The Renegade's Woman (3 page)

"I am your first. "

She dug her fingers into his shoulders and braced herself in his massive strength. "Yes, " she whispered, her face burning.

With a feral growl, he grasped her hips and held her immobile. "You are mine. Only mine. " He thrust into her with one swift, powerful stroke. She cried out at the sharp pain of the breaching, but it was over as soon as it started.

He throbbed inside her, a huge, hard presence, filling her where before there had been only emptiness.

His face contorted with restraint as he hovered above her. He took the bear claw necklace from his neck and placed it around hers, the look in his eyes fiercely possessive. "You belong to me, now, " he said in a low, rough voice.

He felt so very big and... heavy inside her. And exquisitely perfect. She licked her lips, moving a little, rocking experimentally so his massive length slid further in.

He groaned. "You are hungry for me, Pale As Moonlight. I am pleased. " He dragged his cheek across her temple. His tongue crept out and flicked over her ear. "Teach me this kissing. "

Her eyes widened. "Now ?"

She wanted to explore the delicious feeling of being one with him, plumb the new senses shimmering in her body at his conquest of it. Kissing seemed rather a tame pursuit at the moment.

He licked her eyelids and down her nose, slanting his mouth over hers. "It will help me go slowly. I would make your first joining last longer than the call of the whippoorwill. "

His strained smile held concern, and a touch of self-amusement.

At his expression, something inside her melted to mush. In that moment she knew this wild, untamed renegade had not only claimed her body for his own, but her heart as well.

"I am so glad--" She reached up and tenderly pressed her lips to his. "--to have a man such as you for my first lover. "

"Only lover, " he corrected absently, paying close attention to the way she moved her lips against his.

A masculine purr rumbled against her breasts and he settled more comfortably into the cradle of her thighs, pushing his hard arousal yet further in. Her breath caught at the bursting fullness of his penetration into her. But he was concentrating on their mouths, and nipped at her bottom lip impatiently when she didn't continue kissing him.

"Ow!"

Bringing her focus back, she feathered her fingers through his hair and held his head. "Purse your lips like this, " she instructed when he didn't seem to get the position

right. "Yes, like that. Then make a little noise, like this. " She bussed the air.

He gave her an incredulous look. "Foolishness. " But he tried it, somewhat reluctantly planting a kiss smack on her lips.

She giggled, but it swiftly turned into a moan at the resulting tightness between her legs. She wriggled up against him, impaling herself more thoroughly upon his splendid staff. "Um, Standing Bear, could we--"

He kissed her again, this time more competently.

Momentarily distracted, she murmured her approval, "Mmmm. Yes, I think you've got it. "

She kissed him back, wandering back and forth across his mouth with hers, giving him little kisses at the corners of his lips and up his cheek. He responded in kind, tilting the angle of his face to better fit. His tongue joined his lips as they trailed over hers. A shiver zinged up her spine, followed by a very naughty thought.

"I've heard, " she murmured breathlessly, "that some people open their mouths while they kiss. "

"Oh?"

"It's considered very wicked. "

"You like being wicked... " he softly suggested, catching her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He moved within her as he pulled her mouth open. "... don't you?"

Oh, yes. His tongue extended slowly and entered her mouth. It touched hers and she tasted him. He tasted like tangy smoke and savory spice and a lingering hint of her own ecstasy. Ohhhh, yes. She curled her tongue up and tentatively stroked his, answering his movement below with a ripple of her inner muscles.

A guttural sound ripped through his chest and his body ground into hers. He covered her mouth and plunged his tongue into her, sucking, biting, laving every surface he could reach with his fiendishly clever appendage. She closed her eyes, drowning in the wonderfully lascivious sensations he wrought upon her, each one more delicious than the next.

Working her mouth thoroughly, he seized the back of her knee in his large hand and lifted, stretching her wide. Slowly -- excruciatingly slowly -- he withdrew his fiery rod from her tight passage, until only the very tip was left inside her. She nearly swooned. She wanted more.

"Please, " she moaned into his mouth. "Put it back in!"

She thought she would die if he didn't put it back in. Her civilized veneer shattered and she became as wild and untamed as he. She rolled her hips, seeking him. He drove in, filled her to the hilt. She clutched at his back, raking him with her nails.

"Again!"

He pumped into her and she arched to meet his thrust, greedy for his ownership, wanting his hot brand deep within her. His tongue mimicked his sex, ravishing her mouth as he ravished her body. His strong arms crushed her to his broad chest. She felt totally claimed, consumed, filled. Whole.

For the first time in her life, she felt whole.

Over and over he sank his potent male shaft into her, plunging in and out, in and out, until she thought she would ignite. Gasping and panting, she clung to his powerful body as he rode her, spurring her faster and faster to a beautiful, primitive ecstasy.

"Come with me, " he urged, his voice rough with passion. "Hear the thunder!"

His back muscles leaped and strained under her hands, his hips slapped against hers. The edges of her vision prismed into a million bright colors. He scythed into her, her body screaming in savage pleasure.

She cried out and her climax exploded, fueled by the hot liquid flame of his seed spurting into her. Her muscles clenched around him, milking his hard, pulsing length as he pumped, until they both lay spent and exhausted, tangled in each other's arms, fighting for breath.

She was a witch.

Standing Bear gulped down air to his starving lungs and lifted his sweating brow from the woman's mass of blonde hair. He had heard white women could drive a warrior crazy with lust. Some said it was a special witchcraft they possessed. He'd always thought the rumors were just jealous gossip by women in the tribe who'd lost their sweethearts to female captives.

