Through the Fire (The Native American Warrior Series) (11 page)

“
Where did you get this knife?”

Eyeing Renault with contempt, she countered,
“Whose initials does it bear?”

He glanced at the blade.
“
Mon Dieu
. When did you take it?”              

“
When do you think?”

The warriors who understood English chuckled and a red flush spread over Renault
’s sun-kissed skin. “You thieving bitch. You deserve a beating.”

“
Go ahead. I can’t prevent you.”

His narrow gaze hammered her.
“Have you any notion how near I am come to letting my hand fly? Show me some respect.”

She lifted her head.
“I’ll not give any to a Frenchman.”

He entrapped her wrists in one hand.
“By heaven, I’ll teach you to.”

Meshewa staggered up and grabbed Renault
’s free arm. “Do not punish her,
Capitaine
.”

“
Look at this woman, the tilt of her jaw. Defiance fills her. She must learn to yield.”

The brave hung on to Renault
’s corded arm. “True. Yet she has much courage.”

“
This sort of courage is impudent and reckless.”

“
Yes. Allow one with less fury to teach her. Shoka.”

The men gathered around the tense little tableau picked up Shoka
’s name and heads nodded. “
Livrez-la, Capitaine
,” the second Frenchman urged, a plea for her release that Rebecca understood.

“
Mêle-tu de tes affaires
, Remy,” Renault said irritably. But his anger seemed to be waning. He stared down at Rebecca. “I have never before abused a woman, Madame. With you I am sorely tempted. Still, the fault is partly my own. Release my arm, Meshewa. I will not strike her.”

“
Capitaine
Renault.”

Rebecca cringed at the menacing growl. Black Knife
’s party must have returned. Wabete stormed through the parting crowd. His scowl etched deep lines in his scarred face.

“
Now we have trouble,” Renault muttered.

The forbidding warrior seemed on the verge of killing them both.
“
Voulez-vous attirer l’intérêt de tous les ennemis dans ces bois, Capitaine
? Wabete demanded.

Grateful now for those childhood sessions with her French tutor, Rebecca understood the barrage Wabete doled out.

“You wish to attract every enemy in these woods? The woman cries. You shout. We are at war,
Capitaine
.”

His shoulders drooped.
“I seem to have forgotten in my anger.”

“
You are a respected leader. Do not be ruled by anger.”

“
Or desire for a beautiful woman,” Meshewa added.

Wabete shook his head and the silver cones at his ears bobbed furiously.
“Does this woman never wear her gown? If she were my captive, I would sell her to you. What has she done now?”

“
Attacked me with a knife.”

“
How did she come by the knife?”

Renault looked as if he
’d rather be most anywhere else. “She took mine. I was a fool.”

Laughter rose around them from the French-speaking braves. Wabete cast him a wry look.
“Foolish men are often dead men,
Capitaine
. Why did Shoka’s captive attack you?”

“
Meshewa and I had a disagreement. She came to his aid.”

Wabete looked at Rebecca with an odd light in his ravaged stare.
“She did this?”

“
Oui
. Meshewa has befriended her.”

“
My brother also. Yet he desires more than friendship.”

“
And I,” Meshewa confessed.

Wabete rounded on his young cousin like an enraged elk.
“Leave this devil cat to the
capitaine
or Shoka.” Anxiety tinged his dark eyes as he uttered Shoka’s name, but only for a moment. “My brother will return and say what is to become of this woman. Until then, I will guard her to ease the fire in you both. Come, woman,” he commanded in English.

Neither Renault nor Meshewa interfered as Wabete marched her through a blur of green to camp.
“Sit,” he ordered and pushed her down near a warm blaze. He handed Shoka’s blanket to her with stony disapproval. “Cover well.”

She closed the cloth around her guardedly as he settled nearby. Plainly, he could speak English if he chose to.
“Wabete?”

He glanced up, seemingly surprised at her summons.

“Shoka’s been gone for hours. Will you search for him?”

