Passion's Series

by Adair, Mary

  James walked back around to face New Moon, but did not look her in the eye. His eyes were drawn to the fringe of her white doeskin dress. The breeze gently lifted the narrow strips of doe hide, into which she had braided tiny, colorful shells. They dangled down from her full bust-line and chimed softly in the breeze.

  New Moon's heart was swollen near to bursting with pride as she watched Red Panther ride up to the clearing. Never had there been a more impressive warrior in her village.

  His unusual colored hair hung in a soft, straight line from the crown of his head to rest upon the bulge of the massive muscles of his chest. She saw the twinkle in his eye when he looked at her own hair and knew he liked what he saw.

  She watched as he swung gracefully from his horse and walked up so close to her that she had to tilt her head back to look him in the face. His nearness brought her skin so to life that as the heat of his body reached out to her it felt as if he caressed her.

  She wanted to reach out and touch his arm, his face, to run her fingers through his hair. Her body ached to yank the bone vest from his chest and her own covering from hers so she could press her aching breasts against his hot skin.

  In spite of her longing, she forced herself to stand still as he walked around behind her as if looking her over in consideration of the purchase. As he came back around her his eyes caressed her.

  He flashed her the tiniest of grins and then took a quick step back and turned to Dancing Cloud; "I will buy a wife."

  A loud cheer erupted from the crowd that looked on. Dancing Cloud showed no expression as he looked to New Moon and back to Red Panther.

  "What do you offer as a bride price?"

  "This stallion, and four mares," James answered loudly so all could hear.

  The crowd mumbled among themselves. New Moon's heart beat unsteadily, and her breathing became labored. Never had a warrior or even a chief offered so much for a woman.

  Above the sound of her own heart beating in her ears, she heard the chief ask, "What if my sister does not want you?"

  New Moon looked over at her brother in surprise, not realizing or even caring that she no longer had control over her features.

  A cocky smile spread across Red Panther's face as he looked from Dancing Cloud to New Moon, where his eyes collided with and held hers. "Then I will steal her away."

  The crowd erupted again with louder shouts of encouragement from the warriors.

  "If she still will not except you?" Dancing Cloud pushed.

  James looked to the chief and frowned, "Then you may keep the bride price."

  Dancing Cloud nodded. He took New Moon by the arm and pulled her forward, "You may ask her."

  James held out a deer's foot in an open palm. New Moon looked at the foot as the moments ticked by and the crowd waited anxiously. Slowly she reached out her hand, her fingertips resting lightly on the heel of his palm. She looked up into his eyes as she slowly pulled her fingers along his palm toward the token of his promise to always provide for her. Touching the foot she picked it up and enclosed it within her own hand.

  Still she said nothing and the crowd waited. Everyone knew she would accept. No one would offer such a price without knowing first if the woman he bargained for would accept him, but still the villagers were hanging in suspense as they watched the romantic play unfold before them.

  "I will sit with you tonight, but I will not let you know my decision until later," New Moon said loudly.

  The warriors immediately turned to one another and busied themselves laying bets as to what Red Panther would do next.

  New Moon turned to walk away but a strong arm shot out to grab her about the waist and pull her up tightly. James turned to the roan, which Dancing Cloud was conveniently holding steady, and tossed her roughly across his back.

  New Moon gasped, as the air was knocked from her lungs, too stunned to struggle. The crowd forgot their betting and raised such a racket of whooping and cheering that no one could have heard if she had put up a protest.

  Red Panther swung up behind her. Pressing a big hand to her back he turned the stallion and raced toward the gate and out of the village.

  As they drew up to the boulders that sheltered their secret place he slid from the horse's back and pulled New Moon down into his arms.

  "What do you think you are doing? You are supposed to wait until I accept you!"

  "Or, I can steal you away. I choose to steal you away."

  He lowered his mouth to hers and immediately her anger disappeared. She entwined her fingers in his hair and pulled, crushing his lips tighter against her own.

