Chills & Thrills Paranormal Boxed Set (62 page)

After some time, she leaned over and began unlacing her
boots. Tony watched her, amazed that he enjoyed observing her perform these
simple tasks. As if she felt his attention, she looked up, smiled, and patted
the spot beside her.

"Tell me about your life before you came to Ebony
Canyon." She lifted her eyebrows teasingly. "Are you really a college
graduate?"

"Absolutely." He lowered himself onto the blanket,
reclining beside her with an elbow on the ground and his head supported by his
hand, still watching her. "I'm a computer engineer. I was the first member
of my family to graduate. I even worked at Microsoft for a couple of years."

"Why did you leave it?"

Tony hesitated, reached out to pluck a blade of grass and
started nibbling on it. "Tajaya. I used to hike on the rim when I was a
teenager, and I met her there one day. At first I thought she came from one of
the surrounding reservations too. We met for several years before she told me
the truth. Eventually Tajaya introduced me to Star Dancer. We married . .
."

"Shala told me she was a trueborn and a shaman like
you."

"Her father's bloodline went all the way back to
Quakahla and she was born in the canyon, but Riva came from the outside, like
me."

"Shala told me that, too."

He smiled wryly, not sure if he approved of his daughter's
ready sharing of their history. His feelings were so mixed. He was both
surprised and a bit dismayed to find that talking about Tajaya hadn't stirred
his anger toward Lily. He looked over at her, saw the slender curve of her bare
leg. A twig clung to her calf and he leaned to flick it off, expecting the
touch to ignite anger. It didn't, but he wasn't sure he wanted to test it any
further.

Tony felt a need to stop talking, which Lily must have
sensed because she abruptly said, "Tell me one of your legends. I'd like
to hear more of White Wolf Woman and Sienna Doe."

"How many have you heard besides the one Star Dancer told?"

"Shala told me a few. The last one was about White Wolf
Woman becoming Sienna Doe again."

Glad she'd changed the subject, he sat up, crossed his legs
in tailor fashion, then closed his eyes and waited for the spirits to deliver
the story. Soon the words came, and he began to talk.

 
Although White
Wolf Woman again lived as Sienna Doe, hatred was in the hearts of the Deer
People. When they spoke to her, which was seldom, they vented their rage
over
 
the loved ones she had taken. She
lived among them, yet not one of them, and as the days passed, her loneliness
grew until it was a dense stone inside her heart.

Winter came. A hard winter, with many snows, killing the
sweet sprigs that usually sprouted on warmer days. The herd grew painfully
leaner—some died of hunger —and as their prey dwindled the wolves became
bolder.

A snowstorm sent the deer into the dangerous shelter of a
one-way canyon, and had now passed, but when the herd prepared to leave they
heard wolves yapping and howling near the canyon mouth.

"Sienna Doe," cried Jeshra, a stag who had lost
a mate to her ravenous appetite. "Speak to your brethren the wolves, and
ask for safe passage. By this you shall be redeemed."

Of all the Deer People, this stag bore the greatest malice
toward her, but Sienna Doe so desired acceptance she bowed her head and backed
toward the canyon mouth.

A high alpha wolf waited for her, fangs exposed, flanks
tightened to attack. As she approached the wolf, she heard the deer whisper
among themselves. "Surely, she shall die, and while the wolves feast on
her dead flesh, we shall escape."

Even knowing she'd been sent as sacrifice, White Wolf
Woman did not hesitate. Better death at the hands of those who were once her
kin, than a life amid those who hated her. Lifting her head proudly, she walked
steely-eyed toward the alpha wolf.

She'd returned from her wolf life bigger and stronger
than ever before, but she'd never had an opportunity to test her full powers.
Now, as the alpha wolf threw himself at her throat, she lifted a foreleg and
kicked him, sending him soaring into a tree. Stunned, he gathered himself and
flew at her again. Another wolf leaped at her flanks. She kicked both predators
into a snowbank. The second wolf collapsed and died with a whimper, but the
alpha wolf climbed to his feet and sprang at her again.

