Child of the Dawn (18 page)

Then he saw her, dancing with a young Arioi called Uhi. Despite her simple costume, she looked as lithe and beautiful as when he had first seen her. Every movement was perfect. He stood for a moment enjoying the sight of her graceful arms and supple waist. Her gaze seemed focused on her Arioi partner; she did not seem to notice Matopahu.
 

Matopahu had the unaccustomed feeling of not knowing what to do next. If she were an ordinary woman, he might simply charge in, lift her from the ground, and bear her away to a secluded refuge. He felt perspiration gathering beneath the crown of aromatic ferns on his brow. He was the hero of the day, a man who could have whatever he wanted, yet here was a prize he could not carry off.
 

Matopahu's skills at dancing were no match for those of the best Arioi. It did not matter. Soon all eyes would turn to him, including those of the one he sought. Remaining in the shadows, he slowly limbered up.
 

As soon as he stepped out into the light, a cry went up from the other dancers. Women abandoned their partners to cluster about him. Their eyes shone as they put on their best displays. He danced easily, facing each in turn, trying his best to favor no one.
 

The scents of their flowers and their warm bodies filled his nostrils. Lovely shapes enticed him. Each young woman seemed to beckon subtly with a nod or a movement of her eyes. Each one, he knew, would be glad to have whatever he offered—a quick embrace beneath the trees or a longer encounter in some private place. The possibilities, after his long forced abstinence, made his head swim.
 

 

Tepua leaned forward, expecting to be caught up in Uhi's embrace, but instead the young Arioi seemed to want to savor his impending conquest.
 

He stepped back and kept dancing. "Let everyone see us together," he crowed. "Let my friends know what a fine one I have caught!"

"You do not have me yet," she answered back.

"You are hooked," he countered, laughing scornfully. "I need only pull in my line." Around him, his companions had gathered to cheer him on.
 

"She dances well," they shouted. "Imagine how she will wriggle on the end of your spear."

Tepua wondered if Uhi was right after all. Desire was weighting her breasts, sending heat low, beneath her belly, and streaking fiery traces down her thighs.
 

Once more
, she thought. Once more and then...

With an effort of will she broke away from him and fled across the dancing ground. He gave a cry, a mixture of a triumphant shout and an angry roar, and dashed after her.
 

 

Matopahu danced within a circle of lovely young women, yet each time one caught his eye and he started to move toward her, something held him back, and he turned to another.
 

None of these women would do, he realized. Not tonight, when he was filled with triumph and the blessing of the gods. There was only one woman who could share this with him. If only he could get away and search for her.
 

If he found her now, she would surely forgive him the harsh words he had spoken....

 

As Tepua ran across the dancing ground, keeping just ahead of Uhi, she saw a cluster of excited young women. And in their midst, bathing in their admiration, was the champion of the day. She froze in midstep, almost losing her balance.
 

Matopahu had been here all along! She tried to tell herself that it did not matter.

The Arioi youth caught up with her, but she evaded his clutch. Instead she started dancing more wildly than ever, forcing her gaze away from Matopahu.
 

She had seen enough. The young beauties surrounding Matopahu filled her with contempt. These women had cared nothing about him when he fell into disgrace. Now they came to him like flying fish leaping at torchlight.
 

Trying to turn her attention back to Uhi, she danced on, yet she sensed Matopahu watching her. I will not look at him, she told herself. When, at last, she did glance toward him, she could not read the expression in his eyes.
Is he taunting me? I need no proof of his manhood
.
 

She spun around. When she turned back again, she saw that he had broken out of the circle of young women and was coming toward her. She heard the disbelieving cries of the abandoned lovelies.
 

"Is he leaving us for that coral-island girl?"

"What can he see in her? She hasn't even been fattened!"

In a last, exasperated effort to make him notice them, several girls pelted him with flowered garlands. The garlands fell, unheeded.
 

