She forced the feelings away. She must not want him! He was dangerous!
He caught sight of her then. He stopped laughing and stared at her. Star could hear nothing, see nothing but him. His beauty, his strength. By the Great Spirit, there was something in him that called out to her and she was powerless against that call!
She swallowed and took a step toward him. He walked over to her, holding her eyes with his black ones.
"You look very beautiful on your wedding day," he whispered. A hush fell around them, one that might have been only in Star's mind. But she saw only him, felt only his hands as he clasped both of hers in his. How long they stared at each other she did not know.
Claw broke the spell. "Bring the brides over here." He pointed to where six deer heads were set out on a bristly, brown bear hide. Each deer head was the groom's promise of abundant meat for his bride during his lifetime.
Standing behind the deer heads, in a row, were five grooms, all dressed in their best leather finery. Star recognized Lance and Red Hawk, but not the other three men.
Pine Woman and Fawn danced over to where Claw indicated. Chokecherry and Sageflower stumbled after them, each supporting the other. Elk Knees sauntered past, amusement flitting across her face.
Ah, but Star, she floated, led by Falcon. He gently squeezed her fingers and smiled at her. There was a light in his eyes, a flashing happiness that she had never seen there before. Tentatively she smiled back as she took her place across the bearskin from him.
The shaman arrived, dressed in his powerful shaman costume. Two long white feathers dangled from each ear where they were looped. He wore a vest made of finely scraped doeskin scattered with speckles of gold. He glittered whenever the sun caught his movements. He wore heavily furred brown bear leggings tied at the ankle. The leggings still retained the shape of the bear they had been taken from. His bare feet were painted with red ocher. Both his hands were painted with red ocher up to the elbows. Above the elbows, his bare arms were painted black. A streak of red ocher went down one side of his face and black paint down the other side of his face.
He carried a handful of juniper branches mixed with sage that he shook vigorously.
As he shuffled around the six brides, he shook the foliage over each of their heads and called out to the Great Spirit for blessings upon them. When he raised his arms an expectant hush fell over the throng.
Facing north, the shaman sang a chant. Then he swung to face the east, singing a different chant. He swung to the south and then to the west, chanting the whole time. Star did not understand the words and she wondered if it were an ancient language he spoke.
Next the shaman shuffled around the bearskin. Shaking the foliage over the head of each groom, he named him and called great blessings down upon each.
Then he faced the four directions again, chanting each time.
The women stood facing the men shyly. Star looked into Falcon's hungry black eyes, Pine Woman smiled at Lance, and Fawn giggled at Red Hawk. Sageflower and Chokecherry fidgeted across from their new spouses. Sageflower's husband, a tall, striking man, was called Deer Summoner. From his name, Star guessed he was an excellent hunter. Chokecherry's husband, Cat Lurks, was a short, muscular man whose thick hair fell only to the tops of his shoulders. His trousers and leather shirt appeared to be made from the tanned hides of cougar and bobcat.
Elk Knees smiled her amused smile at the man standing across from her. He was an older hunter, graying at his temples. The shaman called him
Horn. Star did not recognize Horn from the bridal quest but she had seen him around the Jaguar camp, often with two small children, a girl and a boy, clinging to his leather-clad legs. Elk Knees would now be the mother of two children. Perhaps she would like that.
Star suddenly felt eyes upon her. It was Tula. When Star stared back, Tula sniffed and looked away.
Star wondered at the woman's animosity. Just then, she felt Falcon's measured gaze upon her. The look in his eyes was hot and possessive and Star felt a little thrill of excitement run up and down her spine.
Now the shaman had the women join hands with their respective men. Falcon's hands were warm to her, his clasp firm as he captured both her hands in his.
Chokecherry and Sageflower refused to hold hands with their soon-to-be mates. The shaman halted his speech and stalked over and placed Chokecherry's hands within the grasp of Cat Lurks's, and Sageflower's hands within those of Deer Summoner. Admonishing the two women to behave themselves and chiding them that this was an important ceremony, the shaman then marched back to his place at the head of the bearskin.
