The horse stumbled as they rode through the rain, and it occurred to Kimi that the mount was tired, too. If it didn’t get some rest soon, it would drop dead in its tracks and they would be afoot out here on the desolate prairie.
The thought came that the big soldier could easily abandon her to make it easier on the horse and maybe thereby get all the way back to the fort safely. She couldn’t believe that thought hadn’t occurred to him, too.
She half-opened one eye. He cuddled her protectively from the weather up against his blond furred chest and she instinctively pressed closer, letting him protect her from the hard driving rain. The lightning cracked orange against a dark purple sky. Just ahead lay a low bluff.
Abruptly it began to hail, small missiles of ice at first, and then they grew as big as a man’s fist, beating against both man and horse. She burrowed deeper into his arms, letting him take the bruising blows, knowing hailstones could kill or injure them. If he didn’t do something fast, they were in a very vulnerable position.
He must have realized it, too. At that moment, he urged the tired horse into a gallop and headed toward the bluff. For a long minute they raced through the driving rain and hail clattering down around them, and then they were safely under an outcrop of rock.
She heard him sigh with relief and relax. Even the horse whinnied and looked out at the continuing storm, obviously relieved to be in out of the downpour.
Kimi sneaked a look. There was a small cave beyond the outcrop. She pretended to be unconscious while he slid from the horse, taking her with him. He picked her up with no more effort than he would a knapsack and carried her inside. The horse began to graze on the grass growing under the outcrop.
What should she do? If she fought him and managed to escape, it would be futile to run back out into that hailstorm, and the horse needed rest before it could go any farther. Kimi suddenly recognized the horse. Tonweya. Scout. One Eye would be hot on their trail at dawn and there was no telling what he would do when he caught up with this brazen white man. Kimi needn’t do anything, she decided, except wait. When One Eye and the warriors showed up, they’d rescue her and make the foolhardy soldier wish he’d never been born.
He bent to lay her down on some soft dry grass that had accumulated in the small cave over the years. Her shift was soaked through and she was cold, shivering.
“Kimi?”
She decided to pretend she was still unconscious.
“You’re cold,” he murmured, “I’m going to have to get you out of that wet shift.”
Even as his hands reached to touch her, she came awake, sat up. “Don’t touch me.”
He laughed harshly. “I thought you were playing possum. Take it off and hang it up to dry.”
“I won’t!”
“Then I’ll take it off for you. I intend to use your body heat as you might pull a puppy close to warm you. In this darkness, I can’t see anything anyway.”
She was freezing. Kimi hesitated, trying to keep her teeth from chattering. “Why don’t you just build a fire?”
“Great idea! I suppose you just happen to have matches or a flint on you? There’s only a little food and one canteen, nothing else. Now take that wet shift off.”
“Suppose I refuse?”
His tone was cold, sneering. “I’m the captor now and you’re the captive. You’ll do as I say, little butterfly.”
She paused, staring out at the rain. The hail still fell with a clatter, making the dark landscape look as if new snow had fallen. But the horse was protected and munching grass and they were safely out of the weather here. No doubt what he intended to do to her was inevitable. With a resigned sigh, she pulled the shift off and draped it over a rock.
“Come here.” He sat on the ground.
She clasped her medicine object still hanging from the thong around her neck. “I’d rather stay where I am.”
“You’re my captive now,” he said coldly. “I don’t care what you’d rather do. You’ll do as I order.”
She couldn’t win against the big soldier; she knew that. She sat down next to him. He handed her the canteen and she took a long drink. “You can have this little dried meat.”
Kimi laughed without mirth. “One Eye and the braves are probably already on our trail. You won’t live long enough to get hungry!”
“You are the sassiest thing!” He swore under his breath. “Lenore would be so terrified in the same spot, she’d be in screaming hysterics; having a hissy fit.”
It annoyed her that even alone with her and her naked, his mind was on the civilized white girl.
