Read Kate's Outlaw (Steam! Romance and Rails) Online
Authors: E.E. Burke
He stood and stretched. Bath first, then breakfast. Then… Well, he’d done all he could to arrange things with his uncle so the council would consider Kate’s idea for leasing land to the railroad. He’d even written the proposal, detailing his recommendation on the conditions. His uncle had promised to let him know it was received. After that, he could move on to a different place, somewhere far away from his home where he wouldn’t cause them trouble.
Leaving his clothes in the cave, he strolled naked down to the river. The gravel crunched beneath his bare feet
. He felt restless, as if he’d forgotten something or left an important task undone. He scooped up a flat stone, and with a flick of his wrist sent it hopping across the surface. Picked another rock, then paused, squinting as the sun struck silver on the water.
His gaze shifted up beyond a forested bluff to a sky as blue as Redbird’s eyes. It’d been pitch black last night.
That’s
what he’d forgotten, the New Moon. He hadn't participated in the ritual celebration since Ocoee died. Hadn’t been willing to release the bad feelings trapped inside him. Redbird had helped him get to the point where he could let go of the past, but if he didn't purge his lingering guilt, it would devour him, leaving nothing but a husk.
Jake dropped the rock and walked into the river. Chill bumps prickled his skin as he waded out to where the water reached his chest. Taking a deep breath, he submerged.
He remained beneath the surface as the impurities gathered in his lungs and his chest began to burn. Dark spots danced in his vision. He stared into the murky water until he felt light, almost weightless.
Now
…now he could rise.
His toes dug into the silt and he pushed up, breaking the surface, gasping for air. Water poured down his hair and over his bare skin. A thousand tiny rivers washed away the sweat clinging to his body and the sins weighing down his soul.
Closing his eyes, he chanted the song of renewal. Nothing would change the past, but at least he was free to be a better man in the future, which was another way he might repay his debt to Redbird. He splashed out of the river, feeling cleaner than he had in years.
“Wa-ya!”
He spun in the direction the call had come from, his gaze flying to a rocky outcrop where a path led down to the cave. His uncle raised an arm, waving. Someone stood next him. Looked like a woman dressed in men’s trousers.
Jake caught a glimpse of red hair beneath a straw hat, and his heart came to a dead stop.
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Kate perched on a large rock, sipping coffee from a tin cup while Jake tended to a fire he’d built near the river. He'd donned a buckskin shirt over trousers of the same material. On his feet were moccasins. Based on the look of the campsite, with spears for fishing and a quiver of arrows near the stretched hide of a deer, he'd been here for some time, living off the land.
Her gaze caressed his strong jaw. Sparse bristles extended to his chin and around his mouth, other than that, he didn't have much hair on his face—or his body. The memory set off another burst of shivers. Gracious, what a sight he’d made coming up out of the water like some pagan river god with his black hair slicked back and his bronze skin gleaming wet. She’d been struck speechless, until she’d gained the presence of mind to turn around and give him some privacy.
After he’d gotten over his initial surprise, he’d cooked them a breakfast of fresh fish while she shared news of negotiations between the council and the railroad. Jake’s finely crafted proposal had been well received and an agreement was imminent, one that would protect the Cherokee’s sovereignty over their lands while letting the railroad steam ahead.
His uncle had left as soon as they’d finished eating. He told them he had to get home and would leave her in Jake’s care, as she and Jake had business they needed to discuss.
“
What sort of business brings you out here?” Jake poured more coffee into her cup.
Their eyes met, and a thrill shot through her. He’d been hovering ever since she arrived and at times
came close enough to touch her. But he hadn’t.
Setting the
coffee near the fire, he perched on a rock a few feet away.
Kate sighed with disappointment. She
hadn’t misread those looks he'd given her, but for some reason he was keeping his distance. She'd been devastated after he fled town and assumed he'd meant what he said about parting ways. However, during the last round of talks with the council she couldn't hold back from approaching his uncle to see how he was faring. What she'd learned had given her the courage to come after him.
