Wild Thunder (23 page)

Bending over her, his tongue found her breasts again. He licked first one and then the other, smiling to himself when he heard her soft moan of pleasure.

He made a wet path downward, then changed his positions, so that he was kneeling between her legs as he spread them wide on both sides of him.

“There are many ways to make love,” he said as he looked heavy-lashed up at her.

When she reached her hands to his cheeks and smiled, he gazed at her a moment longer, then knelt down, low over her, and ran his fingers through the cloud of shadowed hair between her legs, parting it, so that the whole of her womanhood was revealed to his feasting eyes.

The moon lay its silver light where he gazed so intensely. He flicked a finger over her swollen point of desire, then bent and swept his tongue over it, drawing a guttural, pleasurable sigh from deep within her.

Strong Wolf loved Hannah long and leisurely in this way, his lips soft and gentle as he brought her closer and closer to the brink of total pleasure.

Then he leaned away from her and gazed at her, his own need pulsing and painful as he took one last look at her before taking from her the ultimate of ecstasy.

Her golden hair was disarrayed around her smooth and creamy shoulders.

Her hips curved up voluptuously.

Her breasts were heaving in her excitement of the moment, their nipples a dark pink, taut and erect.

Strong Wolf ran his hands over Hannah. Her skin was warm, smooth, and a little moist. He kneaded her breasts. She whimpered tiny cries when his lips sank over one of the nipples as he rose over her.

Her hand reached out and enfolded his manhood within her fingers. He gasped with pleasure and closed his eyes when she ran her fingers slowly up and down his velvety, tight heat.

His buttocks tightened and the muscles of his legs corded when she led him to the valley of her desire, then dropped her hand away from him.

In one maddening thrust he was inside her again. Over and over again he plunged into her. He kissed her as their bodies strained together hungrily.

The sensations searing, Hannah's body hardened and tightened as she absorbed the bold thrusts within her. Then she felt the bliss spreading, euphoric in its sweetness. She clung to him and moaned against his lips, throwing her head back in ecstasy as he moved his mouth to a breast and swept the nipple between his teeth, groaning out his own fulfilled pleasure against it.

Afterward they rolled away from each other and lay on the sand, their eyes watching the play of the stars in the heavens, twinkling as though they might be tiny lanterns.

“I didn't think I would ever get to be with you again in this way,” Hannah said, turning on her side to face Strong Wolf. “These past few days made me aware of how quickly one's life can change. Let us take advantage of every moment, Strong Wolf, for who knows what tomorrow might bring.”

“Yes, sometimes life can be cruel, even to those who deserve the best of everything,” he said. He sighed deeply when she reached a hand over and caressed his belly, just above his dark vee of hair, where lay his spent manhood.

She crept her fingers upward and ran them over the smoothness of his hairless chest. She leaned up over him and flicked her tongue over one of his nipples.

And then she ran her fingers down his body, and then her tongue. She moved to her knees and leaned over him. She kissed her way down his body, where her fingers had just traveled. She teased and stroked his tender flesh with her tongue and lips. Her hands sought and found that part of him that could give her much pleasure.

She moved her mouth over him as his manhood grew in response to her caresses. Her fingers gripped him, her tongue and breath hot on his flesh.

“Hannah,” he groaned, twining his fingers through her hair, pulling her mouth closer. He closed his eyes and took from her what she gave. His head swirled with pleasure. His heart pounded.

And then she sat down over him, straddling him, as she positioned him inside her. Her hair bounced on her shoulders as he reached up inside her with his eager thrusts. He breathed hard. He gasped.

And then he spilled his seed up inside her again at the same moment she found her own release.

Laughing softly as she gazed down at Strong Wolf's flushed cheeks, Hannah fell away from him. “My, oh, my, I feel wicked tonight,” she said, pulling her hair back from her eyes. She blushed as she turned on her side to face him. “I don't know what got into me,” she murmured. “I am not one who even thinks of such things, much less does them.”

“It is the magic of the midnight hour,” Strong Wolf said. He moved on his side. He reached his arms around her and drew her against him, her breasts crushing his chest. “And the night has only just begun, my woman.”

Hannah trembled sensually when he slung one of his legs over hers, revealing to her that he was again ready to take her to paradise.