Demure Sageflower stared down at her hands, and Chokecherry looked miserable. Star felt their misery as her own and suddenly wanted to tug her hands free from Falcon's warm clasp. He sensed her intent, however, and his fingers closed firmly over hers. When she tugged again, wanting to run, she saw the warning light in his eyes. Her trembling hands were locked in his.
She closed her eyes. She was marrying a man she did not know; marrying a stranger whose hot looks and warm hands aroused her so. She should be marrying Camel Stalker!
When she opened her eyes, guilty tears blurred the ceremony for her. She could not meet her groom's eyes. She could not see the other women, but she heard a sob come from Chokecherry. Chokecherry's sobs set her friend Sageflower to crying and soon both young women were sobbing uncontrollably in front of the whole Jaguar camp.
Star tightened her lips, not wanting to show her pain, though she heartily understood the crying women's sorrow. Pine Woman gave them a warning hiss, but that did not halt their piteous weeping.
The shaman stalked over once again and waved the handful of juniper and sage over Chokecherry's and Sageflower's heads. Still they wept on.
Exasperated, the shaman took to chanting loudly, drowning out the women's weeping. The crowd of Jaguars looked relieved when he finally came to the end of the ceremony. He scattered white duck down over the heads of the brides and their new husbands.
The tiny white feathers clung to Falcon's black hair and vest. He picked one up and gave it to Star. "To bring good fortune in our marriage," he said, and there was that same mystifying happy glow in his eyes that she had seen earlier.
"I do hope your marriage to this Badger woman yields you good fortune," interrupted Tula, effectively dampening Star's reply. "Anything will be better than what we had!"
Star's eyes widened at the woman's effrontery. Falcon's eyes narrowed to slits. "Leave us, Tula. What I do is no longer any concern of yours!"
Tula glared at him, her mouth working. Before she could say anything more, Marmot stepped between her and Falcon. "I do not want you bothering my wife," he snarled.
"Then tell your wife to mind her own concerns."
"I was merely giving my good wishes for the success of their marriage," protested Tula, her black eyes flashing in anger.
Marmot glanced from Tula to Falcon and back again. "Come, Tula. We will leave this man to his life."
"But I was only trying to wish my best"
"Tula. Enough." Marmot brooked no further protest. He dragged her away, the baby on her back bouncing with every hurried step she took. Star let out a breath of relief.
Falcon watched them go. Star watched him. Tension lined his face and there was a slump to his shoulders that had not been there earlier when he had participated in the marriage ceremony.
She wondered at him, wondered what secrets he hid. Wondered what secrets stood between him and Tula.
He turned back to her. "Do not let Tula upset you," he counseled.
"She did not upset me," denied Star.
"No?"
"No." Only a little.
Falcon looked as if he did not believe her. He took her hand. "Come, let us walk."
Star nodded and let him lead her past people talking and eating and piling food onto platters. Chokecherry and Sageflower, eyes red from weeping, huddled together. Then Chokecherry started crying again and her new husband, Cat Lurks, glan
ced around, embarrassed.
When Sageflower joined in with her sobs, her husband, Deer Summoner, angrily swept her up into his arms and marched off to a nearby tent. The two disappeared into the tent. Chokecherry sniffled. Cat Lurks grasped her by the shoulder and shook her.
Star could not watch any more. The drums began once more and this time it was a laughing song that the old women sang. This type of song was merely an excuse to tell jokes about different people in the camp. The chorus of the song was stylized laughter. The first old woman sang about this hunter and that. She sang about the time that Lance sought shelter one night in a cave and how in the morning he awoke staring into the angry eyes of a cave bear. Star chuckled.
The second old woman sang about a certain Jaguar woman who went digging for camas bulbs. Instead of choosing a bulb with a purple flower as every woman knows to do, she picked a white-flowered plant, dug up the bulbs, took them home, and fed them to her family. Her family all got sick. Now the woman was not allowed to dig for camas bulbs on her own. Star laughed.