He sank his teeth into her shoulder, tearing flesh.
Bleeding badly, she reared her hind legs and struck the wolf's head with her
sharp hooves. With a half yelp he somersaulted through the air, then collapsed
onto the snow-covered ground. This time, he didn't get up.

Leaderless, the other wolves stared at their fallen
relations. One let out a mournful howl, then whirled and fled. The others
immediately followed.

Tony stopped and opened his eyes. Why had the spirits sent
this tale? As much as Lily tried to hide it, he knew she was frightened and
thought the Tribunal was an execution squad. It was a misinterpretation he'd
fostered, one all his present assurances hadn't changed.

"Go on," she urged, fluttering her hands to draw
the words from him.

"It might be better if I didn't."

"So it doesn't come out well?"

"No," he replied flatly.

"Finish it anyway. We've got nothing better to do until
sunset."

Although doubting the wisdom of it, Tony lowered his eyelids
and went on.

 
Jeshra ran to
Sienna Doe. "You've saved us from certain death," he declared,
nudging her with his great rack of antlers as a sign of tribute. "We honor
you."

Her heart soared. Finally her brothers and sisters had
found forgiveness. She was about to tell him how happy she was to be back, then
Jeshra spoke again.

"We now ask that you go into the forest and slay the
rest."

Tony fell silent and opened his eyes again. Lily looked at
him, her expression growing impatient.

"Is that it?" she asked sharply. "They send
her out to certain death?"

"I'm sorry." Tony touched her arm. "The
spirits deliver the tales. When I began, I didn't think of how it would . .
."

She tossed her head, jogging loose a strand of hair.

It fell over her eyes, and she brushed it away crossly, then
flopped back on the blanket and stared up at the swaying trees. "It's just
a story."

"That's right, just a story." Tony lay down beside
her, tucked the flyaway strand beneath her damp headband, then took her in his
arms. "I'll ask for a happier one."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, put a light kiss on
his lips. "Not now."

She kissed him again, lingering this time. Tony nipped at
her lower lip. With a sharp intake of breath she deepened the kiss. Tony felt
her almost imperceptible tremble and returned her kiss with equal hunger.

"Make love to me, Tony," she breathed against his
mouth. "Whisper some colorful poetry into my ears, and let me forget for a
short time why we're here."

Tony groaned, involuntarily tightening his hold on her.
"We can't, Lily. Such intimacy is expressly forbidden before a
Tribunal."

"Forbidden . . ." She rolled out of his arms.
"How unfair."

She stared up at the trees again. Behind them the river
babbled pleasantly. Birds called out overhead, and occasionally a frog was
heard. Then she sat up abruptly, as if she'd made an important decision.

"Please, Tony," she said, unfastening the
waistband of her shorts. "I'll take my chances. Please make love to
me." She jerked down the zipper and slipped off the shorts in one fluid
movement, then fell back against the blanket and looked up at him with hungry
eyes. "If
 
I'm to die, at least I'll
have that."

Had any others ever joined together beforehand and survived?
Would violating the ban cost Lily her life? Lily rolled on her side, slipped
her hand beneath the flimsy covering provided by his loincloth. When her
fingers touched him there, he immediately came to life, hot with wanting her.

"We shouldn't," he murmured hoarsely. "We
mustn't."

She nibbled on his lower lip and flicked her tongue against
the sensitive skin inside. "Shh," she whispered against his mouth.
"Shh."

Still kissing her, Tony groaned and rolled on top of her,
sliding his hands underneath her body and taking her small buttocks in his
hands.

Her hand still enclosed him, moving rhythmically up and
down. With a smooth twist of her wrist, she dislodged his loincloth, exposing
him fully.

She could die during the inquisition, he realized. They both
could die, whether they defied the ban or not. A moment like this one might
never come again.

He entered her, swiftly, possessively, finding her hot and
moist and ready. This time she took him without the urgency of the night
before, rotating her hips so sensually he burned with need for her. As she
wrapped her legs around his thrusting hips, she suddenly broke their kiss,
opened her eyes, and stared pensively into his.

