by Connie Mason
Ryder grinned. “You looked like a little brown sparrow. I thought you were quite plain. But even then my mind must have known you were the little bird from my vision. I prefer you plump, unless you get too fat.”
Hannah opened her mouth, then clamped it shut. She was bound to get fatter, but only temporarily. Before she could form an answer that would satisfy Ryder, he placed his hands around her waist and lifted her astride him.
“Ride me, Little Sparrow. Take me into your body.”
Taking him in her hand, she lifted slightly and then impaled herself. Ryder shuddered and sighed as he pushed deeply inside her. He felt her stretch and squeeze around him, felt the heat of her, and struggled to keep from climaxing.
“It’s too soon, too soon,” he groaned as he went still beneath her. “Bend down so I can taste you.”
Hannah leaned over, offering him her breasts. Greedily he accepted her offering, suckling her until she could no longer remain motionless. When she began to move slowly up and down, Ryder encouraged her by grasping her buttocks and guiding her rhythm. Soon his rigid staff was thrusting in and out, plunging into her until the blood in her veins thickened and congealed. She was writhing against him, moaning, clutching his shoulders while he gripped her buttocks with almost bruising force, pounding into her again and again.
In minutes she was reaching for the stars, soaring to a greater height than she’d ever attained. Then she was careening into space, watching the stars explode as she dissolved into shimmering rapture.
Ryder pumped into her furiously, spilling his seed in a great gush of wet heat as he plunged over the edge.
Hannah felt like crying but resisted the urge. Surely Ryder couldn’t make love to her with such fire if he didn’t love her, could he? She prayed that she hadn’t killed his love. Would he welcome their child? Unable to cope with the terrifying thoughts whirling inside her head, Hannah escaped into the sheltering arms of slumber.
“Wake up!” His voice was harsh, harsher than she’d ever heard it before.
His fierce growl nudged Hannah from a sound sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, turning her head to escape the slice of sunlight stabbing against her eyes. Was it morning already? It seemed only moments ago that Ryder was making love to her. After the first time he had awakened her twice more to make love to her. Gray dawn had arrived before he’d been sated.
“Ryder, what is...” Her words came to an abrupt halt as the mist before her eyes cleared and she saw Ryder glaring down at her, his silver eyes as cold as ice. Even his stance was menacing as he frowned down at her. What had she done now? Then she saw that he held something in his hands and her brow furrowed.
“What are you holding?”
Ryder extended a scrap of cloth, dangling it between his fingers as if it were a snake. “Do you recognize this?”
She saw now that it was a breechclout. Was there something about the breechclout that made Ryder angry? “It’s a breechclout. Is there something special about it?”
“It is not mine. Who does it belong to? It was lying beside your sleeping mat. Which of my friends have you taken as a lover?”
“What!” Hannah couldn’t believe her ears. “Damn you, Ryder, your false accusations are driving me mad. It was bad enough when you accused me of taking Trent as a lover, but this is ridiculous. You’ve no need to be jealous.” Hannah hoped she sounded believable, for if she told Ryder that the breechclout belonged to Cut Nose, there would surely be a fight, and Ryder was still in no shape to defend himself properly.
Ryder’s face darkened. “Jealous? I am not jealous.” The words stuck in his throat. He knew he was acting like a fool, but he couldn’t help it. The thought of another man touching Hannah made his blood boil. “I want to know who the breechclout belongs to and why it was lying beside your sleeping mat.”
“I don’t know. Why are you being so unreasonable?” She threw off the blanket that Ryder had placed over her during the night and rose to her feet. Her body was rosy and flushed from sleep and Ryder’s mouth went dry.
“Is it unreasonable to want to know why an article of man’s clothing was found in my wife’s sleeping mat?”
Hannah licked her suddenly dry lips, recalling with vivid clarity how Cut Nose had whipped off the breechclout when he’d tried to rape her. “Perhaps it was left here by mistake.”
“And perhaps it wasn’t.” Abruptly he whirled on his heel.
“Where are you going?”
“I can tell by your eyes that you’re lying. I’m going to find out who left his breechclout in your lodge and why.”
