugh drew her eyes around. She glared at Adam while he chuckled at her appearance.

Taking a mirror from her purse, she gazed at herself and moaned. Muttering beneath her breath as the train continued huffing and puffing along, she began wiping her face clean with a handkerchief. She was glad that she was dressed in a charcoal-gray suit: the soot blended in well enough with the fabric.

Adam turned his thoughts from his stepsister and gazed from the window at the rugged, lovely landscape. He wanted like hell to be a part of this setting and would fight fire with fire if he was forced to, to achieve his final dream. The chore of convincing the Navaho that what he wanted to do would not cause them any harm would not be easy. He would be asking to take more reservation land from them, for his own private purposes. There was already more than one white ranch on land allotted to the Navaho.

Adam knew one rancher in particular—Damon Stout. Adam had wired Damon that he was coming. If Runner refused to help him, Damon Stout was known for his skills with ropes, horses, and guns.

Adam lacked in all three.

He looked over at Stephanie, who was still fussing with her face. “Ah, leave the soot on,” he teased. “You’ll blend in with the Navaho.”

He laughed raucously as Stephanie glared over at him.

Leonida stepped out of her hogan. Stretching about her in all directions was shadowy grassland. Above her, the sky was filled with fading, glimmering stars.

She walked a few steps toward the pole corral at the back of her house and sprinkled an arc of cornmeal in the air. This was an offering to the gods, who she believed would rise with the sun and pass over her hogan and her family.

She silently prayed for a blessing, then went back inside and joined her family.

“Now I walk with Talking God,” Sage said, beginning the Navaho prayer that he sometimes used before the morning meal.

He shoved another piece of wood in the fireplace of his hogan. He then settled down again beside the fire on a white sheepskin, along with his loved ones, his precious family. There was only one of them missing—his daughter, Pure Blossom.

Sage understood that she enjoyed weaving in the earlier hours of the day. And most mornings she awakened with inspirations for new designs for her blankets. She had recently moved into her own hogan so that she could have more room for her looms and other various instruments used for making her breathtaking woven, woolen coverings.

Leonida gave Sage a soft smile as she poured coffee in an earthenware mug. She inhaled deeply as the aroma of the coffee wafted upward, smelling as good as it tasted. She was glad that the Navaho, as a whole, had adopted this drink as their preferred nonalcoholic beverage. She had always loved it and had missed it when she had first joined the Navaho to become as one with them, as Sage’s wife.

“That prayer is always such a lovely way to start the day,” she murmured, handing Sage the steaming cup. She gazed lovingly at her husband. He was still a powerful leader, revered by the Dine, the Navaho people. He was as handsome as the day she had met him. His eyes were intense and dark, his shoulders broad, his hips lean, handsome with his bronzed, sculpted features.

She looked past him at Runner. It was hard to tell by looking at him that he was not Navaho by birth. He dressed in the Navaho tradition, sometimes in fringed buckskin, other times in bright velveteen breeches and shirts, his moccasins fancied up with shining, silver buttons.

He had spent so much time in the sun that his skin was bronzed almost as dark as his adopted Navaho father and brother. His black hair had been allowed to grow to waist length. He took much care in grooming it, brushing it until it glistened like a raven’s wing.

Handsome was the only word that anyone could use to describe Runner.

And his eyes.

Leonida did not know how it was possible, but Runner’s eyes were even more intense and dark than his adopted father’s.

She looked over at Thunder Hawk. He was her youngest son, and her most defiant. He was the image of his father in all ways, but he had weaknesses that troubled Leonida. He disobeyed his parents far too often.

She poured another cup of coffee, shifting her gaze to Runner. “Son, it’s wonderful that you’ve joined us this morning for breakfast,” she said, handing him the cup. “Since you’ve built your own hogan and live away from us, I’ve missed you.”

“Runner has more on his mind than eating with family,” Thunder Hawk interjected, giving Runner a teasing smile. “What girl are your eyes following now, my brother? There are many who have made special blankets for you. Do you not know that they do this to give you a hint that they wish to share their gift with you? Of all the blankets that you have been given, which do you like the most? That will tell this brother which girl you prefer.”

