"So do you," she answered, rubbing her breasts against his hard chest. She loved the feel of him, the scent of him, and everything he was doing to her body excited her. His hands moved up her thighs.
She blushed.
He leaned over and kissed her mouth. He kissed her breasts. His questing lips moved down to her stomach.
"Yes," she moaned. "More," she whispered when he paused in a kiss.
"Falcon? Is that you?"
Star froze.
"Falcon?"
"It is Claw," whispered Falcon. "Say nothing, and he will go away."
"Like the jaguar did?" she answered.
He gave her a warning glance.
As silently as she could, Star felt along the ground for her leather dress. At last, she found it and pressed it to her breasts to cover her nakedness. The air felt surprisingly cool against her heated skin. As they listened to Claw move off into the darkness, still calling Falcon's name, she realized that her good sense had fled. Whatever was she doing sitting naked in the moonlight with this Jaguar man and demanding that he kiss her every place he could find?
She raised her arms to put the leather dress back on. Falcon reached out a hand to stop her. "What are you doing?"
"Getting dressed," she answered as calmly as she could.
"Do not do that," he said. "We have just begun."
She stared at his handsome face in the moonlight. The thin white scar that creased his face from cheekbone to mouth stood out against his dark skin.
"We have begun nothing, Jaguar," she told him. Now that her racing blood had cooled, she was glad of Claw's interruption. Why, if he had not come along, she would have beenWell, things would have truly gone much farther. She blushed in the darkness.
He leaned over and kissed her lips and she felt herself melting once more. "Oh, no," she moaned and pulled away. "What hold is it that you have over me, Falcon?" she cried.
He stared at her in silence.
She rose to her feet. "I must return to the others." Her hands were shaking as she put on the dress.
"Star." He rose and dressed in his leather trousers without any sign of the shame that she seemed to feel. "I want to make love to you."
"Well, you cannot."
"You are going to be my wife. It is only natural for a man to want to be with his wife."
"That may be," she retorted archly, "but you seem to have forgotten something."
"What is that?"
"I have not agreed to be your wife! You stole me from my family. And I do not want to lie with you."
He raised a brow at that. "I thought different," he said.
She turned away, not wanting him to know the truth of his words. He would probably have her down and moaning on the ground very soon if she did not get back to the Jaguar fire swiftly.
"Falcon? Oh, there you are." Claw stumbled out of the darkness. He paused and eyed the two of them with suspicion. "What are you two doing?" he asked, peering at them.
Star would not answer. She thought that Claw could see for himself what they had been doing, especially as Falcon was taking his time tying the waist of his leather pants.
Claw laughed. "Well, well! You could not wait till the wedding, eh? Nothing like a tasty sample before you are married!" He laughed heartily and leered at Star. "Falcon! Now that you are done with her, it's my turn!"
Falcon lifted an eyebrow. "Too late, Claw. Her legs are closed."
Star gasped.
Claw chortled and pounded Falcon's back as if Falcon had done a wondrous thing. Falcon winced.
"Let us go back to the fire and I will announce the good news to all the camp!" cried Claw.
Falcon looked suddenly guilty and turned away.
Star frowned. "What news?"
Claw chuckled. "Ask Falcon."
Falcon finally met her eyes, and when he did, he smiled a distinctly predatory smile.
"What news? Will one of you please tell me?" Frissons of alarm were skittering up and down Star's spine.
Claw danced giddily in place.
"The news that Claw is going to announce," said Falcon, "is that you and I are now married."
"What do you mean?" Star was aghast.
"Why, my dear one, just that. We are now married. By Jaguar custom, as Claw knows so well, if a man beds a woman, he is obliged to marry her. Especially when someone else has witnessed it."
"But, but"
"Yes," interrupted Claw, "and I witnessed it. Do not try to tell me any different!" He shook a playful finger at Star.
She was mortified that Claw might have seen her. Then she reassured herself. It was dark, Claw was out walking around the canyon, he could not seeAnd Falcon and I did not truly join our bodies! Surely that must mean we are not married. Not yet. I am not ready for marriage to this man. I need time ... time to escape!
Falcon watched her, a grim smile of amusement twisting his mouth.
Star was not amused.
"Our marriage customs are very clear," explained Claw. "A man and woman must wait until after the marriage feast until they, uh"he shot a laughing glance at Star"uh, go off by themselves.''
"But, but"
"Sorry, wife. No doubt your Badger customs are very different, and I wish our Jaguar ones were also," said Falcon smoothly, looking as if he wished nothing of the sort, "but there is no help for it. We are married. It is done. Are you happy, dear one?"
"You know I am not!" she snapped. "And we did not dowe did not have"
"Come, come," said Claw. "Enough of this arguing. You will have all your wedded life to argue. And there will be plenty of that, I can assure you, if your marriage is anything like mine." He turned to Star, his mien suddenly serious. "I do wish you well, Badger woman."
Star drew herself up. "I thank you, but your well wishes are far too early"
"Come, wife," said Falcon, dragging her along by an elbow. "We must return to the camp."
