His hand came up and sifted through her
hair, then tightened reflexively, grasping the
lustrous strands and pulling her head back so
he could stare down into her face. She saw
uncertainty in his eyes, and something else,
something deep and disturbing. What would it take to convince him that she loved him?
The hard lines of Ryder’s face did not soften as he gazed into Hannah’s eyes. Could he
trust her? Did he want to fall under her spell
again? It would be so easy
...
so damn easy.
He didn’t want to go through life never know
ing who or what he was or where he belonged.
He wanted to be loved. He wanted a home
and children. Was that asking too much from
life? Since he’d met Hannah his life had been
nothing but confusion and upheaval. If he was
smart, he’d steer clear of Denver and say to hell
with his promise to become an Indian agent. If he was wise, he’d remain with the People and
champion their cause, as he had done in the
past. But since meeting Hannah things were no
longer clear in his mind. His life and thinking
had changed in subtle ways.
Ryder hesitated, then slowly slanted his
mouth down over hers. His lips were hard, but under the hardness Hannah felt the underlying
warmth and rejoiced. Parting her lips beneath
his, she eagerly accepted the stabbing heat of
his tongue as she slid her arms around his neck.
She tasted the maleness of him, experienced
the strength of his corded muscles as his arms
tightened around her, and felt the hardness
of his erection, pressing against her softness. When her hands slid over his ribs he groaned and flinched, unable to conceal his pain.
“Ryder, oh, Ryder. You’re still not healed. You should allow yourself more time to rest before . .. before we . . “ Her words belied her
feelings. This was what she had yearned for,
dreamed about, wanted .. . needed.
“You have strong medicine, Little Sparrow,”
Ryder moaned against her mouth. He released her lips to press kisses along her jaw and down
her throat to her shoulders. “Wanting you is a
sickness inside me. Heal my pain with the heat
of your sweet body,” He shoved her chemise
down her arms and filled his hands with her breasts, recalling how scrawny she had been
the first time he’d seen her and thinking that
she was now as voluptuous as any woman he’d ever seen. Her breasts were even larger than he
remembered.
“You are more beautiful than I remember.”
His hands found her swollen nipples, lifting
them to his mouth, tasting, licking, pebbling
the crests to hard, throbbing peaks. When he
suckled them like an infant the pleasure was
so great, Hannah cried out.
His hands traveled the length of her body,
stroking her buttocks, molding her tightly
against him. When her chemise proved too
much of a barrier between them he stripped
it over her head and tossed it aside. Then he
kissed her again. She kissed him back, probing his mouth with the hot tip of her tongue, her
hands roaming freely over his chest, testing the
sinew and muscles, needing desperately to feel the hot thrust of his body inside her. Growing
bolder, her hands roamed lower, to the rawhide
string of his breechclout. With a flick of the wrist she released it, glorying in the size and
strength of his desire for her.
“Ryder.”
At the sound of his name he laid her back
against the sleeping mat, gazing deeply into her eyes. “Tomorrow I may regret this, but tonight
you are mine.”
“You will never regret loving me, Ryder. I won’t let you. Love me now. I need to feel you inside me.”
Ryder cupped her face in his hands, then
kissed her long and deep. This time his lips
were soft and supple, all traces of anger gone
as he settled himself in the cradle of her thighs.
Hannah spread her legs wider and reached for
him, her fingers closing around his thick shaft.
Undulating currents shuddered through Ryder,
her touch more jolting than a bolt of light-
ning. When Hannah tried to guide him inside
her he pushed her hands aside and seared her mouth with his kisses, leaving her weak and trembling.
“Ryder, please!’
Breaking off the kiss, Ryder sent her a sar
donic look and slid down the length of her
body, spreading nipping kisses along the way.
Hannah moaned and dug her fingers into his shoulders. His lips and hands left a trail of fire
that led directly to the juncture of her thighs.
He looked deeply into her eyes, then lowered his
head, at the same time sliding his hands beneath
her and raising her buttocks up to meet his
mouth. Hannah screamed as the torrid heat of
his mouth found that throbbing place between her legs that begged for his attention.
Rapture shuddered through her in bright
waves as she laced her fingers in his hair and
held him tightly against her. Her heart pounded
wildly; his mouth tormented her, his tongue drove her into a frenzy as it probed and teased.
She felt his fingers ease inside her and she
jerked violently. Then she exploded, bucking,
arching against him until the last tremor left
her body. When she opened her eyes she found
him staring at her.
“What-what is wrong?”
“You have put on weight. I do not remem
ber your breasts so heavy,” His gaze slid down
to her stomach; then he placed a large hand
over the slight rise that hadn’t been there three months ago.
Hannah flushed. “I am eating well. Would
you prefer me the way I looked when you first
saw me?”
Ryder grinned. “You looked like a little brown sparrow. I thought you were quite plain. But
even then my mind must have known you
were the little bird from my vision. I prefer
you plump, unless you get too fat.”
Hannah opened her mouth, then clamped it
shut. She was bound to get fatter, but only temporarily. Before she could form an answer
that would satisfy Ryder, he placed his hands
around her waist and lifted her astride him.
“Ride me, Little Sparrow. Take me into your
body.”