Tepua saw Uhi move to block Matopahu's approach. Uhi changed his step to an Arioi prance, mimicking the proud strutting of a Blackleg before an audience, or a cock fowl before its rival.
 

Dismay fought with excitement in Tepua's stomach. Uhi was not going to yield easily, even to the winner of the sacred game. Tepua saw Matopahu's brows rise in astonishment. For an agonizing instant, she feared he would turn away. Instead he folded his arms with exaggerated patience.
 

"You are wanted over there," he said to Uhi, gesturing with his head toward the knot of beauties he had left.

"I prefer the company of this woman," Uhi replied. "Because you were lucky with an arrow, do not think you can win every contest."

The two men now stood facing each other, nostrils flared, crouching slightly as if preparing to do battle. Eyes were starting to turn, whispers to run among the gathering.
 

Tepua got between Uhi and Matopahu. "There can be no fighting here," she said fiercely. "We are under the sanction of Oro-of-the-laid-down-spear. If you fight, I will have neither of you."
 

"Then choose between us," said Uhi, snarling a grimace at Matopahu.

The contest was starting to become the center of attention. People stopped dancing to watch.

"It is that coral-island girl," she heard them mutter. "She makes men crazy. Why get angry over a woman?"

Exactly, Tepua thought, with a snap of irritation. "We are here to enjoy ourselves, not to quarrel," she said to the two rivals. "Both of you, dance with me."
 

Before either man could object, she launched once again into the flurry of motion driven by the drumbeat. Uhi was the first to react. Cupping his right elbow in his left hand, he struck his chest defiantly with his open palm. She whirled to face him as the booming slap of his challenge rang out.
 

Her tension gave her new energy as she stamped on the hard-packed earth and rolled her hips. Uhi matched her pace, adding repeated chest-slaps as taunts to Matopahu. He kick-stepped, throwing out his arms and legs to display his Arioi tattoos.
 

She watched through narrowed eyes. The same attraction that had drawn her to him was working again, wanning her....

Matopahu was suddenly dancing behind Tepua. She did not need to look to sense his presence. Now she was between the two men, as each strove to outdo the other. Uhi, without question, was the more spectacular dancer. But Tepua could not help turning to face his rival.
 

Matopahu was answering Uhi's chest-slaps with a lunge and stamp of his own. The cords of his neck stood out and his face was grimly determined. The fierce blaze in his eyes startled Tepua. The sheen of his copper skin was sweat, not scented oil, but it made him look harder, tighter, more controlled.
 

The tickles of anticipation that had been running up and down her thighs became burning tracks as her gaze traveled across Matopahu's shoulders and chest. She remembered the heat of that skin, how it felt beneath her fingers. She remembered pressing herself against the full length of his body.
 

Tepua speeded up her dance, turned to Uhi, forced him to match it, turned back to Matopahu, and did the same. Sweat was pouring from the bodies of the two men. Now the drums were following her pace, but she asked for a faster beat.
 

She could hear each man's harsh panting as she challenged him in turn. Uhi's friends were clapping, urging him on. Her ribs were heaving, her breath burning, but the fire of the dance consumed all else.
 

Would she lose them both at once? Uhi was staying with her, but she heard a sharp whistling note in his breathing. Matopahu also looked drained, yet he wouldn't give up. She suddenly knew that he would burst his heart before he faltered. This was no mere love game to him.
 

Abruptly Uhi stumbled, caught himself, grimaced in disgust, and staggered aside. "
Aue
!" he gasped at Matopahu while gesturing at Tepua. "Send this one back to the atolls before she dances us to death!" Then, surrounded by his friends, he disappeared into the crowd.
 

Matopahu looked at her, barely able to register the triumph over his rival. "Have you not had enough, woman," he rasped, "or are you really trying to kill me?"
 

She lowered her lashes. "The moon is still high." With a bellow, Matopahu seized her by the waist and flung her over his shoulder. She beat her fists against his back. Once.
 

