She went to her panther and sat down beside him, then stared into the fire as she stroked his sleek fur.
She was so lost in thought, she didn’t hear footsteps enter the cabin. She was not even aware that someone stood over her, studying her, wanting her.
Then, with a leap of her heart, she realized that Fire Thunder was behind her.
She turned with a start and gazed up at him.
Kaylene’s face flooded with color when she recognized that same look in Fire Thunder’s eyes that she had seen the day she had awakened after he had thought she was asleep and had kissed her.
She swallowed hard. “Your hair is wet,” she blurted out, searching for anything to break the strained silence between them. “Did you enjoy your bath?”
“It was refreshing enough,” Fire Thunder said, glad to have been drawn from his trance—a trance that made his heart swim with need of this woman.
He went to the kitchen and took down two wooden bowls, spoons, and mugs. He filled the mugs with cold tea that had been prepared by one of the village women and left there on the table in a pitcher.
He took all this to the fireplace hearth and set them down. “I have worked up an appetite,” he said, ladling food into the bowls. He gave Kaylene a questioning look over his shoulder. “And you? Did your walk make you hungry?”
“Yes, quite,” Kaylene said, taking the bowl and spoon. “Thank you.” She glanced down at Midnight, whose eyes were on her as she started to eat.
Seeing that he was hungry, she excused herself and went and got another bowl.
After giving food to Midnight, she resumed eating and drinking.
“I found the stray longhorn,” Fire Thunder said, between bites of stew. “It had wandered farther than the others. It was easy to find.”
“That’s nice,” Kaylene said. Her heart pounded to realize that he seemed to be forcing small talk, surely because he was feeling the aloneness, the absence of Little Sparrow, as much as she.
It seemed strange to have the cabin all to themselves.
Strange, but nice, she thought to herself, as she glanced over at Fire Thunder. Being his captive, she knew that she should be afraid of what might transpire between them.
But she no longer thought of herself as a captive, instead she was a woman in love with the man of her desire, who just happened to be the one to have taken her away from the life she had hated for so long she could hardly remember!
If he only knew, Kaylene thought, smiling.
Although she had fought her captivity at first, he had truly done her a favor. She had hated the carnival.
“Did you enjoy your outing?” Fire Thunder asked, giving Kaylene a half glance as he shoved his empty bowl aside.
“Very much,” Kaylene said, turning to gaze at him. His eyes locked with hers and held.
“Until you came and scolded me for taking the walk,” she quickly added.
“I was only thinking of your welfare,” Fire Thunder said, lifting a log and placing it on those that had burned low on the grate.
“I’ve been wondering about something,” Kaylene said, wanting to lead them away from their strained conversation.
“And that is?” Fire Thunder asked, settling down beside her again. His eyes could not help but stray, raking over her, taken anew by her loveliness.
Ah, her tiny waist. Her tempting breasts that pressed against the inside of her cotton blouse. The gentle taper of her slender ankles.
Oh, how he wished to place his fingers at her ankles and slowly move them up her leg, venturing up past her knees, to the inside, tender flesh of her thighs.
His loins burned with a fierce fire to think of what lay beyond, where her secrets were hid behind tendrils of hair.
He did not doubt that no man’s hands had roamed there yet. She was surely virginal in every way.
He had thought that just perhaps he had been the first to kiss her. She had seemed so unpracticed in how to react to the kiss, except that he had heard the sharp intake of her breath. He knew by that, that his kiss had given her pleasure.
Kaylene became unnerved by the way he was looking at her. The way his gaze traveled over her, it was as though she might be some sweet morsel, food for his hungers to feed upon!
She cleared her throat nervously and placed the empty bowl beside her. “Where are you originally from?” she blurted out. “Few Indians are welcome in Mexico. Why are you here? Why did they allow it?”
She knew some of the answers to her questions, but she needed to speak of something, anything, to help calm herself.
“My people first lived in Wisconsin,” Fire Thunder said, turning his gaze to watch the fire lick the logs on the grate. “Many are still there.”
“But why then did you choose to live here in a land so different from your native Wisconsin?” Kaylene asked, seeing that she had touched a delicate chord within his heart by the way he gazed longingly into the fire, and spoke so emotionally.
“My Thunder clan of Kickapoo left there long ago,” Fire Thunder said, turning a wistful gaze her way. “We tired of broken treaties, of the white man’s constant intrusions on our lives. We are a private people. To find a measure of peace and privacy, we traveled to Indiana, Illinois, Texas, and then the Mexicans gave us much land and our freedom to do as we wished. We are happy here. We plan to stay.”
“I’m happy for you,” Kaylene said. “I’m glad the Mexicans have been kind to you.”
“We have thanked the Mexicans time and time again so that they know for certain that we appreciate this that they have done for us,” Fire Thunder said, amazed to see how Kaylene seemed so sincere in what she was saying, and in how she was acting.
He had thought that she had adapted to this change in her life. Now he knew for certain that she had.
It made his heart race to know that they were closer now than ever before to being able to embrace without antagonisms interfering.