Taking him in her hand, she lifted slight
ly and then impaled herself. Ryder shuddered and sighed as he pushed deeply inside her. He
felt her stretch and squeeze around him, felt
the heat of her, and struggled to keep from
climaxing.
“It’s too soon, too soon,” he groaned as he
went still beneath her. “Bend down so I can
taste you.”
Hannah leaned over, offering him her breasts.
Greedily he accepted her offering, suckling her until she could no longer remain motionless. When she began to move slowly up and down,
Ryder encouraged her by grasping her buttocks
and guiding her rhythm. Soon his rigid staff was
thrusting in and out, plunging into her until the
blood in her veins thickened and congealed. She
was writhing against him, moaning, clutching
his shoulders while he gripped her buttocks with almost bruising force, pounding into her
again and again.
In minutes she was reaching for the stars,
soaring to a greater height than she’d ever attained. Then she was careening into space,
watching the stars explode as she dissolved into
shimmering rapture.
Ryder pumped into her furiously, spilling his
seed in a great gush of wet heat as he plunged over the edge.
Hannah felt like crying but resisted the urge. Surely Ryder couldn’t make love to her with such fire if he didn’t love her, could he? She
prayed that she hadn’t killed his love. Would he
welcome their child? Unable to cope with the
terrifying thoughts whirling inside her head,
Hannah escaped into the sheltering arms of
slumber.
“Wake up!” His voice was harsh, harsher than
she’d ever heard it before.
His fierce growl nudged Hannah from a
sound sleep. She opened her eyes slowly, turn
ing her head to escape the slice of sunlight
stabbing against her eyes. Was it morning
already? It seemed only moments ago that
Ryder was making love to her. After the first time he had awakened her twice more to make love to her. Gray dawn had arrived before he’d
been sated.
“Ryder, what is...” Her words came to an
abrupt halt as the mist before her eyes cleared and she saw Ryder glaring down at her, his
silver eyes as cold as ice. Even his stance was
menacing as he frowned down at her. What
had she done now? Then she saw that he
held something in his hands and her brow
furrowed.
“What are you holding?”
Ryder extended a scrap of cloth, dangling it
between his fingers as if it were a snake. “Do you recognize this?”
She saw now that it was a breechclout. Was
there something about the breechclout that
made Ryder angry? “It’s a breechclout. Is there
something special about it?”
“It is not mine. Who does it belong to? It was lying beside your sleeping mat. Which of my
friends have you taken as a lover?”
“What!” Hannah couldn’t believe her ears.
“Damn you, Ryder, your false accusations are driving me mad. It was bad enough when you
accused me of taking Trent as a lover, but this
is ridiculous. You’ve no need to be jealous.” Hannah hoped she sounded believable, for if she told Ryder that the breechclout belonged to Cut Nose, there would surely be a fight, and
Ryder was still in no shape to defend himself
properly.
Ryder’s face darkened. “Jealous? I am not
jealous.” The words stuck in his throat. He
knew he was acting like a fool, but he couldn’t
help it. The thought of another man touching Hannah made his blood boil. “I want to know
who the breechclout belongs to and why it was
lying beside your sleeping mat.”
“I don’t know. Why are you being so unrea
sonable?” She threw off the blanket that Ryder
had placed over her during the night and rose
to her feet. Her body was rosy and flushed
from sleep and Ryder’s mouth went dry.
“Is it unreasonable to want to know why an article of man’s clothing was found in my wife’s
sleeping mat?”
Hannah licked her suddenly dry lips, recalling
with vivid clarity how Cut Nose had whipped off the breechclout when he’d tried to rape her. “Perhaps it was left here by mistake.”
“And perhaps it wasn’t.” Abruptly he whirled
on his heel.
“Where are you going?”
“I can tell by your eyes that you’re lying. I’m
going to find out who left his breechclout in
your lodge and why.”
“Ryder, wait!”
Her plea had little impact upon Ryder as he
threw aside the flap and stepped out into the sunshine. Something just didn’t ring true. After
last night he could no longer doubt that Hannah
loved him. In his heart he’d known she’d told
him the truth about Gilmore, and when he
awakened this morning he had intended to
tell her what was in his heart, to admit that he
trusted her, that he realized she had sacrificed
herself for him. Until he had found the breech
clout. But he wasn’t satisfied with her answers
to his pointed questions, nor the evasive way her eyes refused to meet his.
Hannah dressed quickly. She had to head off
Ryder before he learned that Cut Nose had
barged into her lodge last night and tried to
assault her. She had no idea how Indians chal
lenged one another, but she knew that Ryder
was still too weak to fight. Despite his passion
last night he had winced and groaned more than once when she’d touched him in a ten
der spot.
Hannah hurried outside, thought briefly
about starting their morning meal, but decided to go after Ryder instead. Eating could come later. She found him talking to Coyote outside his lodge. She was glad to see that Coyote had recuperated from his wounds, though you’d
never know it from the way Summer Moon
hovered over him. Then, from the corner of
her eye, Hannah saw Cut Nose heading direct
ly toward Ryder. She started running but was
too late to head him off. They arrived at the same time.
“Welcome home, Wind Rider.” Though Cut
Nose addressed Ryder, his eyes lingered on
Hannah. “I wondered when you were coming
to join your woman.”