by Linda Bridey
Raven’s breath caught in his chest as he awaited her next words. “And?”
She crawled over to him and then right up into his lap and said, “You. I choose you. The—”
He didn’t let her finish, he couldn’t. His lips met hers in a blistering, possessive kiss that left her breathless. It seemed like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. They stared at each other for long moments before Zoe smiled, and he responded in kind. Then she pressed her mouth against his and wrapped her arms around his neck. Raven held her and was amazed at the bliss that flowed through him as he realized she was now his.
When the kiss slowly ended, he asked, “How did Will take it?”
Zoe smiled. “You were right. He told me that he wasn’t attracted to me, and I was so relieved. I told him that I was going to tell him the same thing tonight. He just got to it first, that’s all. He was relieved, too. He said he’s going to have Marcus run another ad.”
Raven laughed softly. “I am glad there were no hard feelings. It will make things easier. We will have to be careful about how we reveal our relationship.”
Zoe nodded. “I know. I don’t want to offend Will by announcing it tomorrow or anything even though I would love to. I’ll tell Pricilla tomorrow at breakfast that Will and I did not work out, but I won’t mention anything about you.”
“Yes. That’s a good idea.” He sighed. “I don’t want to have to keep sneaking around, either.”
“How long do we wait?”
“I don’t know. I have never been in this situation before.” Something occurred to Raven and he smiled. “I do know who to ask, though. I’ll ask them tomorrow and let you know what they say. I will take you to the bar to play tomorrow night. No one will think anything of it.”
“All right. Are you going to be free for lunch tomorrow?” she asked.
“No, but I have all morning free. What would you like to do?”
“Ice skate. I miss it. I don’t know where Will was going to take me though,” she said.
“I know where to go. Can you meet me at the Watering Hole at nine? I don’t want Auntie asking a bunch of questions I cannot answer just yet,” he said.
“I’ll be there,” she assured him and pulled him down for another toe-curling kiss.
*****
Joe looked up at Raven. “You do realize who you’re talkin’ about, right?”
Raven nodded. “Yes. She wants to ice skate before the weather turns too warm.”
“But Zoe doesn’t exactly have good coordination,” Joe said.
“She has told me that she can ice skate, so I believe her,” Raven said. “She wants to skate. You have a frozen pond. What’s the problem?”
“I don’t want her to break her neck, that’s all,” Joe said as he watched Zoe off in the distance lacing up her skates.
“She will be fine. I have news,” Raven said.
“What news is that?”
“Zoe has chosen me. She and Will agreed that they are not attracted to each other, and ended things last night,” Raven said.
Joe grinned at Raven and clapped him on the back. “See? That’s why I always bet on you and Reckless. I’m happy for you, Raven.”
“Thanks. She told Pricilla about her and Will not working out, but not that we are seeing each other. We were afraid it would be too soon. How long do we wait before letting others know?” Raven asked.
“So no one outside of me knows you’ve been seeing each other?” Joe said.
“No.”
Joe grinned again. He always liked being in on secrets. “I’m honored that you trust me. At least two weeks, Raven. You don’t want to bruise poor Will’s ego and you don’t want to raise any suspicions.”
“That long?”
“I’m afraid so. Trust me. I know about these things,” Joe said as Zoe stepped out on the ice. He cringed and covered his eyes. “I can’t watch this.”
Raven had never seen anyone ice skate before and he was fascinated as Zoe glided gracefully across the ice and began making lazy figure 8’s on the pond. He walked away from Joe, heading towards the pond. When he was close to the edge, Raven sat on the ground cross-legged to watch.
Zoe inhaled the crisp morning air as she skated and held her hands up to the sky in a gesture of joy. It had been weeks since she’d been on the ice and she had missed it immensely. She warmed up a little and saw Raven sitting next to the pond. She skated over to him and smiled.
“This ice is perfect. Nice and smooth,” she said.
