Sun Bird matched her arrogance and declared frostily, "It is not for you to know. But you need not be afraid. No harm will come to you if you do not make trouble. Now I have brought this for you to wear. It is clean. But if you want to wear that dirty rag"—she paused to grimace in distaste—"then so be it."
Sam looked down at her dress. Twice she had been in the river, and now it was muddy, filthy. One sleeve was nearly ripped off after the scraping on the bottom of the stream, and the skirt was torn in several places. She had to look a sight but wondered dismally what difference it made. Still, pride dictated cleanliness. "All right. I'll put it on. But why can't you at least tell me the reason I am here?"
Sun Bird merely stared at her.
"Well, what about last night?" Sam said, exasperated. "You tell me not to be scared, but one of your friends was about to scalp me."
"He was only after a piece of your hair. But do not worry. The one who guards you now will not touch you. He finds you are disgusting." Sun Bird had been in love with Wild Spirit for as long as she could remember and knew him to have great resolve. He had said the white woman would not be touched, and she knew he would keep his word.
"That one?" Sam yelped to think of the blue-eyed Indian. Dear Lord, he was the last person she wanted around her, especially when he seemed to be able to read her mind and anticipated her every move. "I don't want to be near him. Send someone else."
Sun Bird sneered. "You have no say. Just do as you're told, and when the time is right, you will go free. On this, you have my word."
Now Sam was truly baffled. "Do as I'm told? You are the first person who has spoken to me in a language I understand, so how am I to know what's expected of me when everyone else speaks in gibberish?"
"It does not matter, because I will be coming every day to talk with you and find out if there is anything you need. I will go now and bring you food while you change."
Food. Sam's stomach growled. "I haven't eaten since yesterday."
"You were not offered anything last night?" Sun Bird saw the food bag and looked inside. The pemmican and buffalo meat Wild Spirit had taken from camp was still there. "Why did you not eat this?" She took it out.
Sam's nose wrinkled at the sight of the brown, stringy things the girl pulled out of the bag. The gooey seed concoction balled in her hand was even less appetizing.
Sun Bird threw the sack at her feet. "You will eat if you get hungry enough. And you will not be catered to. Understand..." she took a step forward to point a finger in warning. "I do not like your people. I do not like you. And you would be wise to give me no trouble as you have given Wild Spirit. He is reluctant to thrash a woman. I have no such hesitation." Head high, Sun Bird walked out.
Sam made a face at her back. True, she had lived a life of gentility and luxury the past few years and no longer considered herself a street scrapper. And she had come to enjoy the good life and behaving, and being treated, like a lady. But if that girl tried anything, Sam vowed she would quickly discover she had a fight on her hands.
And so would Wild Spirit, as she had learned he was called. But at least she felt a bit better after hearing the promise of no mistreatment and eventual freedom. All she had to worry about was whether or not the girl kept her word and whether Wild Spirit went along with it.
Starlight
A Historical Western Romance
by
Patricia Hagan
New York Times Bestselling Author
To purchase
Starlight
from your favorite eBook Retailer
visit Patricia Hagan's eBook Discovery author page
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Page forward and complete your journey with an excerpt from
Orchids in Moonlight
Excerpt from
Orchids in Moonlight
A Historical Western Romance
by
Patricia Hagan
New York Times Bestselling Author
"I'll come to thee by moonlight,
though hell should bar the way."
The Highwayman Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)
Jaime eagerly took her place next to him on the bedroll. With her head on his shoulder, cradled in his arms, they lay quietly for long moments staring into the velvet heavens, the stars glittering like diamonds scattered to infinity.
His hand dropped to caress the softness of her hip as he turned his head to claim her mouth once more. This was not the fierce urgency of other kisses, rather a melding of tenderness, mingling with desire.
Easily, as natural as breathing, Jaime answered with her body. Rolling to her side, she began to explore him, touching the hard curves of his thighs, the sinewy muscles of his arms, his smooth back.
Even as he lowered his lips to nibble softly and whisper how much he wanted her, a part of him was ever alert should the Indians return. With his hands cupping her bottom and drawing her closer, she squirmed deliciously to feel the hard, rigid length of him against her belly.