The third old woman, with a sly glance at the brides, began to imitate Chokecherry's and Sageflower's sobs. The old woman clearly enjoyed her role, crying louder and harder with each verse. Star felt her face go red; she pitied Chokecherry and Sageflower, who would henceforth be forever mocked in the songs of the Jaguar People.
''Come," whispered Falcon. "Let us get away before they spot you and make up a song about you."
"Or you," answered Star.
"Me? There is nothing to say about me!" He chuckled.
"Perhaps," suggested Star, "I should give the old women a gift and ask them to sing a joke about Tula."
"That is not funny, Star."
Star smiled. It was.
They walked past groups of people sitting and eating the abundant repast set out. Star was too nervous to eat, but the food looked delicious.
They walked down by the river where several large cottonwoods and willows hid them from the festivities.
They stood on the bank and Falcon pointed across the water. "Ducks," he said, as two birds rose and flew off. Star watched the sure, swift flight. Suddenly a loud honking drew her attention. A huge flock of geese came flying out of the north.
"My people will be hunting them in the next day or so," said Falcon, eyeing the birds.
"I know how to make duck nets to catch them with," volunteered Star.
"Good."
There was a silence between them and Star stared at the sky, pretending she was intent on the geese. But what she was truly intent on was Falcon. She was alone with him; they were married now. I am a wife, she thought and shivered, wondering what that would entail with this man.
He took her hand. "We are married now," he said, echoing her very thoughts.
She glanced down at her hand, shading her eyes from the bright sun. She gave a little tug to remove her fingers from his grasp. He tightened his grip. She met his dark eyes, hot with wanting.
A tremor went through her. "What do you want of me?" she whispered.
"You," he whispered back. "Only you."
He lowered his lips to her mouth and kissed her. He smelled of smoke and leather and tasted of man. She tried to move her head back, but he grasped the thick hair at the back of her head and pulled her into the kiss.
"How I want you," he murmured.
She could feel his hands tremble as he cupped her face. Why, he was as moved as she was! She closed her eyes and leaned into his kiss. She sighed in bliss and relaxed. How good his kisses felt.
Soon he wanted to do more than kiss; she could tell because he was tugging her to the ground, to a soft grassy patch warmed by the sun. Unsure of how to proceed, she let him take the lead.
His kisses were so sweet, so enticing, that a few more could not hurt. She snuggled into his arms and spread her fingers over his warm chest. How good he felt, how strongly his heart pounded beneath her hand. He was moving his mouth over her face now, then her neck, her shoulders. Her breath came in gasps, as did his. Excited, she ran her hands over his shoulders, wanting to feel his strength, to caress the newness of him.
"Here. Let me." He shrugged off his vest.
His large chest felt muscular under the smooth skin. With one finger, she touched the tattoo in the hollow of his shoulder. Then she kissed it.
"That is my coming of age tattoo." His words seemed to be breathless. She kissed the design again.
"It is," he gasped, "a falcon."
"Mmm, yes, it is," she agreed.
"A black falcon," he explained with that same breathlessness that was so exciting to her. "Diving on its prey."
"Mmm."
"A vision ..." He could no longer get the words out, it seemed, and he pulled her down onto his chest.
She lay on top of him, looking down at him with narrowed eyes. "I have a tattoo, also," she said, kissing his nipples.
He raised her head and met her mouth, his tongue plunging in and meeting hers.
The sensations were wonderful, she thought, wanting to melt.
"I did not know that Badger women wore tattoos," he gasped when the kiss ended.
When she could get her breath, she answered, "We do." She had to gulp some air. "I wear a star."
"Of course," he murmured, meeting her lips once more. When the kiss was done, he said, "Show me where your tattoo is."
"No."
She laughed when he rolled her over and sprawled on top of her.
"Show me where your tattoo is or I will tickle you."
She laughed again and then when he started tickling her, she giggled and squirmed. "II cannot!" she gasped.
