Enchanted Ecstasy (16 page)

Maleaha buried her face in her hands. "I feel so awful, I did not mean to hurt him. Oh Kane, did you see his face?" she said in a voice filled with misery.

Kane turned his back to her. "I think you had better dress yourself. It seems you and I are about to bejoined in marriage."

Maleaha gathered the buffalo robe about her and stood up. "Kane, you do not need to go through with this. I did not intend to involve you to this extent."

"You heard what Mangas said. If I do not stand up as your bridegroom tonight, he will."

Maleaha ducked her head. "I do not know what to do. I did not expect Mangas to go this far. I just wanted him to think I was your woman."

"It doesn't matter, but unless you want Mangas to return and find you still undressed, I suggest you put your clothing on."

"Little it matters now. You and Mangas have both seen too much of me tonight."

Kane smiled to himself, wondering what the Indian marriage rites would be like. He knew after tonight he wanted Maleaha for his wife, but he wanted her tied to him through a proper marriage, one that would bind her to him for the rest of their lives.

Maleaha had just finished lacing her moccasins when Mangas returned, and he was not alone. Maleaha quickly presented her aunt and uncle to Kane and explained that they did not speak or understand English. Lamas was the other member of the wedding party.

"Jonas Deveraux will not like this," Lamas said, startling Kane with his command of the English language.

"At the moment there does not seem to be much that I can do about it," Kane said, noticing that Mangas had taken Maleaha to a corner of the teepee and was talking quietly to her.

"If this is not what you want, say so now, Maleaha."

Maleaha met Mangas's dark eyes and was able to tell him truthfully that she loved Kane.

"I have loved you for a very long time, Little Flower, never knowing that I would be called on one day to give you to another."

Maleaha's eyes filled with tears. "I am so sorry, Mangas, I never meant to hurt you."

He touched her face softly. "It is a hurt that will heal, Maleaha. Feel no pity for me. It is your wedding night."

At that moment Maleaha wished with all her heart that it was the tall dark chief of the Jojoba whom she loved, because she knew that the man who had won her heart did not love her in return.

Mangas took Maleaha's hand and led her over to Kane. Maleaha caught her aunt's eye and smiled at her. Her aunt nodded her head in understanding.

Mangas looked at Kane, and there was intense dislike in the dark eyes. "Tonight, white man, you will be tied to the fairest of maidens. She is lovely for the eye to look upon, but she is so much more, she is true and loyal. Treat her with love and kindness, as she deserves."

"I am aware of her good qualities, and I will give her all that she deserves," Kane told him.

Mangas took Maleaha's hand, and then he reached for Kane's hand as well. "As chief of the Jojoba tribe, I give to you, Kane, the Princess Maleaha as your wife. You are bound by your honor to keep her from all harm, and to love her above all else." Mangas said the words in English, and then repeated them in the language of the Jojoba, for the sake of Maleaha's aunt. "I say this because I am the chief, that from this night on, Maleaha is your wife."

Maleaha tried to stop the tears from falling down her face. It was with this ceremony that her own father and mother had been joined in marriage. Her heart swelled with love for the man who was now her husband.

Mangas released Kane and Maleaha's hands, and turned to the others who had witnessed the marriage. "Let us leave them alone," he told the others, and Maleaha watched as her aunt and uncle filed out. Mangas turned to her at the entranceway, and spoke to her in the language of the Jojobas, then he ducked out the flap opening. Last of all Lamas left, giving Kane a look that plainly told him he was displeased.

Kane turned to Maleaha as he thought what a strange night this had turned out to be. He still could not believe half of what had occurred.

"What did Mangas say to you just before he left?"

Maleaha buried her face in her hands and was crying softly. "He . . .he said that he was in such pain," she sobbed. "I wish I had not hurt him so badly."

"He left you little choice," Kane said, pulling her into his arms.

Maleaha looked up into the face of her husband as she dried her tears on the back of her hand. ' 'I want to apologize to you about tonight. I feel terrible." More than anything she wanted to be his wife, but not this way, never this way.

"Why should you feel badly? In the space of one night I have gained myself a beautiful wife and made one very powerful enemy…"

"Kane, do not jest. I am serious."

"So am 1.1 may come to enjoy having you for a wife,'' he told her half joking, half serious. "Kiss me, Mrs. Benedict."

Maleaha met his lips halfway, as she felt his arms tighten about her. She put all the love she felt for Kane into her kiss, and when he raised his head his silver eyes were glazed with passion.

"How will I ever forget that I held you naked in my arms?" he whispered.

"Why would you want to forget?" Maleaha asked him as she pulled his head down to her and kissed his lips softly. She felt no shame as she had before, because he was now her husband. Perhaps he did not want her for his wife, and most probably he did not, but in her heart she was his, and always would be. Tomorrow did not matter, tonight was all that counted, she told herself.

Kane's arms tightened around her as he crushed her to him. "Are you aware of what you are doing?" he murmured against her lips.

"Yes," she answered as she began unbuttoning the brass buttons on his uniform.

' 'Maleaha, I am warning you, I may not be able to stop as I did before."

She slid her arms around his neck and laid her cheek against his. Kane pushed her away and stepped back. "Have you lost your senses? There is no longer any reason to pretend. You are safe from Mangas now."

Maleaha turned her back to him, feeling miserable. Kane was angry with her. She remembered that day by the river, when he had told her he would never marry her. Did he think she had tricked him into marriage? She wanted him to make love to her, and he must think her brazen and forward. It was just that she loved him and wanted to bind him to her. Perhaps if she allowed him to make love to her, he would want to keep her. With that thought in mind, she turned back to face him.

"I know there is no longer any reason to pretend, Kane. I was not pretending."