“
Shoka will come.” He lit his pipe, staring into the fire as he smoked.

“
You care much for your brother, don’t you?”

He gave a nod.

“Are you many years older than Shoka?”

A smoke ring ascended overhead.
“I see six and thirty harvest moons. Shoka, six and twenty.” He jabbed the pipe at her. “You are bad for Shoka.”

“
No. I would make him a good wife.”

“
Shoka does not wish for English wife.”

“
He desires me.”

“
To lie with you, yes.”

Renault and Meshewa trailed back into camp, the jovial company milling around them in far better spirits than the two combatants. Wabete thrust his pipe at Renault
’s sullen countenance and Meshewa’s bruised face. “These also.” He tapped his own scarred chest. “I do not wish for a mistress.”

“
I don’t want to be your mistress!”

Heads turned and amused faces regarded them.
“Hush, woman,” Wabete hissed.

Rebecca retreated from his censure to curl dejectedly on the ground.
Shoka cares for me
, she told herself, but doubt grew with her deepening apprehension.

Chapter
Eight

His ears attuned to every rustle, eyes scouting the thickly wooded ridges, Shoka sprinted ahead of the pursuing Catawba warriors. Now and then, he
’d allowed his irate followers a glimpse of himself. He always stayed just far enough ahead to evade them. Here, he was in his element, gliding through the trees like an elusive spirit.

With Rebecca, he was far less assured, like trying to balance on a log bobbing in swift current. The mere thought of her sent a heady rush of desire surging through him and he forced his mind back to the potentially deadly task at hand.

He’d led his enemy miles from the Shawnee camp and Rebecca, especially her, when he spotted a great uprooted chestnut tree lying to the side of the rocky path. Ferns had sprung up in the earth around the massive root ball and lichens like enormous ears jutted from the rotting wood. Other trees had snapped in its tremendous fall and lay scattered on every side, but he spotted the deep groove scratched in the base of the enormous trunk by a bear’s claws.

A tiny chipmunk scurried from this refuge as Shoka ducked down behind the moss-encrusted giant and slid into the space scrabbled in the crumbling wood. If he were fortunate, his pursuers would pass him by unawares. If not, his musket lay at his side. He drew his newly acquired pistol, noting again the fine craftsmanship. The curly maple stock was polished and the trigger guard, lock, and side plates were of gleaming brass embellished with engravings. It was no wonder Rebecca badly wanted it back.

Catching himself thinking of
her
again, he cursed under his breath and cocked the trigger. If he had to fire at close range, there would be no time to reload; then he’d reach for his tomahawk and knife honed to a deadly sharpness. But he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He was one against ten cunning warriors.

Shoka waited, his breathing shallow, the musky scent of humus in his nose. He picked up the nearly silent tread of moccasins stepping over the trail not far from where he lay. From his hiding place, he saw sinewy legs in wool and buckskin leggings steal past. He followed the men with his eyes. When they were slightly ahead of him, their backs turned, he scooted to the side of the trunk and peered around.

One man glanced over his shoulder, sparking a blaze of anger in Shoka. The hard proud face belonged to
Tonkawa
.

Shoka bore the purplish mark at his side from the gouging wound Tonkawa had given him in fighting so close that muskets were no longer of any use. Nor had Shoka forgotten the friend who
’d fallen under Tonkawa’s blade before that warrior somehow escaped him in the confusion of battle. Shoka had slashed the jagged stripe, across Tonkawa’s cheek, that he now wore. But they weren’t even yet and Tonkawa stood only paces away.

Temptation welled in Shoka to fell his enemy here and now and risk the others flying at him like hornets. A sudden uneasiness stayed his hand.
Rebecca
.

Tonkawa must wait. Rolling out from under his hiding place, Shoka made for camp and her.

****

Men
’s voices and the stirrings around Rebecca grew less distinct as she tumbled down the black well of sleep and into a strange dream state.

