Fire Thunder placed Kaylene on the bed and sat down beside her. He caressed her hot brow, now knowing for almost certain what had caused her to faint.
The council house had been hot and they had sat too close to the fire.
The heat had doubled her weakness. She had not warned anyone that she had begun feeling faint.
And he saw that as brave, for he felt that she had kept it to herself so that she would not disrupt the ceremonies.
As he continued to gently caress Kaylene’s brow, he took advantage of this moment of privacy to again devour her loveliness, for he knew that she was not harmed and that she would soon awaken.
Her night-black hair spilled over her shoulders in wavy strands over her breasts. She had flawless features. Her body was sinuous, with a slim, exquisite waist, and slender legs with long and tapering calves.
He knew without even touching them that her thighs must have the feel of silk.
The blouse that she wore revealed slightly the tantalizing cleavage of her full breasts. He had only chanced touching them through her blouse that one time and had found them perfectly rounded and full.
His heart thudding like the drums he had left behind, his thumbs lightly caressed her flushed cheeks. He bent low over her, his lips a feather’s touch from hers.
Tracing the line of her jaw with his fingers, his pulse racing, he pressed his lips softly against hers and kissed her. The dark droop of her lashes on her cheeks fluttered ever so slightly.
Cradling her face in his hands, his kiss deepened, his hunger, his desire mounting within him.
But voices outside his lodge made him draw quickly away from Kaylene.
He tried to gain control of his erratic breathing. He swallowed hard as he started to push himself up from the bed.
But when he turned his eyes back to Kaylene again, he flinched as though he had been shot when he found her gazing up at him with wonder.
Kaylene’s heart raced within her. It was his kiss that had awakened her. She had felt the sensuous stirrings within her as the kiss had deepened.
She so badly wished to reach her arms out to him, to beckon him to come again to her, to kiss her, to caress her.
But Running Fawn and Little Sparrow were suddenly there at the archway of the bedroom, gazing questioningly from Fire Thunder to Kaylene.
“She is awake now,” Fire Thunder said, his eyes locking momentarily with Kaylene’s.
He cleared his throat, gave Kaylene a knowing smile, then turned and brushed past Running Fawn and Little Sparrow and hurriedly left the lodge.
Running Fawn and Little Sparrow went to Kaylene’s bedside.
“I was so worried about you,” Running Fawn said, gently touching Kaylene on the cheek.
Little Sparrow loosened Midnight’s rope and released him so that he could leap onto the bed beside Kaylene.
Then Little Sparrow crawled on the bed beside Kaylene. She leaned over and kissed her softly on the cheek.
“Kaylene, you are all right, are you not?” Running Fawn asked, seeing something in Kaylene’s eyes that she had not seen before. And there seemed to be a sensuous glow on her cheeks, pink and soft, instead of flushed as she had been in the council house.
“What?” Kaylene said, suddenly brought out of the sensual trance in which she had become enveloped while alone with Fire Thunder. She had pretended she was still unconscious while he had kissed her, not wanting anything to break the spell by telling him that she was awake. She had wondered just what else he might do while he thought she was unaware of it?
Her two friends had poor timing. They had come just when she had hoped that his hand would wander and cup one of her breasts as he had done once before.
But she knew that not too much time would pass now when he would approach her again sexually, and she would not turn her back on him, or anything that he offered.
She now knew that she never wanted to leave him, except to find answers to questions that plagued her about her parents.
But after that was all settled inside her heart, she would stay with Fire Thunder . . . if he still truly wanted her!
“Yes, I am fine, just fine,” Kaylene finally said, as she beamed from Little Sparrow to Running Fawn. “Even more than that, I feel wonderful.”
“Our people’s shaman has worked his magic again,” Running Fawn said, leaning over Kaylene, softly hugging her. “Now are you not glad that you went to the curing ceremony? It was not all that bad was it? You only fainted because of the heat and exhaustion. Otherwise, Bull Shield has made you well and put a pleasant pink glow on your face. In your eyes there is such a happiness.”
“Yes, the shaman worked a miracle today,” Kaylene said, returning Running Fawn’s hug.
She smiled to herself, knowing that the shaman had nothing at all to do with how she felt at this moment.
Fire Thunder, and only Fire Thunder, was the cause of her joyous bliss.
Chapter 13
O were my Love yon lilac fair,
Wi’ purple blossoms to the spring,
And I a bird to shelter there,
When wearied on my little wing.
—ROBERT BURNS
Several days had passed. Kaylene’s wound was finally healed enough for her to take walks. But until she got her full strength back, she could take only short jaunts through the village.
The evening meal had been eaten. The sun was slowly sinking in the west as Kaylene wandered now through the village, her panther devotedly at her side.
Kaylene kept Midnight with her as often as possible, even though seeing him with her made the Kickapoo shy away. Kaylene even knew that some called her a witch because of her panther companion.
Some had even said that she was a sister to the big cat, that she was part cat, herself, with her green eyes, and her sleek, black mane of hair that was almost the identical bluish-black coloring of her panther’s pelt.
