He could tell by the way Kaylene trembled and moaned, that she soon would know the mystery of lovemaking, and its glories.
Kaylene had never imagined that a man and woman together like this could bring on such mindboggling pleasure. Her breathing was ragged. Her cheeks felt as though they were aflame, as did her heart.
She clung to Fire Thunder’s shoulders as he kissed her urgently . . . eagerly.
Kaylene felt herself yearning for something more, something that she seemed to be moving toward as the pleasure mounted and spread throughout her.
Suddenly, so quickly it took her breath away, the spinning sensation, the rapture rose up and flooded her whole body, at the same moment that Fire Thunder’s body quivered and shook against hers.
She arched her hips toward him as he thrust himself in maddening strokes deeply within her.
He held her tightly, their naked flesh seeming to fuse in sensual ecstasy.
The pleasure slowly subsided, as did Fire Thunder’s strokes within her. He withdrew and moved lethargically to her side.
Lying there with his eyes closed, he became aware of her lips on him, nibbling at the flesh of his neck, then lower.
He sucked in a wild breath when he felt the heat of her breath on his manhood, then looked quickly down at her, in wonder, as she flicked her tongue along the length of him, making him become aroused anew.
Sighing, he closed his eyes. He stroked her hair as she continued nibbling and kissing him until he knew that it should not go any further than that.
Smiling at her as Kaylene gazed up at him, he turned her so that she would be on her back, then gave her the same sort of loving.
Her sighs of pleasure proved that his tongue, mouth, and hands were having the same sensual affect on her as hers had had on him.
He rolled over her. As he kissed her, he forced her hips open with his, and shoved himself inside her and again led her, stroke by stroke to paradise.
Afterward, after each had taken turns washing the other, Fire Thunder pillowed Kaylene’s head on his lap. She nestled close.
The glow from the fire cast dancing shadows through the door and onto the bedroom ceiling.
Midnight came sauntering into the room and lay down on the floor beside the bed and went to sleep again.
Perfectly content, feeling as though she belonged, heart and soul, to this man, and glad of it, Kaylene watched the shadows on the ceiling.
“I never knew that loving a man could be this beautiful,” she murmured.
Fire Thunder leaned up on one elbow. “Do you realize that you just admitted to loving me?” he said, placing a finger to her chin, turning her eyes to him.
“Do you think I could have shared what we just shared had I not?” Kaylene said, devouring his handsomeness with her eyes. “I fought my feelings until I knew I could not fight them any longer.”
“But you are still my captive,” Fire Thunder said, drawing her lips to his, brushing them with feathery touches of his tongue.
“If you say so,” Kaylene said, giggling.
“I never want to let you go,” Fire Thunder said huskily. He lowered his mouth to one of her breasts. She moaned when his tongue swept over her nipple, flicking against the swollen, pink nub.
“Keep on doing that and I wouldn’t leave if you ordered me to,” Kaylene said. Her insides swimming with pleasure, she sighed. She held her head back and closed her eyes.
“And so I have found a way to master you, have I?” Fire Thunder said, as he placed a hand to her waist and turned her to face him.
He drew her body next to his so that her breasts would be crushed into his chest.
“Perhaps,” Kaylene said, then lay her cheek against his. “How can this be? How can I love you? Why do you love me? There are many beautiful Kickapoo women in your village. Why, I think that Running Fawn is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I’m surprised that you haven’t noticed.”
“I have noticed and I have stayed away from her purposely,” Fire Thunder said, gazing down at her as she gave him a quick look. “She is trouble. And I even warn you to be wary of her and that which she might wish to pull you into doing. You have heard the gossip about her and her wanton behavior with Mexican men. When it is discovered to be true, she will be badly punished.”
“But I do like her so much,” Kaylene murmured. “She was so quick to befriend me when no other people of your village would.”
“Just be wary of her is all that I can say,” Fire Thunder warned again.
Kaylene eased from his arms. She smiled at him. “I must know the full secret behind those blue eyes of your,” she said. “They are so beautiful, yet I am surprised that you, being an Indian, would have such eyes. You earlier mentioned being part French. How much?”
