Today there was no lightning or thunder, only the continuing soft pitter-patter of the raindrops against the sides of the lodge.
“There are rains of two types,” Eagle Wolf said as Nicole continued braiding his hair.
“Soft and hard,” Nicole responded, laughingly. She knew this was not what he was about to say, but it felt good to be lighthearted and gay with him.
Eagle Wolf laughed. He was glad she could be so lighthearted after the sorrow these past days had brought into her life. Some people who experienced the same might never smile or laugh again.
But this woman was the sort who would never allow anything to take away her joy in living. She loved life as much as he.
And that, too, brought them closer together. In so many ways they were so much alike.
They would be happy as husband and wife, and they would marvel at the children they’d bring together into this world.
“There is female rain and there is male rain,” Eagle Wolf said.
His comment was so unexpected, Nicole stopped braiding his hair for a moment, so that she could move around to gaze into his eyes.
“Female and male?” she asked. “How can there be…female and male rain?”
“This was taught me as a child by my mother,” Eagle Wolf said as Nicole returned to braiding his long hair. “She taught me that the soaking, yet soft rain is called female, because it is the rain that nurtures and nourishes. Not only plants, but also animals, as it settles gently upon them from the heavens.”
“Why, that is beautiful,” Nicole murmured, then went around and sat beside Eagle Wolf after securing his long braid with a short piece of leather thong.
“What is the male rain responsible for?” she asked.
“Male rain is not gentle in any respect,” Eagle Wolf said, reaching back and touching his braid, smiling his approval of how perfectly it had been formed.
“No?” Nicole said as he brought his hand away from his braid and reached over to grab a stick and slowly stir the ashes in the fire, causing sparks to fly upward through the smoke hole overhead. “As most men are seen by women, the male rain is powerful,” Eagle Wolf said.
He dropped the glowing, fiery stick, then settled back from the fire, now gazing into Nicole’s grass green eyes.
“This is the destructive rain of the most vicious storms,” he said. “Ofttimes trees are destroyed during these storms, not nourished. Animals run and hide, as do women and children. But strong warriors never run from such rain. Instead, it rekindles their own inner fires, and makes them the sort of warriors who keep our people safe from harm.”
Suddenly, out of nowhere, blinding light from a streak of lightning flashed downward through the smoke hole.
The suddenness of it, the brightness, caused Nicole to flinch. When the ensuing thunder rocked the floor on which she was sitting, she flung herself into Eagle Wolf’s arms and clung to him.
He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He could feel the rapidness of her breathing against his bare chest.
“I have always been afraid of storms,” Nicole said, realizing that she was trembling in his arms, and feeling embarrassed over it.
But nothing had ever been able to take the fear of storms away from her. When she had been a small child, a horrible tornado had torn through Missouri, destroying most of the homes close to Nicole’s.
It had uprooted some of the largest elm trees in the area. Some homes had caught fire from the lightning strikes. Some people’s lives were lost.
Her family had been fortunate not to have lost anything except for a few horses that had broken through their corral fence and run off.
“You are safe with me,” Eagle Wolf softly reassured her as he slowly caressed her back through the softness of her dress. “I will never allow anything or anyone to harm you. Nor will the Great Spirit. He sees everything and knows what you have been forced to endure. You will be always safe while you are with me.”
“I do feel so safe, yet the lightning and thunder always frighten me,” Nicole murmured, still clinging, even though she was no longer really afraid. She did believe that Eagle Wolf and his Great Spirit, as well as her own God, would keep her safe.
“When I was a child, lightning struck many things and set them afire,” Nicole murmured. “My neighbor’s house went up in flames during one of our worst storms. And then there were the tornadoes that we had to endure more than once. Some even called our portion of Missouri ‘tornado alley.’”
“I am not familiar with tornadoes,” Eagle Wolf said, releasing her as she nudged herself away from him.
“It is a horrific sort of wind,” Nicole murmured, visibly trembling at the remembrance. “It just seems to fall down from the darkened sky, swirling and swirling, taking everything in its path. I grew to dread them so much. I hope I never see any again.”
“We have no such winds on our mountain, yet we do have winds that sometimes bend the corn in half so that the tassels touch the ground,” Eagle Wolf said somberly. “I will protect you from those winds and anything else that threatens you. Know this, Nicole. You are safe with me.”
He took her hands in his. “Our shaman has been known to speak and stop the winds,” he said softly. “Our shaman understands power and how to control it, even the power of lightning. You see, objects struck by lightning hold within them the power of holy beings. A shaman can use this kind of power to heal, or to bring sickness to an enemy.”
“Are you saying that lightning-struck objects can be used for both good and bad?” Nicole asked.
“Ho,” Eagle Wolf said, nodding. “Lightning is used both for protection and healing, as well as to cause death and destruction.”
“I have always been afraid of lightning and now I will be even more afraid of it,” Nicole said, again shuddering.
“I did not tell you these things to frighten you, but to teach you things my people know,” Eagle Wolf said, thickly. “Sometimes learning can be fearful, but only if those who are taught these things allow it to be. You are with me. You have no need to fear any of these things.”