He reached out, grabbed her wrists, and pulled them together.
“Hinzi, what are you doing?”
“What does it seem to you I’m doing? I’m tying you up so I can sleep until this storm is over.”
Her indignation knew no bounds, “You’re just going to tie me up like you would a dog?”
She sensed him shrug. “You have the nerve to be indignant after you’ve chained me and used me as a beast of burden? The tables are turned. This is how it feels to be a slave. Humiliating, isn’t it?” He finished tying her hands, pushed her onto her back, and looped her bonds over an outcrop of rock so she lay with her hands above her head. “Now try to get some rest.” He lay back with a tired sigh.
At least he hadn’t tied her ankles. Maybe if she humored him and he dropped off to sleep, even with her wrists tied, she might manage to lift the rope over the rock, mount the horse and ride back to the camp, leaving him stranded at the bluff. She might as well get some rest and wait for her chance. Very cautiously, she settled back on the soft, dry grass, too.
Immediately he crawled closer, reached out and pulled her naked body against him. “I’m cold,” he said, “I don’t have a blanket or a furry dog to curl up to, so I’ll take advantage of your body heat.”
She tried to pull away, but he was strong. She was naked and he wore only a breechcloth. Heat radiated from his big, muscular body. It was like curling up against a wolf ... except that she remembered the fur on his chest was pale gold and soft. He threw his arm across her breasts, and her nipples felt on fire when she breathed and they brushed repeatedly against his arm. “What’s that around your neck? Feels like a rock.”
“My spirit object.” For a moment, she was afraid he would take it away, but his tired sigh told her he hadn’t been interested enough to investigate. “If–if you rape me, One Eye and the warriors will make you wish for death.”
“They will anyway, since I’ve taken his favorite horse,” he sounded resigned to the fact. “Besides, you flatter yourself. As tired as I am, all I’m interested in is your body heat.”
She didn’t believe him; not the way he had been looking at her for days. With her hands tied above her head, she was helpless to stop him from doing anything he wanted, she knew that. Even as she struggled, he pulled her closer, half covering her with his body. Immediately the heat from him began to heat her wet, naked flesh and she stopped struggling and let him warm her. She who had never had a man still knew the searing passion of desiring one.
All the way down both their bodies, his skin burned against her’s like flame, her breasts crushed against his arm. Between them, she felt his hard maleness pulsating, and her breasts swelled at the image of him rolling over on top of her. With her hands tied, she would be helpless to do anything but submit.
Now that arm caressed down her belly. There was no use fighting him, Kimi thought, when he decided to take her; she was too small to stop him.
Instead, his hand gradually stopped stroking and in a minute or two, his gentle breathing told her the weary man slept.
For a moment, her only emotion was disbelief; then she felt insulted. Here she was trussed naked and helpless and expecting to be raped most savagely. But the yellow-haired soldier had dropped off to sleep.
Kimi settled down in his arms, finding a more comfortable spot in the soft dry grass. With her hands tied, she couldn’t move away from him. She felt his m
anhood against her. The thought brought all sorts of erotic images to her mind.
What to do? She lay still a long time, watching the rain and hail pour outside. At least the heat his muscular body radiated had warmed her. Finally, she tried to shift positions to be more comfortable. He half roused, pulling her closer, moved his hand back up her belly to her breast. His fingers felt as hot as a firebrand there. Then his other arm slipped under her head and he pulled her still closer against him. Without even realizing she did so, she arched herself against him, made a soft noise in her throat.
At that point, his mouth nuzzled her cheek sleepily and then he kissed her.
She stiffened and opened her mouth to protest. His tongue slipped inside. She couldn’t cry out; not with his tongue like velvet between her lips, caressing the inside of her mouth. She must remember he was an enemy. But all she could think of was the hot, sweet taste of his mouth and the heat of his body as she pressed her breasts against him.