“Only a fraction,” Fire Thunder said. “It goes way back many, many winters, when one of my kin wed a Frenchman. But it is such a small portion of me that is French that I look to myself as full-blood Kickapoo.”
Kaylene stretched out on her stomach beside Fire Thunder. She snuggled against him. “So often, since I have come to your village, the more I am around your people, I have felt a strange yearning,” she whispered. “It is as though I am part Indian, myself. Do you think that perhaps, in my other lifetime, I was? What if it were true, Fire Thunder? Wouldn’t that make your people look to me as someone worthy of their chief?”
“You are worthy because I say you are,” Fire Thunder said, reaching a gentle hand to her cheek. “And, yes, just perhaps somewhere in time you were Indian. If it pleases you to think it, think it often. It would be good to see you enjoy this life that I have brought you to.”
“You have adapted well to living in Mexico, haven’t you?” Kaylene asked softly.
“Yes, it was made easy for us by the Mexicans,” Fire Thunder said. “They gave each family a piece of land, as well as seeds to plant our first crops. But as you know, our true wealth lies in our longhorns.”
He shaped his body more fully into hers. “But, my beautiful woman, as for me, personally, the cattle now come second to the woman I love,” he said huskily.
He cradled her in his arms and kissed her with a lazy warmth that left her weak.
How could she have ever hated him? she wondered to herself. How?
She had never felt as alive, as loved, as needed, as now, while with him.
She prayed that nothing would happen to give her cause to regret these wondrous moments with him.
Chapter 15
Let us possess one world;
Each hath one,
And is one.
—JOHN DONNE
“Tell me why you look so different today,” Running Fawn asked Kaylene as they walked through the village, on Kaylene’s usual morning stroll with her panther. She stepped in Kaylene’s way and smiled mischievously at her. “You look as radiant as someone who—”
Fearing what Running Fawn was about to say, that she had somehow surmised that Kaylene had been with Fire Thunder, Kaylene brushed past her.
How could she admit to having been with Fire Thunder not only once, but twice?
Last night, and this morning before Fire Thunder left to see to his chieftain duties.
Even she was in awe of herself for having gone to bed with him so easily.
Yes, she loved him. She adored him. But that did not give her cause to be a loose woman.
She was troubled now by her decision to stay with him. Perhaps it was a reckless one, having been blinded by her love for this wonderful Kickapoo chief.
How could she have ever lost sight of his being responsible for her father’s death?
Surely she couldn’t stay that easily with Fire Thunder, even though she knew that in his heart he had done the right thing about her father. He had avenged the honor of his beloved sister.
And, the many other children besides Little Sparrow who had unwillingly become slaves at the carnival.
Again the question about her parents came to mind, haunting her. She ignored R
unning Fawn’s persistent questions, as she allowed her thoughts to stray to her childhood, and her life with the carnival, and the two people who had raised her. Had her life been nothing but a lie? Was the woman who had so lovingly held her as a child in her arms truly her mother?
“Kaylene, what is wrong with you today?” Running Fawn said, bringing Kaylene’s thoughts back to the present.
Weary of the questions, finding them disturbing, Kaylene stopped suddenly and glared at Running Fawn. “What is wrong with you today?” she blurted out. “Why can’t we have a pleasant walk without . . . without all of these questions?”
Running Fawn’s lips parted in a soft gasp. Her dark eyes widened. “I am just being your friend,” she murmured. “I am just trying to help you. First you look as though you are walking on clouds, your face pink and radiant, your green eyes gleaming. Then you look so troubled, as though you have doubts about something. Sometimes talking helps. But if you would rather walk and not talk, that is fine with me.”
“Yes, that would be best,” Kaylene said softly. “Please understand, Running Fawn. I do have a lot on my mind today. But it is best not spoken aloud. They are things that I must work out on my own.”
“When you need someone to talk to, I will be there for you,” Running Fawn said. She gave Kaylene a big hug. “Now let’s go on and finish our walk. You still need to build up your strength.”