Now he wasn't so sure.

He'd never lost control like that before. Pale As Moonlight had driven him to heights he'd never have believed possible between a man and a woman, even in his most fevered vision dreams. He was more determined than ever to keep her as his captive. He wanted that fire for himself, for always.

He started to withdraw his body from hers, but to his surprise she held him tight.

"Don't go. Stay for a minute. "

He settled back down on her, more pleased by her request than was wise. He must remember she was his enemy, however delectable. "A short time. Then we must go. Am I not heavy?"

Smiling, she kissed his jaw. "A little. But I like it. I want to remember this moment for the rest of my life. "

"I will remind you every night. "

Her expression turned wistful and she caressed him. "Yes, you'll be with me in all my dreams. "

"Dreams? No, Pale As Moonlight, I'll be with you under the sleeping rug, making you shudder and sigh my name. "

Her body went still. "Wh-- What do you mean? Surely you don't think-- I couldn't possibly--"

"You will. " He looked at her seriously, fingering the bear claw about her neck. "You are my woman now. I told you this. "

"But I thought... " Alarm filled her expressive blue eyes, then panic. She tried to push him away, struggling to sit up. "No! You got what you wanted from me. And God help me, I even enjoyed it. A lot. But I have to get back to the wagon train. My sister--"

He wrestled her arms to the blanket, annoyed at the change that had come over her. "You are my captive. You'll do as I say. "

"But that's barbaric! I refuse to be slave to a savage!"

The impact of her words hit him like a hard slap. It was her people who were the savages, not his. Incensed, he growled out, "You will be what I tell you. Slave, wife or sister -- you will obey me. If I want to sell you to another man, you will obey me! If you don't want me to slit your pretty white throat, you will obey me!"

She let out a gasp, her eyes wide with fright, like a doe facing a hunter's arrow. His cock grew hard inside her, and he was filled with the urge to slake his anger in her pliant body. To rape her as her people had raped the sacred lands of the buffalo, and much, much more. Rape her as he had wanted to when he first saw her lying like a vision on that rock, hot and naked and ready for the taking.

He rolled off her, disgusted with his thoughts. This was not his way. He was a Leader of the Club Men, a respected Badger Men warrior who acted with honor in all things.

The People of Our Own Kind had always taken captives in war. All tribes did. It was a good practice, bringing in new blood, keeping the tribe vigorous and healthy. Women grew up knowing it could happen any time. Expecting it. Just as a warrior of the Badger Men expected to tie his rope to his staked club and die defending them.

This woman would grow used to the idea in time. They all did.

He leapt to his feet, dragging her with him. A stab of guilt lanced through his belly when he saw her blood-smeared thighs. He had done this to her. He should be tenderly holding her, soothing her discomfort, not howling at her like the north wind.

Calming himself, he took a deep breath and looked into her frightened eyes. "I will not let you go. "

She stared at him, her fear dissolving to outrage. "They'll find me. They'll hunt you down and kill you. "

He turned to the stream, coiling his sweetgrass rope back into position over his left shoulder. "Come. I will wash you. "

She yanked her arm from his grip. "I can wash myself, " she said, and flounced toward the water.

His teeth ground together as he held his temper. "It is my duty as your man. "

"What kind of man would hold a woman against her will?" she spat out, splashing in up to her knees, her shapely bottom turned to him.

"A man who wants to share his lodge with her for the rest of his life. "

He saw the nearly imperceptible wilt of her spine and recognized the sign of weakening in her defiance. Pressing his advantage, he closed the gap between them, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. He stood behind her and tugged her to him, back to chest. Her skin was still warm and fragrant from their loving. He breathed in of her scent, of their scent together, and swallowed down the desire that swelled him anew.

He didn't know what it was about her that pulled at him so. He only knew she was meant to be his.

"What do you leave behind? There is no man. This trail of wagons carries you to an unknown place. What will you miss if you stay?"

"My sister--"

"Does your sister keep you warm at night? Feed and protect you? Make you feel like I did this day?"

He felt her swallow deeply. "No. But I'm responsible--"

He turned her in his arms and held her face between his hands. "She will find her own man. Her own place. Yours is with me. "

Her eyes grew soft and luminous, the delicate snowflake fringe around them dancing in the sunlight. As he looked into those pale blue eyes, something stirred inside him, a feeling for her that ran deeper than mere physical lust.

Swiftly, he brushed the feeling aside. She was his revenge, nothing more. A sweet revenge, true, but poor compensation for the lives lost to him. It would be dangerous to care for her. She was the enemy, and he was deep in enemy territory. At any given moment his life depended on the decisions he made. Emotions could lead even a seasoned warrior to become careless.

Just by taking her captive, he violated the rules of the band of warriors he rode with. He would have a fight on his hands when he met the others. Keeping her would jeopardize their trading mission with the Leader of the Wagons. But Standing Bear would not let her go. He couldn't. Not after tasting the pleasures hidden in her tantalizing body, and after seeing the vision of his future in her eyes.

As if reading his thoughts, she said softly, "I've never met a man like you. And a part of me wants to throw all caution to the wind and come with you. But think about what would happen if I vanished!"

The inner glow that had begun with her first words squelched. "You will be with me. "

"There are a lot of men on that wagon train, and you know every one of them is itching to kill himself an Indian. You wouldn't stand a chance. "

He smiled indulgently. How little she knew of him. Of this country. If he so chose, they could live for years without ever seeing another human. The land was big and bountiful, and he knew of high mountain valleys where they could stay hidden for as long as they wished, making love all day, with only an occasional break to bring in food from his traps.