“Do I have the strength?” she whispered to him, eyes wide. “I only recently . . .”

“I shall be gentle,” Strong Wolf whispered back. “You need do nothing but lay there and let yourself float away as I again give you pleasure. My woman, it is the best way imaginable to relax. Just close your eyes. Just be aware of the sensations I arouse in you. Let them overwhelm you. Let them take you to paradise!”

“Yes, yes,” Hannah whispered as she closed her eyes and held her head back with a sigh. “I am relaxed. I am ready. Please, oh, please love me again. I want nothing now but to be with you, to know the ecstasy of being loved by you.”

His mouth covered hers with a gentle kiss, as he slowly rocked within her. He held her gently close. “Slowly,” he whispered against her lips. “I will go slowly so that you will feel the euphoria of the ecstasy that will build within you. Let it come. Enjoy it. And remember, my woman, I shall be here for you for the rest of our lives. Every night I shall love you in such a way. You shall return such love. We are meant to be together. You are my world. You are my universe!”

“As . . . you . . . are mine,” Hannah whispered, hardly recognizing her own voice in its huskiness.

She sighed and allowed the pleasure to fill her very being.

Sing, little birds, above her head,
Bloom, flowers, beneath her feet.

—A
NONYMOUS

 

 

 

Soft church music wafted through the air. Tears sprang to Hannah's eyes to know that her brother had cared enough for her happiness with Strong Wolf, that he had transported his organ to Strong Wolf's village for the wedding ceremony. It had been placed beneath the shade of a towering elm tree, where he had played his beautiful music since sunup.

“I can hardly believe it is my wedding day!”Hannah said as her mother wound flowers into the one long braid down Hannah's back. She clasped her hands together on her lap to try and stop their trembling. “Mother, thank you for being here. Without you and Father's approval of my marriage, I would have never been totally happy as Strong Wolf's wife,”

“But now?” Grace said, stepping back to admire her daughter's hair. “You are certain you will be happy?”

Hannah rose from the chair and turned to her mother. “Mother, take a look,” she said, beaming. “Don't you see how I wear my happiness on my face? I feel as though I am glowing from within. Surely you can see it!”

Tears came to Grace's eyes. “My darling,” she murmured. “I've never seen you as beautiful.”

Hannah laughed softly with a joyous bliss, then gazed down at the dress that Strong Wolf had asked her to wear on their wedding day. “This dress is Strong Wolf's mother's,” she murmured. “Before he left his home in Wisconsin, his mother gave him the dress and told him that should he find someone to marry before he saw her again, to please ask her to wear her wedding dress. His mother was very much in love with his father the day they married.”

“And what about Strong Wolf's father?” Grace asked softly.

“He died long ago, before Strong Wolf was born,” Hannah murmured. “And Strong Wolf won't talk about it. I imagine it is too painful to think about, having never known one's very own father.”

Hannah ran her hands down the front of the dress, adoring the white rabbit skin from which it had been fashioned. Around her neck she wore a necklace of shells and feathers. She wore beautiful white leggings, fringed and intricately beaded, the moccasins matching.

“Isn't all of my wedding attire beautiful?” she asked, smiling at her mother.

“Yes, quite,” Grace said, yet frowned. “But I hate to see Strong Wolf turning you into something you are not, by asking you to dress entirely in Indian fashion.”

Hannah paled and stared at her mother. “But, Mother, I will be living among his people,” she murmured. “I must not stand out like a sore thumb by wearing clothes that differ from theirs.”

Hannah ran her hand down the front of her dress again, admiring it anew as she gazed down at it. “And I truly feel special in this dress,” she said, its softness like a caress against her fingertips. “It is as though I
am
someone else.”

Hannah looked over at the bed. All across it lay an assortment of buckskin dresses. They were gifts from Strong Wolf's people during a celebration only yesterday. She had also received various cooking utensils, freshly baked bread, and assortments of jewelry, some of which she wore today.

Several days passed since she had come to Strong Wolf, exhausted from her long, weary days in the riverboat.

Being among those who were dying had made each day more precious to Hannah.

Now her brother played his organ, drums beat in a steady rhythm, and people chatted and laughed outside by the large outdoor fire; everything was perfect.