“You are sweet for understanding so easily,” Kaylene said, returning the hug.
As she eased from Running Fawn’s arms, Kaylene suddenly felt ashamed for having spoken so sharply to her. Still only Running Fawn and Little Sparrow had offered their friendships to Kaylene. She did not want to lose either of them.
“Running Fawn, I’m sorry for having spoken so harshly,” she apologized.
“If I were a captive, I would say and behave much worse,” Running Fawn said.
Kaylene frowned as she continued walking silently beside Running Fawn.
Captive. That word! How it grated against her nerves.
She wondered if she insisted on going now, if Fire Thunder would even allow it? If he cared as much for her as he professed to, wouldn’t he want her to do what made her happy?
But, of course, being with him made her happy. He was all that she wanted in life now and knew that she would not ask to be set free.
Yet she did plan to go to her mother and demand answers when she was strong enough for the journey.
The sun was warm. The wind was soft and sweet smelling as Kaylene walked farther through the village. She gazed around her and saw women working at their basketry and beading outside their lodges.
Earlier, Running Fawn had told Kaylene that the women made dyes from berry juices and roots to paint designs upon their baskets, dwellings, and their husbands’ hunting knives.
Again she experienced the same strange stirrings that she had felt before while with these people—the feelings of belonging to this culture, almost frightening her.
Why, oh, why did she feel this way? she wondered. It was as though some large being had spread its arms around her and told her she had come home.
Having walked farther than she had thought, her mind straying too often to things that bothered her, Kaylene suddenly found herself at the very edge of the village, exactly opposite from where Fire Thunder’s lodge sat.
She looked quickly around her and saw that she had left all of the lodges behind, except for this one that was isolated from the others. It was partially hidden by a cover of trees that stood like sentinels around it.
It was a wigwam. The cattail mats that covered it were aged and brittle. There were no windows, only a door. An entrance flap made from an animal skin hung over it, swaying gently in the breeze.
“Whose lodge is that?” Kaylene asked as she gave Running Fawn an inquisitive stare. “It is so different from the others. And it sits alone. Why, Running Fawn?”
“The woman who lives here is Moon Glow,” Running Fawn said, staring at the fluttering entrance flap. “But most call her muy-trote-adore, ‘trotter.’ She has had many husbands. Most have died mysteriously. This is why she lives away from the others. People have lost their trust in her. Men avoid her, fearing if they marry her, they will also die strangely.”
“Goodness,” Kaylene murmured, finding this intriguing, to say the least.
“Come on,” Running Fawn said, grabbing one of Kaylene’s hands. “I will introduce you to Moon Glow. Rarely does anyone visit her. Only I do.” She smiled at Kaylene. “I have not visited with her since you came to my village. You have taken the place of Moon Glow. She was my confidante. Now you are.”
Kaylene arched an eyebrow. “Confidante?” she said. “How can you call me that? You have only confided in me once. Otherwise, you do not tell me where you suddenly disappear to so often. Sometimes I go a full day and evening without seeing you. If you have not come here, then where do you go?”
Running Fawn shuffled her feet nervously. “Do you remember a few moments ago when you did not wish to respond to my questions?” she asked.
“Yes,” Kaylene said, nodding.
“Well, it is the same for me now, Kaylene,” Running Fawn said, almost hoarsely. “Please do not ask questions about things I do not voluntarily tell you. What I do, I do behind my father’s back. If he ever discovered the full truth about things I do when I am away from him, he might, himself, banish me from my tribe.”
“Is what you do that terrible?” Kaylene could not help but ask, knowing that Running Fawn was referring to being with Mexican men.
“Remember, I do not wish to talk about it,” Running Fawn said thickly. Then she laughed softly. “Come. Let us go and say hello to Moon Glow.”
“What about Midnight?” Kaylene asked, giving her panther a quick glance.
“Midnight will enjoy entering Moon Glow’s lodge,” Running Fawn said, tugging on Kaylene’s hand. “Come. You will see why.”