“I told you I knew where we should go,” he said.
She laughed. “You are so conceited.”
He chuckled. “No. Just confident.”
Zoe smiled and skated away again. She increased her speed and did a small jump to test the ice further. The wind rushing by her was refreshing and moving so freely made her heart sing. After a couple more figure 8’s, Zoe moved to the center of the pond and executed a spin. She came out of it and skated right at Raven and Joe, who had joined the brave. Close to the edge of the pond, she skidded to a stop, covering them in a heavy shower of ice shavings. Both of them laughed, and Zoe skated away again with a big smile on her face.
“Look at her go,” Joe said as her next jump was more daring.
Raven was looking. He watched Zoe so intently that he didn’t answer Joe. Never had he seen anything so beautiful as Zoe floating over the ice. In his eyes, not even Reckless’ diving was as beautiful as the way Zoe moved around the pond. There were no words he knew of in either Lakota or English that could describe the exquisiteness of her skating.
It touched a place inside of him that he hadn’t known existed. On that cold April morning, Raven fell in love with the flame-haired woman who twirled and danced over ice. Anything he ever thought he’d felt for a woman in the past was a miniscule particle compared to the emotion that swelled inside his chest.
With every sweeping pass she made, every time she accelerated, Raven’s heart beat faster. He had no sense of time. As far as he was concerned, time had become as frozen as the pond on which Zoe skated. All that mattered was her and the mesmerizing dance on ice she performed.
Joe couldn’t believe this was the same woman who tripped over her own feet and knocked over drinks on a regular basis. He’d seen her clumsiness just the night before at the bar and to see Zoe move like this now was amazing to him. He looked down at Raven to say something, but stopped when he saw the love-filled expression on Raven’s face. Joe smiled to himself and remained silent. He doubted that Raven cared to hear anything he might say at that moment.
Zoe could have skated all day, but she knew that Raven had to go to work after a while, so she flew to the center of the pond and ended her skate with a spin that was so fast that it made her look blurred to those watching. When it ended and she came to a stop, clapping greeted her ears. She looked over on the shore where Raven now stood and saw that a group of people had joined him and were now applauding her.
Laughing, she dropped into a deep curtsy and then skated over to retrieve her boots before skating over to them. Before she knew what was happening, Raven plucked her off the ice and kissed her right there in front of everyone. Joe closed his eyes in dismay for a moment. He wasn’t supposed to say or do anything like that for two weeks. Oh, boy.
Then he turned to his employees and said, “No one saw this. I better not hear it around town or you’re fired. Understand?”
Laughter and murmurs of assent answered him. They knew he was serious and none of them would ever say anything.
Raven put Zoe down and grinned at her. “I have no words for how beautiful that was. I have never seen anything like that before,” he said in Lakota. In his excitement, he’d slipped into his native tongue.
Zoe laughed. “I have no idea what you just said, but I’m guessing that you liked my skating.”
Raven laughed and picked her up and swung her around. “Yes! I did,” he said in English.
Joe said, “Zoe, I haven’t seen anyone skate in a lon
g time and I think we all really enjoyed it. Thanks for letting us watch.”
“Thank you for letting me use your pond,” she said as Raven put her down again.
“You’re welcome to use it any time you want to,” Joe said. “I have to go do mayor stuff right now, but I’ll see you tonight.”
“Ok. See you then,” Zoe said.
*****
Raven and Zoe rode close enough so they could hold hands on the way back to town. He had to be careful of what he said to her because he wanted to tell her of his love for her, but he didn’t feel it was the right time. He also needed to talk to his Uncle Owl again for some advice.
“Where did you learn to skate?” he asked. This was a safe subject.
Zoe smiled. “There’s a skating rink in Green Bay and there was a man there who saw me skating one day. I was about twelve, I think. He saw something in me and started teaching me. His name is Gustaf Fagerstrom and he was quite the skater in his day. He still skates very well. I was very fortunate that he took an interest in me and spent so much time teaching me.”