She watched a rugged frontiersman approach through the mist. He came nearer and she saw that his saddle-brown hair was pulled back under a dark felt hat with rust-gold pheasant feathers and a red fox tail attached to the brim. Creases borne of wind and sun furrowed his face. It was an attractive face and kind, with vivid blue eyes like her mother
’s.

He stooped by the fire where she lay and spoke to her.
“We’re waiting on you. Make haste, little lass.”

Little lass?
Who used to call her that? The endearment rang in her mind like a bell tolling across the years…

****

Shoka bent over Rebecca with the fiery need that had seared him all day. So innocent she looked lying there curled on her side, yet she’d been far from blameless in his absence. He’d heard of little else other than her shocking behavior since his return. Though he’d defended her actions, he knew he should scold and even punish her.

As usual, her beauty distracted him and he took in the hair cascading about her in hues of pale gold to amber like honey from a thousand blossoms. She rolled onto her back, tucking one arm behind her head. A tendril curled at her cheek beneath sweeping lashes and set the drum inside him pounding. Maybe if he had her just once, it would ease his insatiable hunger and he could draw a normal breath.

Hadn’t he been schooled to discipline? Chiding himself to have some restraint, Shoka knelt and gently shook her. “Rebecca, wake.”

She stirred under his hand, murmuring,
“Uncle Henry?”

Wishing she would speak his name in her sleep, he shook her again.
“Wake, fair one.”

She opened dazed eyes.
“Where did he go?”

The sun cast long shadows through the trees and over the warriors seated near the campfire with
Capitaine
Renault and the other Frenchman, Lieutenant Remy. No one else.

“
Your uncle is not here. You dream,” Shoka said.

Lips pursed, eyebrows drawn, she considered, then said,
“He seemed so real and I’ve not seen him since I was a child.”

“
That is the way with dreams.”

She woke more fully and gazed up at Shoka as if she really saw him bent over her. Relief flowed into her sky-blue eyes and she sat up, closing her arms around his neck.
“Thank God you’ve come.”

Her artless gesture, so unexpected, was meltingly sweet. How could he possibly do anything other than enfold her in return and savor her softness?
“You do not wish to remain with my brother?” he teased, his lips in her hair.

“
God forbid. Where on earth have you been?”

Shoka was loathe to release her, but every man in camp looked on. Envy hinted in Meshewa and
Capitaine
Renault’s bruised faces. Wabete glowered. How Shoka wished he could have Rebecca all to himself.

With a muffled groan, he lowered his arms from her supple curves.
“I led the Catawba far from camp and hid as they passed by.”

Her smooth brow creased.
“What a risk you took.”

The blanket around her gaped open in front, offering him a tempting glimpse of rounded breasts pushing up out of her corset. He tore his stare away from the creamy mounds to flow up the molded lines of her softly blushed cheeks and sink into her eyes.
“I stayed before them. They knew I was there but could not find me.”

She parted rosy lips in alarm.
“How they must hate you.”

“
Yes. One called Tonkawa hates me much.”

The trepidation in her bewitching face deepened.
“You know him?”

Shoka was so distracted he could hardly answer coherently.
“We have battled before. Tonkawa would be war chief. First, he must prove himself worthy.”

“
Do you want to be a war chief?

“
No. I only want to lead myself.”

Reaching her hand to his upper arm, she curled her fingers over his bare shoulder.
“What of me?”

A tingle shimmered through him at her touch and coursed straight down to his groin.
“And you.”

“
But you could have been killed today, leaving me alone.”

No longer caring who saw what he did, Shoka buried his lips in her neck. Goosebumps tightened her skin at his touch. She gasped, tucking her head against his. The endearing gesture only spurred his wanting.

“I would fight like the
makwa
, the bear, to return to you.”

“
Would you really? No matter what?”

He drew back, silently protesting the loss of her soft skin beneath his lips and searched her uncertain gaze.
“Why doubt?”

“
Much happened while you were away.”

