Wild Thunder Read online

  Yet she was not sure of Strong Wolf’s intentions toward her. Although he had denied it, what if he did only want to use her in order to have a closer alliance with her brother? Their lands connected. Could Strong Wolf want more than just the land that he had been given by treaty?

  And she had to be careful of this wild freedom she had found in the Kansas Territory. She shouldn’t allow herself to go too far with her feelings toward a man she scarcely knew; with a man she perhaps couldn’t even trust!

  Her heart fluttering the closer she walked into the thick, misty smoke, she became alert to every sound, of the warm summer morning. The air was of a crisp freshness and a sweet breeze swept down over the pine-covered hills.

  She came through a thick clump of young trees and thought she heard a noise. She held her breath to listen, her right hand resting on a long knife sheathed in her belt.

  She listened to the call of birds in the distance and the hum of bees, but heard nothing more, only those sounds made by Mother Nature.

  Hannah’s footsteps faltered again when she heard a noise that sounded like padded footsteps. She sucked in a wild breath of fear when a twig snapped behind her.

  She turned with a start and gasped in surprise when she found Strong Wolf there, gazing intensely at her through the smoky haze.

  Hannah returned his gaze openly, fearlessly, lovingly, her heart melting into his as he moved toward her.

  She quickly noticed that today he wore his usual beaded moccasins, but instead of a breechclout, his attire was brown deerskin leggings with long, soft fringes on either side, and a deerskin shirt with bright-colored beads sewn tightly on it. His hair was long and loose, held in place by a red bandanna tied about his brow.

  “You have come to see the smoking of unknown fires, or was your purpose to come here today, to see if I would answer the silent beckoning of your heart and come here also?” Strong Wolf suddenly said.

  He reached a hand out and brushed some tendrils of Hannah’s hair back from her face.

  “I’m not certain why I am here,” she murmured, an unleashed passion for him consuming her through and through.

  “It was the same restlessness, the same pull, that has drawn us both here, to unlock the secrets of our hearts,” Strong Wolf said. His fingers gently slid down the contours of her face, stopping to cup her chin within the palm of his hand.

  Slowly he urged her lips toward his. “In my restless dreams I saw us here, together,” he said huskily. “Was it a dream that also beckoned you?”

  “No, I didn’t even sleep well enough last night to dream,” she said in a whisper. Her heart beat so hard from his lips being so close, she felt light-headed.

  “And what did you think about when you were awake?” he said, his lips brushing against hers as he whispered. “Did you think about Strong Wolf? Did you think about this?”

  He swept his arms around her and crushed his lips to hers, his hard, strong arms pressing her against him so that their bodies strained together hungrily. The heat of his passion was pulsing and pressed tightly inside his breeches, paining and dizzying him.

  Afraid of the passion that was so overwhelming her, afraid to move this quickly into something that she might regret later, Hannah shoved against Strong Wolf’s chest until she managed to get free.

  Her chest heaving, she turned her back to him. “We mustn’t,” she murmured. She placed her trembling hands to her cheeks and felt their heat against her palms.

  Understanding a woman who might be reckless in some ways, more careful in others, Strong Wolf did not press the issue. He sucked in a breath and waited for his heartbeat to slow down, then reached a gentle hand to Hannah’s wrist and turned her to face him.

  “I feel much for you,” he said thickly. His gaze took in her flawless features, the soft glimmer of her hair. The whites of her eyes were almost luminously clear. “You feel much for me. And one day soon we will go farther than kissing. But not today. I see that you are not ready.”

  Hannah’s eyes blinked nervously as she gazed up at him. She was stunned by this man’s understanding; of his patience.

  She felt guilty now for having suspected him of wanting her for more than the sake of wanting. He had sincere feelings for her that matched those she felt for him.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, shyly lowering her eyes. “Any other man would . . .”

  “I am not just any other man,” Strong Wolf said thickly.

  “Yes, I know,” Hannah said, lifting her eyes to his.

