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“Strong Wolf, I must be set free,” Hannah cried as she looked over her shoulder at him. “My brother is almost blind. I have come to the Kansas Territory for the sole purpose of being his eyes, to look after him and help him with his decisions. Don’t you see? I can’t leave him at the mercy of men like Tiny Sharp! He disobeyed my brother! I must return to the ranch and tell my brother! Who knows what Tiny will do next? I must be there to make sure he doesn’t do anything else that can cause harm to my brother!”

  Strong Wolf heard the true pleading in Hannah’s voice, and listened hard to what she said, yet could not alter his plans.

  “If you will set me free now, before this goes any further, I won’t tell anyone about your plan to abduct me,” Hannah cried. “I promise, Strong Wolf. I won’t tell anyone. Not even my brother. I just want to return home so that I can tell him that Tiny disobeyed him!”

  The more she spoke, the more she pleaded with him, Hannah’s words reached inside Strong Wolf’s heart. He knew that she spoke the truth about her brother, having been saddened himself when he had noticed how Chuck’s eyesight was responsible for him being awkward and unsure of his movements.

  He knew that it was possible that Tiny Sharp had taken advantage of Hannah’s brother. Strong Wolf so badly wanted to trust Chuck, and believe the woman.

  Deciding to trust and believe, Strong Wolf released Hannah. He had just been given another reason to admire, to fall in love with, this woman. Her loyalty to her brother touched him deeply. Strong Wolf knew now that she was someone he could not deny himself of loving, as he had all other women he had ever known before her.

  He wheeled his horse to a sudden stop.

  Hannah gazed in wonder at Strong Wolf. She scarcely breathed as she waited for him to speak, to explain why he had stopped. Her pulse raced as his eyes met and held with hers. She could not stop this crazy, rapturous spinning within her when he looked at her in such a way, so penetrating, as though he was looking into her very soul!

  “You are free to go,” Strong Wolf said, his own heart pounding at the way her eyes talked to him. “I will take you home. Hopefully your horse will find its way back to your brother’s ranch on its own.”

  “Oh, thank you,” Hannah said softly, having to hold herself back when she so badly wanted to fling herself into his arms and hug him. “And I understand your feelings toward such men as Tiny. You have surely been faced with many of the same type of men throughout your life.”

  She knew that there had been many injustices performed against the red man. She had just never been in the position of having seen it face-to-face before.

  “But, please don’t put my brother in the same category as such men as Tiny,” she blurted out. “He is kind, gentle, and most times way too generous.”

  She gulped hard. “I’m even afraid that he won’t fire Tiny,” she said, a bitter edge recognizable in her voice. “He’ll see some good about keeping him on, even after I tell him the ugly truth about him.”

  “Being your brother’s eyes, perhaps you can make him see the wrong in allying himself with the tiny white man,” Strong Wolf said.

  He held her closer as he rode off. He fought off the need that was rising within his heart, to kiss her again, to hold her.

  So aware of his hard, lean body so close to hers, snuggled against her backside, Hannah became breathless. Her heart pounding fiercely, her face became hot with a blush as his arm grazed against her breasts. She could almost feel the heat of his flesh through the thin fabric of her white calico blouse.

  They rode awhile, then Hannah’s breath caught with surprise when Strong Wolf suddenly wheeled his horse to the side and rode in another direction. Fearing that he had changed his mind, and that he had decided to take her captive after all, she pulled at his arm, but he held her too tightly. She had no choice but to see what he had planned for her now. She had to wonder at what point he had changed his mind?

  And, why?

  With a wariness that she had never felt before with anyone, Hannah watched all around her as Strong Wolf continued taking her farther and farther away from her brother’s ranch. Her brain was a mass of confusion as Strong Wolf rode through a forest of thick, tangled greenery, where things were heavy with shade. Ages of decayed leaves scented the air with their earthy smell as the quiet life of the forest kept its secrets.

  Suddenly Strong Wolf wheeled his horse to a stop. He helped Hannah to the ground, and then slid from the saddle and tethered his reins to a low-hanging limb.

