STORY EXCERPT

“Where’s my horse?” She turned a surprised look on him.

“I didn’t know for sure you could ride,” he said, but he couldn’t look her in the eyes because the real reason he decided against the horse would shock her. “You’ll ride with me.”

She swiftly shot a glance at Gus, who leaned on the saddle horn and watched them. “I can’t. It wouldn’t be decent.”

“That’s how you got here,” John said with more heat than he intended. He hadn’t expected her to argue. For all her days of wandering among the tribe and wearing Indian dress, she was not an Indian.

“Well, that is not how I will go back. I was sick and unconscious when you brought me. I am not now.”

John stared at her. The woman had spunk and a strong will. “Go get the damn horse,” he barked out at Gus.

Grinning, Gus rode to the side of the house and brought back Pavati’s horse. He hadn’t taken the horse back to the corral, the bastard. He’d known Maire wouldn’t ride with John.

Gus led the animal to the bench where John had seen them sitting each day. Maire climbed up and used the height to mount. Adjusting her dress as well as she could around her legs, she accepted the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders and across her waist.

“Thank you, Gus.” She took the reins.

“You’re welcome, Maire. All settled?”

“Yes, I think so.” She faced John. “And thank you, Mr. Eagle, for the blanket. I’m prepared to go now.”

“It’s too cold for you to ride like that.”

“It’s too cold for us to waste time out here arguing.”

“Goddamn women,” he muttered. He took the lead, trotting off the mesa and then breaking into a gallop on the flatland, hoping his anger would be eaten with the miles. Trouble was, he didn’t know why he was so mad. Was it because Gus understood Maire well enough to know she wouldn’t share John’s horse? And why wouldn’t she? Because he was Indian, and therefore not worthy of intimate contact? Instinctively, he knew that wasn’t the case, but anger and—he had to admit it—desire was blinding. Maybe he was pissed over something as simple as a name. She called him Mr. Eagle while she used Gus’s Christian name.

As the horse stretched full-out, he looked back. Gus brought up the rear. Maire, sandwiched between them, was keeping up, though a short distance back.

Looking up, he was not at all surprised to see an eagle flying in expanding circles over them. For a moment, he felt himself flying and looking down on the three riders. With a sharpened gaze, he focused on Maire, really focused on her. She was his prey, his object of desire. And he would have her.

* * * *

Everyone in the camp came out to see Maire’s return. Hannah, her tent mate and first friend in camp, wrapped her in a hug when Maire practically fell from the horse. John Eagle had kept them at a gallop almost the whole way, and between the pace, and the cold, Maire wasn’t sure she could feel her legs. She leaned on Hannah more than hugged her back.

“We were all so worried about you,” Hannah said. She looked carefully at Gus and then John Eagle. “But I see you had a good escort home.”

Will Bryant, the senior ethnologist in the camp, came forward and shook her hand. “Welcome back. But you must be frozen.” He also gave John and Gus a look, but not a friendly one. “Come inside and have something warm to drink.”

She turned to the men who still sat astride. “Thank you for bringing me back,” she said, “and for everything else. I owe you two my life. I can never repay you.”

In her mind she heard John’s mother’s words, though she didn’t understand them, and then Clear Water’s reluctant translation. The meaning came to her like a flash of lightning.

She stumbled to John Eagle’s side. “I repay you by releasing you.”

“Well, I’ll be,” she heard Gus mutter. John Eagle sat stoically rigid as he looked down on her. “I do not accept your offer.” He nudged the horse around and rode off.

She gazed up at Gus. More than ever, she wished she had let him hold her and kiss her last night, and that she had ridden with John Eagle. For the rest of her life she would wonder what it would have been like to feel their strong arms about her.

ADULT EXCERPT

John was proud that Maire spoke up for his sister and even for Masichuvio, though he still had doubts that the man deserved her good will. But he remained disturbed that she believed he would hand over the Indian to be hanged with nothing more than bad feelings between them. Didn’t she think him honorable?

“Yes,” she whispered in his mind. “The most honorable.”

He snapped his head to the left, where she rested with her head propped on a rolled-up blanket. As though he called to her, she opened her eyes and stared back. Gus’s light snores came from the other side of her. The fire warmed his right side, but now he rolled onto his left side to face her.

“Did you say something?” he whispered.

“No. I was asleep.” She smiled sleepily. “Dreaming of eagles and coyotes.”

He returned her smile and reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “They will watch over us.”

“And lead us where we need to be?”

“Yes.”

They lay there quietly, looking into each other’s eyes. “I think the wind has died down.”

“We leave tomorrow and hope we find the hunting party soon.” Strangely, he had nearly forgotten why they were out here. For the past two days, since he’d sunk his cock into Maire’s precious body, the cave had been all the world he wanted or needed. Tomorrow reality set in again.

“I don’t want to think about leaving,” she said softly. “I wish we could stay here forever.”

“As do I.” He raised the edge of his skin blanket, and she slid from under hers to his. Their warmth mingled. Tangled legs and heated breath quickly took them to skin against skin.

“Oh, John. I love you.” She licked his nipple.

He sucked in a harsh breath and brushed his hand over her hair, letting her explore him with her hands and mouth. She straddled him. His cock rose hard and long between her legs, teasing the crack between her ass cheeks. Her mouth stirred the chronic desire always present within him for her, into mad need. Then she moved farther down his body. Her pussy slid over his cock as she moved, wet and hot. With little effort he could have taken her, but he wanted to see what she would do on her own.

In seconds he found out. Her hands roved his body, seeking lower and lower until she grasped his dick. He almost shot his cum into her palm. For control, he turned his mind to a river he and Gus had been forced to ford last winter. The water had been mind-numbingly cold. The memory helped calm him as Maire slid her hand up and down his length, testing to see what made him squirm and moan. He did plenty of both.

Nothing could calm him when she tested the head of his cock with her tongue, however. From the first, hesitant lick across his crown to her exploratory sampling, he thought he’d lose his mind. When she sucked his head and then found a rhythm—up and down, up and down—he had all he could take.

Grasping her arms and pulling her over him, he sank deep into her body, feeling her tight cunt close over him. Slanting his mouth over hers, he tasted himself on her tongue.

Moisture flooded her pussy. Her quick, hard thrusts against him and wild moans told him she was ready to come. Fortunately, because he wouldn’t be able to control himself for long.

John drove hard. Reaching between them, he sought her clitoris. He pinched it between his forefinger and thumb, and set her off. Her cunt squeezed his cock with spasms so strong he could feel them in his belly. His balls drew up, but he fought his climax, wanting the moment to go on and on.