“Ryder, wait!”
Her plea had little impact upon Ryder as he threw aside the flap and stepped out into the sunshine. Something just didn’t ring true. After last night he could no longer doubt that Hannah loved him. In his heart he’d known she’d told him the truth about Gilmore, and when he awakened this morning he had intended to tell her what was in his heart, to admit that he trusted her, that he realized she had sacrificed herself for him. Until he had found the breechclout. But he wasn’t satisfied with her answers to his pointed questions, nor the evasive way her eyes refused to meet his.
Hannah dressed quickly. She had to head off Ryder before he learned that Cut Nose had barged into her lodge last night and tried to assault her. She had no idea how Indians challenged one another, but she knew that Ryder was still too weak to fight. Despite his passion last night he had winced and groaned more than once when she’d touched him in a tender spot.
Hannah hurried outside, thought briefly about starting their morning meal, but decided to go after Ryder instead. Eating could come later. She found him talking to Coyote outside his lodge. She was glad to see that Coyote had recuperated from his wounds, though you’d never know it from the way Summer Moon hovered over him. Then, from the corner of her eye, Hannah saw Cut Nose heading directly toward Ryder. She started running but was too late to head him off. They arrived at the same time.
“Welcome home, Wind Rider.” Though Cut Nose addressed Ryder, his eyes lingered on Hannah. “I wondered when you were coming to join your woman.”
Ryder sent him a searching glance. “Did you think I would not?”
Cut Nose shrugged. “It occurred to me. When Little Sparrow left your lodge I assumed she had divorced you.”
Ryder’s eyes narrowed. “You would have liked that, Cut Nose. You wanted Little Sparrow once.”
Cut Nose grinned. “She is very beautiful. Her hair is like fire and her skin is as white as snow.” Suddenly his gaze rested on the breechclout Ryder held in his hands. “Ah, I see you found my breechclout.” His dark eyes raked Hannah suggestively before turning back to Ryder. “I had forgotten where I left it.”
Hannah groaned. Cut Nose was deliberately goading Ryder into a fight.
Ryder’s face hardened. “Did you? I think you know exactly where you left it. I found it in my lodge, lying beside my woman’s sleeping mat.”
Cut Nose sent Hannah a sheepish look, as if to apologize for his oversight. He didn’t fool Hannah for a minute. She knew he was waiting to see what she would say. When she remained silent, Ryder gave her a hard look, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
“Perhaps I am mistaken and the breechclout isn’t mine after all,” Cut Nose offered. The sly gleam in his black eyes suggested otherwise.
“What were you doing in my woman’s lodge?” Ryder demanded.
Cut Nose smiled at Hannah. “Ask your woman. I do not go where I am not invited.”
Hannah gasped, left speechless by his damning words. Surely Ryder didn’t believe Cut Nose, did he? Once he thought she’d taken Trent as a lover. Did he also think she’d invite Cut Nose into her bed? When Ryder turned to her, his face a glowering mask of fury, Hannah knew that was exactly what he thought. She was caught in the web of Cut Nose’s lies.
Ryder could not adequately suppress the outrage he felt at Cut Nose’s words. He did not believe for a minute that Hannah had invited the man into her bed. He’d been an
utter fool to think she’d taken Gilmore as a lover. He knew better now. No woman could lie with such conviction and at the same time make love so sweetly. He should have accepted her explanation immediately and trusted her reasons for leaving Denver with Gilmore. She had done it for him, pure and simple, and he’d been a fool to believe otherwise. Jealousy did crazy things to a man, and no matter what their differences, he could no longer deny the love he felt for Hannah McLin.
Hannah realized Ryder was staring at her, his expression grim and unreadable, and she stepped toward him, holding her hands out in supplication. “Cut Nose lied, Ryder. He did come into my lodge last night, but it wasn’t at my invitation. He fled in fear when you arrived in camp. If you hadn’t come when you did, he would have ...” She sent Ryder a bleak look. “He would have raped me.”
“False words from a white whore,” Cut Nose said with scathing contempt.
