Spirit of the Sky

by Paty Jager

  “Why did you not spread the boughs on the ropes?”

  “We needed a blanket to keep the pine from falling through.” Dove placed a blanket over the frame and spread the pine boughs, placing two more blankets on top. “This is how so·yá·po sleep. When I lived at the mission as a young girl we were told to sleep on them, but we usually put our blankets on the floor.”

  Wewukiye took the last blanket from Sa-qan and stretched it across the opening using two sticks, one at each corner, to shove the blanket corners into the dirt wall and hold the covering in place.

  “You will not be able to have a fire. The so·yá·po fire pit is not safe. Birds use it for a home.” Wewukiye crossed his arms over his chest. Disapproval wrinkled his brow.

  “We will be warm enough, I am sure.” Sa-qan’s face heated thinking of Wade’s kisses and wondering what his unclothed body would look like.

  Dove placed an arm around her shoulders. “Sister, I wish you the same happiness your brother has brought to me.”

  Wewukiye wrapped his arms around both of them. “This night will bring a new brother to our family.” He grasped Sa-qan’s hands. “If he is not worthy of you and our people, you will know tonight.”

  His gaze shivered doubt across her shoulders. If her body craved his, how would she know if he was not worthy?

  “Come, my husband, we must return to the people.” Dove captured Wewukiye’s hand. The two exchanged a heated gaze and stepped to the opening.

  “We wish to see you tomorrow,” Dove said over her shoulder as the two shifted to smoke and then into elk.

  Sa-qan watched the two lope into the distance. Their bond was special. Did she and Wade have the same bond? Would tonight bind them or prove she was meant to be alone—forever?

  She shifted to her eagle form and leapt into the air. Time to find Wade and follow until she signaled him to stop.

  ****

  The sun’s warming rays weakened as the day drew to an end. The troopers no longer sat straight and tall. Several slumped asleep in their saddles. If a scouting party came upon them they would all be dead within minutes. He didn’t like the idea of his men coming to such an end. He’d noticed several of the men watching him with quizzical expressions. No doubt they wondered how he could be so refreshed. They hadn’t spent the previous night in the arms of a spirit.

  A screech drew his attention to the sky. A large bald eagle circled overhead. He scanned the area and spotted a small creek and a grove of aspen trees.

  “Sergeant, we’ll camp there tonight.” He pointed to the trees and reined his horse around. Everyone dismounted, falling into the nightly routine of caring for their animals before themselves.

  Wade unsaddled his mount, led it to water, and staked it out to eat the tan-colored fall grass. He plopped his saddle and belongings on the ground a distance from the others and waited for a private to get coffee brewing. A quick scan of the weary troopers told him he didn’t have the heart to send one racing back to Sturgis with a report. They all needed rest. And there wasn’t a rested horse in the bunch. The animals couldn’t make a grueling ride either.

  Murphy approached. “Sir, who are you sending with the report to Colonel Sturgis?”

  “No one. There isn’t a horse in the bunch who could go another mile let alone the twenty it would take to report to Sturgis. Until we come across fresh horses, he’ll have to wait for our report.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll not risk a man’s life on a worn out horse to send back that we haven’t found anything. When we have a sighting of the Nez Perce, we’ll worry about getting word to Sturgis.”

  The anxiety on the sergeant’s young face ate at Wade’s conscience. “This is my decision, not yours. I’m the commanding officer of this excursion.” He waved toward the others sprawled on their blankets. “Get some sleep. We all need it.”

  The trooper raised his eyebrows at the last statement but slowly returned to his blanket and lay down without eating. Most of the exhausted men didn’t pull hardtack out of their knapsacks. They were all too tired to chew the dry, dense bread.

  Wade’s body buzzed with anticipation. Would he and Sa-qan make love tonight? He’d witnessed her disappointment last night when he refused to make her his on that dirty, stone cliff side. But what would be any different tonight? When he’d commented on the need for privacy and a soft bed he wanted to show her she meant more to him than taking her in the wild like an animal.