"Tony," she asked in a ragged voice, "did
White Wolf Woman survive?"

"Yes, Lily. Yes, she did."

She sighed, tightened her legs around him, then claimed his
mouth again.

     
* * *

Night fell with a blaze of crimson and orange. With obvious
reluctance, Tony withdrew his arm from around Lily and stood up. He had put the
backpack he'd carried with him from the village not far from the blanket, and
now he crossed to it and pulled down the zipper.

Lily sat up, feeling a little light-headed. As custom
required, they'd taken neither food nor water since reaching the sweat-lodge
site, but she wasn't sure whether her dizziness came from that or was an aftermath
of their lovemaking.

She watched Tony's purposeful movements. The drapes of his
loincloth had split, displaying the flexing muscles of his thighs, and she
licked her parched lips, remembering how they'd felt between her own parted
legs. Her skin tingled even now, and she felt another wave of desire.

But his grim expression told her she wouldn't tempt him a
second time.
 
With a muffled groan she
reached for her discarded shorts.

"You won't need those," Tony said, rising with a
buff-colored garment in his hand.

He walked over and handed it to her. "Our women wear
these during mixed gender sweats," he said.

She smiled up provocatively. "And what do you wear when
you're alone?"

"Nothing," he said curtly, then returned to the
backpack.

He came back with his satchel, which he put on the ground.
Solemnly, he began taking out items. Lily smelled the aroma of tobacco seeping
through the leather wrapping of a small packet, saw a sage stick tightly bound
with vines. Then he opened a larger bundle, from which he took the wing of a
big bird and a round drum. Next came a clay pot, and he filled this to the brim
with water.

"You look like a traveling medicine show," she
joked, trying to ease her unrest.

"Talk no more unless it is of these matters," he
said with a sharp look.

"Sorry. I didn't realize there was a protocol."

"Lily!”

She jerked her head in assent. Suddenly a bundle of nerves,
she climbed to her feet, becoming aware of the soft feel of the garment in her
hand. Holding one edge, she let it fall.

It was a knee length shift, constructed in the meticulous
manner of the tribespeople. Deerskin, she thought, wondering if this was
another metaphor. The Dawn People were full of them. She glanced up and saw
Tony looking at her.

"It absorbs the heat from your body and makes the fires
of the lodge easier to withstand," he said.

She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Yes, it is deerskin, but has nothing to do with the
legends. Put it on now. The sun will soon set."

He turned back to the satchel, dumping its remaining contents
on the blanket. Then he put the items he'd taken out back inside, except for
the clay pot. By the time he finished, Lily had gotten into the dress, which
ended at the middle of her thighs and was as soft and supple as her own skin.

When Tony looked up, his eyes widened. "Free your hair,
if you will."

Lily untied the thong, and her hair fell around her
shoulders. Barefoot, clad only in the dress and the bright scarf around her
forehead, she felt suddenly self-conscious beneath Tony's riveted gaze.

"If beauty were any defense, the Tribunal would surely
acquit you." His words were so soft they sounded like sighs.
"Here," he said, louder and more gruffly, shoving Lily's sandals
toward her. "Although shoes aren't allowed inside the lodge, you'll need
these for the climb "

She thanked him and slipped the sandals onto her feet. At
that he got up, swung the satchel over his shoulder, then bent for the bowl.
Cradling it against his chest, he turned to her. "We must go now."

Lily walked behind him, noticing that though he wore only
moccasins himself he kicked away the larger rocks to protect her feet, making
her ascent relatively easy. When they reached the top, Lily waited beside the
blazing fire pit, the colors in its depths matched the sky. Tony hurried toward
the lodge, lifted the leather curtain, and put the satchel inside. He came back
with an enormous, scorched scoop that had been carved from a gourd.

He scooped out the fiery rocks one by one onto a rusty sheet
of metal that had once been the fender of a car. When he'd gathered about a
dozen, he looked at Lily. "Help me drag the Stone People to the
lodge."

She took one corner of the metal. Horrific heat emanated
from the glowing rocks, and perspiration beaded her forehead as they lugged the
metal sheet to the sweat lodge.