In answer, his mouth kissed down her throat and covered one of her nipples. She was powerless to stop him from putting his mouth on her naked body if he chose to. That was the only reason she wasn’t protesting or fighting him, she told herself. Her body had a mind of its own, pushing her nipple up so that he might run his tongue across it, suck it deep into his throat. Kimi writhed under him as he tasted her breasts. She was breathing hard through her mouth.
He reached up, unlooped her hands from around the rock, but didn’t untie them. Instead, he brought her bound hands down between them and rolled her on her side. “You know what I want,” he gasped. “Touch me.”
She wasn’t sure what he wanted, but as his captive, she dare not argue. Now he was pressing his throbbing manhood against her hands.
“Caress me,” he murmured, and his mouth covered hers again even as his arms went around her and his big hands cupped her small bottom, pulling her to him.
The heat and the feel and the male scent of him dazzled her senses. She took his maleness in her two hands, and he was big and hard and throbbing. She began to stroke him there and he pushed against her hands. “More!” he commanded, “More!”
She still wasn’t sure what it was he expected, but his hands were caressing her bare hips as his mouth sucked her tongue deep in his throat, his body rubbing against hers. She cupped her bound hands around his rod, stroking him. He cursed almost helplessly, hesitated a long moment and then she felt the hot rush of his male seed on her hands. The scent and the heat of it excited her.
Now he reached down, brought her hands up slowly, and rubbed them across her face. “Mine,” he whispered, “You’re mine now; I’ve marked you with my seed the same as if I’d put a brand on you, my half-breed slave.”
The scent of it excited her and she wanted something more, but she wasn’t certain what it was. He reached to take her bound wrists, lift them over his head so that now she embraced him.
“Sweet butterfly,” he murmured, “Even if stopping at this bluff signs my death warrant, I’ll say it’s been worth it.” He ground his hard chest against her nipples, exciting her as he stroked and teased her back and hips with his hands. Then she felt him begin to harden again.
Without leaving the circle of her arms, he pushed her thighs apart. Kimi started to protest, but now he was rubbing himself against the soft V of her womanhood. She forgot that she should protest or fight him. All she could remember were the troubled feelings she had had since that very first time Hinzi had been staked out and had managed to work an arm free to grab and pull her down for a kiss.
She felt him probing against the opening of her womanhood with his fingers and she was overpowered with the urge to spread out and let him tease and tantalize her body with his skillful hands. Her bound wrists were around his neck. She should be pushing him away, not pulling him toward her, and yet....
He rolled her over flat on her back. “This is why you should tie a captive’s hand in front,” he murmured.
Outside, the lightning crashed again, briefly illuminating the cave, outlining him poised above her. With both big hands grasping her breasts, he paused between her thighs. Even as she arched her back, pushing up against his hands, his thumbs stroked her nipples into two hard points.
She couldn’t remember anything except that if she spread her thighs as wide as possible, he would fill the aching void there. She felt him hesitate, probing for her opening with his seed-wet manhood. Then he made a grunt of pleasure, almost like a stallion as he rammed into her, hard and deep.
He was big. She felt pain as he impaled her against the cave floor but then his mouth covered hers and she couldn’t cry out even if she wanted to, and she was not sure she did.
She tried to remember that she’d been kidnapped and that this was an enemy male. There might be a rock lying close enough to reach that she could use to hit him in the head, knock him unconscious. Certainly, the way he was breathing hard with his mouth on hers, his attention was on nothing else but mating.
He began to ride her, sure and hard and urgent. It seemed to Kimi that her body clutched at his, urging him to go deeper still, wanting, no, demanding that he give her what her velvet vessel hungered for. She dug her nails in his muscular back, urging him into her even as he pulled back and came down again in a rhythmic ride, grinding himself against her each time he went deep into her velvet softness. His hands went under her, holding her in a close embrace even as hers clawed at his muscular neck and shoulders while he rode her. Instinctively, she locked her long, slim legs around him, to hold him prisoner in her depths.