  He raised his face from hers. Turning with her still in his arms, he pushed her hard against the boulder. His eyes traveled every inch of her face, with his fingers he touched her cheek, outlined her eyes, and caressed her nose before his lips claimed hers again.

  James rejoiced in his soul. The waiting was over. When next their lips parted she asked, "What about the stallion? My brother will be angry if he wanders off."

  James breathed deeply of the scent of her hair. "He knows where his mares are."

  New Moon pushed back in his arms and looked into his eyes. He could see her belief in him, in his worthiness. His time of proving himself to her was over.

  "Let me go to our secret place and prepare." Her voice carried the promise of a lifetime filled with happiness and fulfillment.

  James said nothing as he nodded and New Moon slipped between the boulders. He turned and leaned his back against the cold surface of the stone and looked up at the darkening sky. The stars were just becoming visible. Tonight their souls would soar to those stars. Tonight she would become his forever, and he knew what he'd said to Thomas would be true. She would never belong to another.

  Into the night he said, "Looks like you owe me a watch, Thomas."

  James waited until the sky was filled with twinkling sparks of light; he could wait no longer. Taking a strap from about his waist he tethered the stallion and then slipped between the boulders. He emerged on the other side where he stopped to look at New Moon's preparation for their wedding night. Not the largest bedchamber in the grandest estate would have been more perfect for their joining.

  Seven small fires, built in a semicircle about a large willow held back the darkness. The flickering light reflected off tiny shells tied into the hanging branches. Tiny turtle rattles, chimed in the gentle breeze, while bulbs and mints dangled from limbs and filled the air with their aroma.

  Beneath the chiming canopy laid a white buffalo robe. In its center knelt New Moon.

  Apart from the tiny flowers still tied in her hair, nothing adorned her body. James drank in her beauty with his eyes, wanting to see all that he would soon feel with his hands and with his body. Slowly he pulled his vest over his head and let it drop to the ground. The rest of his clothing he stripped from his body like unwanted rags.

  New Moon glanced up at him from beneath lowered lashes. Unlike her, whose body was the same warm dusty color from head to toe, his own body where his loincloth had covered it was pale and glowing in the soft light of the campfire, and his desire for her was unmistakable.

  As New Moon settled back on her heels she dropped her eyes. In uncertainty she turned her head slightly to one side.

  James was confused. He had seen her turn away a mountain cat with no more than the power of her own will. He had witnessed her determination on the warpath, had watched her hold death at bay not once, but twice. When held captive, she took abuse that would have killed any other woman, yet now she looked away.

  He knew he was not mistaken in the interpretation of her response to his caresses, and knew the passion in which she faced all of life was there in her need for him as well. Yet now she dropped her head and trembled in uncertainty.

  He covered the space between them with long strides and dropped to his knees before her. Reaching out to place a finger beneath her chin he tilted her face up. He studied the black, moist eyes.

  "Why do you tremble so,
Little Wa-sa? I know you are as ready for this as I am." He raised his other arm and with a sweeping motion indicated all that was around them, "The spirits bless our union."

  New Moon tried to drop her face but he held her chin tight between his finger and thumb.

  "You are different from my people." The vision of a beautiful white woman held in the arms of her beloved floated before her. "A woman of the Ani Yunwiya is taught from childhood how to be a wife and to please her warrior, but I have always been teased that my spirit is too strong to be pleasing, and much too defiant."

  Panther would have none of her self-pity. "But I am drawn by your strength and find your defiance a challenge."

  "Yes. I know. But I am very different from the women of your people. In your world a woman belongs to her husband. It is not so among The People. I will never belong to you in the way you want. Some day you will miss the life you used to have. You will go back, and find a white woman that is all that your people love in a woman. You..."