He inhaled her fragrant softness, the damp sweetness of her hair. With his tongue, he trailed a path of fire to her ear, to drive her to fever pitch with his hot, wet assault.
Jaime could wait no longer; she trembled from wanting him. No longer shy, no longer able to hold back from yielding to her own incessant urge, she boldly mounted him.
Smiling with delight, he grasped her by her tiny waist and settled her down upon him. She gasped softly but reveled in the ecstatic wonder of how he filled her.
He reached for her breasts, and she leaned forward to render her all. He drew her to his hungry lips to suckle, and she arched her back and pressed her fingertips against his chest to stroke, urging him onward.
"Never," she whispered throatily, her face raised to the night and bathed in moon glow, "never have I known anything so wonderful."
He caught the tip of her nipple between his teeth and bit just hard enough to make her bottom wriggle delightfully upon his shaft. "It gets better and better," he promised, flicking his tongue to and fro, sending rivulets of torturous delight into her loins. "It hasn't even started."
Afterward, when she had joined a shooting star to soar across the heavens in glorious explosion, and he had emptied himself inside her in his own soul-searing climax, Jaime lay quietly in his arms and pondered his words.
It hasn't even started....
Locked in her throat were many words of endearment she yearned to speak in that quiet moment of awe and splendor but dared not.
She had tried not to fall in love but to no avail. Now all she could do was savor the time they had together and keep him from knowing how she felt, lest he regard her with pity for her foolishness.
Wanting to break the rapturous spell that had enveloped her before she did yield to impulse and confess what she was feeling, Jaime rolled over on her stomach to prop her chin on her hands and stare out at the glowing landscape below.
Something caught her eye.
Mere inches away, a strange flower was growing, and she was at once awed by its graceful beauty. It had three upright petals and two drooping, with a delicate ragged throat. In the moonlight, it seemed to glow with a silver hue, although she could see it was a bluish purple color with fingers of white at the base of the petals. "I don't think I've ever seen anything so pretty," she whispered reverently.
"Neither have I." Cord smiled. He was not talking about the flower.
"I think it's called an iris." She touched her fingertip to a satiny petal. "I saw some sketches of different flowers in a book once, and I remember seeing one like this."
He turned to join her in scrutiny. "Actually, it's an orchid. Someone has to have planted it here. Remember me showing you flowers all along the trail that pioneers passing through had set out? This one is what they call cultivated, or hybrid. I don't know why anyone would leave it here and expect it to grow. The last one I saw was in a greenhou
se in California."
"But it is growing, and it's beautiful."
He reached out and plucked the blossom, then turned on his back to drink in the sight of her as he tucked it above her ear. "Orchids in moonlight... and you," he murmured, pulling her face toward his. "What man could ask for more?"
Then he claimed her mouth in a searing kiss.
Orchids in Moonlight
A Historical Western Romance
by
Patricia Hagan
New York Times Bestselling Author
To purchase
Orchids in Moonlight
from your favorite eBook Retailer,
visit Patricia Hagan's eBook Discovery author page
www.ebookdiscovery.com/PatriciaHagan
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Discover more with
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Meet Patricia Hagan and Daisee
Patricia Hagan is the New York Times bestselling author of 42 novels and over 2500 short stories.
A graduate of the University of Alabama, she has taught creative writing and been a guest speaker at writers' conferences across the U.S. She is also an award-winning Radio/TV Motorsports journalist, and has worked as a travel writer, reviewing cruise ships all over the world.
Pat now resides in South Florida with her best friend Daisee, and is the proud mother of a U.S. Navy SEAL.
Patricia Hagan loves to hear from her readers. You can contact Patricia at [email protected]
Table of Contents
Cover
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Excerpt from SAY YOU LOVE ME by Patricia Hagan
Excerpt from STARLIGHT by Patricia Hagan
Excerpt from ORCHIDS IN MOONLIGHT by Patricia Hagan
Meet the Author
Simply Heaven Page 29