  She trembled inwardly when she saw how his eyes were glazed and drugged with desire. She was keenly aware of the slope of his hard jaw and his finely chisleled face; that his lips still were only a feather’s touch from hers.

  Suddenly she flung herself into his arms. “Hold me,” she murmured. “Just please hold me. I love how it feels to be held by you.”

  “Tell me how it feels,” Strong Wolf said, burying his nose in the depths of her fragranced hair.

  “I . . . feel . . . needed,” Hannah said, closing her eyes to the ecstasy as his lips brushed against her ear, his breath hot against it.

  “I do need you,” Strong Wolf said, his thumb lightly caressing her flushed cheek. “As you also need me.”

  “Yes, yes,” she whispered, not fighting it when he placed a finger beneath her chin, his mouth seizing hers again in a fiery kiss.

  She twined her arms around his neck and returned the kiss as his hands were now on her throat, framing her face.

  Never had she imagined that a man’s kiss could be tender and overwhelming at the same time. Never had she imagined that being with a man could be so blissfully sweet. Her want for him was erasing all doubts, all caution. If he touched her where she painfully ached, she would now allow him to do with her whatever he wished.

  The secret place between her thighs was throbbing and burning with sensations that were new to her. She had scarcely ever been aware of that part of her anatomy until now.

  She felt an urgency; a fire that had become ignited.

  She felt consumed by the heat of desire!

  Strong Wolf could feel her responding much too eagerly to him, and knew that she still was not ready. Although every nerve ending in his body cried out to take her on that road of paradise with him now, he knew to wait until later, when he knew that afterward she would not regret having allowed it.

  He wanted her to be ready, to participate with him with an open heart. Regrets could kill passion before it even began. He wanted no regrets from this woman. Only a total commitment!

  His pulse racing, the heat in his loins almost unbearable, Strong Wolf crept from Hannah’s arms. He placed a gentle hand to her cheek as she gazed up at him questionably.

  “Later, my woman,” he said huskily. “When it is right for us to come together in the way we both hunger for, only then shall we fully explore our feelings for one another.”

  “Yes, later,” Hannah murmured, stunned again that he had not taken advantage of the moment. She knew now that it was right for her to love this man.

  She took Strong Wolf’s hand as he reached it out for her.

  “I will take you home,” he said, his eyes smiling into hers.

  “I don’t need an escort,” she said, that independent side of her surfacing again.

  “I shall, anyhow,” he said. He could not allow a woman to set down all of the rules.

  “Yes, please do,” Hannah said, suddenly realizing that when he wished to be dominant, he would be. And something inside her wanted to allow it.

  “It is best to be more careful on your outings.” Strong Wolf said as they walked back up the path. “One of my braves was beaten unmercifully by an unknown assailant yesterday. Who is to say the same men would not stop at doing the same to a woman?”

  He paused. “Or worse,” he added, his voice drawn. “Being forced sexually is worse than being physically beaten by guns, fists, and kicked by feet.”

  Going cold inside at the thought of being taken by force by a st
ranger, Hannah looked quickly up at Strong Wolf.

  “Your brave, did . . . he . . . die?”

  “No, but he will not hunt for his family for many sunrises,” he said solemnly. “He would not be able to ride or shoot.”

  “How horrible,” Hannah gasped. “Did he tell you who did it?”

  “He had been threatened into silence,” Strong Wolf said flatly.

  “I wonder if . . .”

  “Yes,” he said, interrupting her. “If you are thinking that Tiny Sharp might be responsible, yes, I suspect he might be. But there is no proof. Without proof, my hands are tied. I do not wish to stir up trouble between my people and the pony soldiers by acting only on suspicions.”

  “But if Tiny . . .”

  He interrupted her again. “He will pay for his sins, one way or the other,” he said, his voice thick with venom.

  They grew quiet when they reached the tethered horses, surprising Hannah that Strong Wolf’s was grazing contentedly beside hers. She gave Strong Wolf a questioning stare.