“You are right,” Nicole said, smiling at him. “If I ever doubt that again, I will remind myself what you have said to me, more than once. I truly feel safe, Eagle Wolf, now that I am with you.”
Eagle Wolf placed his hands on her cheeks and drew her close to him, until their lips were barely an inch apart. And then he swept his fingers behind her, twining them through her hair, which he had not yet braided.
He brought her lips to his and gave her a kiss that was so hot she felt as though she might melt through the bulrush mats beneath her.
She had never known what true desire was until she had met Eagle Wolf. Now she knew how it felt to want someone so badly she ached from it. She felt a hunger she had never experienced before. Her body, heart, and soul were crying out to make love with this wonderful man.
But she could not be brazen enough to initiate such a thing. She did not want to remember their first lovemaking in such a way.
Yet she did ache for him, oh, so badly.
Eagle Wolf’s body ached more than he had ever felt before. His need for Nicole at this moment was almost unbearable.
He kissed her with a passion that had only now been unleashed within him. These feelings were far more intense than he had ever felt for the woman he had made his wife.
This woman in his arms was meant to be there. They had been destined to meet.
And they were destined to marry and have children.
But he did not want to rush her into lovemaking. He did not want her to think that was the only reason he’d rescued her.
He knew how she had felt about the Mormon and his impure intentions. Eagle Wolf desired her, too, but he wanted her for herself. And he wanted her forever.
Perhaps tomorrow they could make love. But not today, nor to night.
“I will love you always,” he whispered against her hot lips.
“I love you, too,” Nicole whispered back to
him. “I have never felt like this. I…I…feel as though I am flying above myself. Everything in me feels light and wonderful.”
“We are flying together,” Eagle Wolf replied. He held her away from him so that they could look into each other’s eyes. “I want you, Nicole. All of you. But I don’t think it is right yet to blend our hearts and souls in the way my body is aching to do. I want you to have more time to think and be sure. So much has happened in your life. I want you to know your heart and mind completely, to be sure you wish to accept what I am offering you. I want you to marry me. Will you be my wife?”
Nicole was thrilled that this man truly loved her enough to marry her.
Promises of protection were one thing. But a promise of marriage was the ultimate commitment.
“Yes, oh, yes,” she murmured. She flung herself into his arms.
He wanted to postpone what their bodies ached for, and she knew that was right, so she just hugged him and his words to her heart.
This moment would always be precious to her, for it was the moment they gave their hearts to each other.
For Nicole the future was once again promising and wonderful. Because of Eagle Wolf.
“It is my turn now to braid your hair,” he said, gently holding her away from him. Then he turned her so that her back was to him. He lifted her hair, sniffed its clean smell, then began braiding it, slowly, almost meditatively, for this moment was one he would never forget.
It marked the beginning of their lives together.
Chapter Twenty-nine
It was midmorning as Nicole rode her mare beside Eagle Wolf’s majestic white stallion.
While they had eaten the breakfast that Dancing Snow Feather had brought to them, Eagle Wolf had said that he wanted to acquaint Nicole with this wondrous land that was now her home.
They had been riding for perhaps an hour beneath the cottonwoods, their yellow leaves brilliant in the morning sun.
The grass that had been so green and bright only a few weeks ago was now turning brown and blew stiffly in the wind today. Only a few wild-flowers remained, their colors now faded and their stems wilted from last night’s sudden frost.
Nicole could hear the splash of the waterfall, and she marveled at the rainbows formed as the water plummeted to the river below.
She glanced over at Eagle Wolf, feeling the connection between them, which she still marveled over. The soft breeze on the mountain lifted his long and flowing hair so that it blew behind him like sleek, black satin.
She was glad that he had chosen to leave his hair loose today. She loved to see it and run her fingers through it.
She loved to smell it, too. It always smelled clean, like fresh river water!
Today he wore only a breechclout, and most of his copper body was revealed to Nicole. She marveled over his muscles and his handsomeness as though this were the first time she had seen him.
It was not only his looks that had captured her heart. She would never stop appreciating his kindness toward her.
It seemed a miracle that she had been led to him that day, where he lay so ill beneath a tree. Had she chosen a different path up the mountain, she would never have seen him or known the love of this man who had given his all to her.
Soon they would be married.
He had told her that he must go on a hunt before they could stand together and speak the words that would make them husband and wife. The autumn hunt. He would leave tomorrow.
But today was theirs, and he rode beside her to acquaint her with his land, the marvels of it.
She was glad that the breeze had turned warm. When they first arose this morning and stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, frost had lain on the pumpkins that had not yet been harvested in the garden.
It had not been a heavy enough frost to damage the vegetables that had not yet been harvested. But it had left a brownish tint against the orange of the pumpkins.
Despite the nip in the air, Eagle Wolf, had left Nicole long enough to take his morning plunge in the river, while she had returned inside the tepee to do her own washing from a basin of water. She had to admit to missing the copper tub in her parents’ lovely bathroom back at their home in St. Louis.