  Hannah didn’t attempt to escape from him. She had no idea where she was. She did know that she was many miles from civilization. She was at his mercy. She had no choice but to follow beside him as he gripped her by the arm and led her down a narrow path beneath the trees.

  Suddenly before her was a misty smoke hanging over a body of water, surrounded by an impassable sinking mire. Through the smoky mist she could see a cave that had been sealed up with great boulders of rock.

  She was glad when Strong Wolf stopped, even though this place of mystery somewhat terrified her.

  When he turned to her, she took a step away from him.

  Unable to hold back his feelings any longer for this woman, Strong Wolf reached for Hannah and snaked his arms around her waist.

  His heart racing, he yanked her against him and kissed her. He held her tightly within his embrace as he could feel her shoving against his chest, in an attempt to get free.

  Then he loosened his grip when he felt her grow limp in his arms and willingly return his kiss with wild abandon. He wove his fingers through her hair and held her closer. He gyrated his body into hers, overwhelmed by the raging heat that was building within him, stunned by how she responded as she clung and melted against him.

  Stunned by her feelings, so carried away by his kiss that she had momentarily forgotten that she was still his captive, Hannah wrenched herself free and ran away from him, up the tangled path.

  “Hannah, do not be afraid,” Strong Wolf cried after her. “I meant you no harm. Stop. I will willingly return you to your brother’s ranch.”

  His words, the sincerity in which he said them to her, and the promise of ecstasy that she had found while within his arms, that which she had never found while with any other man, made Hannah stop and turn slowly around to face him.

  When he stepped up to her and took her hands within his, she found herself helpless beneath his passion-filled, midnight eyes.

  “I want to know everything about you,” Strong Wolf said thickly. “I want to be with you so that I can know what makes me feel this bonding with you. You have affected me differently than any other woman. You are different. It is this difference that has led me into behavior that is quite unlike me, a powerful leader, who will one day be chief of my people.”

  “You say that I am different in your eyes than other women,” Hannah said, hoping that she was right to trust him. “How am I different from other women you have known? I find it hard to understand why you would even want to be with me. I am tall and lanky. I even find myself ugly when I look into the mirror.”

  She paused, then her eyes wavered into his. “Do you pretend an attraction to me only to get closer to my brother?” she said, her voice breaking. “Is it to seal a bond between yourself and my brother so that you would be assured of no longer having cause to feel a strain between one another?”

  Strong Wolf placed his hands to her waist and held her at arm’s length as his eyes devoured her. “Your mirror lies when you gaze into it,” he said huskily. “I have never seen anyone as lovely. And, no, I do not lie to you about my feelings. This is no game. This is not done purposely to gain tighter friendships and trust between myself and your brother. Those things I achieve on my own, in my own time. And I had achieved a closeness with your brother until the incident with the dam. But now I know that I was wrong to doubt him. I see Tiny as my problem. Not your brother.”

  He drew her closer. “You and I could have so much together,” he said thickly. “So much is already there
to build upon. What are the depths of your feelings for me?”

  Hannah’s heart swam in a rapturous sweetness to have him speak to her in such a way, to know that he could look past her shortcomings and love her. It did not seem real. It was like a fantasy, that which she had read about many times in novels.

  He brushed her lips with a kiss, then held her close. “Speak to me, my woman, of your feelings,” Strong Wolf whispered.

  Hannah sucked in a wild breath of rapture and closed her eyes. Her knees were weak. The excitement of the moment was so intense, her throat was dry.

  But in her mind’s eye she was seeing her brother back at the ranch, almost helpless against Tiny Sharp. She was wrong not to hurry back to him, to warn him.

  Although she could spend forever like this, in this man’s arms, she knew that there were more important issues now than giving in to her feelings that stole her senses away.

  “How do I feel?” Hannah murmured, easing from his arms. “I dare not say just yet. Please give me time to think about us, about everything. For now, I must return home quickly to my brother. I know he heard the blast made from the dynamite. He has to know that Tiny disobeyed his orders. I need to be there to help stand up against that small creature, who in his mind, thinks he is a giant among men.”