Star let him lead her away, too dazed to protest. She kept tripping, her legs were so weak and shaking. Each time, Falcon hauled her up to regain her footing.
I am married! To a stranger! This cannot be! I am supposed to marry Camel Stalker. We were going to have children. We were going to live with our Badger people. We were going to grow old together! Now I am married to a stranger! Oh, what will become of me ... ? She stumbled once again.
Chapter Sixteen
Star let Falcon lead her closer to the women's fire. She spied Chokecherry snoring under a beaver fur. The other women, also bundled under furs, slumbered out of reach of the sparks. Star tried to tread softly so as not to awaken them.
"Now that you are my wife," said Falcon, "your place is by my side this night."
"But I do not feel like your wife," answered Star. This had happened too swiftly for her.
Jaguar customs were not anything like Badger customs. Among her Badger people, a man and woman were joined after a long courtship and the giving of gifts to the families.
The Badgers did marriage the proper way. A man's mother or aunt would approach the woman's family and suggest the two have time to get to know one another, a time of courtship. If this request were well received, then the young couple visited together under the watchful eye of an old grandmother or uncle. If the two got along well and marriage was decided upon, then the man gave a gift of a well-tanned hide or hunted for an elk or antelope, whatever the bride's family requested. Sometimes, if the bride's family did not like the groom, they tested him by demanding a fierce wolf or bear.
The woman's family gave bone awls and needles and baskets and hide scrapers to the man's family. Some of those gifts would start the couple off in their new life together. And of course the woman's family always provided the vegetables and roots at the marriage feast while the man's family always provided the meat.
But with these Jaguars everything was done in haste and none of it made any sense to her. That a man and woman could be married off because someone thought they had slept together bewildered Star. Why, all it took was
one person going around a camp saying this man and this woman slept together and that man and that woman slept together and soon he would have the whole camp married off! No, it did not make sense.
"We will sleep here," said Falcon, spreading a camelskin on the ground.
Star glanced around, glad to see that they were still near the women's fire and only a little distance from the Jaguar men's.
He sat down. "Come here."
Star shook her head.
"What ails you, wife?"
A moan came from the women's fire. One of
the brides was waking. Star whispered, "It is too sudden. I do not want to be married."
"Well, you have little choice. You have known all along that you were to be married to me. I do not see why this should suddenly bother you."
"You do not see"
"Shhh," complained Pine Woman. "You are waking me up with your noise."
Star lowered her voice. "You do not see why this should bother me! Well, let me tell you! First you steal me and the other women from our home."
"We gave furs for you."
"Not for me!"
He was silent.
"You steal me from my home," continued Star. "You sell my promised husband to the slave catchers."
"Your promised husband was caught attacking us."
"But you gave him to the slave catchers!"
"The slave catchers were there, true... ."
"You steal me from my people and you expect me to marry you!"
"There is nothing more to say. We are married," he answered calmly. "Claw has told you that."
"Claw saying that I am married does not make me married."
"Oh, yes, it does," Falcon answered. "Under our customs we are now married. And every man here will accept Claw's word that we are married."
"I do not want to be married!"
Falcon looked amused.
"Can we not get out of it?"
"Certainly."
She smiled for the first time as relief coursed through her. It was all a mistake. A horrible mistake. "Good! Then let us undo the marriage."
"Jaguar men can unjoin from their wives if the wife cannot have children. Or if the man no longer wants to be married."
Star waited, the smile fading from her taut facial muscles.
"That is all? Barrenness or that the man no longer wants to be married?"
"That is correct."
"What about the woman? How can she unjoin from the man?" A suspicion was growing in her that the woman had few choices.
"She cannot."
"The woman must stay with the man?"
He nodded. "Unless he gets tired of her."
"Why, that is foolish!" cried Star. "I have never heard of such a foolish custom. Among the Badger People"
"Please," murmured Fawn, yawning. "You are keeping me awake. I want to sleep. I am very tired."
Star lowered her voice. "Among the Badger People, a woman can leave the man any time she wants! She merely takes his spear and she breaks it in two and discards the broken pieces outside their tent. When he comes home and sees his spear so desecrated he knows that he is no longer welcome in her tent and the marriage is over."
"I do not think much of that," answered Falcon with a frown.
"Surely there is some way I can get out of the marriage."
He regarded her for a long time out of solemn black eyes. "There is," he said finally.
"What is it?" She held her breath.
"You could invite another man to your bedrobes. That would unjoin our marriage." His eyes were unreadable as he watched her.
She stared at him. "I do not want another man in my bedrobes!" she shrieked. "I do not want you in my bedrobes!"
"Quiet," complained Elk Knees. "You are too noisy over there."
Star gritted, "I do not want to lie with you and I do not want to marry you! Do you understand?"
Falcon seemed to relax. He yawned. "Uh huh. I understand." He lay down and pillowed his head on his arms and gazed up at the night sky.
Star waited. "Well?"
"Well what?"
"I am going to tell Claw that we are not married!"
"Hmmmmm. You can tell that to Claw," he answered lazily. "Or any of the other Jaguar men. But I must warn you: by now, Claw has already told them we are married. If you go and tell them something different, they will think you are not well in the head." He touched the side of his head for emphasis.
