Plenty Proud removed the saddle and travois from the black horse’s back and turned both horses out with other horses grazing in the fields, where young boys, who were not old enough to go on the hunt, watched over them. Then his hand reached for hers again, leading her to a secluded section of the river, farther from the village than the regular bathing location.
When they reached the shore, Plenty Proud looked down at Mackenzie. Her face was splattered with blood, as well as her clothes. Her hair was a tangle about her shoulders, and he could see the tiredness in her face as she looked back at him. Slowly, he lifted the Indian dress over her head, and then let his breechcloth drop, bringing Mackenzie down into the river with him.
It was still cold, but Mackenzie was so tired, she barely noticed. She needed to sooth her aching muscles and wash the blood and sweat from her body. She was almost too tired to do it, she thought. Then she felt Plenty Proud’s hands smoothing over her skin, not only washing the blood away, but massaging her tired muscles, willing her to relax as he bathed and pampered her. She let out a sigh of appreciation. She had never felt so contented before.
“I am here to care for the one I love,” Plenty Proud whispered in her ear, as his hands soothed and relaxed her. “You are brave and hard-working woman. I know you not used to our ways. I am happy you try to learn. I keep you safe, always.”
“You are kind,” Mackenzie mumbled. “I did not know a wild Indian could be kind. I have always feared them. Only when I saw you at the trading post, I knew there was something different about you. While I feared you, in a way, you also intrigued me.”
“I love touching your soft skin, but I not want to frighten you. I know trapper, Griz frightened you. I will never harm you. Do you trust me?”
“I want to,” she whispered.
“Then do not be angry with me. I cannot take you back to your home for a time. I must wait, while tribe finishes work over hunt. I must ask permission to take you. I must purify myself and go on vision quest. Each task will take time. If permission is given, we prepare for long journey down river. Eagle Eye has offered his company. It will be safer with him beside us.”
“How long will all of this take?” Mackenzie wanted to know, starting to feel apprehensive.
“Until next full moon. While we wait you can learn more about my people. Little Bird teach you.”
“I don’t think Little Bird likes me. I am sure she thinks I am taking you away from her.”
“Little Bird never had me,” Plenty Proud frowned. “You have me first. My heart is yours until we part for good.”
“If I give you my heart, it will be too painful to part,” she whimpered, suddenly clutching Plenty Proud to her.
“I know,” he murmured into her damp hair. “I never want us to part. Only you say you must return to your home. I will take you there to make you happy. I will give up claim on your heart if I have no choice, but like maiden in myth, I will be like a widower once you are gone.”
“You could stay with me in Missouri. We have a house and…”
Plenty Proud put his finger over her mouth. “You know that not work. White men not trust the red man. People will chase you from your house if you are with me. Only here, my people will welcome you if I choose you for my wife.”
Mackenzie took in her breath. She had not thought about becoming Plenty Proud’s wife. She just liked the feel of his closeness. Even if he came with her, they could never get married in a church without people disapproving. She realized it was hopeless. She could only be Plenty Proud’s woman for a short time and then she would have to let go of him. The thought pained her, as she felt his arms tighten about her.
She thought about all the times Griz had touched her and she hated it, yet the feel of Plenty Proud’s hands, caressing her back, felt welcoming and she longed for more of his touch. She did not want to become a fallen woman, even though Griz had made her feel that way at times. If she gave into Plenty Proud without becoming his wife, she would become that fallen woman. If she agreed to become his wife, she could never back out or return home. Her mind was in turmoil.
“I feel you tremble in my arms,” Plenty Proud whispered. “I know you frightened to give up heart. There is time to decide. My heart is already yours.”