Even her aunt Dot and uncle Zeb had a beautiful tub. They also had an outdoor shower they had prepared. One stood in a small cubicle where one could look up and see the sky while tugging on a rope that sent water splashing down from a contraption her uncle had invented.
The water was always cold, but it was fun to take a shower in such a way.
“You are so quiet,” Eagle Wolf suddenly said, drawing Nicole’s eyes to him. “You are as captivated by my mountain as we Navaho. You feel safe here, do you not? You feel the mountain’s embrace?”
“I feel so many things as I ride beside you,” Nicole said, smiling at him. “And, yes, I do feel safe and I do feel your mountain’s embrace. It is wonderful, Eagle Wolf.”
“In this mountain you will find sanctuary as we Navaho have found. When we first came here, we were fleeing the wrath of the white pony soldiers and the United States government, who stole from us all of the land that has been the Navaho’s from the beginning of time.”
Nicole saw the hardening of his jaw. She knew he was struggling to control his rage over what had been done to his people.
She felt ashamed of her own countrymen, for she had seen how they had wronged the red man, sometimes even worse than those whose skin was black. There was more than one way to enslave a person.
“Let us ride to where I can gather salt for the women of our village,” Eagle Wolf said, quickly lifting his head and changing the subject.
“There is salt up on this mountain?” Nicole asked.
“Come with me. I shall show you,” Eagle Wolf said, already heading toward a sandstone ridge.
Nicole was always ready and anxious to learn something new.
Tomorrow she would join the women as they worked in the large garden. Last night’s light frost was a reminder that there was not much more time to store food for the long winter ahead.
Tomorrow she would help harvest crops for their winter cook pots, while Eagle Wolf would go with his warriors and hunt to provide meat.
He had lifted his nose into the wind today and told her that he could smell snow in the air. When they looked at the higher elevations of the mountain, they saw a fresh dusting of snow.
Nicole thought the snow was beautiful, but she knew that it could bring devastation to the Navaho if they were not prepared with wood at the sides of their lodges, and with food in their storage bins.
She followed Eagle Wolf as he led her down where willows grew in abundance along a gully.
“Moisture is always dripping here, leaving behind a buildup of salt crystals,” Eagle Wolf said, pointing to where long spikes of alkaline crystals hung like the icicles Nicole remembered hanging from the roof of her parents’ house on the coldest days of winter.
She drew rein as Eagle Wolf brought his horse to a halt. Then she watched while he took a small leather drawstring pouch from his saddlebag and went to where the salt crystals were hanging. With a rock, he easily knocked the salt into his bag.
“Here is all the salt you will need as you learn the art of Navaho cooking,” Eagle Wolf said, closing the drawstring pouch and returning it to his saddlebag.
Nicole felt a hot blush rise to her cheeks. “I do not even know how to boil water,” she confessed. “My mother never taught me how to cook. Both she and my father were more interested in my getting an education than spending time in the kitchen with my mother.”
“You will have a good teacher in Dancing Snow Feather,” Eagle Wolf said, going to Nicole and reaching for her reins.
He took them from her and secured them with his own on the low limb of a cottonwood tree, then lifted his arms up for her.
“Come with me,” he said thickly. “Let us go and sit beside that shallow stream over there. I will bring a blanket for us to sit upon.”
Nicole felt
deliciously warm at the mere touch of this man’s hands as he helped her from her horse. They had not made love yet and she felt embarrassed that she wanted to so badly. She could almost burst from the need that overwhelmed her when she was with Eagle Wolf.
As he held her in his arms now, their lips so close, Nicole felt dizzy from a hunger she had not known of until she met Eagle Wolf.
“I need you,” Eagle Wolf whispered against her lips. “You need me. I can feel it in the way your body quivers and strains against mine. Now is the time, my woman. Now. I want to make love with you.”
“And I want to make love with you, too,” Nicole said in a strangely husky voice.
They kissed passionately, and Nicole felt overwhelmed by the emotions that swept through her. She knew it was right for her to give herself to this man today.
Soon they would speak vows. Theirs was a love that would endure everything and would last an eternity.
Forgetting the blanket, Eagle Wolf swept Nicole fully into his arms and carried her to the soft moss that spread down the embankment, into the water.
Quickly, they undressed each other, and suddenly Nicole realized that she was nude for the first time in the presence of a man. Her cheeks flushed hot when she looked over and saw Eagle Wolf standing beautifully nude before her, everything about him so masterful.
She gasped when she saw that part of him that would soon be inside her, where no man had been before. He was very well endowed there, and she wondered how it was that he could fit inside her.
But the way she was throbbing, she knew it was meant for them to come together as men and women had done from the beginning of time.
She would not allow herself to be afraid of this first time, for she knew the gentle side of this man. She knew that he would treat her with tenderness as he entered her. She would learn from him the wonders of lovemaking.
He wrapped his arms around her and with his body urged her down onto the moss, which felt so soft and wonderful against her back.
He swept his body over hers, and with a knee gently parted her legs so that he could enter her without having to shove so hard.
Savage Dawn Page 16
