Wind Rider rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Nothing had turned out as he meant it to. Instead of punishing Hannah as he’d
intended, he’d ended up giving her pleasure
and receiving pleasure in return. He wanted
to believe Hannah, but Red Cloud had had no
reason to lie about her eagerness to leave him. Spotted Doe was another story entirely. Wind
Rider knew that his second wife was jealous
of Hannah, and lying would have come easily
to her.
“Wind Rider.” The words whispered past her
lips on a breathless sigh.
He turned to look at her. Her face was
flushed, her eyes a luminous green, and her lips were swollen from his kisses. He thought
her the most beautiful woman he had ever
seen. “What is it, Little Sparrow?”
“I don’t want to return to Mr. Harley. Will
you take me with you?”
“Will you return with me to Red Cloud’s
village?”
“You want to go back?”
“I don’t know.”
“No,” she said slowly. “I don’t want you to
return to the Indian way of life and I won’t
go with you.” They were the most difficult
words she’d ever uttered. “I’m afraid. I don’t
want you to die, and that’s what will happen
if you return to Red Cloud’s village. You’ll go
on the warpath again, and maybe the next time
you won’t return. Please, Wind Rider, don’t go
back.”
“Would you prefer to return to Mr. Harley?”
“I’ll be free in less than seven years. And
maybe,” she said hopefully, “he’d be will
ing to sell my indenture and I’d be free
sooner.”
“I have no money.”
“You can work. It’s the way of society. Men
work and earn money.”
“So I can buy your indenture?”
She stared at him. “I didn’t say that. I’ll go
away with you, anywhere you say, but not back
to Red Cloud. You don’t belong there. You’re white, not Indian.”
He turned toward her, placing a finger
beneath her chin and tilting it upward. “Look at me. I don’t know if it’s possible to live my life as a white man. I’m twenty-five years old.
I’m so thoroughly Indian, my own culture is strange to me. I can just barely remember my
own mother and father.”
“Your sister returned,” she reminded him.
“Not without a fight.” Wind Rider smiled in recollection. “She fought Zach every step of the way. She left him on more than one occasion to return to White Feather and the People.”
“I’d like to meet her,” Hannah said wistfully.
“Perhaps one day you will.”
“Do you believe me when I say that I didn’t tell Trent that you raped and abused me?”
“Perhaps,” he allowed. “You call him Trent. I didn’t know you were on such intimate terms
with him.” He scowled, remembering how he
had seen them speaking together, heads bent
toward one another, almost like lovers. “Have
you lain with him?”
Hannah gasped. “Wind Rider! I would never
do such a thing and you know it.” She turned away, disappointment bitter on her tongue.
“No, don’t turn away.” He grabbed her
roughly and pulled her back to face him.
She felt his heat press against her, breast to
breast, thigh to thigh, and knew he wanted her again. His sex was hard, heavy, probing into the softness between her legs. He lowered his head, finding her mouth, his own mouth open
and wet. He kissed her hard, bruising her lips. Hannah whimpered, feeling his urgency, his need, his confusion, his utter desperation. His
life was changing and he didn’t want to accept
it. Nothing would ever be the same for him, and
her heart went out to him.
“I want you, Hannah. I’ll never stop wanting
you. You have bewitched me.” A shudder swept
through him.
A scant moment later he was driving himself
into her. She gasped, trying to adjust to his hard, quick strokes as he slid into her and
pumped violently. She could not bear it. She
clasped him tightly around the neck and moved
against him. It was too wild to last long, too
sweet to prolong. The moment he heard her
cry out and felt her contract around him, he shouted and spilled himself into her.
“Yes,” he said, the moment his breathing
slowed to a steady pounding.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll take you with me. We’ll go where no
one knows us. I’ll even find work and try to get
along with the white eyes.”
Hannah couldn’t recall when she’d felt such
incredible joy.
“You won’t be sorry, Wind
Rider. Ill be a good wife to you. But we
must hurry; Trent is escorting me to Denver
tomorrow.”
“There is still time. It’s best to leave in the
dead of night, while the fort is sleeping. That’s still several hours away. Sleep, Little Sparrow.
I will awaken you when it is time.”
Trusting Wind Rider completely, Hannah fell
into an exhausted sleep. Then the unthinkable
happened. Tired from his long ride to the
fort and his vigorous lovemaking, Wind Rider
slipped into a deep slumber. He didn’t awaken until he heard pounding on the front door, and he realized it was full daylight.
Through a mist of sleep, Wind Rider heard the commotion at the door and jerked awake, hor
rified to see daylight streaming through the
window. He groaned in dismay and jumped
out of bed. Hannah awoke nearly at the same
time.
“Oh, my God, what happened? It’s daylight.”
She leaped from bed, too distraught to care
that she was naked. When she turned to Wind
Rider she saw that he was already struggling
into his clothes.
“I do not know how it happened,” Wind Rider gritted out harshly.
“Hannah, are you in there? Answer me, please. We leave in fifteen minutes.”
“It’s Trent! How could we have overslept?
What should I do?”
The lieutenant’s voice carried easily through
the small house. “Hannah! Are you there?” The
doorknob rattled.
“Answer him!” Wind Rider whispered harsh
ly. “Tell him you overslept, but that you’ll be
ready in time.”