Mackenzie found herself pressing closer to Plenty Proud, hugging him to her for fear he would leave her if she did not surrender her heart to him. She felt his large hands pulling her closer in return. It felt right to be enfolded like this in Plenty Proud’s arms, and she gave into the feeling, as she laid her head on his shoulder. The hardness of his strong body against hers stirred something deep within her. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she knew she liked the feeling, as it rose up through her and caused butterflies to attack her stomach. She felt herself snuggling even closer to Plenty Proud, as the feeling washed over her. Then she put her arms around his neck and looked up into his dark, questioning eyes. They pierced through her green eyes like a hot knife through butter, going straight to her heart. It made her feel all weak inside, craving the feel of those strong hands caressing her body, never wanting them to cease.
“I trust you,” she whispered, up to him. “I trust you with my heart, but I cannot become your wife.”
“Then remain my woman as long as we are together,” he begged.
“If I surrender to you, I will not be fit to marry a man in the future.”
“It is your choice,” he murmured against her cheek, as he lowered his lips closer to her mouth.
“I know I feel safe in your arms,” she admitted.
“Then trust I will never harm you,” he promised, and then his mouth was covering hers, consuming it as he drew her breath into his own mouth, savoring the taste of it.
Mackenzie had never been kissed before. She felt her heart start to beat out of control, as Plenty Proud’s fingers became tangled in her hair when he cupped her face in his capable hands. Her lips parted in acceptance and longing for more of the feel of his lips against hers, and Plenty Proud responded to her desire, deepening the kiss, until they both felt breathless.
A new kiss proceeded and Mackenzie could feel Plenty Proud pulling her towards the bank, bringing her down in the shallow water beside him. Then his lips were wandering away from her mouth, caressing her neck, exploring her shoulder, finding the soft mounds of her womanhood, as he began to introduce her to all his hidden longings concerning his need to touch her white skin.
A vein in her neck throbbed at the touch of his lips, as he kissed it, while shivers continued to surface at every soft caress they planted on her, working over her damp body, slowly and deliberately. Mackenzie felt herself responding to every touch and kiss he offered. Her skin begged for more and Plenty Proud seemed to be satisfying that need which cried out for each new touch. The feel of his lips gliding over her skin consumed her, filling her with even deeper desires she didn’t know she craved. He was introducing her to so many new cravings, and she became a willing student, happy to have Plenty Proud awaken the woman inside of her.
Once that awakening overtook her, Mackenzie was filled with a rapture she did not know existed. It was Plenty Proud that was bringing that rapture to fulfillment, causing her body to glow with the completion it brought to her. She now felt she couldn’t be complete without Plenty Proud at her side, yet knowing she would have to leave him in the end, haunted her, and tears sprang to her eyes.
“Did I hurt you?” Plenty Proud asked, suddenly kissing her face, and trying to stem her tears.
“No. I am just discovering how much I need your touch. I don’t want to lose it. Only I know I must leave, eventually.”
“There is time,” he breathed. “While we are together I will always show my love. Whatever you ask, I will try to accomplish.”
“Just don’t go turning into a fish,” she chuckled.
“Yes, if we remain here in the river much longer, we may both turn into a fish,” he laughed.
Plenty Proud lifted her up out of the water, warping the bl
anket around her he had brought with them. He replaced his breechcloth, and then picked up her dress, throwing it over his arm.
“I will have my mother remove blood from dress,” he told her, as he lifted her up into his strong arms, wrapped in the blanket, and proceeded to carry her to his tepee.
The tepee was empty since everyone was still busy with their separate chores. It was only late afternoon, and not even time for the evening meal. Plenty Proud laid Mackenzie under his buffalo robes then went to where the food was kept and brought her a corncake. . Removing his breechcloth, he joined her under the robe and they sat eating their corncakes as they smiled at each other.
“I hadn’t realized how hungry I was,” Mackenzie mumbled, as she finished her corncake.
“Tonight we will eat buffalo stew,” he promised, as he pulled her down beside him. “Until then we can rest,” he told her, bringing her against him, wanting her more than he had ever wanted a woman before.