"Try," he urged.
"Stop! Stop! No more!" she panted, still laughing from his tickling. Then she drew up one side of her dress, exposing the top of her left thigh. "Here it is."
"Ummmm." He pretended to bite it, but instead, his lips touched the tattoo gently and he kissed it. "It is very pretty," he murmured.
Indeed, she was very proud of it, a star with eight points on it. "It is the Darkstar," she murmured. "My ancestress." Old Granny Dawn had drawn the design with much skill and rubbed in the ash and fat carefully.
Falcon's lips began to wander from the tattoo. "Back," she whispered, moving his head back to the top of her thigh. Her hand lingered in his hair and she caressed his head.
"Ah, yes," he murmured, "how foolish of me. I was supposed to be kissing your tattoo." After a few moments, he raised his head and said, "Your
dress is in the way. It has to go."
She pretended to pout.
He sighed. "I see I shall have to tickle it off you."
She laughed. "No. I will help." She lifted her arms and he pulled the garment off and tossed it aside. She watched it land on the grass. "My mother sewed that," she said in a warning voice.
"She did make a beautiful dress," he whispered, but his eyes were not on the dress. They were on her, roving over her, and she began to feel a little afraid.
He smiled and bent to kiss a breast. "I am hunting," he said. His warm lips moved to the other breast and he made gentle, sweet love to that globe, suckling the tip.
She closed her eyes. How good he felt! "Hunting for what?" she managed to gasp. His kisses on her breasts quite took her breath away.
"I"he was kissing his way up her neck"am hunting"now he was turning her around and kissing her along her shoulders"for tattoos."
She giggled. "You will not find any more." She had to gasp as his lips worked their way back to her front and now he was kissing her stomach. "That is the only tattoo I have."
"I do not"he was licking her navel"believe you."
"It is," she protested with a squeal as his tongue swirled inside her navel. "I only have one! Oh!"
"I shall have to continue my hunt," he said solemnly, his lips moving down her stomach, quite ignoring her thrashing legs.
"Here!" She grasped his head and pushed him
over to the eight-pointed star. "Here. Be satisfied!"
He ch
uckled as he kissed the tattoo again. "Never."
Now his tongue was moving over to the very center of her femininity. She giggled as his lips moved through the curling hair protecting her. "Oh, Falcon," she moaned. "What are you doing to me?"
He did not answer but his lips moved closer to the bud of her womanhood. When he touched that soft part of her, she thought she would scream with delight. She gave a little moan and quivered as his tongue swirled over and around her. Then a sweet rushing feeling overcame her and she arched up, meeting his lips with her upthrust hips. "Oh, Falcon! Oh, help me!"
He pressed her to him then and held her until her shaking and quivering subsided.
She ran her fingers through the black mane of his hair. "Oh, Falcon, what did you do to me?" She smiled at him, satiated, replete with contentment and well-being. New feelings stole over her as she smiled at him: awe, gratitude, soft caring.
He moved up over her and kissed her gently on the nose. "That is what people do," he whispered. "That is what a man can do for a woman."
Then, carefully spreading her legs, he entered her. She felt him move inside her and pulled him closer.
"You can wrap your legs around me if you want," he encouraged. She did so and held on to him.
He thrust into her, his black eyes holding hers
as he moved. She smiled at him and when he tensed and closed his eyes in evident pain, her own widened. Was something wrong? Had she done something to hurt him?
"Falcon?"
He froze, clutching her to him.
"Falcon?" She wanted to thrash wildly but he was holding her too tightly.
Then he sighed and collapsed on top of her.
"Falcon?"
He opened one eye. "Yes?"
"Areare you hurt?"
He shook his head. "That is what it is like for the man, Star."
"Oh." She hesitated. "Are you certain it does nothurt?"
He opened the other eye. "No, wife. It does not hurt. Not at all." He lifted himself onto his elbows and looked down at her. "It feels very good."
She smiled at him, relieved. "It feels wonderful to me, too."
Broken Promise Page 12