Kaylene sighed, then went with Running Fawn. Her fingers tightened on Midnight’s leash, for something told her to never totally trust Running Fawn’s judgment about things. Hadn’t Fire Thunder warned her?
As Kaylene entered the small wigwam, she smelled such a horrible, vile smell, she doubted even more that she should have trusted Running Fawn enough to enter a lodge that the other people of the village avoided.
There was no fire in the fire pit, only glowing embers. And the only thing that Kaylene could see were many green eyes peering at her through the darkness.
When she heard Midnight emit a low snarling sound from the depths of his throat, she bent down beside him and stroked his back in an effort to calm him.
His eyes narrowed as he looked guardedly around him. When he sniffed, and his body stiffened, she knew it was not a reaction to the terrible stench that made Kaylene’s nose curl up, and her throat burn.
It was something more.
When a cat leaped out of the semidarkness, and came sniffing at Midnight’s feet, Kaylene then knew what the many green eyes belonged to in the lodge.
One by one, cats slunk from the dark shadows. They walked stealthily closer to Midnight. Some growled. Others were curious and friendly.
“Midnight, steady . . .” Kaylene whispered, her spine stiffening. “Remember that the cats are much smaller than you. Midnight, do not—”
Her words were cut off by a low, strange sort of cackling from the inner depths of the wigwam, causing chills to race up and down her spine as she peered more intently into the semidarkness.
She started when an elderly lady stepped fully into view, a cat curled in the crook of each of her arms.
Kaylene had never seen anyone as old as Moon Glow. Her copper face was a crater of wrinkles. Her dark, squinting eyes were set back deeply into her flesh. Her lips had narrowed from age into a straight, almost vanishing line.
Moon Glow’s hair was wiry gray and hung almost to the floor. She wore a buckskin robe that was loose on her extremely thin body. Her hands were veined, the skin taut on her bo
nes, like leather.
“My, my, but don’t you have the greenest eyes,” Moon Glow said, as she leaned closer to get a better look at Kaylene. “Green like my cats.”
Moon Glow’s gaze lowered to Midnight. “Pretty and sleek,” she said, her head bobbing as though she could not control it.
Running Fawn took a step toward the elderly woman. She gestured with a hand toward Kaylene. “Moon Glow, this is my friend—”
Running Fawn got no further. She turned and gazed, startled and wide-eyed, at the entranceway, where Fire Thunder suddenly stood, his arms angrily folded across his chest. She swallowed hard and trembled as she took a slow step away from him.
Fire Thunder glared at Running Fawn. “You bring my woman here?” he shouted. “You know that you should not have.” He doubled a fist at his side. “Running Fawn, you stay away from Kaylene. Today proves that I was not wrong not to trust you with her! You are a bad influence!”
Humble, hurt, and angry, Running Fawn swallowed back an embarrassing sob. Then she ran past Kaylene and by Fire Thunder as he stepped aside and allowed it, and outside.
“Fire Thunder, why did you do that?” Kaylene asked, after getting over the initial shock of his severe scolding of Running Fawn. “She meant no harm.” She took a bold step toward him, her eyes filled with fire. “Or is it because you wish to keep me all to yourself?”
Even more angry at Running Fawn now, for having caused Kaylene to be upset with him, Fire Thunder sighed heavily.
He then swept Kaylene up into his arms and carried her from the lodge. Midnight romped after them.
Kaylene struggled to get free from Fire Thunder. But his grip on her was too strong.
“Never go to that lodge again,” Fire Thunder said as he stomped through the village, ignoring the eyes that stared at them.
“So now you are again going to tell me what I can and cannot do?” Kaylene fumed, her heart beating with her fury. “Perhaps that will work with Running Fawn. But not me. I am not your child, slave, or . . . or wife! You aren’t my chief. I am my own person. I will do as I damn well please!”
The curse word brought Fire Thunder’s eyes down to hers as she glared up at him. “It is not ladylike to say bad words that only bad white men speak!” he scolded. “Say them no more in my presence!”
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