When Runner didn’t answer and only responded to his brother by glaring at him, Leonida shoved a cup of coffee into Thunder Hawk’s hand. “Hush now, Thunder Hawk,” she said firmly. “Quit teasing your brother. You should be concerning yourself about things other than women. Your brother and father are escorting you to school today. Now do I have your promise that you will stay? It gets so tiring to discover that you’ve skipped another full day of schooling. When will it end?”

“Sitting at desks is hogay-gahn, bad. It is always strange to me,” he complained. “It is too confining. It has few windows from which to see the loveliness of the land.”

He paused, then said, “This Navaho wants to ride horses alongside his father and brother. It was not meant for a Navaho to sit on a bench in a white man’s school every single day, when his hands might be used to help his parents in hard work.”

Thunder Hawk paused, then glowered from his mother to his father. “And this Navaho is too old to be in school,” he said, curving his lower lip into a pout.

“My son, had you not slipped away from school so often, you would have been finished with the teachings long ago,” Sage said firmly. “With the white men pushing against the boundaries of Navaho land, some even already living inside the reservation, it is necessary that the Navaho children learn as much as the whites who, themselves, attend schools.”

Sage paused for a moment. Everything in the hogan was silent except for the sounds of grease spattering and popping as white flour dough fried in deep fat in a skillet over the fire.

“When treaties were signed long ago, the Navaho promised the United States Government that their children would ‘learn paper,’” Sage finally said. “And, Thunder Hawk, so shall it be for this family. Your sister went to school until she learned enough to return to her weaving skills. Your brother has much knowledge learned at the schools on our reservation.”

He nodded over at Runner. “He went,” he said proudly. “He learned. And now he is finished. He has his father’s permission now to even live alone, in his own hogan. You go. You learn. One day you will also build your own hogan and run free on your horses whenever you like.”

“But, Father, I am now seventeen winters of age,” Thunder Hawk dared to argue.

“And so we might still be discussing this same issue when you are thirty winters of age if you do not busy yourself and get the book learning behind you,” Sage said, setting his empty cup aside. He folded his arms over his bare chest. “Thunder Hawk, this discussion is closed. Your father and brother will escort you to school today. I would not hope to think that we would have to go into the schoolroom with you and stand over you to make sure you stay.”

Thunder Hawk lowered his eyes. “E-do-tano, no,” he said, barely audible. “That is not required of you.”

Sage heaved a deep sigh. “Han-e-ga, good,” he said, smiling at Leonida as she handed him a platter of fried bread. “Now we can talk of other things. Runner? Have you recently gone and watched the tracks being laid closer and closer to Fort Defiance?”

Runner nodded a silent thank you to his mother as she handed him his breakfast. “Yesterday and the day before I watched,” he said, his dark eyes narrowing at the thought of the railroad inching farther and farther into Navaho land. “I questioned some of the laborers. They said this portion of the railroad is called a private spur. It is not planned to go far, yet it will pass Fort Defiance by several miles.”

“They plan even further expansion for that black iron fiend they call a train?” Sage said, enraged at the thought. “It was enough to know that it was being brought to Fort Defiance. I was anxious to see the last tie laid. And now you tell me that it comes closer now to our village?” His eyes flashed angrily. “That would mean more saloons and firewater ruining our young Navaho braves.”

“That is so, Father,” Runner said somberly.

“Is it not enough that the Navaho have already suffered at the hands of white people?” Sage said, glumly shaking his head slowly. “We have been cut off, lost, as many of our people were, years ago, during the ‘Long Walk’ to Fort Sumner.”

“Father, I am sorry that people of my past continue to cause the Dine so much heartache,” Runner said, sighing. “I have been a part of both worlds, but never torn about where I belong. It is with a proud heart that I live as Navaho, shamed often by those of my own kind.”

Leonida smiled weakly at Sage, her own feelings mirroring those of Runner. Like Runner, she was glad to be a part of this culture, where the only greed within the People’s hearts was for the constant struggle and desire for peace.

“And what is the purpose of this added private spur?” Sage asked. He took a bite of his bread, smiling his approval over at Leonida, then focused his attention on Runner again, frowning.