  I am here. Follow the stream down past the trees. I will meet you there.

  Sa-qan’s soft voice triggered desire. He glanced at the men. Only the two on guard were awake and barely. Would his men be safe if he left? He didn’t like the idea of leaving exhausted soldiers vulnerable.

  Are there warriors close by?

  All have settled for the night. Sa-qan replied

  His men could sleep unhampered tonight. I’ll be there shortly.

  Wade rose, grabbed his saddlebag, and wandered to the creek. He followed it for a distance and stopped. Dropping the bags and kneeling next to the stream, he unbuttoned his shirt and washed his upper body before mixing shave soap. Using a small mirror he carried for this purpose, he scrapped the whiskers from his face and trimmed his mustache with small scissors. His hands shook as he wiped his face with his old shirt. What would the men think if someone stumbled upon him getting shined up? He slipped on his clean shirt, tossed his saddlebag over his shoulder, and continued along the creek.

  When he spotted Sa-qan, he placed the saddlebag at the base of a tree and strode toward her. The moonbeams intensified the shine of her hair and sparkled in her eyes. She held her hands out to him. Her smile of invitation stopped his heart before jump-starting it into double time.

  He pulled her into his arms, capturing her lips in a long, thirsty kiss. He leaned back, gasping for air and starving for more.

  “Come. I found a place for us.” Sa-qan twined her fingers with his and led him over a rise. They walked in silence. He enjoyed the grip of her hand and the confidence in her steps as she led him away from his sleeping troop and toward what he hoped to be heaven on earth. The anticipation of running his hands over her curves and sharing their desire for one another sizzled heat along his limbs and blazed like the stump fires he and his brother built helping their father clear the land.

  His footsteps stumbled. That marked the first time he’d recalled a memory without guilt or shame attached. Only a melancholy sadness of missing his family invaded his senses. He stared at the woman striding beside him across the buffalo-shorn prairie grass over yet another rise. Had opening his heart to her also opened his heart to himself?

  Before he had time to ponder the thought, a soddy came into view. A blanket hung over the open doorway. He pulled back on Sa-qan’s hand.

  “What are you doing? We can’t invade on someone.”

  Her sparkling eyes and smile settled the jitters bouncing across his skin. “I found it empty. Wewukiye and Dove helped me ready it for this night.”

  A different kind of nervous griped his gut. “Your brother helped you ready a place for a man to…” he couldn’t get the rest out. Would he have helped his sister prepare a place for a man of her choosing to take her innocence? Hell no. Not before they married.

  Her gaze locked with his. “He has learned when I want something he cannot stop me.”

  “B-but to allow you to…with a man…we aren’t married. My desire for you has stomped all over my clear thinking.” He grasped her upper arms. “Sa-qan, Angel, my body burns to make love to you but I can’t…that’s something two people who are married should do. Not like this.”

  She placed a finger on his lips. Her eyes blazed hot with desire. “When we have become one, we will be married. It is the way of my people.” She moved the blanket aside and drew him into the house.

  The freshly swept dirt floor and an Indian water pouch hanging from a stick in the wall exuded welcome. Blankets on a bed frame in the far corner captured his attention. Pine scent filled
his nostrils moments before Sa-qan slipped into his arms and pressed her lips to his. He’d entered heaven or as close as he’d ever come to heaven on earth. He breathed in her fresh outdoor and herb scent. Their seclusion and love making tonight would bind them. At least in the eyes of her people; for now that was all that mattered to him. He’d deal with making her his wife in his world later.

  Her fingers worked the buttons of his shirt open. He moaned when she splayed her hands across his flannel undershirt.

  “Angel, slow down. We have all night.” He captured her hands, holding them between their chests. Gazing into her eyes, he grappled with his control. This would be her first coupling, and he wanted to make it special.

  He traced her cheek with a finger pad, dropping soft kisses in the wake of its path. She shivered and sighed. A smile quivered on his lips. He planned to elicit those reactions from her for hours.