  “Yes, I arrived after you,” he said, smiling amusedly. “I was drawn to you, and to the smoking of unknown fires.”

  He helped her on her horse, then mounted his own. They rode off, side by side, in a slow lope.

  “You have referred to the smoky haze back at the small pond as the smoking of unknown fires,” she said, glancing over at him. “What causes the smoke? Who sealed up the cave?”

  “No one knows where the smoke comes from or how or why the cave was sealed up with boulders,” Strong Wolf said, resting a hand on the butt end of the rifle sheathed at the right side of his horse. “It is a place of mystery. Perhaps in time, the mystery will be unfolded to us.”

  They rode onward, talking and becoming more acquainted.

  Then, to Hannah’s surprise, she was riding past Strong Wolf’s village. Although most lodges were log cabins, there was also a scattering of bark-covered wigwams, surely housing those who would not let go of their past so easily.

  “The one side door on our lodges opens to a room with an earthen floor,” Strong Wolf said, when he noticed Hannah studying them. “There is a fireplace, and comfortable furnishings. Clustered together, we have fifty permanent lodges.”

  “It is quite impressive,” Hannah said softly. “But I am surprised to be here. I was so involved in talking with you I had not noticed that we had strayed this far from the road,” She paused and gazed questionably at Strong Wolf. “Did you lead me here purposely?”

  “Yes, I wished for you to see how peaceful it is at my village as my people move around doing their usual chores,” he said. “I wish for you to become more and more acquainted with my way of life, for one day I hope that it will also be yours.”

  Hannah’s lips parted in a low gasp, and her cheeks flamed with color.

  He planned for her to marry him.

  And why should she be so shocked? she wondered to herself. Everything he had done while with her had pointed to the fact that he cared for her this much.

  And she cared deeply for him.

  But marriage? Could she truly leave her way of life and marry an Indian? Did she care this much for him, that she could enter another world so different from her own?

  And then again there was her brother. Chuck depended on her. How could she let him down by leaving him? It was apparent that he was no longer able to function alone.

  “You have grown quiet,” Strong Wolf said, his eyes wavering into hers. “Does the thought of marriage to a Potawatomis warrior who will one day be chief leave a bitter taste in your mouth?”

  Alarmed by how he had taken her silence, Hannah sucked in a wild breath. “No,” she quickly said. “How could you even think that?”

  “A woman’s silence can sometimes speak more than a woman’s words,” Strong Wolf said.

  “Please only pay attention to my words,” Hannah said, reaching over to touch his arm. “Sweet man, you know how I feel about you. But as I said before, I need time. There is so much in my life right now that troubles me. My brother. I so fear for my brother.”

  “If he would send his foreman away, much in his world would be better,” Strong Wolf said, covering her hand with his. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it, then released it so that she could grip her reins more securely again.

  “I know,” Hunnah said softly. “But sometimes he is even more stubborn than his sister.”

  “You are stubborn?” Strong Wolf said, his eyes dancing into hers. “I will enjoy learning all of your traits.”

  He then looked away from her and gestured toward his village with a wide sweep of his hand. “Can you see, my woman, the village I am so proud of having established?”

  “Yes, and I see it as quite industrious,” she said as she watched women at work in large fields of corn.

  His eyes followed hers. “You see the women?” he said. “They are magical in their growing of corn. There is always much corn bread, corn stew, and cornmeal. The women are sowing beans and squash today around the hills where the corn is already growing.”

  “I never realized the garden area was so large,” Hannah said, turning to look at Strong Wolf. “Yet I see small gardens next to each home. What is planted there?”

  “With plows and hoes furnished by your government, my people grow not only corn, beans, and squash in the fields, but also peas, potatoes, pumpkins, and melons in the smaller gardens next to their homes,” he said. “But corn is our principal field crop.”

  “And who cares for your personal garden?” Hannah asked, her eyes wide.