“I did not get such answers from the men laying the tracks,” Runner said. “I did find out that a train arrives today as far as the tracks are already laid. Let us go and meet this train. Perhaps then we can find answers from those who are troubling us.”

“We know already why this is being done,” Sage said, his eyes narrowing. “The Navaho will be further exploited by the white people.” He slumped his shoulders and laid his plate aside. “How can the spirit of the earth tolerate the white man? Everywhere the white man has touched it, it is sore. As our people increase in number and flocks of sheep expand and press outward in every direction from our treaty reservation, will this black demon train cut our people in half?”

“Father, long ago, when Kit Carson came with the white pony soldiers and took a good portion of our people away on the ‘Long Walk,’ did you not despair as much then as now? Did not the Navaho return to their land even stronger? Nothing will ever stand in the way of our progress. Nothing. In fact, Father, if you will allow it, the coming of the train might benefit us.”

“How can you say that?” Sage said, giving Runner a disappointed look. “Do not speak so only because you were once a part of their lives. Always think Navaho. Never white.”

“I will never walk in the path of the white people again,” Runner quickly defended. “My very heart and soul are Navaho. My thoughts are only on the welfare of the Dine. That is why I am thinking about who might be exploiting whom if the white man bring their black demon engines farther into our land. With the engine comes people. What is wrong with having more people for our people to sell our wares to?”

He paused, as though measuring his thoughts before putting them into words, then said, “Think of the blankets that Pure Blossom could sell. Selling only to those who come to Fort Defiance and the trading posts nearby is only a small portion compared to how many will come with the railroads. It will give Pure Blossom great joy, and perhaps ease some of the pain from her illness.”

“What he says sounds reasonable,” Leonida said, sitting down beside Sage. She placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Darling, you have seen Pure Blossom lately. Have you not noticed how her back is becoming more hunched?” She cringed at the thought of her daughter’s obvious pain. “I have seen her kneading her fingers, as though they are paining her,” she murmured. “She has to realize now, as we do, that she has the same affliction as her namesake, your dear sister, Pure Blossom, who is at peace now in the Hereafter. How it would thrill our daughter to be able to sell her beautiful blankets to many people, instead of only just a few. Perhaps we could look to the arrival of the train as a blessing. Could we, darling? It would make it much easier to accept what is going to happen. It will, anyhow, no matter what we say or do.”

Sage gave Leonida a lingering look, seeing her as no less lovely than the day they had met. It had been during one of the times, those many years ago, when he had accompanied his sister, Pure Blossom, to Fort Defiance. He had stood watch as his sister had sold her fancy blankets and jewelry in a tent alongside many other Navaho who were there for the same purpose. When Leonida had come along, so sweet and gentle in manner, and so beautiful with her long, golden hair, she had stolen his heart.

With her hair swept back from her face in a bun today, her cheeks flushed from having prepared the morning meal, anything she said would not be easily ignored. She was a woman of much intelligence. He always listened to her suggestions, usually agreeing with her.

But today he was not sure if he should see the worth in his son’s suggestion and his wife’s agreement. He had to think it over. He had to weigh the good and bad inside his heart before he came to any decisions.

“We shall see. I will give it much serious thought,” he said, cupping Leonida’s chin in his hand. He drew her lips to his and brushed them with his. Then he rose to his feet. “Runner, if we are to get your brother to school on time, we’d best be on our way.”

Thunder Hawk rose to his feet only halfheartedly. Runner reached for his arm and teasingly yanked him to his side. “Come now, brother,” he said, fondly placing an arm around Thunder Hawk’s broad shoulders. “Let’s look at it this way. This time next year, if you behave, schooling will be behind you. Then what will you find to grumble about?”

“If I never have to step inside a schoolroom again, I will never again have cause to be unhappy,” Thunder Hawk said determinedly. “I wish only to be a sheepherder. More respect is given to families who have large herds of sheep that are well cared for.”

“That is so, son,” Sage said dryly. “But much respect is given a man who has a school education.”

All was quiet for a moment, then Leonida went to Thunder Hawk and Runner and gave them each a quick kiss on their cheeks, giggling when Sage whipped an arm around her waist and drew her around, against his hard body.. . .