"And I suppose you Jaguars hate people who are not well in the head," she snarled.
"No, we like them. Very much."
Hope sprang anew. "Perhaps I will do that." She rose.
"Before you go to Claw, you must know what we do with people who are unwell in the head."
"What do you do with them?"
"We make them our shamans."
"Oh." She sat down again.
"Will you please go to sleep?" complained Chokecherry. "All this talk is keeping me awake."
Star whispered, "I do not want to be a shaman."
Falcon shrugged. "Shaman is a difficult job," he agreed.
Tula had been so certain that their son, Hawk, would be a shaman when he grew up. Falcon remembered Hawk would have strange fits and fall down on the ground. His whole body would quiver and shake. He would toss and thrash his limbs and cry out. Sometimes he would lie still for a very long time. One day when another of the strange spells had overcome Hawk, Tula had begged Rapt, the shaman, to help Hawk. Rapt had squatted down and chanted for a long time beside the boy. Then Rapt had gone into a trance to retrieve the boy's spirit, which obviously had gone wandering off. When Rapt returned with it, the boy awoke. Rapt rose to his feet and announced to Tula that Hawk would one day be a great shaman of the Jaguar People.
But Rapt was wrong. Tula was wrong. A strange sickness swept through the Jaguar People and Hawk, sick, precious Hawkwith his twisted legs, his dull eyes, the son that Falcon loved, the son whose face he stared at day after day, willing him to get well, willing him to be as other boys, willing him to grow strong so that Falcon could teach him to huntHawk had died. So had two other strong Jaguar hunters. Those three were the only Jaguars to die from the strange sickness.
After Hawk's death, Rapt told the People what had caused the strange sickness. He had been advised about it in a powerful dream. In the dream, he saw a little mouse chewing and spitting on Hawk's bedskins. Then the mouse defecated on the bedskins. Poison red worms from the mouse's spittle and feces flew through the air from Hawk to the two strong hunters and crawled up their nostrils and poisoned them. Rapt reported that the only way to save the remaining Jaguar people was to burn Hawk's diseased bedskins.
When the two hunters' families heard Rapt's dream, they grew very angry at Falcon and Tula. They demanded that Hawk's furs be burned. Tula cried as she watched her son's remaining possessions being thrown in the fire. Falcon watched with a stony face.
Then, still angry, the families demanded that Falcon bring them back two mountain sheep in payment for the loss of the hunters. So, in the midst of his own grief about his son's death, Falcon had to leave the Jaguar camp and go far into the mountains to kill two mountain sheep, one for each family. Only when he brought the dead, shaggy beasts back were the families satisfied.
And it was when Falcon returned from that hunt that he discovered Tula had moved into Marmot's tent. Marmot had been one of her suitors when Falcon first courted her. But Falcon had won her, or so he thought. But after Hawk's death, Tula took everything from their tenther baskets and her awls and all the clothes she had made for Falcon. She took everything except the falcon shirt he had been wearing.
Hawk's death left a gaping hole in Falcon's life. He had loved Hawk, but all his love could not make Hawk whole, could not keep him alive, could not make Tula stay.
Sorrow swamped Falcon as he remembered, and he turned his back to his new wife. He had planned to take Star to his bed this night. He had even arranged with Claw to discover them. But now the sad memories of Hawk an
d Tula had intruded and stanched his desire for Star. He could not let her see how overcome he was whenever he remembered his son.
Falcon closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, willing the pain away. When he no longer felt the sorrow, when his heart had become numb and peaceful once again, he rolled back to face her.
She sat with her back to him, staring at the sleeping women and the sputtering fire.
"Come here," he said gruffly. He put his hands on her shoulders and drew her to him.
He was glad that she yielded and obeyed him this time. He was too heartsick for an argument. She let him pull her close.
"We will sleep now," he whispered. He did not want any trouble from this new wife. His old one had caused him too much. His heart was sick from the trouble she had caused him and from the death of his son. All he wanted to do now was sleep.
He gently pulled Star to him. He felt grateful suddenly that she did not protest his holding her.
He breathed in the scent of her that lingered in her thick hair. He could feel the heat of her body through the leather dress. Perhaps he could grow to have some feeling for this new wife... .
He yawned and they fell asleep that way, Star curled toward the fire and Falcon curled around Star.
He woke himself crying her name aloud.
Chapter Seventeen
Star, her new husband, the brides, and the bridal quest party all walked into the main Jaguar camp the next afternoon. The Jaguar People had chosen a campsite situated in a broad, open field of grass dotted with an occasional pine tree. The field gradually sloped down to a placid river that rounded a bend some distance away. On the other side of the river rose sheer black rock cliffs.
Erected in the tall grass were many brown elk-hide tents set over thin poles. Black-haired women worked near the tents, feeding wood to the flickering fires, cutting meat, tanning hides, and swatting at flies. Children raced around the camp, chasing each other and throwing sticks at the camp dogs. Several men ran over to greet the returning bridal quest members. Claw smiled proudly at the hearty congratulations he received.
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