Even though Mackenzie was tired, she was unexpectedly filled with excitement, feeling the need of Plenty Proud’s strong body against her own. When he enfolded her into his arms, she did not resist. She welcomed his kisses that he began to scatter over her face, ending upon her lips, seeking to reach her soul. Her arms hugged him to her, pressing herself even harder against him trying to absorb his strength, needing to feel the strength of him, and giving up her weakness to that strength. And she was weak. She was too weak to resist the draw that Plenty Proud had on her. She was helpless when she was near him like this, remembering how he called her the one he loved. She had not told him she loved him because she was too afraid. If she admitted it to herself, she feared she would have to prove it by agreeing to become his wife. She was not ready to leap into a commitment so strong, in spite of the fact she felt she never wanted to leave his side.
Mackenzie became lost as Plenty Proud traced his fingers over her, finding ways to cause her to catch her breath, and whimper in pleasure. The pleasure was coming in waves of splendor as he proceeded to pull unexplainable desire from her body. Now the desire seemed to consume her beyond any reservations she may have felt she needed, and she found herself offering whatever Plenty Proud desired of her, eagerly wanting it as much as he did.
He was gentle in his seeking beyond a mere touch. He allowed her to feel comfortable as he proceeded to move to a new level of discovery. Her willingness to allow him to engulf himself in the very smell and feel of her, prodded him ever onward. His longing to hear each purr escape her throat guided his senses, breathing in the essences of her, as his mouth felt her supple skin yielding to him, and his tongue savored the texture and taste of her.
Plenty Proud’s heart soured when he felt her responding to his caresses, lifting to him in a way that showed he was pleasing her correctly. His senses were filled with her as he sought to heighten her ecstasy, feeling the pulse and shiver of her skin replying beyond his expectations to his kisses. Her pleasure was reverberating through him in like manner causing his body to catch on fire, knowing the fire would demand a deeper need within him. Yet not until he was sure her deepest needs were fulfilled first, would he satisfy his own undeniable cravings.
When the moment came, he felt her surrendering to him completely, not even making a whimper when she discovered his intent. He crushed her lips beneath his own in the same way he crushed her body until he could feel her yielding completely, allowing him that completeness he longed to share with her. It was completeness beyond compare, as the tempo built between them, and he could hear her simpering and catching her breath, while each of their hearts beat against the other. Their bodies melded as one and Plenty Proud flew up with the eagles, attempting to touch the sun, until the sun burst into splendid sparks which overtook him with the beauty of it all. At the same moment Firelight cried out, clutching him to her, gasping for breath, exclaiming her wonder and surprise at the intense juncture between the two of them, then letting her breath out with the words… “I adore you.”
It was the closest she could come to admitting she loved Plenty Proud. She knew she did adore everything he was doing to her, and the way he made her heart leap and fall and cry for more. Now she felt completely satisfied, as she started to drift off to sleep, not wanting to move or break the tie she felt at their uniting as one. She was now a fallen woman, she thought, but there was no sadness or fear in admitting it. It was what she was willing to give in order to feel this kind of closeness to Plenty Proud.
“Why are you sleeping?” a harsh voice caused Mackenzie to jerk awake.
Mackenzie opened her eyes and then realized Plenty Proud was no longer snuggled close beside her. She wondered if it had all been a dream. Had she been so tired that she dreamed she had become Plenty Proud’s woman? Did she want to become his woman, and hadn’t even realized it? It couldn’t have been a dream. It was all too real. That very fact frightened her, because if it was real she had destroyed any hope she ever had of marrying a man in the future when she returned to Missouri. If it wasn’t true, something had taken over her senses and she was imagining things. Either way, she wasn’t sure how to respond to it. She shook her head, pulling herself back to reality.
“Plenty Proud never brought you back to finish skinning buffalo,” Little Bird was shrieking at her. “It is just as I thought! You skin one little buffalo and then you come back to the village and go to sleep. You are lazy and disrespectful to the hospitality you have been shown by Plenty Proud’s family. He should make you leave his village!”