  James put a finger to her lips, "I do not know where all this foolishness came from, but let me tell you now, and never question my love for you again. You say that you do not belong to me, but you do. You belong to me the same as these marks on my chest, the same as the heart that beats beneath them. You are mine, and I am yours. Igo hi dv, forever. Nothing in this life or in the one after will ever change that. Some day you will know this as I do."

  He took her small hand in his larger one and turned it over. He unclenched her finger and raised her palm to his lips. He kissed her palm and then laid a trail of warm kisses to her wrist and up to the bend of her elbow, drawing her up.

  He wrapped her arm about his neck as he slid his other arm about her waist and pulled her close against him. Lowering his hands to her hips he pulled her closer still.

  An odd little whimpering sound escaped from between her lips and he felt the vibration clear to his heart. He was intensely aware of her soft curves pressed against his hardness, of the scent of her flesh, the beat of her heart against his chest.

  His blood raced. Between clenched teeth, his lips close to hers, he half groaned half whispered, "I have claimed you, woman. You are mine!" He crushed his lips to hers in a kiss that left no doubt in either of their minds.

  Beneath the stars and the gently swaying limbs of the old willow, they made love, the giving and taking of one another that sealed their souls and their bodies.

  As sounds of their lovemaking mingled with the sounds of tiny shells blowing in the breeze and the night sounds of nature, the spirits looked on and were pleased. The journey had begun.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  DuPrey looked up from the embers of his dying fire. Across the room from where he sat cross-legged, Laughing Woman stretched sensuously on the bed of fur, and looked longingly in his direction.

  He would bed her tonight and every time he would drive into her he would think of New Moon. He waited two days at the place where Winds Blowing was to meet him with New Moon.

  Two days he'd spent in anticipation of just how he would save New Moon from her captor. How he would send an arrow straight through the villain's heart. He would scalp him in seemingly great rage for what he had done to New Moon and her people during the renegade raids. Two days of thinking about how she would spread her legs for him; or if she wouldn't willingly, the pleasures he would have in convincing her.

  DuPrey rose angrily to his feet and tossed his tin cup to the side. The damned bastard betrayed him. The unreliable savage was probably humping New Moon himself right now! He walked over to Laughing Woman and looked down at her as he pulled off his clothing.

  She looked at his still flaccid member and dread fluttered across her features. DuPrey smiled as her apparent distress illustrated the first faint twitch of anticipation in his otherwise dead sex organ. He kicked at her feet and she spread her legs obediently. He knelt down and placed a hand to each side of her head.

  "Are you just going to lay there?" he hissed and slapped her hard.

  "Touch me, you bitch!" He hit her again, harder this time and her temper flared.

  Laughing Woman doubled up her fist and hit him in the stomach as hard as she could. He didn't flinch. She struggled frantically to work free, but her efforts were of no avail.

  Eyes bulged and saliva dripped as he laughed at her struggles. With little effort he caught her wrists and leaned down to her ear to coo in an almost gentle voice, "That's better. Fight me! I like that."

  ***

  The day was warm for early fall. The air filled with the smells of roasting meat and tanning hides. New Moon and Sparrow pulled the rawhide straps stretching the deer hide tightly in place on the standing frame.

  New Moon straightened and wiped her wrist across her damp forehead. She had much to do before Panther returned from the hunt and even more to do after. He already provided their lodge with plenty of meat and hides for the long winter months. Now he hunted for Akachee.

  She looked over at Akachee who worked diligently at scraping a hide free of meat. New Moon knew that Akachee resented her, wanting Panther to take her back to her own village where he could marry a Choctaw woman, but Akachee wasn't letting her resentment keep her from working.

  Sparrow tied off her rope and ran over to Akachee. "Tell me a story, Akachee, please."

  Akachee gave the child a toothless grin and patted her cheek. New Moon knew that before long children would surround the old woman. She smiled. Akachee loved the children. It did not matter to her that the little ones were Cherokee.

