Rand’s first thought was he and Kimi should hide before they were seen. Too late he saw the bearded traders looking at Kimi with hungry eyes. The rough men had seen his delicate butterfly and lusted for her. He didn’t intend to give her up without a fight. She belonged to him and he shared his woman with no man.
Eleven
Kimi felt apprehension run up her spine and half rose from her place next to Hinzi. Always before, she had hidden when traders came into the camp. However, she realized it was already too late. The sudden widening of their eyes warned her they had seen her. She sat back down, moving a little closer to the big blond man as the three dismounted, left their horses and pack mules in charge of the Indian girl, and walked to the fire.
All three of them were dirty, clad in stained buckskin. Only one, the tall one who looked almost as big as Hinzi, was even slightly handsome. The one with the dirty, tangled beard held his hand up to show it was empty of weapons, spoke to the chiefs in a mixture of Lakota and English. “Hau! It has been long since I was here to trade.”
The old chiefs nodded. “You have brought many things?”
“Yes. Buck and his friends, Lucky and Tech, have brought many things to trade for good furs and buffalo robes.”
One of the warriors looked at him with greedy eyes. “You bring whiskey?”
Buck ran his fingers through his beard, nodded. “Anything you want, I have, including a pretty Pawnee captive that Lucky owns.” He nodded toward the tall trader.
Kimi looked at the girl holding the horses. Pawnee. That tribe was a legendary enemy of all the Sioux because they often scouted for the white soldiers. She glared at the girl when she realized suddenly that the Pawnee was smiling archly at Hinzi. Uneasily Kimi saw that Hinzi was returning the girl’s curious gaze.
The old chiefs gestured the three traders to a spot near the fire where they sat down cross-legged and looked around. Buck took a deep breath. “We ain’t et since this morning. My belly thinks my throat’s been cut. Do I smell fresh meat?”
One Eye gestured to Kimi and several of the other younger women. “We made a big kill today. Our women will bring you some.”
Kimi assisted in serving the three. The tall one reached out and caught her arm. “This here one a breed? Tech, I don’t remember seein’ this here green-eyed gal before.”
His friend guffawed and wiped his greasy face on his dirty sleeve. He had bad smallpox scars on his long face. “Shucks, Lucky, we’ll trade her man something for usin’ her later.”
A sudden silence fell over the circle. Kimi tried to pull away from the man’s hand, but he held her fast.
“Get your hands off her. That is my woman.” Hinzi’s voice boomed across the firelit circle. There was no mistaking the threat in his voice.
The trader hesitated. “A white man? What’s a white man doin’ ridin’ with the Sioux?”
Kimi waited, seeing the cold blue fire in Hinzi’s eyes. “I am Hinzi,” he said in Lakota, “a warrior of these people. Now get your hand off my woman before I cut it off!”
“No problem.” Immediately Lucky let go of Kimi, smiling in a fawning way. “I meant no harm.”
Buck ran his fingers through his beard. “Lucky’s just got an eye for women, can’t leave ’em alone. We come to trade, that’s all. Some camps offer hospitality by giving a guest a pretty girl to warm his bed while he’s there; maybe he thought–”
“No.” Hinzi gestured Kimi to return to her place beside him. He put his hand on the big knife in his waistband. “Don’t even think about it.”
Buck and the other two rushed to explain to the stony-faced circle that they had meant no offense. With a sigh of relief, Kimi sank back down next to Hinzi, feeling very safe and protected. She looked over at her mother and saw the frown and uncertainty on old Wagnuka’s wrinkled face. She must be worried about what might happen now that the three traders had seen her daughter.
Hinzi reached out and put his hand on Kimi’s knee in a possessive movement. She saw the three dirty white men looking her over curiously, and she watched their questioning gazes go to Hinzi.
They gestured to the Pawnee girl, who brought whiskey bottles to set before Lucky. She swayed her hips and took a deep breath so that her firm breasts jutted out as she passed Hinzi. There was no mistaking that inviting smile on her lips as she looked the big blond man up and down. In fact, the Pawnee girl looked a little drunk herself. The handsome trader began to share the whiskey around while a murmur ran through the warriors at the enemy’s girl’s ripe body.