Mackenzie saw that her dress was laid out beside the buffalo robes, the blood now cleaned from it. A fire had been built in the center of the tepee and it was already starting to get dark outside. She grabbed the dress and pulled it over her head, frowning at Little Bird.
“Plenty Proud said I was a guest. He had not expected me to work alongside of you. It was you, who said I had to help. After I skinned his white buffalo for him, he said I should bathe. He brought me to his tepee to rest. I guess I fell asleep.”
“You skinned a white buffalo?” Little Bird cried. “Was it the white buffalo Plenty Proud killed? I heard someone speaking of it, but I hadn’t asked him yet. I went to bathe first. Why would he have you skin a sacred buffalo? You are not even a Sioux!”
Mackenzie was starting to wonder if that even happened either. Everything seemed to be in a blur. She didn’t want to think about any of it, let alone ask to make sure whether it happened or not.
“Ask Plenty Proud. He was the one who asked me to do it. I tried to refuse. I told him you were the one he should ask to skin the buffalo. Don’t act like I was the one who did something wrong! I am just a white girl. I know nothing about your customs.”
Little Bird stormed from the tepee, and Mackenzie got up to follow her. She did not see Plenty Proud as she looked exasperatedly around for him, once she was outside. Instead she saw Eagle Eye standing there watching her.
“Where is Plenty Proud?” she asked as she tromped up to him.
“He not here. He was troubled. He said tell you that before he asks permission to take you to Missouri, he has to go on vision quest first.”
“Just like that? He told me the work at the village of taking care of the buffalo meat had to be done first. And then he would have to prepare for a vision quest, after he asked for permission to take me.”
“I think he said that so he would have you here with him longer before he asked to take you. He told me to watch over you for him. He must fast for three days, then, he must purify himself in a sweat lodge. After that, he will find place to seek vision. It may take three, four days before he can receives vision, if he does get a vision. If not, he may wait even longer.”
“So you are telling me he is going to be gone for a week or more?”
Eagle Eye nodded.
“Little Bird is unhappy about me skinning the white buffalo. She has gone in search of Plenty Proud to find out why he asked me to do it.”
“You told her? Plenty Proud told me to ask you not to tell he
r until he returned. He did not want her to feel shame before talking to her about it.”
“But his mother knows I skinned the buffalo,” Mackenzie insisted.
“Only she would know better than to tell Little Bird that. She is upset that her son does not ask Little Bird to become his wife. She hopes when you leave, Plenty Proud will ask her. She would not want to upset Little Bird.”
“So what am I supposed to do, tell her I lied to her about it?”
“You could say you dreamed you had done it. She would accept that.”
Mackenzie paused and took in her breath. Maybe she did dream it. Maybe she dreamed everything, and this was all just a big nightmare.
“Yes, of course I dreamed it! I suppose I dreamed everything, including Plenty Proud telling me I was the one he loved. You said you thought it was true that he loved me.”
“I only said he looked at you in a way he did not look at Little Bird,” Eagle Eye mumbled.
“So I suppose you are going to tell Little Bird that I didn’t skin the buffalo?”
“I will merely say I do not know. It is not the same as saying you didn’t do it.”
“I knew I couldn’t trust wild Indians. I was just beginning to trust Plenty Proud, and he takes off without even telling me, and now you are telling me to lie about the stupid white buffalo! This is all ridicules! Just because a buffalo is white, does not make it sacred, it only makes it different!”
“Plenty Proud was troubled about something and needed his vision to help him know what to do. You seem troubled too.”
“Yes, of course he was troubled! He was troubled because he tried to prove to me he loved me when he really didn’t! And I am troubled because I don’t think I can believe that he does love me, even if he says so.”
“In what way did he try to prove this?” Eagle Eye asked.
Plenty Proud Page 10
