Inventing Love

by Killarney Sheffield

  A-jin-nay shrugged.

  “Would you take me back to Fort Washington?” She fixed him with a pleading gaze.

  The fire cast light and dark shadows on his copper-colored skin. His eyes locked with hers, staring into her soul. A flicker of emotion moved across his features briefly.

  Had it only been a trick of the firelight and her tired eyes?

  “No. You belong to Who-na-nay. To take what is not mine will start war between brothers.” His intense gaze dropped to her lips. “I wish Who-na-nay to give you to me.” He reached out and wound one of her curls around his finger. “Ta-wan-knee makes A-jin-nay’s heart beat fast and not sleep.”

  A flush of heat crept up her neck. What did a savage know of love? How could he love someone without knowing them?

  He glanced at Who-na-nay’s teepee before he leaned over, pressing his lips to hers.

  She had no idea what to do. His warm lips caressed hers in a light provocative kiss. Her heart fluttered, her pulse racing. I...enjoy it. His hand cupped her jaw, his calloused thumb tracing the line of bone. His kiss was gentle and civilized. Strange. Weston’s kiss had been just the opposite. How is that possible?

  A-jin-nay drew back, his dark eyes glittering in the flickering firelight. “A-jin-nay will ask Who-na-nay for you.”

  Warring emotions rolled in side her. A savage wanted her. White men did not. Weston may have kissed her but he did not want her. She could not stay with A-jin-nay; she was civilized and belonged in Washington.

  The warmth of his body so close to hers was soothing and comforting. Soon her eyes began to drift shut. Again and again she forced them open until finally she gave up, resting her head against his shoulder. The crackling fire lulled her.

  “Who-na-nay will look for Ta-wan-knee.”

  She shook her head and sat up straighter. “He is too busy with Oh-nem-ie.”

  A-jin-nay chuckled. “Ta-wan-knee jealous of Oh-nem-ie.”

  “No.” She stared into the fire, uncomfortable talking of a relationship between a man and a woman with him. “She is his wife.”

  He shrugged. “No matter.”

  “Where I come from it does.”

  “You Who-na-nay’s prize. You must demand place in his robes, if you so choose.”

  She shook her head. “No, I do not want to lie with him. I hate him.”

  “Hmm.” He looked down at her with a searching gaze. “Hate is strong word. Bad medicine to hold hate in heart.”

  “He took me from my home, my life. I will always hate him for that.” She looked away from his gaze and focused on the fire’s dancing flames.

  “You hate A-jin-nay?”

  “No, for you have been most kind to me. I call you my friend.” She glanced at him.

  He smiled. “Friend is good. Maybe you grow to love A-jin-nay?”

  “Maybe.” She smiled back at him.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Alex rolled out of the fur robes the next morning and hurried about the chores that were now routine to her before Oh-nem-ie stirred. On her way to get water she spied A-jin-nay catching horses and waved to him. He smiled and waved back. It felt good to have a friend, she mused. By the time she returned to the cooking fire with the water Oh-nem-ie was there adding bits of wood and bark to build the flame. She aimed a kick at Alex who was ready for the usual insult and skipped away with a pleased grin. Nothing was going to bring her low today. For some reason she had a feeling that the day was going to be a good one despite her imprisonment.

  Who-na-nay stepped out from the hut and stretched. Before he could take his usual place by the fire to await his morning repast A-jin-nay hailed him. The young brave approached leading two fine-looking spotted horses each carrying a thick fur robe. He stopped before Who-na-nay and spoke to him in their native tongue. Alex turned back to mixing water into the corn powder for the morning cakes. If only the younger brave owned her perhaps she could convince him to return her to Washington. With a sigh she rolled the moist corn between her fingers and pounded it into flat cakes between her palms before setting them carefully on the heated cooking rock.

  “Ta-wan-knee.”

  She looked up at Who-na-nay’s address. He motioned for her to come to where he stood with A-jin-nay. She handed the turtle shell bowl to Oh-nem-ie who glared at her and hurried to Who-na-nay’s side. A-jin-nay smiled at her, handed her the two horses and stalked purposefully to Oh-nem-ie. Alex frowned as he handed the squaw a small sack. She smiled at him and dumped the contents in her lap. The pile of shiny beads made her smile grow broader and she nodded.

