Yet, there was her love of photography. Somehow that had been lost in the shuffle of conversation and heated arguments about the private spur line, and Adam’s town. But she knew that she could not elude the talk of cameras and what she wanted to do with them for much longer. Her photography equipment was there, so close. All that Runner had to do was lift the leather drop cloth and look inside her saddlebags.
She wheeled her horse around and rode with him in this twilight hour, grasping tightly to her reins and straining to keep in the saddle as he led her up a steep incline.
They finally reached the summit where the land leveled off, and where the panorama from this vantage point was well worth waiting for. The sky was all pinks and shadowed blues, darkening along the horizon where a velvet moon was just barely visible.
She rode to the very edge with Runner and looked out across the great expanse of land that was notched about by canyon openings, shadowed and dark, their craggy floors rising steeply to the rocky passes. Miles upon miles of beautiful, arid landscape lay before her, and off in the distance the mountains were the crowning glory.
There was already some snow on their peaks, glistening orange against the final, last splashes of the sunlight as it slid from view. With sundown, the wall of shadows moved slowly down from the heights. A hazy stillness was over the valley below.
“It is so peaceful,” Stephanie said, turning to Runner. She was surprised to find that he had dismounted and was at the side of her horse, offering her his arms.
Runner gazed at her loveliness, her face blushed with evening’s quiet pink. “Stay here with me for a while?” he said. His heart raced when she gave him a nod and allowed him to help her from her horse.
She slipped slowly to the ground and went with him as they tethered their horses and the pack mule under a rim of rock. She turned to him and eased into his arms as though it were a natural thing to do.
“You are so beautiful,” Runner whispered, weaving his fingers through her lustrous, long hair, drawing her lips closer to his. “It is easy to forget everything at this moment but you.”
“There is nothing but you and I,” Stephanie whispered back, sliding closer to him. She trembled as he leaned himself into the curve of her body, yet feared the torrents of feelings that were swimming through her. She feared giving herself to him as easily as she felt inclined to. She had never made love with a man before. She had never even seen a man undressed.
But until now, she had never been in love before. It was easy to forget the differences that might come between them. Now was all that mattered. She was heady with desire. She was breathless.
Stephanie closed her eyes as Runner pressed his mouth into her lips, making her go instantly weak and dizzy. She wove her arms around his neck, not questioning when he began lowering her to the ground, where the grass made a soft bed upon which to lie.
Her heart pounded when he rose over her and nudged her legs apart with one of his knees. Although their clothes were a barrier between them, Stephanie felt the heat of his need through both his fringed buckskin breeches and her travel skirt as he began pressing his hardness where she throbbed unmercifully with a need that she had never known before.
She could feel the shape of him, the long, thick pulsing of his shaft as he moved rhythmically against her.
She was mindless with passion.
As though practiced in the skills of being with a man, she worked her hands up the front of his shirt and frantically spread her fingers over his broad chest. Wantonly, she moved her fingers lower and unfastened his breeches in front and swept a hand down to touch that part of him that was sending her blood into a quickening she knew might be dangerous, yet was deliciously sweet.
Runner gasped with pleasure when he felt the heat of her hand surround his throbbing shaft. He turned his mouth from her lips and burrowed his nose against the long column of her throat. He scarcely breathed when her fingers explored this tender, hot part of his anatomy. He held his eyes tightly closed. He gritted his teeth.
Unable to stand anymore, he drew her hand away.
Standing, he reached a hand to Stephanie.
Completely under his spell, Stephanie took his hand and rose slowly to her feet. They stood for a moment while only looking deeply into one another’s eyes, and then Runner placed a hand to her cheek.
“I want you,” he said huskily.
“I need you,” Stephanie said, her voice sounding strange to her.
“I want to fight my feelings for you, but my heart will not allow it,” Runner said, his dark eyes showing a hidden torment in their depths. “I do not know how it is possible, but I know that I have loved you ka-biki-hozhoni-bi , forever. A love this intense cannot be born of only a few days . . . of only a few hours.”
“I shall always love you,” Stephanie said, flinging herself into his arms. “No matter how long I have known you, I know that what I feel is real and true. Make love to me, Runner. Please? I never knew the meaning of want until I met you. Please show me why, Runner. Now?”
Runner leaned her away from him and framed her face between his fingers. “I will be the first man for you?” he said thickly.
Stephanie’s eyes widened as she looked up at him. “How . . . did . . . you know?” she murmured.
“There are many ways a man can tell,” Runner said, his fingers lowering to undo her blouse. “Do not ask how.”
Stephanie willingly lifted her arms so that he could remove her blouse and undergarment. Her heart raced as she watched him drop the clothes to the ground, his eyes on her breasts.
And then his hands were on them.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a quavering breath as his hands kneaded her breasts, his thumbs circling her nipples.
When he fully cupped them in his hands and lowered his lips to one of them, to flick his tongue over the taut tip of the nipple, Stephanie’s knees almost buckled beneath her from the pure ecstasy of the moment.