Summer Moon, who had been listening, paled, and Coyote, who was also present, waited to see what direction Ryder’s wrath would take. He didn’t have long to wait. With a feral cry, Ryder grabbed the knife at his waist and lunged at Cut Nose. Cut Nose, expecting retaliation, ducked and found his own knife. Crouching low, the two men circled one another, each looking for an opening to sink his blade into the other.
“Come on, white eyes,” Cut Nose goaded. “You’ve convinced the People of your loyalty, but the color of your skin does not lie. I know what you are. A Sioux warrior is stronger and braver than any white man.”
Ryder lunged at Cut Nose, and once again Cut Nose dodged. Then Cut Nose struck out. Ryder neatly sidestepped while Hannah looked on in horror. Then, suddenly, Coyote was standing between them, separating them by the length of his arms.
“Stop! You both know tribal law. There will be no killing. If Cut Nose tried to rape your woman, it is for the council to decide what will be done with him.”
“Do you think the council will believe a white whore?” Cut Nose laughed. “This must be settled between me and Wind Rider.”
“Cut Nose is right,” Ryder concurred. “We will fight here and now. Innocence or guilt will be decided in hand-to-hand combat.”
“No!” Hannah screamed. She feared that Ryder wasn’t sufficiently healed from his ordeal with the militia to fight Cut Nose. She’d seen and felt firsthand the result of the beatings he had received. “Let the council decide. If it is the law, Ryder, you must abide by it.”
“Your woman is wise,” Coyote observed. “Listen to her. I will call for a council meeting so you and Cut Nose can resolve your difference. If punishment is due, let the council decide.”
Ryder was coiled like a spring. How could he walk away from the man who had tried to rape his wife? Yet the People must obey tribal law. If he disobeyed that law, it would aid Cut Nose’s claim that he wasn’t Cheyenne. At this moment his instincts were white: He wanted to kill Cut Nose and to hell with the council and tribal law. But in the end good sense prevailed. That, and the stricken expression on Hannah’s face, convinced him to heed Coyote’s words. With great effort he forced his body to relax, and his grip on the knife eased.
“Call your council meeting, Coyote, but if Cut Nose goes unpunished I will kill him.” He turned and walked away rapidly, grasping Hannah’s hand and pulling her along with him. He didn’t stop until he had pushed Hannah inside the lodge and entered behind her.
“You did the right thing, Ryder,” Hannah said softly. “You are in no condition to engage in a fight with a man like Cut Nose.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryder growled. “You should have told me immediately that Cut Nose tried to rape you last night.”
Hannah flushed and looked away. “Cut Nose threatened to kill you if I spoke of it.”
“And you believed him? Don’t you know by now I can take care of myself?”
“You aren’t healed yet from the beatings you took in jail!” Hannah exclaimed. “I couldn’t live without you. I love you, Ryder.”
Ryder shook his head, marveling at the emotion that made people lose their sense, their will, even their pride. He wondered if he would survive it. He had been ready to kill for Hannah, and he still would if anyone dared to touch her again. “I have known a sister’s love, parental love, but never have I known a woman’s love. When I left the Cheyenne nation to fight with the Sioux I assumed I wouldn’t live long enough to find a woman to love, let alone take a wife. I envied the love Tears Like Rain felt for Zach, for I knew I would never attain that kind of happiness. And now .. .”
“And now?” Hannah prompted. She held her breath, waiting for the words she’d waited so long to hear.
“And now I have a woman to love.”
“Are you saying you love me, Ryder?”
Not one for flowery words, Ryder said, “Is that not what I just said? Did I not follow you when you left me? Did I not leave the People for your sake?”
Hannah nodded solemnly, her gaze intent upon his face. And still she waited for something more. If he couldn’t say the words, how could she believe he meant them?
Ryder sighed, then flashed her a disarming smile, aware of what she wanted. “I love you, Little Sparrow. I have always loved you. Even when you looked like a scrawny bundle of rags with matted hair and dirty face. With your help maybe I can learn to trust men with white skins and live with them in peace.”
”Oh, Ryder!” She threw her arms around his neck, raining kisses on his face, his chin, his nose, wherever her lips could reach. ‘I’ve always loved you, too. And if you want to live in Red Cloud’s camp, I won’t complain. As long as we’re together, I’ll be happy.”
