Naomi gasped.
An elderly hawk emerged from the clothes, shaking its feathers. It glared at them with yellow eyes, put one wing over its head, and went to sleep.
So that’s it?” Naomi asked as she started the truck. “Now “we’re bonded?”
“No.” Jamison sighed, frustration and disappointment warring within him. “I think that was the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever gone through. He’s not a real shaman.”
“But you gave him a hundred dollars.”
“He needs food and fuel for the winter. I bet he shafts a lot of people, and they go along with it because they feel sorry for him.”
“He really is a Changer, though. He didn’t fake that.”
Jamison shook his head, glum. “But there was no bonding. You’re still vulnerable.”
“Then so are you.”
Jamison tried to contain the anger boiling through him. “Let’s get back to Magellan. The weather’s changing.”
Naomi peered at the sky, which had moved from blue to gray while they’d been inside, clouds lowering. Storms could gather fast in the mountains. Jamison remembered a summer day he’d been hiking on Humphreys Peak, one of the sacred mountains of the Navajo near Flagstaff. One small cloud had been hovering over the summit when he started, but within an hour, he was dodging lightning strikes and a deluge of hail.
Naomi said nothing as she inched the truck back toward the main road. As they snaked northward through the reservation, flakes of snow began to dust the windshield.
“What do we do now?” Naomi asked. “Who else can perform the bonding thing?” Naomi faced the road like she faced everything, chin up, with bring-it-on sass. A defeat was only a minor setback to her.
“I don’t know anyone else,” Jamison said. “Except the Alpha who held me captive, and I don’t plan to ask him.”
“What about this Coyote? He knew where the Changers were in Mexico, maybe he knows where some others are around here.”
“He’s not exactly trustworthy.”
“He’s nice to Julie. And it’s worth a shot.”
She had a point. “I’ll try to track him down,” Jamison conceded. “I’ll check out the Crossroads Bar and see if anyone knows where he’s staying. If he shows up at the Ghost Train tonight, I’ll try to corner him there.”
“Or I will. I’d like to know why he shunted you off to Mexico and didn’t tell me. If he’s some powerful god, he could have at least called.”
Jamison chuckled. Coyote the mighty trickster god would meet his match in Naomi.
“Damn, the snow is picking up,” she said.
The black strip of road they’d reached was deserted, and snow fell thick and fast. They had miles to go before they met the northbound highway, and then they’d have to crest a summit before twisting back down to the plateau.
Naomi set her jaw, slowed the truck, and drove carefully and intently. Five miles later, wind slapped them halfway across the road, and the windshield was covered with white.
“Shit.” Naomi pumped her breaks. The truck obediently slowed, listing sharply to the right as the wheels went into the shoulder. They stopped, the truck rocking, and the whiteout blizzard struck full force.
Naomi sat still, hands locked around the wheel, eyes wide. Jamison unbuckled his seat belt, slid across the cab to her, and put his arms around her.
“We’ll be all right.” He turned her face to his, smoothing her cheek with his thumb. “There’s no other traffic, and when the storm lets up, they’ll send out the plows.”
“Julie . . . ”
“Is snug and safe with your friend in Flagstaff. We’ll just have to think of a way to keep ourselves warm.” He licked her ear.
She relaxed enough to smile. “I missed you, Jamison.”
“I missed you too, love.” Her hair smelled so good. It always had. He nibbled her earlobe, liking the little noise of pleasure she made.
Naomi turned her head and kissed him. He melted into her, feeling her hot mouth, her questing tongue.
He remembered falling asleep inside her last night, her warmth filling his empty spaces.
“You’re mine,” he murmured. His entire body flushed with heat. “Mine.” She kept kissing him, her lips so soft. He imagined her lips sliding around his heavy erection, and his body throbbed.
“I’m going to do another sculpture and sell it,” he said. “Then use the money to buy you the biggest diamond ring you ever saw.”
She stilled. “Diamond?”
“It’s the custom of your people for a man to give a diamond ring when he asks a woman to marry him, isn’t it?”
Naomi’s turquoise eyes went wide. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“I plan to, when the time is right.”
“Jamison . . . ”
He kissed her again, finished with words. He let his fingers move to the button of her jeans, then her zipper. She jumped. “What are you doing?”
He grinned. “Celebrating that you’re going to let me ask you to marry me. Besides, who’s going to see us in a blizzard?” He kissed her again, then he tugged at her open jeans. “Pull these down.” Naomi gave him an amazed look, then she quickly slid the jeans and her panties down over her butt.
Jamison moved his hand between her legs, feeling her liquid heat.
“The seat is cold.” Her eyes widened, then she dissolved into laughter.
Jamison reached behind the seat, where she’d stowed a neatly folded blanket along with her emergency supplies. She was always so practical.
Naomi half rose, and he slid the blanket under her. “Better?”
“Better.”
“Good.” Jamison leaned down into her lap and moved his tongue into her slick heat.
Responsible Naomi never dreamed she’d let a man go down on her in the front cab of her truck on a major highway. Of course, snow was piling up on the windows, blotting out the world. She should worry about how much gas and battery life her truck had, but right now those concerns seemed irrelevant.
Jamison had a magic tongue. He licked and kissed her, using fingers to spread her. She let her head drop back.
“Jamison.”
“Mmm hmm?” he asked, his mouth busy.
“I’m glad you came back.”
“Mmm. So am I.”