Lakota Surrender (32 page)

Their gazes met and held. For the moment, no words needed to be voiced. Gingerly, Tahiska brushed his fingers over her cheek, trailing a path to her neck.

“Was I too rough?”

Kristina smiled up into his eyes. “If you were, then so was I.”

Tahiska returned her grin, and they stood smiling at one another for a very long time.

“Come,” he said at last, laying his cheek against her hair. “We both are blackened from the smoke.”

He glided his finger down her nose, then showed her the ash upon his finger. He smiled. “I will wash you.”

Kristina trembled. Pulling back slightly, she gazed up at him. “Why are you not angry with me? Haven’t I disobeyed you?”

Tahiska hesitated. And taking her hand in his, he kissed each of her fingertips.

It was a good question, and Tahiska was pleased that his wife showed the courage to ask it, risking his wrath. He smiled.

“You are brave for a woman. Your question makes me remember that I forbid you to come onto the prairie.” As he spoke, he felt at her back for the buttons which fastened her dress. “But I have missed you too much to be angry. Besides, how can I criticize when you did as I would have done? I find I can only admire you, for your courage is great.” Tahiska released each button, letting the dress fall to the ground. “In truth, I only feel joy. We are together. It is enough.”

Kristina stood before him, naked. She wore no undergarments. She also shivered. But Tahiska barely noticed. His gaze clung to her every curve. “Did you dress like this for me?”

Shyly Kristina nodded.

Tahiska inhaled deeply as passion consumed him. He shut his eyes and shuddered, but it was no use. He couldn’t dampen his desire. He wanted her more now than he had ever wanted anything.

He scooped her into his arms, not relinquishing his hold until he had waded waist deep in water. Only then did he set her onto her feet in front of him.

“When I saw you on the prairie before the fire,” he said as he rubbed clean sand over her arms, “I thought I would die. I shed many lives, I think, before I found you there.”

Gently he scrubbed sand over her face. And as he kissed each part of her where his fingers had washed, he asked, “You were searching for me in the prairie?”

“Yes.” Kristina’s voice was little more than a moan. She arched her neck toward him, her action inviting him to kiss her further down.

He gladly obliged, scrubbing the area she offered with the cleansing sand. And where his fingers bathed her, his lips followed.

“Did you think I would be in the tall grass this time of year?”

“No,” Kristina moaned as he moistened her breasts with water, always trailing his touch with kisses. “I saw a reflection on this very ridge where we are. I thought it was you here. I came to see you. I waited for you at the fort, but I could wait no longer. I longed for you.”

Tahiska nodded, registering her words, but also that somewhere on this elevation in the plains there was other human life, for there was nothing he possessed that would reflect the sun. Yet, he didn’t worry. This place where they were was hidden. He felt no urgent need to leave.

He nudged Kristina onto the shallow bank of the stream, where the water only reached midway to her knees. Grabbing a handful of sand, he murmured, “It is my fault. I should have come to the fort sooner, but how could I come when I had no presents to offer?” He spread the sand over her belly and buttocks. “I was shooting game here. It was to be a present for you and for all at the fort. I could think of no other way to give you something without drawing attention to my love for you.” He rinsed her stomach, and kneeling before her, he licked her navel.

He wanted to please her, but more than that, he wanted to mark her as his own.
He
had saved her from the Fire Spirit.
He
loved her.
He
had given her life back to her. She was his now as surely as the flower grows in spring, and he intended that after this day, Kristina would know that they were truly married.

He put his fingers over her mound at the junction of her legs as though by this action, he possessed her. Kneeling before her, he knew he would kiss her there, too. It would tie her to him. And this was more precious to him than any sort of Indian wealth.

Yes, Tahiska thought, before this day was out, she would be his.

Kristina was almost out of control. Every time he touched her, his caress created more warmth, more desire. These were heady sensations he was bestowing upon her and she realized with some surprise that she was aching for his love yet again.

“Tahiska,” she said, “what are you doing to me?”

Scooping another handful of sand, he rose to stand before her. He grinned down at her.

“I am washing the soot from your skin. Do you wish to remain dirty?”

She knew he had deliberately misunderstood, but she was beyond taking him to task. She was alive with need.

He spread her legs then and washed her. He stared down at her and frowned. “There are some pleasures, Kristina, you do not know. I think it is too soon yet to show you these joys, only I find I cannot wait. I almost lost you today. I wish to know you, Kristina, all of you. I would have the complete memory of you with me.”

Bringing her to her knees, he washed her legs, her thighs, all of her. Then he pushed her onto her back along the water. He rinsed, he felt, and where he touched his lips soon followed.

The sensations were erotic and Kristina was powerless in his embrace.

Nevertheless when he headed for her, she kept her legs firmly closed. “Tahiska?” Deeply embarrassed, Kristina grabbed a handful of his long hair. “I don’t understand. I am shy.”

“Do you not trust me? Do you think I would see something or feel something to drive me away from you? I would not.” He touched her there. “I wish to know you completely, Kristina. I need to know all of you. I would have the memory.”

There was no mistaking his sincerity. Proudly, his eyes held hers and Kristina was uncertain if she detected a wetness in his eyes.

Kristina struggled within herself to dispel her timidity. She loved this man without question. She trusted him with the deepest secrets of heir soul. Yet, there were limitations and restraints imposed upon her by society and by her own conscience. These she could not easily cast aside.