Suddenly realizing that she stood as naked as the day she was born, Hannah grabbed a blan
ket from the bed, wrapped it around herself, and
approached the front door. “I’m awake, Trent. I overslept, but I’ll be ready in fifteen minutes.”
“Are you all right, Hannah? Your voice sounds funny.”
”I—I’m fine, just groggy from sleep.”
“We’ll be waiting for you in front of head
quarters. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
When his footsteps faded away Hannah returned to Wind Rider, who was fully dressed
now and had one leg through the back win
dow. “It will only take me a few minutes to
dress; then we can leave together through the
window.”
Wind Rider sent her a bleak look. “That’s no longer possible, Little Sparrow. It’s daylight.
You will be seen leaving. There is no way now
that we can leave together.”
Hannah stared at him. “You want me to go with Trent and the patrol?” A shudder swept through her. “How can you leave me behind after last night? I can’t go back to Mr. Harley.”
Grasping her shoulders, Wind Rider pulled her against him and kissed her hard. “Be rea
sonable. We can’t leave together, not now. You
have to go with the blue coats. I will follow
and strike when they least expect it. It will take many days to reach Denver. Be prepared at all
times, for I will be following behind you.”
“I’m afraid. What if they see you?”
He gave her a cocky grin. “Have you forgot
ten that I was raised by Indians? They taught
me well.”
Before she could offer further protest Wind
Rider kissed her again and slipped through the window. He walked nonchalantly to the place
where he had left his horse, and by the time
Hannah stepped from the house to join Lieu
tenant Gilmore, he was lounging in the shad
owed doorway of a building only a few feet
away—close enough to hear what was being
said.
“There you are,” Gilmore greeted her cheeri
ly. “You look flushed; I hope I didn’t rush you too much. I’d hoped to get an early start.”
Hannah shook her head in a negative motion.
I’m fine. I’m sorry I overslept. How long will it
take to reach Denver?”
“I thought you’d be more comfortable riding at a leisurely pace in a wagon, and that will stretch our time to at least ten days.”
Since she was a poor rider, Hannah thought his reasoning sensible. And if they didn’t ride
too fast, she thought Wind Rider would have
less difficulty following them.
“I haven’t told you my good news yet,”
Gilmore said, beaming. “I hope you’ll be as
pleased by my surprise as I am.”
“Surprise?” Hannah had a sneaking suspi
cion she wasn’t going to like his “surprise.”
He placed an arm around her shoulders,
giving her an intimate hug. Hannah stiffened but said nothing.
“You’ve probably wondered why you’ve re
mained at Fort Laramie so long instead of
being taken to Denver immediately.” Hannah
stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
She had been curious, but had assumed it
had something to do with an escort not being
available. “It’s taken this long for me to get
myself transferred to the Colorado militia in
Denver. The captain just received word that
my request for transfer has been granted. And
I hope a promotion will follow. Do you know
what that means, Hannah? It means I’ll be able to keep an eye on you. With me near
by, Mr. Harley will be less likely to mistreat
you. And maybe,” he hinted, “with enough
pressure, hell sell your indenture. We’ll deal well together, Hannah; you need someone to
protect you.”
He hugged her closer, ignoring the men who
were staring at them. Hannah felt heat rise to
her cheeks. Why was Trent doing this? What
did he want from her? His brazen behavior confused and humiliated her. Did he think she
was a whore? Did he think less of her because
she had been Wind Rider’s woman? What role
did he expect her to play in his life? She tried to pull away; the greedy look in his eyes sent
chills down her spine.
“It’s a long way to Denver,” he murmured, for her ears alone. “We can get to know one
another better.” He placed his hands around
her waist to lift her onto the wagon seat.
Wind Rider’s teeth were clenched so tight
ly, he felt the pain clear up to his temples.
When the lieutenant placed his arm around
Hannah’s shoulders he wanted to leap the dis
tance between them and tear him away. And
when the lieutenant’s hands circled her waist
Wind Rider pushed himself away from the door
way, his face contorted with rage. Glancing over
Gilmore’s shoulder, Hannah saw Wind Rider
moving resolutely toward her, and she gasped out his name. If there had been anything she
could have done to stop him, she would have done it, but he didn’t even glance at her. His
furious silver gaze was focused entirely on the
hapless lieutenant.
“Wind Rider, no!”
Gilmore heard Hannah, and his hands
dropped from her waist. He whirled to confront the enraged man storming toward him, his hand on his weapon. Wind Rider recog
nized the rashness of his act, but by then it
was too late. He didn’t stop until they stood
toe to toe. His eyes were hard, unpredictable,
dangerous.
“Take your hands off my woman.” The quiet
menace in his voice was unmistakable.
Gilmore stared at him, astounded. “Wind Rid
er? You’re Wind Rider, the Indian who raped
Miss McLin? Damn! You’re not even an Indian!
If you’re not full-blooded white I’ll resign my
commission.” He slanted an accusatory glance
at Hannah. “Why didn’t you tell me Wind Rider
was a white Indian?”
Hannah’s lips trembled. Wind Rider had gone
and done it now. Though he was white, they
would still call him a savage and treat him
accordingly. ”I-I didn’t think it was impor
tant,” she stammered. “Besides, Wind Rider
didn’t...”