Lucky took out a cigar. “Any man here have a hankerin’ for a woman? For a little tradin’, the Pawnee chit will take on any man who wants her for a few minutes. In fact, she’s for sale if a man wants to pay enough. Show them yourself, Sugar,” he ordered.
The Pawnee girl sat down near the fire not far from Kimi. She hesitated, sighed. Then she hiked her buckskin dress so that slim, brown legs showed. Looking around the circle, she smiled at all the men, but her eyes kept coming back to Hinzi. She leaned on one elbow so that the front of her shift showed a generous expanse of perfect big breasts.
Kimi felt a twinge of jealousy as she glanced up and saw Hinzi looking the Pawnee girl over. He asked, “What do you want for her?”
Lucky grinned. “I don’t know; make me an offer. I’m ready to trade her off. In the meantime, you’re welcome to try her out. Wouldn’t expect a man to buy a mare he ain’t rode and got the feel of.”
The girl was sitting close to Kimi. As the men returned to their eating, whiskey drinking and talking, Kimi whispered to her through clenched teeth. “And which of these dirty white dogs is your man?”
The girl hesitated, looking a bit chagrined. “I ran away with Lucky, but he makes me service all of them.”
Kimi was incredulous. “All three of them?”
The Pawnee bristled a little. “I have no choice. They take turns with me and I am also used by any man who has the price.”
Kimi might have almost felt sorry for her if she hadn’t been a Pawnee and if she hadn’t been looking at Hinzi as if she would like to spread her thighs for him.
In the next several hours, the women did a little trading for beads and small mirrors, iron kettles and trinkets. Then gradually the women and children drifted away as the warriors and the traders continued to swap, drink, and share gossip. Even Wagnuka finally went to her tipi. Kimi was almost afraid to leave, afraid that, the way the Pawnee girl kept issuing invitations with her dark eyes, Hinzi might decide he wanted her.
Hinzi seemed to notice Kimi’s jealous looks. “Go to bed, woman,” he drawled. “I would stay and trade with these white men.”
“Be careful what you trade for,” Kimi said jealously.
“I know what I’m doing,” he snapped. “I have already bought you a few pretty beads, that is all that concerns you. A warrior will not be told what to do by his woman.”
Kimi left the camp fire in a huff. She pretended to go to her tipi, but instead, she circled back around where she could watch what went on in the circle without anyone realizing she hid in the shadows. Nervously she fingered her spirit charm and watched. There was some drinking, although Hinzi didn’t seem to be drinking much. He kept staring at the pretty Pawnee girl who looked back at him with frank interest.
The trading continued. Kimi watched one of the young, unmarried warriors gesture toward the Pawnee girl. “How much?” he asked in pidgin English.
“You want buy her?” Lucky grinned.
The young man shook his head. “No, I only want to mount her a few minutes like the white men at the fort do a woman.”
He made a deal, caught the girl’s arm, and pulled her to her feet. She hesitated only a moment before she led him to a blanket spread out under the trees near the pack mules. As Kimi watched from her hiding place, the Pawnee girl stripped off her buckskin shift, standing in the moonlight so that all present could get a good look at her ripe body. She smiled at Hinzi again, taking a deep breath so that her perfect breasts
moved.
The Sioux warrior who had paid to use her looked a little drunk, too. Kimi did not know him very well. She watched as he grabbed the Pawnee girl by the arm. Now that the young warrior had made the first offer, others began to bargain to use the girl.
“Wait!” Hinzi said.
Kimi, from her hiding place, glanced at Hinzi. It was the expression on his face that bothered her. Obviously he didn’t like the image of all those warriors gathered around the girl. He frowned at the trader. “I will give two good ponies for the girl.”
Lucky ran his hand through his hair, grinned. “Tell you what I’ll do; why don’t I give you five ponies and trade her for your woman?”
Hinzi bristled. “No. My woman is not to be traded, but I will buy the Pawnee captive.”