“My precious, sweet darling,” Grace said as she went and drew Hannah into her gentle embrace. “I am happy for you.”

“But not entirely, are you?” Hannah said, giving back the hug. Then she eased from her mother's arms. “I wish you could just feel half what I am feeling, then you would know that what I am doing is right.”

“Yes, I know that you feel this is right for you, or you wouldn't do it,” Grace said, swallowing hard. “But life here is different than that to which you are accustomed.”

Grace gestured with a hand as she looked around her, at the way Hannah would be living, in Strong Wolf's cabin. “This will be a miserable life for you, Hannah,” she said solemnly. “In Saint Louis you had a luxurious bed in which to sleep. You had plush carpets in which you could sink your bare toes. You had maids and servants who looked after you. You never wanted for anything. You lived in the lap of luxury. How can you possibly expect to get accustomed to . . . to . . .
this
?”

“Mother, all that you described, and all that
you
cannot live without, has nothing at all to do with
me,
” Hannah said, gently taking her mother's hands. “Yes, I loved my bedroom with its satin draperies and bedspread. It
was
wonderful to be able to curl my toes into the carpets on those long, cold days of winter. But I have never needed those things to be happy. Please remember how I sought the outdoors every chance I had. I preferred it over the richness of our house. And, Mother, you were so strict I sometimes was afraid to walk
on
that carpet, or sleep in my very own bed. If I mussed up anything, you scolded me.”

“Was I that terrible of a mother?” Grace gasped, slipping her hands from Hannah's.

“Mother, I never said you were terrible,” Hannah said, sighing heavily. “I said you were strict. And I understand. When you and Father were first married, you had nothing. And then when you
did,
you felt as though you had to protect it with your
life
. It was instilled in you from being poor so long.”

“Thank God you understand,” Grace murmured. She placed a gentle hand to Hannah's cheek. “And you understand more than I ever knew you did. I had no idea you realized the grief I experienced at the first of my marriage. At times, I wished I had . . . not . . . married your father. When I saw women with more than I, I so envied them!”

“Mother, I didn't know
that,
” Hannah uttered. “You never seemed the sort to be envious of anyone.”

“That's only because you have known me since I have had everything a woman would ever want,” Grace said. She reached for Hannah and hugged her again. “I am so glad that you did not inherit the ugly side of your mother.”

Strong Wolf came into the cabin. He stood in the shadows, watching Hannah and her mother, and listened. He smiled to himself when he heard Hannah tell her mother how she felt about living among his people and in his house. More and more he saw how he had chosen the right woman. She was at home with his people, as though she had been born into their world, blood kin to them.

“My woman, it is time for us to speak our vows,” he said, stepping out of the shadows.

Hannah paled. “Strong Wolf, it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the marriage on the wedding day,” she said, yet she could not take her eyes off him and how wonderfully handsome he was today. His hair was long and flowing down his back. His face shone with a quiet pride.

He was dressed in a fringed white doeskin outfit, colorful beads in designs of forest animals on the shirt. His moccasins were fashioned out of the same doeskin material and beads.

Their eyes locked, and Hannah then realized how foolish it was to think that seeing each other was bad luck.

Today was theirs!

“Come,” Strong Wolf said, reaching a hand out for Hannah. “Everyone waits to see my lovely woman.” As she stepped timidly toward him, his gaze swept slowly up and down her.

“Like I am sure my mother was on her wedding day in that same dress, you are a vision,” he said huskily as she went and took his hand.

He drew her into his embrace. “I never told you, did I, how beautiful my mother is?” he said, his eyes warming her insides as he smiled into them. “She is taller than most Potawatomis women. And some say her loveliness outshines the stars in the heavens.” He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “But now I would say she has keen competition in you.”

“How can you say that,” Hannah said, their eyes locking. “You know how I feel about myself. I have never seen myself as beautiful. I almost fear meeting your mother. If she is so pretty, I will feel even uglier.”

“My woman, still you have not looked long enough in a mirror, or you would see how wrong you are to say that you are not pretty,” Strong Wolf said. “You are even lovelier than my mother.”

“I certainly hope not,” Hannah said, laughing softly. “I would hate to think that your mother might resent me the moment she sees me.”