“
You and I have a few things to settle,” she started.
"Such as
?” His expression conveyed curiosity, but it was the longing in his eyes that gave her hope. If he’d missed her half as much as she missed him, he might consider her offer.
“You left…” Her voice sounded surprisingly calm, considering her nervousness. Or was
it excitement at seeing him again. Heavens, her hands were shaking. She set her cup aside and hugged her knees to her chest. “Why did you go without saying goodbye?”
A look of regret flashed across his face before he schooled his features. “I didn’t want to stick around for the lynching.”
Tenderness welled in her heart. He thought he was a wanted man, but she was the only person looking for him. “There wouldn’t have been any lynching. Our foreman couldn’t give a detailed description of the suspects, so Henry told the major the railroad was closing its books on the case. To preserve the peace.”
The strained lines around Jake’s mouth relaxed. He rested his arms on his knees.
"Is that why you're here? To tell me I'm not wanted?”
“
No, I could've sent your uncle to tell you that. I wanted to make you an offer.” Kate gathered her courage. She’d given this a great deal of thought, and though it would change the trajectory of her life entirely, where she ended up would be exactly where she was meant to be—by Jake’s side.
“I’ve decided to go back East and lobby for the suffrage movement. Come to Washington with me. Study the law. Become an advocate for your people. I’ll sponsor you, so you don’t have to worry about where the money will come from.”
“The law? Washington?” He shook his head, looking confused. “But…I thought you wanted to run the railroad. You said you wanted more influence, a position on the board.”
Yes, she had said that. But she hadn’t been running after power. She’d been running after love. Her father, who’d called her every kind of fool when he found out what she planned to do, might not ever love her like she wanted. But she’d come to peace with it, mostly because Jake had shown her she was loveable and admirable and valuable, just the way she was. This was what she wanted to tell him, but now that she was here, she couldn’t find the right words. So she fell back on something else she’d realized.
“Working for equal rights has always given me great satisfaction. Besides, Father doesn’t need my help. He’s got Henry.”
She smiled as she recalled her last contentious meeting with her father and his right hand man. “Henry latched onto the prospect of leasing the land and before the discussion was over managed to make the whole thing look like his idea. He’ll be named president soon, I suspect.”
Jake’s brows slashed down. “You came up with that idea.”
His righteous anger on her behalf pleased her, but she lifted one shoulder, nonchalant. “I knew my father wouldn’t buy it if he thought it was my idea. I let Henry take the glory and he helped me convince my father to release all claims on Cherokee lands. It was a good trade-off.”
She paused, picking up her coffee to take a sip. “Besides, I’ve got better things to do than hang around Henry and fight for control of something I discovered I don’t even want. I have your future to think about.”
Jake cocked his head. “
My
future?”
“You do intend to have one?”
“Yes, but…as a lawyer? In Washington?”
She nodded eagerly. She’d been so excited when she thought of it because it all seemed to fit so perfectly. “You’d be a wonderful lawyer. You’re intelligent, educated and have a sharp mind for strategy. I know you want to help your people, and you could accomplish so much good representing their interests.”
He stared into the fire. Ran his fingers through his hair. “I never thought…”
Her breath snagged in her throat. Just because she’d come up with the idea, didn’t mean it was something he wanted. “You don’t think you’d like it?”
“Actually, I think I would.” Jake sat back, looking bemused. “I just never imagined I could do something like that.”
“You can do anything you set your mind to. All you need is the opportunity and…” She leaned forward, putting her heart into her eyes. “I want to give it to you.”
He blinked, seeming stunned by her declaration. Then a crease appeared between his brows. “If you show up in Washington with an Indian in tow, you’ll be the butt of gossip. Ugly gossip.”
She gestured to the trousers she wore. “Do you think I care what other people think? I never have, and I never will. If someone chooses to make an issue of it, we shall snub our noses at them and go about our business.”