Kimi felt heartsick and jealous as she listened. Many warriors had two wives. Most often they were sisters. But if Hinzi thought Kimi would share her man with an enemy slut, he was going to be very mistaken. She wished the traders had never come.
There was a long silence with only the sound of the crackling fire.
The warrior holding onto the Pawnee girl paused, listening to the bargaining. Hinzi looked over toward the girl. “I will give three ponies,” he said.
Kimi took a deep, angry breath. He was offering too much for the pretty Pawnee. He must want her badly. Kimi was both hurt and furious.
Lucky spat into the fire. “Five and we close the deal.”
There was a sharp intake of breath among the men. Five for an enemy girl? The Yellow Hair must desire her greatly. Kimi counted up in her mind. Not counting Scout, Hinzi had no horses left as his share of the raid after he had given her mother her gift.
Even the Pawnee girl had pushed the waiting warrior away, sat up on the blanket, looking appealingly at the soldier. “If the yellow hair buys me,” she said in broken English, “I will do things to please him that no woman has ever done.”
Lucky laughed and lit a cigar. “Damn me if she don’t speak truth! Brown Sugar is a skilled whore; the three of us have used her for many months now. Think of her as an investment; if you invest five ponies, her ripe body will earn that much back in a few weeks and you’ll have her warmin’ your own robes ’tween times.”
Some of the warriors smiled. They had lost too many good men at the hands of Pawnee braves to feel any sympathy for the girl. Hinzi did not laugh. Even as Kimi watched, he looked with mute appeal at One Eye.
One Eye shrugged and sighed. “What you want with this one when you have Kimi, I do not know, but I will give you the ponies from my share, friend.”
“Done, then!” Hinzi leaped up, strode to the blanket. The girl wrapped her arms around his thighs, murmuring her thanks while she pressed her naked breasts against his legs.
Kimi could bear to watch no more. Tears blinding her, she turned and fled to her mother’s tipi. Old Wagnuka sat up with a start. “Daughter? What are you doing here? Why aren’t you with your man?”
She sat down on a buffalo robe, angry tears running down her face. “You were right about the white man,” she gulped. “Already he has taken a liking to that Pawnee whore who came with those traders and has bought her!”
Her mother sighed. “Some men take more than one wife, although it is usually a sister. How can you deal with sharing with an enemy?”
What was she to do? She couldn’t bear to lie in that tipi tonight, pretending to be asleep while Hinzi enjoyed his new prize only a few feet away. “I don’t know. It is insulting to have him take an enemy whore as a second wife.”
Wagnuka didn’t say anything for a long minute. “He has turned out to be a good hunter and is already gaining respect in the camp. For the first time, there is more than enough meat in my lodge. He is a very virile man; perhaps he needs two women to satisfy him.”
Kimi chewed her lip in anguish. She had thought their lovemaking was good. Had she not been enough for him?
She heard the step of a big man outside. “Kimi? Are you in there?”
Kimi hesitated, looking at her mother, “What am I to do?”
“Daughter, that is for you to decide. I tried to warn you to choose a Lakota brave.”
“Kimi, come out!” Hinzi commanded.
“No!” she shouted, “go back to your Pawnee slut!”
“Enough of this foolishness!” He strode into the tipi, bending his tall frame as he came through the door. “We will talk,” He picked her up easily, carrying her outside as she struggled.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You shame me before all by paying so much for the enemy girl. I will not abide a Pawnee as your other woman.”
He stood her on her feet, smiling. “So that’s what this is all about? Let me explain–”
She slapped him then, a ringing sound. She saw the sudden fury in his blue eyes. His hands trembled as he reached out and grabbed her shoulders. She was abruptly very aware of the strength and size of the man.
“Don’t you ever do that again, Butterfly. No doubt even the Lakota would not fault me if I beat you for striking your man across the face.”
“So hit me!” she challenged, sticking her chin out defiantly, but inside, she was quaking. Hinzi was a big, powerful man. No doubt he could kill her with his bare hands. If he beat her, the warriors might not say anything when they heard she had paid him the supreme insult by hitting him in the face.