Ryder hugged her close, realizing how precious she had become to him and amazed that he would be so willing to sacrifice a way of life he was comfortable with for her.
“I must find my way in the white world, Hannah. No matter how much I admire the Indians, no matter how deeply I feel about the injustice done to them, I can no longer live with them. Your life is too precious to me to place it at risk. Life in the Badlands is too uncertain. The whites are too plentiful. One day all Indians will be forced to live on reservations, and that is not what I want for you.
“I will still help my people. But I will help them in ways that don’t involve killing. The governor granted me amnesty, but I have given something in return. I have agreed to act as Indian agent to the Sioux and Cheyenne. I will deal honestly and fairly with them. They will have food and blankets to see them through the winter, and a champion to argue their cause.”
Hannah’s eyes sparkled brightly. “Your child will be proud of you.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Ryder stared at Hannah for so long, she felt a slow heat creep up her neck. Had she misjudged Ryder? Didn’t he want their child? It was a subject they hadn’t previously discussed.
“You’re carrying my child?” His voice was thick with emotion. His next words set her back on her heels. “You went with Gilmore knowing you carried my baby in your belly?”
Hannah’s mouth went dry. “I never would have endangered your child, Ryder. I never would have allowed Trent to touch me. Don’t you understand? I did it for your sake. How many times do I have to repeat it before you believe me?”
“I do believe you, Little Sparrow. I was a jealous fool for not realizing you’d never go off with Gilmore without a good reason. I shudder to think what might have happened to you and my child.”
“Trent had many faults, but I’m convinced he would never have hurt me. He would have been angry, but I truly believe he cared for me in his own way. I never wished for his death, or the death of any of those men escorting us to Fort Laramie. Will this senseless slaughter never end?”
She began to sob softly, and Ryder gathered her into his arms, content for the time being to have her resting against his heart. “I do not know how all this will end, but I intend to use my authority as Indian agent to help the People. We will leave Red Cloud’s camp soon. The governor is waiting for me to take up my new position. I hope you won’t mind
living with Abby and Zach until our own home can be built.”
“I won’t mind as long as we’re together.”
Ryder’s hand strayed down to her stomach, coming to rest on the barely discernible rise. A look of pure delight spread across his features. “I never expected this. Not long ago I was certain I would die fighting white eyes. Then I met you and began to dream of a different life, one that included a wife and children. Not just any wife, but one with bright hair and green eyes. Now, through you, my personal talisman, my dreams have become reality. I love you, Hannah, and I’ll love our child.”
Ryder’s words forced the tenseness from her body. Hannah hadn’t realized just how tightly she had been coiled while awaiting Ryder’s reaction to her pregnancy. Finally she was able to relax. Ryder wanted the baby! He loved her. Nothing else mattered.
He kissed her then, with so much tenderness she wanted to weep with joy. He kissed her so long and so thoroughly, tasting her with such obvious relish, that the blood flowed thick and heated through her veins. When he broke off the kiss and set her aside a soft cry of protest slipped past her lips.
“I want to make love to you, my love, but I cannot until this thing between me and Cut Nose is settled. By now Coyote has summoned the council members and I must go.”
‘ì don’t like this, Ryder. Cut Nose is cunning. He will lie about his reason for entering my lodge. He will say that I invited him. You looked so fierce when he hinted that I welcomed him into my lodge that I-I feared you would believe him.”
“Never! I know you too well. By that time I had begun to realize how great a fool I was for not believing you about Gilmore. What made me angry was the fact that Cut Nose dared to suggest that you invited him to share your mat. No one in the council will believe him.”
“Go then,” Hannah said. Her reluctant sigh hinted at just how loathe she was to part from him. “I will pray for the council to make the right decision.”
Hannah was cooking supper over a fire outside the lodge when Ryder returned. His expression was grim, but she saw no signs of aggravation or displeasure. Without a word he sat down beside the fire, and Hannah handed him a bowl of venison stew that had been simmering on the fire. He must have been starved for he was halfway through the bowl before he spoke.