  “Since I have no wife, nor a sister, my people loan me women to care for my crops,” Strong Wolf said, smiling when he could almost read her mind, thinking that should she marry him, she would have to labor hard from day to night.

  “Do you mean to say that the men never help in the gardens?” Hannah dared to ask.

  “Men hunt, women grow,” Strong Wolf said matter-of-factly, now knowing for sure that she asked the question because she was thinking of her future with him. “You see, my woman, the hunt is a labor meant only for men. A man knows where to hunt, when, and what. But that does not always mean that they will find meat on the day they choose to hunt. A woman always knows that her chore will not walk away and hide from her, as animals are wont to do.”

  Hannah laughed softly. “I see,” she murmured.

  “Yes, when they are available for the hunter, away from their hiding haunts, the Potawatomis sees the deer, buffalo, and bear as especially prized. But also he hunts for turkey, pigeons, squirrels, rabbits, and ah, so much more that the forest houses.”

  He paused as he looked through the cover of the trees, toward the stream that snaked across the land close to his village. “And the stream is bountiful with fish,” he said. “Sturgeon is our major fish catch.”

  “And then you have a variety of nuts, berries, and herbs in the forest,” Hannah interjected. “Also plums, persimmons, grapes, mulberries.”

  “You see how easy it is to learn ways of the Potawatomis?” Strong Wolf said, laughing softly at how she had joined in the conversation about food and game. “We Potawatomis, when nature is good to us, have enough from the forest in ways of berries and nuts, to feed our family from June to August.”

  Hannah watched young braves standing near the fields. “What are the boys there for?” she said, pointing to them.

  “They are there to drive away birds and animals while the women do their planting,” Strong Wolf explained.

  Several acres of uncultivated land that stretched away from the village at the right side was covered with blue grass, which made excellent pasture for horses. As they left the village behind and rode past the grazing horses, Hannah admired them.

  “I have always wanted to own many horses,” she blurted out. “It was my dream as a child to train horses.” She looked over at Strong Wolf, her eyes wavering. “My father never understood. He wouldn’t allow me to have my dream.”

  “You come to my village any time a
nd choose your favorite horse, and it is yours,” Strong Wolf said. “You can now, if you wish.”

  “Truly?” she said, her eyes widening. Then she sighed. “Thank you for offering, Strong Wolf. But it’s best that I don’t. I truly must hurry home. I must see about my brother. He’s surely been up from bed for hours and is worrying his head off about where I am. We mustn’t give him cause again to think that I was taken hostage.”

  “Again?” Strong Wolf said, forking an eyebrow.

  She told him about what had happened yesterday.

  She could tell that he hadn’t taken to the story too well, especially the part where her brother had actually gone as far as having sent Tiny and his men to the fort to report that she was missing, with suspicions that Strong Wolf was responsible.

  “But, Strong Wolf, how can you be angry at my brother for thinking you abducted me,” Hannah murmured. “You did, if only for a short while.”

  They exchanged smiles, then rode onward until they reached the outskirts of her brother’s ranch.

  “I will now leave you, but not because I wish to,” Strong Wolf said, reaching over to place a hand behind her neck. He drew her lips to his and gave her a lingering kiss, then grabbed his reins and wheeled his horse around.

  He gazed at her for a moment longer, then rode away.

  He was filled with wonder about this woman. Surely she was his destiny. He had to find a way to conquer the ghosts of his past. That was the only way he could ever feel free to love her.

  And he must have her.

  His life now would be incomplete without her!

  Hannah watched him ride away, filled with sweet memories of today that would linger within her heart forever.

  She loved him.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw her brother on the porch of the ranch house, slowly pacing back and forth.

  Again she had let him down by worrying him.

  But this was a small sort of letdown compared to what it would be if she chose to leave him, to marry Strong Wolf!

  “Chuck!” she shouted. “I’m home! I’m home!”

  When he turned toward her voice, stumbled, and almost fell from the porch, a part of her died inside.