“You sassy little chit. You’re the only one I know with more arrogance than me,” Even as she struggled, he pulled her close, kissed her, forced her lips apart, plunged his tongue inside. She tried to pull away from him, but his superior strength molded her small body against him all the way down both their lengths. His strong fingers burned into her shoulders as she tried to twist away from him, but his mouth and hands were relentless in their stroking and caressing.
With a moan of surrender, Kimi clung to him. She was his, body and soul, every quaking nerve fiber in her body was wanting him. Her pride meant nothing to her as she stopped fighting and let him ravage her mouth with his tongue, his hands stroking and caressing her.
Kimi could feel his hard arousal against her belly. By sheer determination, she pulled away from him. “No, take your passion to the girl you just bought.”
“I will not take orders from my woman,” he thundered. “Trust me. I don’t intend to keep her. I–”
“You expect me to believe that?” She faced him in a fury. “Every woman in the camp knows you bought her. They are snickering at me behind their hands.”
“Kimi, you’re behaving like a jealous schoolgirl. However, that’s what I did for getting involved with such a young–”
“I don’t want to hear your forked tongue lies. I return to my mother’s lodge.” She backed away from him.
He looked so angry, it scared her. “All right. When you come to your senses, return to our tipi, otherwise, you can sleep in your mother’s lodge. What will the Lakotas say to that?” He turned and strode away.
Kimi started to call after him, stopped herself. Although it hurt her, she knew that enemy girls were sometimes passed around by their captors. Should she listen to what he had to say? Obviously he was going to use the Pawnee girl for his pleasure whether Kimi liked it or not. Kimi would have to decide whether she was going to accept this or leave Hinzi.
A Sioux woman was allowed to divorce her husband. But she had seen the looks in other girls’ eyes when they looked the big white man over. There would be many willing to take Kimi’s place, even if he kept the captive as a second wife until he traded her off to some man who wanted her ripe body.
She fled, headed as far away as she could get. Near the creek, she paused and leaned against a tree. What was going on back in Hinzi’s lodge with that Pawnee girl? Kimi didn’t even want to think about it.
Rand’s cheek still stung as he turned his back on Kimi and walked to his tipi. He swore under his breath. Damn the jealous little chit anyway! She hadn’t even been willing to listen to reason and probably wouldn’t have believed him anyw
ay. Well, he owed her no explanation. He’d give it more thought tomorrow when she had cooled down. In the meantime, let her sulk in her mother’s lodge all night and think the worst of him.
He flexed his wide shoulders, then stooped and entered his lodge. The Pawnee girl sat there before the small, flickering fire, and she was naked, the light playing on her soft curves. She rose up from the fur robe and smiled at him. “I have been waiting for you, master. I can’t thank you enough for buying me.”
She was beautiful. Rand tried to avert his eyes. “I didn’t buy you for the reason you think.”
Her shoulders slumped and her face saddened. “You don’t find me pretty?” She stood up, turned around slowly, displaying her lush charms.
“I find you very pretty,” he admitted, and his body reacted at the sight of her nakedness. “But I didn’t buy you for that.”
She paused, looking sad. “You will make me whore for you? Very well, even that will be better than being used by those three filthy traders every night. I will earn you much and maybe once in a while, you, too, will make love to me,”
He didn’t answer, looking at her ripe curves as she moved toward him. As much as his pride hated to admit it, his mind desired Kimi, but his body didn’t know one female body from another. This girl belonged to him and was willing. He was aroused, his breath coming deeper as the girl crossed to him. The Pawnee girl had a fine body. If he closed his eyes, he could pretend she was Kimi. He might as well be guilty of what Kimi had suspicioned.
The girl slipped her arms around his neck, a little unsteady on her feet. She kissed him and he tasted whiskey on her tongue. “The white traders force it down my throat,” she murmured, “otherwise I could not bear to go through what they do to me every night. With you, it would be different.”
He started to tell her he didn’t want her, but she kissed him again and rubbed her bare breasts against his naked chest. Rand took a deep, agonized breath. His whole groin felt on fire. It took all the resolve in him to pull away from her. “No, I have a woman already.”
Sioux Slave Page 17