Raven’s eyes shone as he said, “I’m very happy that he taught you so that I could see it. I have never seen anything so beautiful. Thank you for sharing your gift with me.”
Zoe blushed at his praise. “You’re welcome.”
“Joe was worried you were going to break your neck, but I knew you wouldn’t,” Raven said with pride.
Zoe was touched by how much her skating seemed to affect him. “I told you it’s strange how clumsy I am off the ice, but not on the ice. I have no idea why that is.”
She took her glasses off and rubbed her ears. Raven watched her and said, “Sunday you will come to the ranch and I’ll fix your glasses.”
Zoe looked over at him, but he was blurry so she put her glasses back on so she could see his handsome face clearly. “Is that an order?”
He smiled. “Yes.”
“You’re very bossy, aren’t you?”
“Sometimes,” he admitted. “Don’t you want me to fix them?”
“Yes, but you could ask me to come out,” Zoe said.
“Will you come to the ranch Sunday so I can fix your glasses?” he asked with a smile.
“Yes, I will. Oh, make sure you stop by tonight so I can give you your father’s treat,” she said.
“You remembered.”
“Of course I remembered and I’m still not telling you what it is,” Zoe said.
Raven chuckled. “Still being mysterious, huh?”
“Yes. I like keeping you guessing,” she said. “Are you going to stop by tonight after work, too?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I was just making sure,” she said.
“I have not taught you anything in Lakota today. When a man says ‘hello’, he says ‘hau’, but a woman says ‘han’.”
“Han,” Zoe repeated. “That’s easy enough.”
“Hau,” Raven said.
“Han,” she responded.
“Very good. We need to find a Lakota name for you. I will think about it,” he said.
She beamed at him. “I’m going to have a Lakota name?”
“Yes. I think you would like that,” he said.
“Yes, I would.”
He grunted in a pleased manner.
She mimicked him and he laughed. The whole way back to town, they teased each other and laughed. As they parted, Zoe longed to kiss Raven goodbye, but it wouldn’t be a good idea. They settled for a quick hand hold and then Raven rode away.
Chapter Twelve
When Raven stopped by Pricilla’s that evening, he was taken aback by the amount of desserts Zoe had made for his family. Pricilla had insisted on helping her and they’d made snicker doodles, ginger cookies, raisin-filled cookies, and two cherry pies. Pricilla had canned some cherries the previous summer and said she wanted to use them up. Raven was very touched by the time they had taken to make all of it and their kindness.
“Thank you, Auntie. Thank you, Zoe,” he said. “They will enjoy it all. It’s a good thing Uncle Dean is going with me to help carry it all.”
Zoe packed everything in two baskets. “It should be safe in here as long as you’re careful with it.”
Looking down at her with a smile, Raven said, “I will be very careful with it. Father will not be happy if I destroy his desserts.”
Pricilla and Zoe laughed.
Pricilla said, “Well, we have to keep the chief happy, don’t we?”
Raven nodded. “Yes. He is not pleasant when he’s aggravated.”
“Are you staying for supper, dear?” Pricilla asked.
“Not tonight. I will take these home, but I will be back for you, Zoe, to take you to the bar.”
“Ok. I’ll come help you with those. You can mount, and then I’ll hand them to you,” Zoe said.
Raven nodded. “Thank you.”
Pricilla noticed the way Raven looked at Zoe and it made something occur to her. “Raven, will you come with me upstairs to help me a moment?” she asked.
“Sure,” Raven said.
Pricilla took him into her sewing room and shut the door. “Raven, Zoe told me that things didn’t work out with her and Will.”
Raven’s eyebrows rose. “They didn’t?”
“No. Now I couldn’t help seeing how you were looking at her just now,” Pricilla said with a knowing smile.
Raven could have kicked himself. He was going to have to be extra careful about controlling his facial expressions around Zoe.