Kristina glanced at him. His pride, his integrity and his unshakable loyalty were to be read in his eyes. Even the tilt of his head spoke of his honesty. There was something else, too. He was not hiding behind his usual stoicism. His love for her, his admiration of her shone in his eyes.

She breathed deeply.

“My beloved,” she whispered. “I must love you truly!”

She parted her thighs to him.

He touched her there. Immediately, his tongue traced the path blazed by his fingers.

Kristina, having decided she would endure the embarrassment, was unprepared for the pleasure that threatened to overwhelm her.

She actually moaned.

He tormented her, tasting her where she knew he shouldn’t. His tongue finally replaced his fingers and Kristina gasped as the full import of this new sensation swamped her.

She arched toward him while Tahiska grasped her rounded buttocks and drew her more fully toward him.

She began to twist. She started to feel things she was certain were shameful. But she was beyond caring. For a while, the whole universe seemed to revolve around this tiny section of her anatomy. And she cried out again.

Sweat stood out on her brow, all over her body. She began to pant.

“Tahiska!”

The pleasure was such that she was uncertain she could contain it.

She spread her legs a little further and twisted, jerking until a thousand stars burst around her, struggling all the while with the pleasure. It went on and on and Kristina wondered if it would go on forever. Finally, she arched forward and was bathed in glorious sensation.

She lay still, though her breathing and her heart raced out of control.

Glancing up, she saw that Tahiska hovered over her, smiling down at her. He smoothed the golden hair away from her face and bathed her heated brow with cool water. Kristina had difficulty meeting his eyes, but gently, he forced her gaze to his.

“Did you not enjoy my love?”

Kristina grinned at him timidly. “I am afraid I liked it too much.”

He laughed softly. “How can this be possible to savor something too deeply?”

“I don’t know, but I…” Kristina suddenly grasped handfuls of his hair. “Tahiska, how can I be so selfish? We talk about my pleasure, yet you have gone unfulfilled. You have presented me with a bit of heaven, while I have given you nothing.”

“That is not completely true…”

“Make love to me again, Tahiska,” she said, pulling him down to her. “I wish to feel you inside of me.”

Tahiska didn’t need to be asked a second time. His eyes quickly filled with passion as he sank deeply within her.

Balancing the weight of his body upon his forearms, he drove into her again and again.

Not content simply to stare at him, exchanging glances of love, she showered his face, his eyes, his nose, all of him available to her with kisses. She played with his nipples while she bore against him.

He struggled against her. She strained. The rhythm changed. She met his every move.

The tempo raced. Both were straining, shoving. Their eyes met and held.

“Kristina,” he whispered, driving into her over and over. He cried her name once. Then again.

She was close to her peak. Kristina could feel that he strained, that he held back, and she didn’t want that. She urged him on until with one move he poured his seed within her. She held him close, patting him as she might a child.

It was some while later that Kristina whispered, “I will love you, I think, for all my life. Always.”

Tahiska relaxed against her. “I, too.” And as they lay entwined, Kristina felt the tears Tahiska had earlier withheld.

“We are not alone.”

Kristina’s eyelids flew open.

“No.” Tahiska had rolled away and was crouched next to her, his eyes scanning the terrain. He smiled down at her quickly, then snapped his attention back to their environment. “We are safe here. We are hidden. But I carry nothing to cause the reflection you saw which led you to the tall grasses. There is someone else this day who shares our bluff.”

“Tahiska, what can we do? I cannot stay here through the night.”

Tahiska glanced at her and took her hand in his. “It was never my intention to stay here the night. I will take you back to the fort; we will be careful. Come.” He rose and pulled her to her feet. “Let us dress and I will prepare my weapons in case we meet an enemy.”

Kristina kept her silence as Tahiska guided their horse along the creek, which afforded them some visible protection. Her husband’s body was tense, his gaze watchful.

He reined in his mount and jumped from the animal. Crouching low, he tread away. He was back within a moment. He gazed at her; a smile lurked behind the frown he presented her and, standing with hands on hips, he shook his head.

“You must learn to do these things yourself,” he said as he came to her, helping her to dismount. “I may not always be here to assist you and I cannot worry over you.”

Kristina nodded.

“Etonwa,
look,” he whispered as he set her down. He pointed to a far hill. “Do you see the dust in the air below the bluff?” he signed.

Kristina looked; she strained her eyes. She could detect nothing.

“It is there that we will find the one who shares this bluff with us,” he gestured. “You will stay here and keep the horse quiet while I scout ahead.”

“Tahiska,” she voiced, and he motioned her to silence. “Couldn’t we avoid them?”

Surprised, he gaped at her, then signed, “It is what I intend. But to evade an enemy safely, one must learn all he can about them first.”

Kristina nodded and bent to pick up the buffalo rope the Indian used as reins.

“Tahiska,” she whispered, and whirled about. He was gone.

She waited more than an hour. She worried. Several times she considered leaving to find him, only to reconsider when she envisioned his anger.

She and the pony were hidden in the tall grasses next to the creek. She sat amongst them and occupied her time with scribbling her initials in the dirt, then Tahiska’s name. It occurred to her idly that even if she did marry him, she would never carry his name.

“What is all this?”

Kristina jumped up, spinning about.

“Tahiska!”

He was grinning at her.

She threw herself into his arms.

“I worried about you!” She traced her hands over the bare flesh of his chest. “Why were you gone so long?”

Tahiska’s glance at her was bewildered. He shook his head, then replied, “I was gone but a short time. Besides, one must be cautious when scouting an enemy. It is not something one does in haste.”