“But,” he quickly interjected, “we Kickapoo never forget who is truly responsible for our blessings. Kitzihiat, our Great Spirit, has guided us here, where life is finally good to my people. The Kickapoo, in appreciation for the bounty of Kitzihiat, dedicate their dances and ceremonial food to him and his familiares, relatives, to bring them pleasure.”
“I only know of God, yet I have been kept from worshipping him,” Kaylene said, her voice drawn. “My father never allowed me to enter a church. Not even once. I have hungered to know about God and His Goodness. Perhaps I can learn about your Great Spirit. Would you teach me?”
Stunned that Kaylene was this open and receptive to him tonight, Fire Thunder was for a moment· at a loss for words.
Then he willingly told her what she seemed eager to know. “Religion is the principal force integrating all Kickapoo society,” he said. “And although we Kickapoo guard religious information with the utmost secrecy, I shall share some of it with you because you are sincere in asking . . . and because you are now a part of our lives.”
He moved in front of her. As he sat on his haunches before her, their eyes locked, their breaths mingling, he explained the mystery of his people to her.
“You have already seen that the manitous or spirits are the central force in our religion. My people believe that everything in nature has a manitou—the fire, the wind, the buffalo—and each has its own power. In order to keep our lives peaceful and productive, a certain order must be maintained among them. At the top is Kitzihiat, who created everything except the world itself, which was made by Wisaka.”
“I truly love knowing these things,” Kaylene said softly, her pulse racing as Fire Thunder reached and placed his hands at her waist.
She sucked in a wild breath of surprise when he lifted her on his lap and urged her legs to straddle him around his waist.
Wearing no underthings, she was very aware of his hard body pressed up against her thighs and . . . and of that part of her that sensually throbbed as he kissed her endearingly.
Quickly, talk of religion waned and p
leasures blossomed. She twined her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.
It was easy to forget her injured shoulder, her past hostility, her anger.
She moaned as one of his hands slowly began sliding up one of her legs, his fingers exploring tantalizingly.
Her head spinning, desire leaping through her veins, Kaylene tried to find the senses required to say no to him.
But her needs overpowered her logic and she trembled when his hands finally found that secret place between her thighs and began a slow caress.
And she allowed it.
How could she not? she thought, with reeling senses. This need for him outweighed anything that she had ever felt in her life!
Chapter 14
Keep, if thou wilt, thy maiden peace,
still calm and fancy free,
For God forbid thy gladsome heart
should grow less glad for me.
—JOHN MOULTRIE
Hardly able to stand the ecstasy, weakened by it, Kaylene wrenched herself free from Fire Thunder, breathing hard. With a rapid heartbeat, she shoved her skirt down across her legs.
She gazed into Fire Thunder’s blue eyes, startled by the intensity of her feelings for him.
Yet his feelings seemed the same for her. His eyes were charged with emotion. His chiseled face was a mask of naked desire. His jaw was tight, the muscles in his neck tightly corded.
Having never been rendered helpless so quickly by anything before, and afraid of it, Kaylene took a slow step away from Fire Thunder. She was aware of the keen silence in the cabin. She wondered if Fire Thunder could even hear the pounding of her heart.
Knowing that the first time for women was sometimes frightening, and wanting to reassure Kaylene that what they wanted of each other was beautiful and right, Fire Thunder moved slowly, cautiously toward her.
She said nothing, only watched him as he came closer. She could go no farther. She could feel the heat of the fire on her back. The fireplace kept her from stepping away from him.
She gasped when his hands were suddenly on her cheeks, his thumbs gently stroking them. Closing her eyes, she shuddered with ecstasy when he suddenly enfolded her in his hard, strong arms, pressing her against him.
As his lips claimed hers, and he held her so tenderly to him, she was no longer afraid. It was as though his lips were drugging her, speaking to her, telling her that the only thing alive tonight in this cabin was passion—sweet, wonderful, undying passion.
This passion was them: how they felt for one another, how they finally allowed themselves to feel.
Fire Thunder’s mouth slipped away from Kaylene’s lips to whisper against her cheek. “Say you want me,” he said huskily.
One of his hands fell between them. He could feel the sensual shock of her body when he cupped one of her breasts into the heat of his palm. Softly, he stroked the breast through her blouse, hoping that within the next few, anxious minutes, he would finally be able to touch the silken flesh of the breast itself.
Through the material of her blouse, he could feel the nipple hardening against his palm. He knew for certain now that she sorely desired him.
Recalling how it had felt when his hand was beneath her skirt, caressing her where she still strangely ached, and, again, as before, feeling how wonderful it was to have his hand on one of her breasts, Kaylene wished for more, for the total fulfillment a woman could find with a man. Each moment with Fire Thunder brought her new awakenings.
Oh, Lord, just how much more was he going to arouse in her that was beautifully wonderful?
It made her tremble at the thought.
“Say . . . you . . . want me,” Fire Thunder whispered against her lips.
“I . . . want . . . you,” Kaylene whispered back, her voice trembling. “I do, oh, I do, Fire Thunder. I want you.”
His mouth covered hers. Again he kissed her with exquisite tenderness.
He could feel her weaken within his arms. He could feel himself hard and throbbing beneath his buckskin breeches. He pressed himself more tightly against her.