And then his hands were at her skirt. After it was unfastened, he slowly pushed it down, over her hips and away from her. He continued undressing her until she was standing abashedly nude before him.
Unflinchingly, Stephanie could hardly stand the rapture that she was feeling when Runner began moving his hands over her body. When he came to that soft patch of hair between her legs, and he cupped it within the palm of his hand, Stephanie had to bite her lower lip to keep herself from crying out from the exquisite sweetness that it caused within her.
She tilted her head back and sighed when he began to rub his fingers where she throbbed. The more he caressed her, the more she felt a strange sort of wondrous bliss floating through her. She moaned with pleasure, then opened her eyes slowly when she felt nothing more.
As she opened her eyes, she found Runner stepping out of his final garment. Her gaze swept over him, seeing how much more tall and lithe and muscled he was without clothes.
She could feel the pulse of her desire quickening when her searching eyes stopped on that part of a man’s anatomy that, until tonight, had been a mystery to her. She stared at his thick shaft, standing out away from him.
Suddenly she was afraid. “I don’t know,” Stephanie said. She took a step away from him, her eyes glued to the part of him that seemed to get larger by the minute.
“Do not fear anything,” Runner said, reaching out for her hands, taking them. “You will know nothing except passion when our bodies intertwine. We will become one body, one soul, one heartbeat. You will know nothing but sheer pleasure.”
And she believed him when she became enraptured by the sure strength of his arms as he embraced her. He leaned over her with burning eyes and kissed her feverishly and hungrily, his body leaning against hers, urging her once again to the ground.
While his knee nudged her legs apart, his mouth forced her lips open. He gathered her into his arms, their kiss growing more and more passionate.
Stephanie was filled with a strange, wild desire, her urgent hands discovering the contours of hi
s back, moving down to feel the hardness of his buttocks.
It was then that her breath was stolen away, for it was at this instant that he thrust himself into her, breaking the barrier that had been untouched since birth.
Stephanie’s eyes flew open wide and she jerked her lips from him. Tears streaming from her eyes, she gazed up at him.
Knowing what she must be thinking, the fear in her eyes revealing all, Runner did not venture to thrust deeply inside her. He placed his hands gently on her cheeks.
“The pain you felt was natural.” He gave her a soft, reassuring smile. “Do not fear it. It will go away. Relax. Allow your body to become acquainted with pleasure.”
Stephanie wiped tears from her eyes and nodded eagerly. “I’m not afraid,” she whispered. “Please go on. Just being with you is wonderful.”
“But that is not the pleasure I am talking about.” His hips began to move slowly, moving farther into her, a fraction of an inch at a time. “Take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Kiss me. And allow yourself to feel the wonders of our bodies locked together.”
Stephanie nodded and closed her eyes. She sucked in a wild breath when she felt his lips and tongue on her breasts. She could feel herself relaxing as she felt him filling her, deeper and deeper. She lifted her hips to him and opened herself to him, now feeling the rapture spreading.
Runner pressed his cheek against one of her breasts and closed his eyes. He reached his hands around her and splayed his fingers across the soft, round mounds of her buttocks and lifted her higher against him as he pressed endlessly deeper into her. His heart was pounding. His loins were on fire. He could feel white lightning spread through his veins.
Once again he kissed her. Their moans mingled. Their hands clasped and unclasped. Their bodies lurched, rose, and fell.
And then came their climax. It was shattering, violent.
As though practiced, Stephanie arched upward to him, sucking him deeply inside her as she felt spasms rocking her.
They shuddered and cried out against one another’s lips, then lay still, their wet bodies clinging together.
Runner pressed his lips against Stephanie’s throat and kissed her, then rolled away from her and lay on his back and stared at the star-speckled heavens.
Stephanie moved close to him, her skin tingling at the touch of his hand on her thigh. “I never knew it could be this wonderful,” she said, marveling over him. “I love you, Runner. I adore you.”
Runner turned to her. His fingers reached up to entwine in Stephanie’s hair. He drew her lips to his. “Believe me when I tell you that there has never been anyone that has touched my heart as deeply as you,” he said huskily against her lips. “I could never feel this way again about anyone.”
He paused, then leaned up on an elbow. “And what are we to do about Adam?” he blurted out. “I dislike everything that Adam stands for. So does my father. And as far as my father is concerned, his dislike might include you, because you are Adam’s sister.”
“In so many ways, yes, I am his sister, yet not in the ways that are important,” Stephanie said, smoothing Runner’s dark hair back from his face. “Darling, let’s not allow Adam or your father to interfere in how we feel for one another. Let us live in our own little private world. Can we? Is that possible? We can place ourselves above everything and everyone. We can pretend that we are the only two people in the world. Anyhow, at this moment, that is how I feel.”
A chill wind blew suddenly across them, causing Stephanie to shiver.
Runner noticed her discomfort. He rose to his feet and gathered her clothes into his hands. “Get dressed,” he said thickly. “I would not want to be the cause of you taking pneumonia.”