  Strong Wolf chuckled. “That is an amusing comparison,” he said, taking her hand. “Come. I will take you to your brother’s ranch.”

  He led her back up the tangled path, toward his horse.

  Before they got there, he stopped and held her hands. “I will look forward to our next time together,” he said. “Perhaps then you will be free to talk with me, to share with me.”

  “I promise that I will,” Hannah said, then went on with him to his horse.

  The ride was not long until the ranch house came into sight.

  Strong Wolf reined in his horse.

  “I will not take you the rest of the way,” he said thickly. “I have you close enough so that you will not have far to walk. Until you speak with your brother and clear up what has happened today, I will stay my distance.”

  Hannah nodded. She slipped from the saddle and gazed up at him again.

  She became breathless when he reached down, swept an arm around her waist again, and drew her back onto his lap and kissed her. He then released her again and placed her on the ground.

  Dazzled by the kiss, Hannah was speechless as she gazed up at him. Their eyes locked for a moment, then he rode away.

  Hannah sucked in a quavering breath. She was numb by the experience with Strong Wolf. Sweetly, deliciously numb.

  Chapter 8

  Oh, what a plague is love!

  How shall I bear it?

  She will inconstant prove,

  I greatly fear it!

  —ANONYMOUS, 19TH CENTURY

  Breathlessly Hannah walked toward her brother’s house, admiring it. It was a large, one-story log ranch house, surrounded with elms, oaks, and maple trees.

  Far back from the house stood a bunkhouse and other outbuildings. A great gate surrounded the house, giving the entrance to the grounds.

  Hannah paused long enough to look over her shoulder a last time, to see if Strong Wolf was still watching her. Now so close to her brother’s house, surely Strong Wolf could see that she was safe enough to go on alone, without him watching her.

  She sighed with relief when she discovered that he had rode away. She had worried about him lingering too long. Under the circumstances of what had happened, she didn’t want him to be anywhere near this place when she laid down the law about Tiny.

  Tiny had to go!

  She walked determinedly toward the house, but before she reached the front steps, several cowhands and her brother came out on the porch.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Chuck asked, squinting hard in an attempt to see her. “I’ve been beside myself with worry, Hannah. And, Hannah, I didn’t hear you arrive home on a horse. Where is it? What happened? You’re a skilled rider. No horse would get the best of you, unless . . . unless.”

  “Chuck, I’m all right,” Hannah said, interrupting him. “Please don’t be so upset. I can explain everything.”

  She glared at the armed men, pistols heavy at their hips, then looked at Chuck again. “What are these men doing here so well equipped with firearms? What were you going to do, Chuck?” she said, her voice wary. “Send a posse out looking for me?”

  “Hannah, what was I to think?” Chuck said, nervously raking the fingers of one hand through his hair. He leaned on his cane with the other hand. “You’ve been gone for hours.”

  Quite aware of the eyes of the men on her every move, Hannah went up the steps. She could feel their eyes roving over her, and not because she was something pleasant to look at. She knew that she was disarrayed. Her hair was windblown. Her skirt was filthy from having been on the ground more than once on this turbulent day. Her blouse was ripped, and she knew that her face must be dirty. And not only that. She had a lump on her forehead the size of a goose egg.

  “Chuck, you can send the men away,” she said, giving her brother a hug. “I’m home. I’m safe.” She leaned into his embrace when his free arm snaked around her waist.

  She relished the warmth of her brother’s show of devoted love for a moment, then stepped away from him to glower at the men.

  Chuck nodded at the men. “As you can see, my sister is all right,” he said thickly. “You can leave. But I would appreciate it if a couple of you would go searching for her horse. If it’s out there somewhere, disoriented, it could be bait for wolves or that pesky panther that’s been wandering much too close to my property.”

  A sudden panic, a warning, leapt into Hannah’s heart. If the men went out now to look for her horse, they might come across Strong Wolf before he had the chance to get farther from her brother’s property. She had no idea what Tiny had told her brother about what had happened.