  Who-na-nay nodded and looked at Alex. “Oh-nem-ie has smiled with favor on A-jin-nay. She has chosen him.”

  Alex’s heart sank. Why had A-jin-nay said he would ask Who-na-nay for her if he intended to ask for Oh-nem-ie? Had he misunderstood or was he only playing games with her? With a flippant toss of her head she stuffed the horses’ leads into Who-na-nay’s hands and stalked to the creek to wash her sticky hands. Just like the soldier at the fort he had only been teasing her, playing games at her expense. Why had she been foolish enough to think him a friend? The only man she had ever been able to honestly call her friend was Weston. She shook the thought from her head as she crouched on the bank and rubbed her hands together in the icy water.

  “Ta-wan-knee?”

  She jumped, but ignored A-jin-nay. God, how she hated the way the redskins could walk up on a person without making a sound.

  “Why Ta-wan-knee angry?”

  “I am not angry.” She bit her lip at the lie and shook the water from her hands.

  “Yes, angry.” He knelt by her side and turned her chin to him meeting her eyes with his deep dark ones. “A-jin-nay give best ponies, hides and many beads for you.”

  Blinking, she pondered his statement for a moment. “You gave these things for me?”

  He nodded. “Ta-wan-knee belong to A-jin-nay now.”

  Rocking back on her heels she smiled at him. “I am yours? I can stay with you?”

  His answering grin reminded her she had known today would be a good day. She flung her arms around his neck not caring many in the tribe would frown on the outward display of affection. A-jin-nay tolerated it for a couple seconds before he gently pried her arms loose and stood. “Come.”

  Dutifully she followed him back to his hut where Oh-nem-ie stood with Alex’s small bundle of clothing. The squaw thrust the bundle into her arms, favored A-jin-nay with a bright smile and walked away. Alex frowned as she followed A-jin-nay into the hut. “Why did you give Oh-nem-ie the beads?”

  He glanced at her as he pulled the flap down behind them. “Ta-wan-knee belong to Who-na-nay and Oh-nem-ie. Slave is less than wife.”

  “Am I still a slave?”

  He nodded and took the bundle from her hands, tossing it to the ground by his things. “Ta-wan-knee always be slave. Never wife.”

  Never a wife. The words stomped on her heart trampling the hopes she had harbored since childhood. No matter what society she lived in it seemed she would never be destined to be anything other than an outcast.

  A-jin-nay patted her shoulder. “Go hunt now. Ready for A-jin-nay when sun goes to sleep.”

  She nodded and he left. Ready for him? She glanced around the messy hut. In other words, clean up and have his meal ready when he returned. At least she would not have to put up with Oh-nem-ie anymore. With a shake of her head she set to work cleaning and organizing the teepee.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  The last thin red line of sun was sinking below the horizon when the hunters returned. She stirred the pot above the fire, set the corn cakes on the hot rock to reheat and watched as the men turned their horses loose. A-jin-nay strolled toward her. With a smile she took the two rabbits, sack of deer meat, and the bow and quiver of arrows he handed her. Her gaze wandered over his chest streaked with dirt and dried blood before it settled on a nasty looking gash on his upper arm. Blood still oozed from the ragged cut.

  “What happened?” She set his hun
ting gear down against the teepee, hung up the game and hurried to get a piece of soft hide and a bowl of water to cleanse the wound.

  A-jin-nay helped himself to one of the corn cakes and sat as she knelt beside him to carefully wash the wound. “A-jin-nay give best ponies for Ta-wan-knee. Young one need more teaching to be good buffalo pony.”

  Remorse filled her. He had been injured trying to help her. “I am sorry. Did the pony throw you?”

  He shook his head and popped the corn cake in his mouth. Once he chewed and swallowed he explained. “Pony flow like river, fall. Branch catch A-jin-nay.”

  She nodded in understanding and poulticed the wound in the leaves the squaws had shown her were medicinal, wrapping it with another strip of soft deer hide. When she was done she washed her hands and loaded a bowl with the soup she had made. After passing it to him with another corn cake she sat down across the fire to wait her turn to eat. The benefit to being the only woman in A-jin-nay’s household was she could pick and nibble as she cooked and thus was not as starving as usual making the wait much more bearable. She shifted, reminded of how slim her waist now was and how her hip bones protruded from the weeks of little food. There would be no need for a corset when she got home to Washington.