He sighed. “And how was I looking at her?”
“Come now, Raven. You’re attracted to her,” Pricilla said. “I don’t blame you. Now, I don’t know how these things work in your culture, but you could certainly do worse for a wife. You’re of age now and you should be thinking of settling down.”
“You would approve of such a relationship?” Raven was astounded.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because I am Lakota,” Raven said.
Pricilla put her hands on her hips and Raven knew he was in trouble. “Shame on you! If I was prejudiced about that, I wouldn’t have you sit at our table or love you the way I do. I thought you knew that,” she said and sniffed.
Raven hugged her. “I’m sorry, Auntie. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
She patted his chest. “It’s all right, but don’t you ever think that of me or John again. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said.
“Good. Now, you think about what I said and don’t wait too long to let her know how you feel. Someone else is bound to try to snare her heart,” Pricilla advised.
“I think you are right, but don’t you think it’s too soon after Will and she broke things off?”
“No. It’s his loss and your gain. She goes to the bar and it’s filled with men who would love to have her. You’ll be with her tonight. Ask to court her then. Trust me, Raven. I know about these things,” Pricilla said.
He grinned at her. “Ok. Thank you, Auntie. You’re very wise.”
“You’re welcome. Now, will you bring that table downstairs again? Everyone is coming for Sunday dinner and that way it’ll be down there already.”
“Sure.”
“Thank you,” she said.
As Raven followed Pricilla down the stairs with the table, he grinned and couldn’t wait to tell Zoe what Pricilla had said.
*****
Raven waited until he came to see Zoe after work that night to tell Zoe about his conversation with Pricilla. As he did, Zoe had to cover her mouth to muffle the sound of her laughter.
“I can’t believe it,” she said.
Raven frowned. “I have to be more careful about how I act around you. I did not know I was so obvious.”
“I’ll have to be careful, too.”
Raven nodded and smiled. He took both of her hands in his as they stood out in their trees. “Zoe, may I court you?”
The beauty of her smile made his breath catch in his chest.
“Yes, Raven. You may court me.” She was entranced by the intense expression that settled on his face.
He raised a hand and laid it against her cheek. “You are mine now, and you will never have to doubt how much you mean to me. I will do my best to make you happy, and I’ll always protect you. This is my vow to you.”
Zoe could only look at him because the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. His possessive and touching words created a sense of safety within her, and she had never felt so cherished. Looking into his eyes, Zoe saw her own feelings mirrored in his dark eyes. It seemed to be a living, breathing thing between them.
“Thečhíȟila kštó,” Raven said.
Zoe’s brows puckered. “What?”
Raven’s gaze never wavered as he said, “I said that I love you. Thečhíȟila kštó, Zoe.”
“I love you too Raven. I love you so much,” Zoe said. “I don’t know how it happened so soon. I know it’s crazy, but I do.”
Raven shook his head a little. “What does time matter? It’s what we feel that is important.”
“You’re right,” she said as tears filled her eyes and slid down her face.
“Why are you crying?” Raven wiped away her tears with his thumbs.
She laughed and said, “Because I’m so happy. They’re happy tears.”
Raven smiled and said, “You make me happy, too.”
He drew her down on the blanket he’d spread out and claimed her lips in a kiss that stirred their passion and their souls. Zoe pressed herself against Raven, threaded her fingers through his hair and then massaged the back of his neck. He groaned and held her tighter. Zoe knew that some women might have been afraid of his size and strength, but she felt so safe in Raven’s arms.
Raven was thrilled by her ardent response to him, and he knew that if they were in his tipi, he would make love to her and not regret it. He knew right then and there that he was going to make her his wife. Whatever it took to make that happen, he would do. He’d been so caught up in kissing her and his thoughts that he didn’t register the fact that she had gotten her hands up under his coat and pulled his shirt from his pants. He felt her hands on his bare skin and growled against her mouth.