“Kimi, sweet butterfly,” he gasped, “if there was ever a girl to drive a man crazy with desire, it’s you. I’ve dreamed of doing nothing else since the first time I saw you.”
She was no better than the Pawnee sluts who hung around the forts and let the soldiers use them, and yet, knowing that he was interested only in his own lust, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting him. If nothing else, she told herself, he’s dallying here with me when the rain has stopped outside and he could be escaping. Like the male black widow spider, his primitive urge to mate might cost him his life if the warriors found them here. It was her duty to keep his mind off escaping, keep his mind on her body until One Eye and the others could pick up their trail and overtake them.
Then he was pausing, stiffening as he plunged into her one more time, giving up his seed in a surrender to her female vessel. Kimi felt him deep and pulsating inside her, pouring his seed into her. She wanted still more, even though it was hurting her to take his dagger to the hilt in her torn virginity. Then her body reacted on its own, clasping his manhood, squeezing hard, wanting every drop he had to give. She felt herself shuddering in his embrace and then there was nothing but darkness for a long moment.
She tried to remember she must stay awake, must watch for a chance to escape. Instead she lay here in the darkness, her naked body smeared with his seed and her own virgin blood, and this enemy sprawled across her, his body still in hers.
The rain continued to drip outside, but his even breathing told her Hinzi was already drifting off to sleep. Now was her chance to escape, if she could bring herself to withdraw from his body, but she couldn’t. With the rain dripping a soft, steady rhythm outside on the rocks, Kimi drifted off to sleep in his embrace.
Rand came awake with a start, knowing somehow that he’d been asleep for hours. Where was he? His eyes blinked open and he saw the mouth of the cave in dawn’s light, the horse patiently cropping grass near the entrance. It had stopped raining and was clearing.
Last night came back to him with a rush and he realized he lay with a woman curled in his protective embrace. He pulled away from her, blinked and stared in puzzlement. She was a beauty, completely naked except for some trinket hanging on a thong between full breasts. Her nipples looked swollen, and he remembered how he had sucked them as if he could never get enough of their taste.
His glance went to her thighs, smeared with the slightest trace of crimson blood. A virgin? No, Kimi coul
dn’t be a virgin; she was a widow. He stared at the naked skin in the daylight. Puzzled and confused, he studied her skin, darker by far where the sun had tanned it. But underneath, where the sun never touched ...
Rand swore softly under his breath. Now he understood why the old woman wanted nothing to do with whites, was afraid for Kimi. She had a valid reason, Rand realized. If the whites ever saw Kimi, they would take her away from the Indians. No doubt she had been captured on a raid.
Her skin in the daylight reminded him of the blossoms in the Carstairs conservatory. Kimi was no Sioux; not even a half-breed. The daylight on her pale, naked skin revealed that Kimi was a white girl.
Seven
Kimi opened her eyes slowly. The soldier leaned on one elbow staring down at her in the early dawn. She managed a weak smile. “Hello, Hinzi.”
“We’ve got to get out of here.” He sat up, untied her. “We should have ridden on hours ago. When we’ve more time, there’s some questions I want to ask–”
“You were my first man, if that’s what you want to know.” She bristled a little, thinking what a fool she had been to succumb to the attraction she had been fighting since the first moment she had seen him. Kimi rubbed her numb wrists, reached for her doeskin shift.
“That’s not it.” He looked a little chagrined as he shook his head, stood up, pulled her to her feet. “When we get to the fort–”
“The fort?” She paused in putting on the shift. “You are still taking me to the fort?”
Her fear must have shown in her eyes, because he made a soothing gesture. “Don’t worry, when they realize you’re a white girl, you won’t be in any danger.”
“White girl?” Kimi stared at him. “I am a woman of the Lakota–”
“Kimi, haven’t you ever wondered why your skin is so much lighter than the other members of your tribe?”
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