  A-jin-nay looked up from his bowl as if he had heard her thoughts. “Eat.”

  Grateful, she picked up a second turtle shell and filled it with soup. They ate together in comfortable silence. When he was done the brave set down his bowl and rose. “A-jin-nay go to creek.”

  Alex cleaned up, shed her dirty buckskins and climbed in the buffalo robes clad in her only other garment, the soft doeskin dress. It was not long before she heard the rustle of the teepee flap. Keeping her back to the entrance she laid there listening to the sounds of him putting away his hunting gear and undressing. When he slipped under the robe she moved closer to the teepee wall to ensure their bodies did not touch.

  His low chuckle made her stiffen. “Come, Ta-wan-knee.”

  “It would not be right.”

  “Right?”

  Rolling over she fixed him with a superior stare. “We are not married therefore to lie with you would be a sin.”

  “What is this marriage you speak of?” He propped himself up on his elbow and gave her a puzzled look.

  “We have not spoken vows before God and a priest.”

  He shook his head. “A-jin-nay not know this God you speak of. Ta-wan-knee belong to me and must obey.”

  Alex scrambled out from under the robe. “You expect me to lay with you?”

  A-jin-nay sat up and grasped her hand. “Ta-wan-knee belong to me. Lie down.”

  “No, I cannot. We are not married.” She tried to free her hand, but he held fast.

  “Enough of this married. You belong to A-jin-nay.” His hand tightened and he jerked her to his bare chest.

  “Please!” was all she managed to say before his warm lips claimed hers in a possessive, almost brutal kiss. She struggled against him as he pushed her back onto the furs holding her there with a bare leg flung across her thighs. This is not right. I cannot allow this.

  He released her lips, bruised and swollen from his administrations. “Be not afraid, Hair Like Fire. A-jin-nay will take great care. Ta-wan-knee will like.”

  “Nay!” Panic settle in but she could do nothing to fight him as he pinned her wrists above her head and lowered his lips to caress the flesh of her neck with light butterfly kisses. I cannot let him. His lips traveled to the sensitive spot behind her ear and paused there as he stroked the spot with the tip of his tongue. There must be a way to stop him. A shiver fluttered down her spine. What can I say to stop him? Heat seemed to flood her body. His other hand settled on her leg, just under the hem of the doeskin dress, his warm fingers stroking the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

  “A-jin-nay, stop, please.”

  He ignored her, showing no sign he even heard as his hand moved up slowly stroking and kneading her flesh. I must...stop...him. His lips traced the low neckline of the dress, the coolness of his damp kisses doing nothing to ease her rapidly heating skin. “A-jin-nay, I cannot, please.” A faint pulse began to beat at the annex of her womanhood as his fingers drew nearer her forbidden spot. “A-jin-nay…” I must...stop... She stiffened and moaned as his fingers slipped between her slick folds and touched the sensitive bud nestled there. “A-jin-nay!” She arched her back as he stroked the tiny nub of flesh that tingled and throbbed. I must...

  “Oh.” He chuckled against her lips as he recaptured them in a soft, sensual kiss. The blood pounded in her veins, echoing in her ears as he stroked faster igniting an almost unbearable fire in her loins. Moaning she writhed beneath him until he let go of her wrists. She wrapped her arms around his neck. She matched his kiss and thrust of his tongue as she pulled him tight to her hardly noticing as he shifted above her. Panting she tore her lips from his.

  “A..jin...nay.” His fingers suddenly ceased their administrations but before she could protest there was a moment of sharp pain and then he was moving in her. Before she knew it she was matching his primal rhythm, meeting him thrust for thrust. The earth shattered. Tiny shards of her inner self scattered across her consciousness. Her cries echoed his moans of pleasure, slowing fading into the musky darkness.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alex crawled from the warmth of the buffalo hides long after dawn, embarrassed she had slept so long in the arms of a savage. The sounds of an active camp made her grimace as she reached for her leggings. There was no doubt in her mind that the rest of the camp had been privy to her cries of passion the night before. Heat flooded her cheeks as she spied the light smear of dried blood on her inner thighs. She was now a fallen woman. Tugging on the buckskins she headed for the flap. Throwing it open she stepped outside and looked around. Few men were left at the camp, only the old and infirm sat around the meeting fire. Grasping a cloth and soft drying robe she headed for the creek where A-jin-nay had bathed the evening before.

