Teton Splendor Read Online Free PDF

his chest.  Joseph tore his eyes away from her full lips. Rather than let her go, his hold tightened.
    “If you don’t want me to drop you, you’ll stop your fidgeting,” he said slowly. “I’ll set you down on the couch so you don’t fall on your rear end.” His lips curved in a slow grin. “But it seems you got plenty of padding in this dress. There’s enough material here to cover two hunting lodges.”
    Her jaw dropped open, and a spark of anger shot from her eyes. “Set me down right now,” she demanded. Her head turned toward Yancey, who was right beside her.
    “It’s all right, Sophia. Joseph will set you down on the couch,” he said softly. “I’ll call for James to bring you some water. Is there anything else you need?”
    Joseph almost rolled his eyes. No wonder she’d nearly fainted. Did everyone treat her as if she was about to break at any moment? He reached the couch, and leaned forward, setting her on the leather cushions. Raven scrambled to sit up straight, glaring at him, then at her father. She hadn’t been heavy in his arms, but the sudden emptiness when he straightened his back surprised him. His reaction to her was no different than it had been last evening, and Joseph struggled to clear his mind. What was it about her that affected him the way it did? She was nothing like any woman he’d associated with before.
    He’d always pictured her to look like any other Bannock girl, dressed in a simple deerskin dress, with her hair flowing freely or braided at her sides. Instead, he found a spoiled and pampered white woman. How was he ever going to present her to Two Bears?  That thought, and many more, had kept him awake most of last night. For a while, he’d blamed his inability to sleep on the soft mattress, stuffy pillows and feathery covers. Finally, he’d pulled a sheet off the bed and stretched out on the floor, but the hard surface hadn’t brought him any peace either. 
    Raven’s sudden high-pitched, angry words interrupted his thoughts. “What I need,” she said, her eyes on Yancey, “is an explanation as to what you were discussing a moment ago.” She pushed herself up off the couch, and swayed momentarily on unsteady legs. Joseph’s hand darted out to steady her. She yanked her arm away as if his touch repulsed her. Joseph clenched his jaw anew, and stepped back.
    Yancey coughed, his eyes darting to him. Joseph wasn’t about to come to his rescue. Yancey had lied to Raven all her life, and now he was faced with telling her the truth. Another complication Joseph hadn’t foreseen. He’d assumed she knew about her parents, and about the life waiting for her beyond the Missouri. Instead, she was completely ignorant of her past. Yancey had tried to explain to him that he had done what he thought was best to keep her identity hidden from Oliver Sabin, the man who had killed her parents.
    Sabin hadn’t been seen or heard from since Yancey disappeared from the mountains with Raven all those years ago. Joseph’s own father had gone looking for him after he buried Laurent and his wife, with no luck. After nearly twenty years, Joseph highly doubted that Sabin was a threat to Raven anymore.
    “Who is Raven?” she asked, this time starting straight at him. Joseph hesitated. He wasn’t sure if he should be the one to break the news to her. Since she had no idea about her past, he was  unsure how to explain the truth to her.
    “Well?” she pressed, her eyes darting from him to her father, her hands at her hips.
    “Raven, or more specifically Little Raven, is the name your mother gave to you,” Joseph answered slowly, his eyes locked on her, trying to read her reaction.
    Yancey groaned loudly behind him.
    “My mother?” she repeated softly. She looked toward Yancey. “You never told me my mother gave me an Indian name.”
    “I didn’t think it was important,” Yancey stammered.
    “And why are you here? What does this have to do with you?” Her eyes narrowed on him