  One thing for certain, no one could have missed hearing the loud blast made by the dynamite. Her brother had to know already that someone had destroyed the dam. He might think it was Tiny, or he might know that it wasn’t. If he didn’t understand the situation, he might think that Strong Wolf was guilty of some wrongdoing.

  And he wasn’t. The property on which he had used the dynamite was his. And even though he had abducted her, he had set her free.

  “Why, there it is,” one of the cowhands said, gesturing toward the lovely pinto horse as it came into sight in a slow trot.

  Hannah couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the horse headed toward the corral, just in time to keep the men from looking for it.

  “Before my eyes got this bad, I personally trained that pinto to return home, but I thought it had forgotten,” Chuck said. He smiled. “Now I have both my sister and my favorite horse back home.”

  The men tipped their hats to Chuck and Hannah, then sauntered from the porch and went back to their usual chores.

  Chuck reached his free hand out for Hannah. “Come, sis,” he said, sighing heavily. “Let’s go inside. Does a cup of coffee sound good to you?”

  “That sounds good,” Hannah said, taking his hand, squeezing it affectionately.

  They went inside the parlor.

  “Sis, you have to know how worried I was when you didn’t return home,” Chuck said, his voice drawn. “Damn it all to hell. Not only have I been upset this entire afternoon over Tiny having not removed the dam, forcing Strong Wolf to destroy it with dynamite, I have been beside myself with worry about you.”

  “So you do know that Tiny didn’t remove the dam,” Hannah said, trying to keep calm since her brother was too suddenly concerned over Strong Wolf.

  “You know that Strong Wolf dynamited the dam,” Hannah said guardedly. “Is that what you are upset over? What’s wrong, Chuck? Tell me.”

  “Yes, I sent some of my men out earlier to be sure Tiny had removed the dam. Seems he never did, but then we all heard an explosion. I was pretty sure I knew what had happened. Stro
ng Wolf took matters into his own hands and dynamited it.”

  Chuck lowered his eyes. “Since you were gone so long I . . . I . . . thought that perhaps Strong Wolf had abducted you as revenge for the dam not having been destroyed,” he said.

  Hannah paled. “You . . . thought . . . that . . . he abducted me?” she said, recalling in her mind’s eye that very abduction, and later when Strong Wolf said that she was free to go.

  “What else was I to think?” Chuck said, lifting his eyes, squinting toward Hannah.

  “Chuck, what did you do when you thought that I was abducted?” Hannah asked, her heart pounding.

  “Chuck, what . . . did . . . you do?” Hannah persisted when he still did not answer her.

  When he still failed to respond to her questions, she clasped his shoulders with her trembling fingers. “Chuck, for God’s sake, tell me,” she said, her voice rising in pitch as alarm arose within her. “What . . . about . . . Strong Wolf?”

  “I sent several of my cowhands to the nearby fort to ask for their help in finding you,” Chuck said, his tone worried. “Of course, I told them to tell those in charge at the fort about Strong Wolf’s threats, and that . . . he . . . dynamited the dam.”

  He waved a frustrated hand in the air. “Damn it, Hannah, he stole dynamite from my storage shack,” he said, his voice tight. “Why the hell did Tiny have to ignore my orders about the dam? None of this would be happening.”

  “So you are saying that right now, at this very moment, a posse might be out there looking for me?” Hannah rushed out. “They might even be on their way to Strong Wolf’s village to arrest him?”

  “My cowhands haven’t been gone for long,” Chuck said softly. “I waited until I couldn’t wait any longer. Maybe they haven’t reached the fort yet.”

  “I’m absolutely stunned by what you have done,” Hannah said, trying not to shriek at her already distraught brother.

  But because of her brother’s fears and insecurities, Strong Wolf was in danger.

  “How could you?” she said, her voice breaking. “Don’t you know that Strong Wolf wants nothing but friendship from you? This damn man you have hired as a foreman is a ruthless son of a bitch. Chuck, you’ve got to fire him.”