A smile played on his lips, and his brilliant eyes glinted like liquid silver. ' 'I don't think you have the slightest notion that you are playing with fire, Maleaha." His voice sounded amused.

"I'm not playing, Kane," she whispered, moving closer to him. The amusement on his face changed, and he lazily lowered his eyelashes. Reaching out his hand, he started to touch her cheek, then thought better of it.

Maleaha reached for his hand and laid it against her face. "I am not pretending, Kane," she said once more.

Kane watched spellbound as Maleaha bent over and removed her moccasins. She did not know what was causing her to act so boldly. Perhaps deep inside she knew this was the only night she and Kane would ever have together. Perhaps she was grateful to him for saving her from Mangas, or maybe it was because she wanted him to make love to her.

Her eyes locked with Kane's just before she lifted her gown over her head. He closed his eyes as she stood naked in front of him. When he opened his eyes, they roamed over her silky body, and against his will he stepped closer to her.

"What are you trying to do to me?" he said in a strangled voice.

She took the one step that brought them together. "I want you to make love to me, Kane,'' she whispered, surprised at her own daring.

She was trembling as he began to remove his clothing, all the while watching her. This time she did not turn her head away, but watched him boldly, thinking how magnificent his body looked. He was beautiful, she thought.

Kane must have read her thoughts, because he picked her up in his arms and laid her down on the buffalo robe and lay down beside her, then pulled her into his arms.

"You shouldn't look at a man like that, Maleaha," he murmured against her cheek.

"Why?"

He shook with mirthful laughter. Raising his head, he saw the gleam in her green eyes and caught his breath. "Because, you beautiful, desirable little savage, you have tempted me beyond endurance. This time, Maleaha, there will be more than touching and a few kisses."

"I know," she told him innocently.

"Damn you, Maleaha, how many victims do you want tonight? Was it not enough for you that you ripped Man-gas's heart to shreds?"

"What do you mean?" She whispered, not really caring, because his hands were moving over her, molding her to his hard body.

Maleaha felt his hands glide over her breasts, and she began to tremble violently. Her lips sought his, and he did not turn away, but took command of her lips and kissed her deeply.

Maleaha had never felt such deep feelings, such love, and she wondered if Kane felt the same as she did. He rolled her over on her back and stared down at her. Then his lips crushed hers in a soul-shattering kiss. She laced her fingers through his ebony-colored hair. Kane groaned and looked at her through veiled lashes.

"It's not too late to back out, Maleaha, but I warn you, in a matter of seconds I will be unable to stop myself."

Maleaha tried to speak but seemed unable to make a sound. She reached up and pulled his dark head down and parted her lips in silent invitation.

"Maleaha," he cried as he gave her the kiss she had silently begged for. Kane was mindless. Her silky skin was driving him to the edge of madness. He raised his head, breaking off the kiss.

"Darling, I will try to make it as painless as possible," he said in a voice that shook with emotion.

Kane parted her legs, and at that moment Maleaha tried to pull away from him.

"No, darling, don't pull away from me now."

His lips found hers and she moaned beneath the smooth manipulation of his hands. Kane shifted his weight, and Maleaha opened her eyes in shocked surprise as pain ripped through her body when he entered the most intimate core of her womanhood. The pain disappeared almost before it started as his body took command of hers, and Maleaha felt herself being transported to another world, a world where there was only touching, feeling, and loving, a world she had not known existed until now.

To Maleaha it seemed that her body no longer belonged to her, that it had become a possession of Kane's, to do with as he wished. She felt his lips on her breast and she groaned as still stronger, deeper feelings lifted her upward.

Kane closed his eyes, thinking that his possession of Maleaha was the single most beautiful thing that had ever happened in his whole life. He had been with too many women to even count, but they were nothing compared to Maleaha. This was love in its purest form, and his body told him he had found the other half of himself, the perfect woman for him. Never had he been lifted so high. Never had he felt such perfect fulfillment until now. Maleaha had touched his heart and changed him. His body seemed to be reborn. It was as if God had created him for this very moment. He had possessed many women, but none of them had ever possessed him, as Maleaha now did. His lips moved down her throat to find the sweetness of her breasts.

Maleaha gasped in pleasure. She was surprised and delighted that her body was giving Kane pleasure. After all, her body belonged to him as surely as her heart did. Mountains of feelings washed over her body as she groaned and turned her head from side to side. So this was what it felt like to be a woman, Kane's woman. The two of them scaled heights, locked in a fiery embrace. Kane knew just how to get her to respond to him. With a softly spoken command, or the touch of his hand, he instructed Maleaha in the art of lovemaking.

Their bodies had become wet from perspiration, and Maleaha laced her fingers through Kane's wet hair.

"Maleaha, Maleaha," he murmured over and over in her ear.

Words of love tumbled on Maleaha's tongue, but she dared not voice them. "Oh, Kane, I never knew that life could be so beautiful," she whispered.

"Yes, beautiful, beautiful, Maleaha," he murmured, half out of his mind with desire and love.

Suddenly Maleaha experienced a new feeling. It was pain and it was delight. Her hands tightened in Kane's hair, and her body shuddered, answered by Kane's body. He rolled over to relieve Maleaha of his heavy weight.

Kissing her deeply, he pulled her into his arms. "Darling, you are so perfect," he said against her ear.

Maleaha wanted to tell Kane so many things, but she suddenly felt shy, and buried her face against his shoulder.

"Well, little Indian, you taught me a few things tonight." She could feel the smile on his face as he laid his cheek next to hers. "It was good between us, Maleaha."

His lips covered hers in a kiss that seemed to burn her mouth with the heat that radiated from his. Maleaha gasped as he pulled her fully against him, and their bodies seemed to fuse together, one body, one soul, one heartbeat.