  New Moon walked to the next hide and tested it with her fingers. It was ready to be brain-tanned. As she turned to check on the cooling brain mixture she spotted DuPrey and Blue Feathers from the next village walking in her direction. She raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun and watched them approach.

  "Ah, New Moon," the Frenchman sighed and reached out to take her hand. "It is good to see you well and looking so happy. You have been through much hard times."

  New Moon withdrew her hand and looked uncomfortably at Blue Feathers and then again to DuPrey. His habit of always taking up her hand unnerved her. As he had explained to her once it was the way a gentleman from his country showed respect to a woman he held in high regard, she accepted.

  DuPrey always showed respect for Cherokee customs and so she tried to keep her uneasiness about this unusual custom of touch to herself. Yet, now that she was married, it made her uneasier than ever. She instinctively knew Panther would not approve.

  She ran the back of her hand down the side of her buckskin skirt in an unconscious gesture. "I must continue with my work." Turning she bent down to dip a wooden scoop into the brain mixture. When she turned back around the expression on DuPrey's face sparked a quickening in her senses.

  Danger.

  The slight tremor in her hand stopped and her back stiffened. She would face the danger he posed and she would overcome it. Stepping up to the stretched hide she slowly poured the mixture along the top edge and worked it in with her fingers.

  DuPrey eagerly reached out a hand to the wet hide, "Here, let me help you," he offered as his hand slid over hers.

  New Moon hastily removed her own hand and smiled sweetly. "Thank you. I always hate putting my hands into this." She grinned even bigger when she saw frustration flicker in his eyes.

  After several minutes of working the skin DuPrey helped to cut it loose and then fold it into a large bucket of water to soak. "There," DuPrey straightened and wiped his wet hands on his buckskins. "Now that that's done, why don't we go rest under the shade over there and have a talk?"

  "I do not have time to stop. See?" New Moon pointed to a large basket of corn needing to be shucked.

  DuPrey turned to Blue Feathers and waved his hand toward the basket. "Well, pick it up, Blue, and take it to the shade over there." He turned back to New Moon. "It looks like we will get to sit under that shade tree after all."

  Sparrow and Akachee watched with great interest as the large Indian ret
rieved the basket and carried it to the spot DuPrey indicated and sat it down. New Moon appeared to be unconcerned as she walked over and sat down beside the basket.

  Sparrow leaned over to Akachee, "I don't like that white man."

  Akachee looked down at Sparrow and then back to DuPrey. "Nether do I. I think it is best that you stay away from him."

  "I think New Moon should stay away from him," Sparrow quipped. "Why is he here?"

  "I do not know, little one, but I will tell Panther about his visit."

  "Good!" Sparrow said in relief. "Panther will make him stay away."

  Later when the two visitors went to the visitor's lodge Sparrow followed. Hiding behind the low built structure Sparrow spotted a small crack between the cane where the mud mortar had come loose and fallen out. Moving as quietly as she could she crawled up to the crack and pressed her ear up close.

  "My contact was right, that bastard is an English agent." The Frenchman's hands fisted and flexed at his side as he paced back and forth. "I'm convinced New Moon knows nothing, all the better for her. By God I'll get rid of that English scum, and the sooner the better!"

  Sparrow turned her head to look through the hole. DuPrey paced angrily while Blue Feathers stood tall and stiff to one side.

  "We must devise a plan. By marrying New Moon he placed himself in too high a position in the tribe to just kill him out right."

  "It is too bad that you did not marry her yourself. Then you would have come to live in this village and would have blessed its people with your great knowledge and love for the Principal People." DuPrey did not notice the sneer in Feather's voice.

  "That plan is still a good one, but things are a bit more complicated now. We must get the Englishman out of Chota. We will kill him and blame the renegades."

  "Is this not how New Moon's first husband died?"

  DuPrey paced past Blue Feathers without responding.

  "I have a plan," Blue Feathers spoke up and DuPrey turned anxiously.