None of these things bothered Kaylene.
And she had even stopped asking Fire Thunder to allow her to leave the village, to go to her mother.
In truth, the more Kaylene thought about things, the more she was hesitant to hear the answers that her mother might give her. Sometimes truths hurt too much.
For certain, her heart still ached over knowing that her father was responsible for so many cruel deeds to humanity.
Father? she thought despairingly to herself. Was he?
Or was she wrong to think that she had been raised by people who had wanted her for no better reason than her father had wanted the other children?
Yes, they had treated her special. They had even shared their personal wagon and tent with her.
But when she had grown old enough to perform, her father had not hesitated ordering her to. She had then become just another performer, nothing more, nothing less.
Yes, it was possible that she had other parents out there, somewhere. Oh, so very, very possible.
Shaking such thoughts from her mind, as she had forced herself to do many times these past few days, Kaylene walked around the village, the large outdoor fire casting a golden glow on her face.
She usually took these walks with either Running Fawn or Little Sparrow.
This evening, she only walked with her panther. Little Sparrow had joined other children, who even now sat around the outdoor fire, while the village storyteller told fascinating stories of Indian lore. Little Sparrow always sat more closely to the storyteller, her eyes closely watching his lips.
In Little Sparrow’s sign language, that Kaylene was just learning how to interpret, Little Sparrow had explained to Kaylene that after the evening meal was the time when old legends of the Kickapoo were told. Little Sparrow had told Kaylene that she was always glad when the sun hung low in the west, knowing that soon she would be among the others, filled with anxiousness to know what the next story might be.
Little Sparrow had giggled when she had relayed to Kaylene that when the storyteller told stories during the winter months, when everyone was mor
e lethargic and lazy than in the summer, the listeners must constantly say, “Hi,” to show that they were awake and listening.
If any of them fell asleep, the storyteller would take a stick from the fire and touch them with it on one of their fingernails, to awaken them.
Kaylene could envision Little Sparrow with the others, her sweet face filled with wonder as she studied the storyteller’s lips, taking in all that he told them in the early evening.
And as for Running Fawn, Kaylene thought unhappily to herself, she had been disappearing more than not these past days. When Kaylene asked Running Fawn where she had been, or was going, Running Fawn would not answer her, only look mischievously into Kaylene’s eyes, smiling slowly.
Kaylene had surmised from this that Running Fawn was having trysts with young Mexican men. It was something that Running Fawn would not talk to Kaylene about.
Running Fawn had most definitely found something that she chose not to share with her new friend. And that satisfied Kaylene. She wanted no part in such secrets. If she knew, then she would also be a part of the deceit.
Making a slow turn, Kaylene moved back toward Fire Thunder’s lodge. Just looking at it in the distance made her heart take on a strange sort of beating. Since their last brief encounter, when Kaylene had pretended to be asleep when Fire Thunder had kissed her, he had not approached her again in such a way.
But she had caught him looking at her many times with that look in his eyes that told her that he hungered for her as much as she did him. It was something now that she could not deny to herself, that she would always love this man.
True, she was his prisoner, but more a prisoner of the heart now than any other kind.
As Kaylene walked past the various lodges, she smiled at the people who stepped to their doors to stare at her.
She melted inside when some actually returned her smile, as though just perhaps they were beginning to accept her as someone who meant them no harm.
None that she knew of had blamed her for Good Bear’s death. They surely understood that she had had no part in his being at the carnival just prior to him having killed himself. She was innocent except that she was her father’s daughter, and she was white of skin—to them, an enemy.
Strange, she thought to herself, how recently she had been feeling things inside herself that were new and confusing to her. The longer she was around these people, the more she felt a strange yearning.
It was as though in another lifetime she may have been an Indian.
She so hungered to know more of these people’s customs, to understand everything about them. She had the strong desire to join them when they sat around the evening fire and shared stories, songs, and dances.
But as too troubling to her, she brushed these thoughts aside.
She stared into the far distance, where the lowering evening sun was bronzing everything in its path. She looked at the longhorns grazing peacefully on the tall, sweet grass in the valley. She could see horsemen there and knew that Fire Thunder was among them.
Word had been received that one of the herd had disappeared. Fire Thunder had left immediately to check on things, to see how, or where, the hoofprints might lead.
A “mossy horn” was what Fire Thunder had called the lost longhorn, an older longhorn that had moss growing on its horns.
She turned to her left and walked to the far edge of the village, away from the lodges, to take the long way back to Fire Thunder’s lodge. While Midnight was with her, safely on his leash, she felt safe and strong enough to wander just a little bit farther than usual.
Her hair rustling around her shoulders in the gentle breeze, she walked casually through the blowing sea of knee-high grass. When she got near enough to the herd of longhorns, Kaylene was able to observe them more closely. The huge animals had surprisingly narrow hips and knobby knees that looked as though they could hardly support the three-foot long horns that gave them their name.
The horns were smooth and gleamed like varnished wood. Some wrinkled at the base, like the trunk of a gnarled, old tree.