When she gasped, he knew that she felt the hard length of himself that he now slightly ground against her.
He was taken aback, and gasped himself, when suddenly her left hand was between them, exploring, groping, stopping when she found what she sought.
When her fingers began stroking his swollen, aching member through the fabric of his breeches, Fire Thunder could hardly contain himself, the pleasure was so intense.
Kaylene was amazed at the length and fullness of this part of his anatomy. Strange how she did not fear it. Her fascination with it overpowered her fear.
And to dare touch him made her feel somewhat wicked.
But the way he responded to the touch, moaning even now with pleasure, she knew that surely her stroking him there was akin to him having stroked her where she knew she was meant to be touched only by the man she loved.
“Kaylene, no,” Fire Thunder said, his voice deep with huskiness.
He slipped his hand down and gripped hers, slowly leading her fingers away from himself. He had wanted her for so long, he did not wish to find release only from being caressed. He wanted them to come together and jointly experience the final throes of ecstasy.
Kaylene’s eyes widened when Fire Thunder placed his hands at the hem of her skirt and slowly lifted it upward. She closed her eyes, her heartbeats almost swallowing her whole.
She was actually allowing herself to be undressed by a man! He soon would see her naked. She could not help but feel embarrassed, even somewhat afraid. Yet she wanted him too much to deny him anything.
When he tossed her last garment aside, and she felt the heat of the fire on her backside, she slowly opened her eyes and gasped when she found that Fire Thunder had also quickly undressed himself and now stood totally, majestically, nude before her.
Sucking in a wild breath, her gaze moved slowly over him. Dressed, she had been mesmerized by him.
Unclothed, he was fascinating, and stirred, oh, so many strange feelings within her.
But it wasn’t the wide, muscled shoulders, or his long, firm legs that caused her to be dizzy with desire.
It was that part of him that she had only moments ago caressed through his breeches.
Now she saw just how big, and how ready he was. Jutting out from his body, its purple head seeping a drop of juice from its very tip, his manhood caused such excitement, such eagerness stirring within her that she found it hard to control.
And when he circled his fingers around himself, and began slowly stroking himself right before her very eyes, she felt that she might faint dead away with the passion that this sight aroused.
As though something willed her to, as though puppet strings were attached to her, and the puppeteer was somewhere overhead, watching and guiding her, she went to Fire Thunder and splayed her hands across his hairless chest, while pressing her body into his so that his hand and that which he still held was there, touching her.
“Tell me again that you want me,” Fire Thunder said huskily, slipping his hand from around his member, which ached unmercifully for this woman, whose shyness had been cast to the wind.
Kaylene stood on tiptoe, breathless, as he pressed the full length of himself against her abdomen.
“I want you,” she whispered, then flung herself into his arms and kissed him, her lips softening into his.
Careful not to hurt her sore shoulder, Fire Thunder held her close. Her flesh was hot against his own as he moved his manhood slowly up and down against her silken nudity.
But no longer able to stand the waiting, and knowing that she was willing to go down that road with him into paradise, Fire Thunder swung her up into his arms and carried her from the living room into his bedroom.
As he lay her across his bed, he sent feathery kisses along her brow, across her cheeks, and then kissed the hollow of her throat as he moved over her and gently parted her thighs with the soft, slow nudge of one of his knees.
&nbs
p; Kaylene felt the tip of his manhood probing where she ached, the heat and wetness there something new to her. Yet it gave her pleasure beyond words as she felt him shoving himself slowly into her.
And then he paused, leaving himself only a fraction inside her.
As he had wanted to for so long, he lifted both of her breasts into each of his hands. He knelt low over them, his heart racing as he squeezed the hardened nipples, his tongue flicking over one and then the other.
She sighed pleasurably and tossed her head back and forth, her hair flailing and trailing across her face.
A sensual ripple of desire raced through Fire Thunder to hear Kaylene’s reaction to what he was doing. His fingers then ran down her body, touching and stroking all of her pleasure points. He watched her face and her expressions of rapture when he touched and stroked each place anew.
Her cheeks flushed, her insides so warmed with pleasure she felt as though she were on fire, Kaylene smiled up at Fire Thunder.
She reached a hand down to him and wove her fingers through his thick hair as he slowly kissed his way back up to her lips.
His mouth covered her lips in a fiery kiss. He held her close as his hips pressed quickly inward, sending his aching member into her clasping warmth. His senses reeled with pleasure.
He kissed her soft cry of pain away as he pierced that tiny strip of flesh inside her, her proof of having been a virgin.
Then he began his rhythmic strokes within her, knowing that the pain was turning into pleasure when she moaned and kissed him passionately.
Fire Thunder moved his hands beneath her and gently pressed his fingers into the flesh of her buttocks and lifted her closer.
She sensed what he wanted. She swung her legs around his waist, drawing him more deeply inside her, his bolder thrusts giving her even more wondrous pleasure.
Their bodies strained together hungrily.
Clinging, they rolled over, so that she was now on top, he on the bottom.
Then he turned her beneath him again, his hips moving in a wild, dizzying rhythm as he felt himself drawing closer to that peak of passion he sought.
Wild Whispers Page 15