  Pú-timt wax kúyc

  (19)

  Sa-qan’s skin quivered, and her body ached for something she knew only Wade could give her. His gentle caress and searing kisses took her to heights beyond anything she had experienced as an eagle soaring through the sky. The heat his touch lit in her belly blazed hot and needy.

  She shoved his shirt to the floor and worked on the fastenings on the white, softer shirt underneath. Her hands skimmed across his hot skin and through the sprinkling of dark curls on his chest. Desire struck her full force. She could not touch him enough or inhale enough of his scent.

  Dropping soft open-mouthed kisses across his skin, she tasted his earthy mix of soap, salt, and Wade.

  He groaned and drew her mouth to his. His tongue slipped between her lips and touched hers. Dizziness weakened her legs, and she sagged against his hard body, wondering at the power of his kiss to weaken her so. He released her mouth and ventured down her jaw and neck licking, nipping, and kissing. An ache started in her chest and moved lowered, pulsing her woman parts. Her body had never felt so alive.

  Wade stepped back.

  She moaned and reached for him.

  “I want to touch your skin.” He grasped the bottom of her deer skin dress and drew it up over her head, revealing her body to him.

  No one had ever seen her in this state. But she knew from witnessing the Nimiipuu women when they bathed her form would be appealing. The desire that flashed and burned in Wades eyes also told her.

  “You are so beautiful.” He reached out, weighing her breasts in his hands. His palms caressed the sides of her breast and skimmed down her sides to rest on the curve of her hips. “So beautiful.” He pulled her snug against him and captured her lips once more.

  Sa-qan dove into the kiss. His hot, hard muscles pressed against her breasts made her nipples tingle and the ache in her woman parts start all over again. She moaned and ground her hips against his deerskin leggings. Her hands pressed between their bodies, and she worked the string on his breeches loose.

  Wade held her away from him. “Wait for me on the bed.” He turned her to the corner and swatted her playfully on the bottom.

  She scurried to the corner and sat on the bed watching him. He slipped his boots off, then his socks, and last he lowered his underclothes at the same time as his leggings, revealing his enlarged manhood. Sa-qan inhaled sharply. She had never witnessed mortals mating, only animals. She had watched the Nimiipuu men take baths. Were so·yá·po men different than the Nimiipuu men? Seeing the naked warriors had never made her curious to take their man parts into her hands, but right now, her palms itched to caress and hold Wade’s.

  He walked to the bed, and she reached out, grasping the hot, firm appendage. The softness reminded her of a well-tanned deer hide.

  “Angel, you keep caressing me like that and I’ll be spent before you find pleasure.”

  “It pleases me to hold you this way.” She glanced up. His eyes were half closed, his lips slightly parted, and pleasure relaxed his features.

  “It pleases me to make love to you.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and nudged her onto her back. His body covered hers. His hard manhood pressed between them, pushed against her maiden curls, sending more exciting sensations sparking through her body.

  Wade’s mouth covered hers and sent her mind spiraling as her body arched to press ever closer to his. She wanted closer, to feel him within her.

  She pulled out of the kiss. “I want you.”

  He rose up, gathering air between them. She started to protest, then his hand rubbed a spot that jerked her body and his finger slipped into her body. His in-and-out motions made her body wiggle and push toward his hand. The actions filled her with pleasure, but she instinctively knew there was more. Much more.

  “Please. I want you, all of you,” she pleaded, grasping his head and seducing his mouth with a deep kiss.

  Strong arms banded around her, his knee spread her legs more, and he pressed at her entry. Slow, tentative progress teased her senses.

  “I need you now.” She thrust her hips, pushing him deeper.

  “I have to go slow—this is your first time, it could hurt.” The worry in his voice did little to ease her need.

  “The pain will be worth the pleasure. I cannot take any more of this slowness.” She grabbed his backside and pulled him to her at the same time she thrust her hips. He seated all the way, and they met pelvis to pelvis. A slash of pain struck before the fullness of him expanded her heart.