  After finding a secluded place, she shed her clothes and stepped into the icy water. A light breeze rusted the yellowing leaves on the poplar trees overhead. It was fall, winter would be coming soon. How long had she been with the redskins? Six weeks? Eight perhaps? It seemed so long ago she had danced at the masquerade ball with Weston. She splashed cold water on her thighs to wash away the traces of her lost virtue. Was he alive? What was he doing now if he was? Had he just gone on with his life and forgotten about her assuming she was dead? Was the general even now coming to kill all the redskins? Goose bumps rose along her arms and she hurried to finish washing and dry herself with the soft robe. She had to convince A-jin-nay to return her to Washington before the snow flew.

  She dressed and returned to the encampment. Oh-nem-ie cast her a knowing look as she passed by Who-na-nay’s teepee. Alex ignored it and looked the other way. Let the squaw whisper all she wanted, at least she no longer had to lie there as they fornicated. Now I am the one who does all the moaning and screaming... Frowning she made her way to A-jin-nay’s teepee. If she had to admit it she found his touch...wondrous. Never had she imagined feeling the way she did when his fingers sought her most private place. The tingling pleasure he inflicted was almost magical. Was that the way it was between a white man and woman? She suspected not. After all white men were straight-laced and pompous, not animalistic and uninhibited like a savage. Oh dear God! She had behaved like a savage herself, writhing and crying out for his touch.

  Entering the teepee her eyes wandered of their own accord to the furs, strewn in disarray giving evidence of their passion. On impulse she knelt and hurried to smooth them to hide her guilt.

  “Ta-wan-knee not had enough of A-jin-nay?”

  The chuckled comment had her scrambling to her feet. She spun around as the brave stepped into the shelter. “No, I was just making up the...bed,” she said for lack of a better word as heat flooded her cheeks.

  He gave her an amused look, crossed to his weapon pile and dropped a broken bow besi
de it. “Must make new bow.” He glanced at her and smiled. “Can wait. Make Ta-wan-knee cry to spirits again.”

  She shook her head and backed away as he approached. “Nay, it was most indecent of me.”

  “In-de-sant?” His expression was puzzled as he reached out and clutched her arm, pulling her gently toward him.

  Lowering her gaze from his her eyes fell on the large bulge tenting his buckskins. “It means wrong.”

  He chuckled. “No, to cry to the spirits good. Cries please spirits and they give many children.”

  With a gasp she returned her gaze to his. He eased her up against the hard muscle of his lean body, lightly grinding the bulge in his buckskins against her. “A-jin-nay want many sons and fire-haired daughters.”

  “A-jin-nay, we cannot. I would have you return me to Washington and I will be disgraced and shunned if I bear a child without benefit of marriage not to mention one that is part redskin.”

  His eyes darkened, his lips pressing into a thin line of anger. “Ta-wan-knee stay with A-jin-nay. Ta- wan-knee belong to A-jin-nay.” He propelled her back onto the pile of furs, pushing her down on them.

  “Stop. Please, A-jin-nay.”

  He pinned her flailing arms above her head and straddled her hips. “No. A-jin-nay make Ta-wan-knee stay.” Covering her mouth with his he nipped and licked at her lips until she opened for him with a low moan of surrender. Pressure began to build in her nether regions as he tore the leggings from her and stroked her love bud. As the wondrously intense pleasure built inside her she surrendered completely to him, returning his strokes and kisses with frantic need.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The days passed slowly and Alex settled into a familiar routine with the brave. Nightly he took her body, seeming to delight in her cries of surrender. She stopped asking him to return her to Washington for each time she did he would drag her to the pile of furs and torture her with his sweet lovemaking as punishment. She could neither deny how her body reacted to his touch nor think of it as anything but pleasurable. The knowing looks of the other squaws no longer bothered her. She did not care what they heard or thought.