Vexation flickered in him but could not smother his burning desire.
“I heard from many lips. All I want now are yours.” Closing his arms around her, he crushed her mouth to his. Even as he did so, he knew he must be mad.

His brother promptly rebuked him.
“Shoka.
Naga
.”

They both looked around at Wabete. Shoka met the condemnation in his scowl and replied grudgingly,
“
Nigiwa peh, NiSawsawh
. I see you, I hear you, brother.”

Rebecca slid her hands from his shoulders.
“How long have you been back?”

Again, Shoka reluctantly dropped his arms, the flaming coals in his gut sparking frustration.
“Long enough to hear of my fair captive attacking
Capitaine
Renault. Must you be
peshewa
while I am gone?”

Indignation flared in her uplifted gaze.
“Will you make love to me or scold?”

“
Both. Yet not before my brother.”

“
Why scold? Have you not seen what the
capitaine
did to Meshewa?”

“
I saw. But
Capitaine
Renault fights with much skill. This is a good test for my young cousin.”

Her mouth flew open.
“Renault was like an animal.”

“
Battle is harsh, fair one. Meshewa must learn. There was no need for you to aid him wearing only petticoats.”

“
Was I to stand idly by while the
capitaine
pounded the life from him?”

Shoka ran an impatient hand through his hair.
“He would not do this. He has a hot temper, yet his heart is good.”

“
Hardly. Did Meshewa tell you what Renault did to me?”

Annoyance flashed in Shoka.
“He said.”

“
Why do you not challenge him? John would have.”

“
Captain Elliot would shoot him. They are enemies.”

Her chin jutted at an irritatingly stubborn angle.
“That’s beside the point. You profess to care for me. You should defend my honor.”

“
You defend your honor very well. You would stick a knife into the
capitaine’s
back.”

“
Was I to make a gift of myself?”

Shoka tugged the blanket more securely around her chest. She fairly burst from the bodice, igniting a nearly unbearable charge in him.
“If you stayed where Meshewa said, the
capitaine
would not find you alone in underdress. I must protect your honor much if you go about like this.”

“
All you do is chide me. Have you spoken a word to him?”

“
Yes. The
capitaine
has given me an apology.”

Her eyes were blue ice sparked with fire.
“A very pretty one, no doubt, which you accepted?”

Shoka nodded.
“He will trouble you no more.”

A lesser man might have faltered under the force of her displeasure, but Shoka didn
’t flinch. “All the warriors laugh at Renault, even Black Knife. He feels foolish.”

“
And you consider this sufficient punishment?” she inquired in a frosty retort.

“
Shame cuts deeply into a man.”

She drew herself up, her furious whisper fanning his chin.
“Captain Elliot would not be satisfied so easily. Nor would he scold me.”

“
Captain Elliot would prefer to challenge the
capitaine
than face your temper, Peshewa,” Shoka countered.

Her jaw dropped and she swung her hand to slap him. Clamping his fingers around her wrist, he stayed her hand in midair.
“Strike me and you will regret it.”

He witnessed the struggle in her face as reason battled fury. He wanted nothing more than to pin her down, then and there, and channel their ire into vigorous physical communion. Forcing himself to stay as he was, he let her reply.

“I won’t,” she said with evident effort. “Let go of me. You’re bruising my wrist.”

He released her and she scrambled to her feet.
“Where are you going?” he asked, catching hold of her petticoat.

“
To the stream.”

“
I did not say you could go.”

“
I didn’t ask!” Yanking her skirt away from him, she whirled around in a swirl of lacy linen.

Shoka was beyond mere anger. Before she took another step, he sprang up and seized her arm.
“Oh no,” he growled, and rushed her past their rapt onlookers. Renault seemed amused. Wabete was quite the opposite.

Her feet barely touched the earth as Shoka sped her through the rest of camp and down the stream bank. A flock of ducks startled from the water, calling and beating their wings. He propelled her further along the stream, scooping her over the trunk splintered across their path. Once they were out of earshot, he stopped and pulled her to a halt.