He knelt at her side before she realized he’d moved.
“Why? Why would you do this for me?” He held her in that intent golden gaze that had so unsettled her to begin with. Now, his rapt regard sent shivers of pleasure racing through her.
She could say it was because she was a crusader, always looking for a good cause, but that was only a small part of the reason she wanted him to come with her, and it wasn’t what he was asking. “I want to help you make something of your life because…” she swallowed, hard. “I love you.”
He dropped to both knees and put his arms around her. She embraced him, hugging, crying, she couldn’t help it. Buried her face in his neck and nuzzled his warm skin. He smelled so good and it felt so good to hold him. The past two months had seemed like forever, and she’d feared she would never see him again or hold him.
“Oh Jake,” she whispered. “Please don’t make me leave without you.”
He drew back, his expression solemn. “I could say ‘I love you’ in English and
Tsa-la-gi
, but words don’t express half of what I feel.” He touched his chest. “In here.”
Another piece of her heart fell at his feet.
She drew his head down and he kissed her—a lush, passionate kiss. The kind she’d dreamed about and longed for and needed so badly she thought she might die. When he’d left, her entire world had come crashing down around her. She’d told herself they weren’t right for each other, that they had no conceivable future. Until she’d reconceived her future at his side and everything had fallen into place. She hadn’t known happiness before meeting Jake. And now, knowing he loved her, she couldn’t imagine being happier.
“Redbird,” he murmured, feathering kisses across her cheek. “Am I dreaming? If I wake up, will you fly away?”
His remark surprised her. “Why would you think that?”
“I never told you the end of Redbird’s story.”
“No, you didn’t. Is it a happy ending?
He gave her a rueful smile. “Afraid not. She was killed.”
Kate’s chest grew tight. “How?”
“
Uk-te-na
destroyed her. The smoking dragon,” he explained.
“Isn’t that the name your people gave the steam engine?” She stroked his cheek, wanting to reassure him. “Were you afraid the railroad would take me away? Destroy who I am?”
He gazed into her eyes. “Your spirit is too strong to be conquered, like Redbird’s. She came back to life as a bird—the redbird.”
“Why, that’s beautiful.” Kate smiled. “And it
is
a happy ending.”
Jake pressed a tender kiss against her forehead. “But she flew away.”
He thought he couldn’t hold her? Kate’s heart swelled with so much love she couldn’t contain it. “I’ll never leave you,
Wa-ya
. My Wolf.”
At his look of surprise, she grinned. “You’re uncle told me your Indian name. It fits you perfectly. You’re the wolf who guards his pack.”
His eyes glittered with amusement. “Are you offering to be part of my pack?”
“I’m offering to be your mate. And redbirds mate for life.”
His smile straightened into a line. “You’ll be my wife? This is what you want?”
Her heart skipped a beat. “More than anything.”
“Then I’ll go with you to Washington. I’ll go wherever you go. And never leave your side.”
By the time he finished his pledge, Kate was weeping.
He wiped away her tears with his thumb. “I’ve made you cry again. I never meant to, but it seems that’s what I do.”
“These are happy tears. The kind you cry at weddings, or when babies are born, or when you find your one true love.”
Jake kissed her again and she could taste her tears on his lips. They tasted like joy.
The End
Dedication
Thank you Jennifer and Jacqui for embarking on this journey with me. You are amazingly talented writers, and working with you has sharpened my steel. Special thanks to critique partners Heather Snow, Katy Madison and Keri Smith, along with my fellow writers and friends at MRW and MARA, for your guidance, encouragement and unflagging support. To my husband, daughters and our wonderful families, there aren’t words enough to express my gratitude. Thank you for believing.
E.E. Burke
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Other Books by the Author
In the
Steam! Romance and Rails Series
Her Bodyguard
by E.E. Burke, coming Fall 2013
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Contact the Author
E.E. Burke