Stephanie rose to her feet and began dressing. “My love, were I to take a chill, I would be as much to blame as anyone,” she said, giggling. “Runner, I can’t believe this has happened. I have waited for so many years to find the right man. It seems that is you, my darling. I hope you truly don’t object.”
While talking and dressing, she had looked away from Runner, paying no heed to what he was doing. She had thought that it would take him as long to get into his clothes as herself.
But when she lifted her eyes, she discovered that she was wrong. He was fully clothed and was at the pack mule, opening one of the saddlebags.
Stephanie grew cold inside and gasped behind one of her hands as Runner took out the camera.
As he studied the camera for a moment beneath the spill of the moonlight, she began moving stealthily toward him. Just as she reached him, she felt faint when he turned and gave her a sour look and lifted the camera, his full intent to throw it to the ground to destroy it.
“This, alone, is a betrayal of what we just shared!” Runner snarled out.
“No!” Stephanie screamed, raising a hand to stop him.
Chapter 11
Love found you still a child,
Who looked on him and smiled.
—JOHN NICHOLS
Stephanie quickly placed her hand over Runner’s before he had the chance to toss her camera to the ground. “Please don’t,” she said, her voice drawn. “If you do, that act alone will be a betrayal to what we shared only moments ago. You knew that I was a photographer. You knew that I had come to Arizona to take photographs.”
“I was foolish for having forgotten that,” Runner said. He still held the camera threateningly over his head, even though her hand was on his, persuading him to lower it.
“Runner, please listen to what I have to say, and then decide whether or not you want to destroy my camera,” Stephanie said softly. “If you destroy the camera without first listening to reason, then I fear our relationship will be just as quickly shattered.”
Wide-eyed and waiting, she held her breath.
Runner slowly lowered it to his side, and then slipped it back inside Stephanie’s saddlebag; tears of relief flooded her eyes. He had just proven his love for her. She could tell that he hated the sight of her camera and, in turn, what it represented; it was a further way to exploit his people.
Yet for her, he had decided not to destroy it.
“Thank you,” she murmured. She went to him and gazed up, daring to take one of his hands.
“Darling, please hear me out, and then if you want nothing more to do with me, I will ride away and never bother you again,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Say what you must,” Runner said, his eyes looking into hers. “I will listen.”
“Runner, I mean your people no harm.” She reached a hand to his cheek. “Darling, I have had time to think this through since my arrival to Arizona. I have decided to carefully show the American people, through my photographs, that the Navaho people are dignified, and that their men are proud warriors who have forever striven for heroic qualities and a sense of heritage. How could there be any harm in that?”
“Harm?” He took her hands and held them to his chest. “My people do not wish to be in pictures, no matter who takes them. But I will say this to you, my love. I will accompany you while you carry your camera from place to place, but it will only be used to photograph Arizona’s landscape, not its people. Nothing sacred will be captured by film. Do you understand? Can you live by those rules while in Navaho land? If so, I will assist you.”
Stephanie was at a loss for words. She had never expected him to allow her to follow through on taking any more photographs, much less say that he would help her.
She was filled with awe. She could never love him more than at this moment, for she saw that he was offering a great sacrifice on his part.
“You would do this for me?” she said, choking back a joyous sob.
“It is something my father will not approve of, but, yes, I will ride with you while you are taking your photographs,” Runner said. Deep within his heart he wanted to please her, yet knew that he was doing this mainly for his people. He would make sure that Stephanie stayed away from the Navaho. He would also make sure that she did not get near any of th
eir sacred rocks, places of prayer, or burial grounds. He saw his motives as selfish, but necessary.
“I don’t want to cause trouble between you and your father,” Stephanie said, searching his face eagerly with her eyes.
“My father’s business and my own do not always go hand in hand.” He smiled down at her. “If so, I would not be with you tonight. For you see, my pretty one, my father warned me against falling in love with you.”
“He did?” Stephanie said, her eyes widening.
“Remember the first day we met?” Runner said, wrapping his arms around her. “He saw then how I felt about you. It was then, on our way to our home, that he warned me.”
“I regret that he doesn’t approve of me,” Stephanie said.
“It is not so much you that he fears.” He placed a finger to her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his. “It is the future of his son, and the color of children who might be born to him.”
“What?” Stephanie said, gasping.
“He wishes for grandchildren with the skin, eyes, and hair of the Navaho,” Runner said softly. “But when he said this to me, I reminded him that I was white, and that it had never before seemed to matter to him.”
“I don’t see how it could,” Stephanie murmured. “Runner, you are so special. So very, very special.”
“It is good that you think that.” He wove his fingers through her hair and drew her lips to his mouth.
As wolves howled at the moon in the distant hills, Runner gave Stephanie a long, deep kiss.
Damon Stout rode slouched in his saddle as he traveled across his pasture land, mentally counting horses. He had found the broken pole fence and had suspected foul play.
He had been right. More than one horse was missing. Over the last several nights, someone had helped themselves to his horses.
Damon drew a tight rein. His ranch hands stopped and circled around him.
Wild Desire Page 9