On the butte tops, coyotes wailed, giving cause for Midnight to growl and strain against the leash.
“Midnight, it’s all right,” Kaylene murmured.
She jumped with alarm when sage sparrows flew quickly from the thick grass just ahead of her, flying away from the threat of the large, green-eyed cat.
Kaylene gave Midnight a comforting pat, then walked onward, picking up her pace somewhat as twilight lengthened the surrounding shadows.
Not that faraway she saw mule deer does and two fawns scramble away into the density of trees that stretched away in a patch of green, away from the flat land of the valley.
She sighed when she looked farther still, gazing at the sun that danced between the sky-scratching peaks in the distance, where shadows formed, moved, and disappeared.
She took a step sideways and shuddered when she glanced down at the ground and saw pronghorn bones drying and fading in the sun.
Then she enjoyed one last view again before heading back toward the village, where she was now directly behind Fire Thunder’s lodge.
The valley was not only grassy, but rich with prickly pear plants. She had been surprised when Little Sparrow had brought something unique for breakfast this morning—mush made from the prickly pear cactus plant.
An approaching horseman drew Kaylene’s sudden attention.
When he drew closer, she recognized Fire Thunder.
As he drew rein beside her, she gazed up at him, her pulse racing just to be near him again.
“What are you doing this far from the village?” he grumbled out, his eyes narrowing angrily into hers. “Do you not know the dangers? One stray longhorn could be the end of you.”
“I was only enjoying my walk,” Kaylene said, tightening her jaw under his continued angry stare. She stiffened her spine. “It was you who encouraged me to take walks so that I would get my strength back. And now you scold me for doing what you told me to do? You are a hard man to please.”
“And is that what you wish to do?” Fire Thunder asked, leaning his face down closer to hers. “You wish to please me?”
“Well, I . . .” Kaylene stammered, feeling a rush of heat on her cheeks.
Fire Thunder’s lips tugged into a smile. “I do believe you might be accepting being a part of my life,” he said softly. “It has been a while since you have asked to be released of your captivity. Why is that, Kaylene?”
Frustrated, feeling somewhat trapped, still not wanting to give in that easily to him for fear of appearing as though he had beaten her down into obedience, Kaylene was at a loss for words.
“I see you do not wish to allow me to see inside your heart just yet,” Fire Thunder said, straightening his back as he gripped his reins more tightly. “But words are not always required. I have learned much from my sister who cannot speak or hear. Like my sister, I have learned to sense many things that others cannot.”
He gave her a long gaze, then flicked his reins and wheeled his horse around, away from her. “Go home!” he shouted. “Do not ever wander this far from our lodge again!”
Kaylene’s eyebrows forked. Her lips parted in a gasp as she watched him ride away. “Our lodge?” she whispered, her heart skipping a beat at the reference to the lodge being hers as well as his.
She stared at him as he turned in the direction of the village and stopped at the horse corral and dismounted.
“He already sees me as his, and sees the lodge as equally mine,” Kaylene murmured, still in a state of awe of what he had said.
She was torn with how to feel about that. Yes, she wished to stay forever with him. Yet it frayed at her nerves to know that he took her so much for granted!
“I’ll show him,” she said, stamping toward the lodge, Midnight dutifully following her. “He can’t have control of me. I . . . just . . . won’t allow it!”
Yet, she could not deny how thinking that he wanted her this much, perhaps truly loving her
, made her knees grow weak with desire.
And her stomach. It seemed as weak, even mushy with a strange, rapturous warmth, at the thought of becoming his wife and staying with him forever.
“Forever,” she whispered to herself, thrilling inside at the very thought of it.
Now she was not so certain that she wished to spar with him tonight over who possessed whom. She felt more inclined to give into anything he wished of her, in order to be held in his arms once again, and to be kissed by him.
“I just don’t know,” she whispered to herself. “I . . . just don’t know . . . what I should do.”
As she stepped in front of his lodge, she saw him headed toward the river for his evening bath.
She had bathed earlier. She could smell the sweetness of the river water in her hair, and the fragrance left on her skin from the tiny bar of soap, which Little Sparrow had explained had come from the shops in San Carlos.
She watched him until he stepped out of sight, then she went inside the lodge where a large pot of food hung on a tripod over the fire.
After Midnight was untied, giving him the opportunity to lie down before the fireplace, Kaylene went from room to room, looking for Little Sparrow.
Then she recalled what Little Sparrow had told her earlier in sign language. After listening to the storyteller by reading his lips, she was going to spend the night with a friend.
That made Kaylene’s heart skip a sensual beat, for with Little Sparrow gone, that meant that she would be totally alone with Fire Thunder the entire night.
They had not been given this sort of privacy since she had arrived.
Was that what he had waited on before approaching her again, sexually? Had he even planned this?
Had he asked the family that Little Sparrow was staying the night with to do this, not so much for his sister, but for himself?
Her pulse racing, her head spinning with thoughts of what might transpire between her and Fire Thunder, made it impossible for her to relax.
She paced nervously.
When she felt Midnight’s wondering eyes on her, she stopped and laughed softly.
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