 

 

 

NINE

 

Tepua squirmed impatiently against Matopahu's grip, yet she did not try to break free. The excitement rising from the dance remained with her, growing stronger. Her breasts were pressed against him, her nipples tingling with every step he took.
 

"Here!" she cried out as he strode through a moonlit glade. "We have gone far enough. Put me down."

"I know a better place." He laughed and carried her on, reaching a steep slope, brushing through foliage as he began to climb. Cool, moist leaves stroked her arms and back as he ascended.
 

Where had he found the strength to haul her off like this? She thought the dancing had exhausted him, but here he was, bounding up a hillside in the moonlight.
 

"How much farther?" she asked.

"You will see," he said gaily. "The game began on your ground, Arioi dancer, and now we are on mine. We are going where no one will interrupt us."
 

The smell and feel of him was all around her, filling her, intoxicating her. Every part of her body was prickling with desire. She had been separated from Matopahu for more than ten moons. She had almost forgotten the effect he had on her.
 

"Let me down, you cliff-climber!" The words caught in her throat as she glimpsed where he was heading. Now the way was so steep that he needed his free hand to pull himself up. The terrain had grown rough, with scrubby trees growing from outcrops and boulders. High above she saw moonlight shimmering on a mossy face of rock. Was he really taking her up there?
 

"Hang on," he called out, and she felt the lurches as he hoisted himself from one handhold to the next. She might have been a roll of
tapa
flung across his shoulder; her weight did not seem to impede him at all.
 

"I can climb on my own," she protested, but he took no heed. One look at the drop below made her decide not to struggle. The sense of danger added another thrill to those already coursing through her. Wrapping her arms more tightly around his neck, she prayed to Tapahi-roro-ariki that he did not lose his grip.
 

At last, with a grunt, Matopahu heaved her off his shoulder and set her on a ledge of stone. "You do not have to climb," he said. "Only walk a short way. We are nearly there."
 

She looked out and saw how moonlight painted the plain below in haunting shades of silver and shadowed green. The celebration fires still burned, seeming no larger or brighter than candlenut lamps.
 

"Hina's road is open tonight," Matopahu said softly, extending his hand toward the moon. The abode of the night goddess hung above the distant horizon, at the end of a shimmering path of light. He brought his hand around, caressed the angle of Tepua's jaw, then tipped her face up to his.
 

"If I shot an arrow up there," he whispered, lifting a hand to the sky, "I think the gods would catch it."

She closed her eyes and leaned into his embrace, feeling her nose meet and press against his. A warm, wide streak of longing grew as she felt his nose sliding back and forth against hers, their upper lips just brushing.
 

How rich the perfume of his maleness was, dominating even the strongest floral scents that suffused the night. How silky his skin felt. Her fingers glided over it, feeling the unique molding of muscle and limb.
 

Deep in her loins she felt something heavy, warm, yet empty and demanding to be filled. She moved closer to him, wishing she could stay this way, wanting never to open her eyes.

"Come," he said softly. "We are almost there. Just a short way more."

 

The pleasant sound of a waterfall splashing rose above the chirp and trill of night insects. Tepua followed Matopahu through the languid night, her hand warmed by his. Another turn and twist of the trail brought her the sight of a silvery cascade soaring from above the trees. As they drew nearer, Tepua saw the shape of the moon rippling against the falling water.
 

The cascade's song grew muted as Matopahu led her around a bend. At last they reached his destination, a grotto whose mouth was cupped by a rough balcony of rock and whose cleft lay open to the sky. Here was a fine shelter from the cool night air.
 

'This is my little niche," Matopahu said, the grotto making his voice resonant and sending a shiver down Tepua's back. "When I was young, my father used to take me on visits to this is land. While he conferred with chiefs, I went out climbing. One day I found this hideaway."
 

Tepua peered into the opening. "It reminds me of someplace else."