  He stroked her center in the primal rhythm she knew well from the ceremonial drums of the Nimiipuu. Her body responded movement for movement. Pressure built at their linked bodies. Faster he moved, deeper she drew him, and…Her body sparked from a bolt of lightning that scorched through her body, numbed her mind and her limbs, and sealed her heart to Wade’s.

  “Sa-qan!” he called and his seed spilled with force inside her. Making her his and binding them in the eyes of her people and the Creator.

  Wade hugged Sa-qan tight, kissing her face and finally sealing their lips in a long, tender kiss. He loved this woman with every inch of his flesh and soul. Even if their love making hadn’t been explosive he would have felt the same. She had entered his heart before he entered her body and made her his.

  He lifted his head and peered into her eyes. “That was even better than my dreams.” The love and acceptance glistening in her golden gaze filled his chest with pride. She was his.

  “I have thought of this night many times since our paths crossed. Now I know why this ceremony binds two hearts.” She trailed her fingers down his cheek. “You are the only mortal who could ever bring me this happiness and contentment.”

  The word mortal hauled all the questions and problems before them back into his mind. He shifted to his side, drawing her with him. “I’d rather forget about our differences and the obvious influences that could cause us problems, but we can’t ignore what is happening. Not unless you’d run away with me.” He knew she wouldn’t, but he’d dreamed of the two of them heading west and never looking back.

  Her eyes dulled. She shook her head slowly. “I cannot abandon my people. They need me more now than all the seasons I have watched over them.”

  He sighed. “I knew you’d say that, but I had to ask.” He hugged her tight. Her convictions to her people were one to the many things he loved about the woman. “We aren’t going to be able to spend time like this every night until the Nez Perce surrender and go to a reservation.” Her body stiffened. He caressed her back and nibbled on her ear. “I know that’s not what you or the rest want but I’m afraid it will come to that or your people will be killed.”

  She shoved against his chest, and he let her put space between them.

  “I have seen the people on the reservations. They are treated worse than cattle. We would be better off to leave this earth than live like that.”

  “I agree. The reservations are horrific if the agents are greedy and have other agendas. But isn’t carrying on the Nez Perce ways more important than dying to avoid living on a reservation?” He skimmed a finger down her
cheek and rubbed his thumb across her kissable bottom lip. “I’ll do all I can to help but I can’t promise I can save the Nez Perce.” He cupped the back of her head and drew her into a kiss.

  Her body relaxed.

  He used his other hand to fondle her full, lush breasts, hardening the nipples. He lowered his head and suckled the raspberry nubbins. She moaned, wound her hands in his hair, and pressed his face into her luscious mounds.

  He’d make love to her one more time. He’d make sure his angel floated to heaven more than once, then he had to get back to camp. He couldn’t chance someone looking for him and stumbling upon their love nest.

  ****

  The crescent moon hung low in the dark sky, awaiting the arrival of the sun to push it out of sight as Wade walked back to the grove of trees, holding Sa-qan’s hand. The second round of love making had weakened both of them. He slept with the weight of Sa-qan’s head resting on his shoulder. She’d divulged more about herself. She didn’t eat or sleep. Both daily necessities he needed to survive. When he asked if she could become with child from their joining, she didn’t know. He wanted children with her, but wasn’t sure what would happen given their different worlds. He wouldn’t trade their love making or his love for her, but their future hung on so many things. One being how they would bridge their differences. How did one live with a spirit? While she was flesh and blood in his hands right now what would prevent her from changing shapes and disappearing from his life?

  Sa-qan squeezed his hand. He stopped and gazed into her eyes. Uncertainty swirled.

  “Are you regretting our coming together?”

  Tugging Sa-qan into his arms, he kissed her luscious lips. “No, I’ll never regret making you mine. I’m just trying to figure out how to make it all work.”

  She snuggled her head into his shoulder. “I will think on this as well.”

  He chuckled. “Two heads are always better than one.” He kissed her and joined their hands.