Someone clearing their throat made Hannah suddenly remember they were not alone. Blushing, Hannah turned to her mother.

“Mother, it's time,” she said, reaching a hand out for her. “I soon will become a bride! Please be happy for me! Please share my wondrous feelings!”

Grace reached for a lacy, embroidered handkerchief inside her dress pocket. She dabbed her nose and her eyes with it, then nodded. “I
am
happy for you,” she murmured. “And never doubt how beautiful you are.”

Hannah broke away from Strong Wolf and hugged her mother. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Oh, Mother, I will miss you so when you return to Saint Louis.”

“Your father and I must leave immediately after the ceremony,” Grace said. “The riverboat from Saint Louis should be arriving within the hour. We are going to travel downriver for a while before returning home. Your father and I need a vacation.”

“That's wonderful,” Hannah said. “You do need time to yourselves.”

Hannah stepped away from her mother, then went to Strong Wolf. She took his hand and smiled up at him.

They stepped aside as her mother left the cabin first, then they followed her outside.

Everyone stood with eyes wide and in awe of Hannah as she made her way toward the central, outdoor fire, where a platform had been erected beside it for her and Strong Wolf. Flowers were scattered everywhere along the ground, sending off sweet and spicy aromas.

Earlier, several warriors had killed several ducks and had planted sharp-pointed sticks in the ground around the leaping flames of the huge outdoor fire. On each stake they had fastened a duck to roast. They had buried several under the ashes to bake.

Other meat hung from spits over the fire, dripping their tantalizing juices into the flames. The smell of corn, squash, beans, and many more vegetables wafted through the air from the large pots positioned in the coals around the edge of the fire. Coffee boiled in a huge pot. Tea had been prepared, as well as honey water.

While Hannah had been walking toward the platform, she had not been able to see Chuck at the organ through the crowd, or her mother and father, who were now standing close to the platform, waiting for them.

Hannah was surprised when she saw a minister standing there holding a Bible, a wide smile on his thick-jowled face. She looked questioningly at her parents, who smiled and nodded back at her, then to Strong Wolf, seeking answers.

“Your father asked that you not only be wed in the Potawatomis tradition, but also the white man's,” Strong Wolf said, smiling down at her. “I agreed. They sent for a minister. Today there will be
two
ceremonies.”

Hannah smiled up at him. She felt doubly blessed by her God today, and Strong Wolf's Great Spirit.

Everything became quiet as Strong Wolf and Hannah stepped up to the preacher. Out of the corner of her eyes, Hannah saw Clara leading Chuck from the organ. The ceremony didn't start until they were standing there with everyone.

Then the preacher began reading scriptures from the Bible. Hannah felt all warm and wonderful inside as she listened. She could hardly believe that, at long last, everything was fitting into place so wonderfully.

However, when she glanced up at Strong Wolf, she noticed that same troubled look she had seen before in his eyes. She wondered what bothered him? What had he not told her about himself?

Would he
ever
open himself completely to her? She would relax only when she understood the self-doubt he burdened himself with.

Not wanting to allow this to spoil her special day, Hannah wrenched her eyes away from Strong Wolf and listened to the preacher. Her hand reached over to hold Strong Wolf's. She glanced up at him again quickly when she felt his hand trembling. Again she saw that haunted look in his eyes.

Suddenly nervous herself and now not so sure about what she was doing, Hannah looked away.

Strong Wolf half listened to the word of the white preacher. This was his wedding day, and he
still
had not confided in his woman his darkest secrets, which haunted him every day of his life.

He knew he should have told her before their vows of marriage, and that he would have to tell her eventually.

But he had not been able to find the courage.

He doubted now that he ever would.

He could not tell her something that might make her turn away from him with a loathing!

If he lost her, he would lose his reason for living.

When the preacher stopped and nodded at Strong Wolf, he left his fear behind and went on with the ceremony.

He turned to face Hannah and gently took her hands. “My woman, here I am in your presence. Make it so forever that only I may occupy your heart.”

Tears filled Hannah's eyes as she gazed into his. “My husband, here I am in your presence. Make it so forever that only I may occupy your heart, for mine is yours, forever and a day.”

She brushed her fears aside as he then married her in his Potawatomis fashion.