Savage Flames (16 page)

But he held back, for he wanted her to know every pleasure possible. Already he could tell she was not familiar with sexual
satisfaction.

She was wildly hungry for a man. It was obvious her husband had not offered her this kind of fulfilment. He could tell that
she was new at this.

It was evident in the way she gasped with his each new approach to pleasing her.

Now, as his hands cupped her full breasts, his tongue moving from one nipple to the other, he could tell this was a new experience
for her by the way she seemed to marvel silently over the pleasure it gave her.

The realization gave him double pleasure.

He kissed her again as his lean, sinewy buttocks moved, thrusting him into her. She locked her legs around him so that he
could move more deeply within her.

And when he reached that sensitive place within a woman that he knew would bring her immense pleasure, he stroked it skillfully,
and kissed heragain as she gasped and moaned and clung to him.

He swept his arms around her and cradled her there, marveling that she was so deeply hungry for his loving.

He was so happy that he was the man who was giving her such pleasure for the first time, ever. He knew now what she wanted,
and vowed he would give it to her.

He wanted her to be happy…to be fulfilled. He wanted her always to know that he was there for her, in every way.

His tongue brushed her lips lightly.

Then he whispered against them. “I want you now. Are you ready?” He knew she was. But he wanted to be certain.

“Yes, yes…” Lavinia groaned. “Please, now…” Lavinia’s mind seemed to splinter with sensation as she discovered the
true meaning of passion…of intense loving…of giving!

She clung to him as he buried his face next to her neck and she knew that he was finding his own deepest pleasure. He thrust
more deeply than before, over and over again, her moans proving that she was giving back to a man for the first time.

And she treasured this moment with him!

She would never forget it.

Afterward, they lay together, breathing hard.

It was so different with Wolf Dancer than with her husband.

If it had been Virgil who’d taken such pleasure,he would already be gone, leaving her alone and unfulfilled. Instead, Wolf
Dancer was holding her tightly as though he never wanted to let her go.

She brushed his lips lightly with kisses. She was flooded with emotions she could not even begin to thank him for.

She truly was a woman now, and she would continue to know a woman’s pleasure as long as she had Wolf Dancer to love her.

“I would like to stay here the rest of the day,” Lavinia said as Wolf Dancer rolled away from her and lay on his side, gazing
at her with his mystical green eyes.

“I would as well, but there is something planned for today that I have not yet told you,” Wolf Dancer said, sitting up as
she propped herself up beside him.

“What is it?” Lavinia murmured, welcoming a blanket around her shoulders as she became aware of the coolness of the room.

“I have asked Shining Soul to cast a spell on Hiram Price,” Wolf Dancer said. He saw shock in her expression. “We should be
there, a part of it.”

“A spell?” Lavinia gasped. “Of what sort?”

She didn’t want to be afraid of this side of the Seminole’s beliefs, yet she was, a little. But she knew that whatever Wolf
Dancer had planned with his shaman, it could not be harmful to her.

“Are you hesitant to join me as Shining Soul casts his spell?” he asked, reaching up and gently pushing her long hair back
from her shoulders.

“If I am with you, nothing will frighten me,” she murmured.

“Something good for you and your daughter will come of this,” Wolf Dancer said, putting his arms around her and drawing her
into his embrace. “We must eat, get dressed, and go tell Shining Soul that we are ready to sit with him as he casts his spell.”

“Should Dorey be there, too?” Lavinia asked, rising and feeling a quiet joy as Wolf Dancer slid the dress over her head, then
knelt down and slipped her moccasins on her feet.

“The spell is meant to help Dorey, too, so, yes, she should sit with us during the spell casting,” Wolf Dancer said.

He drew her against him. “Never be afraid of anything our people do, especially Shining Soul,” he assured her. “He is a man
of good heart. He works for the well-being of our people, including you and your daughter, as well as Twila and Joshua.”

“Can Joshua and Twila join us?” she asked.

“It would be good to have them there, too,” Wolf Dancer said. “But I will urge everyone else to stay in their homes until
Shining Soul is finished.”

The fact that he would have his people stay away made Lavinia wonder again about what was going to happen. Yet she cast her
doubts aside, resolving to trust anything that Wolf Dancer had planned for her and her daughter.

She gave him a soft smile as he reached for full buckskin leggings instead of his breechclout. As hedressed, she marveled
anew that she was there with him, loved by him.

It was like a dream come true for her!

Yet now she wondered what else besides spells she would witness while living with him. She hoped she was ready for whatever
might come her way.

Chapter Twenty-eight

O! How this spring of love resembleth

The uncertain glory of an April day.

—William Shakespeare

The village was quiet. All but those who were participating in Shining Soul’s spell were inside their homes.

Except for the birds’ chatter in the trees, there were no other sounds as Shining Soul knelt in front of his hut, using his
wand to draw a circle on the ground.

Lavinia sat close to Wolf Dancer, while Dorey, Twila, and Joshua sat a little further away.

All of their eyes were on Shining Soul as he sank down stiffly in the middle of the circle he had just drawn, his stuffed
owl headdress on his head.

Gazing up, he lifted his hands heavenward and began to pray. Not a sound was made elsewhere as his voice rose into the cloudy
sky. “Oh, Master of Breath, whose breath gives life to all the Seminole people, hear me as I come before you to seek your
help,” he cried. “I am one of your children, small and weak. Master of Breath, I need your strength to cast a spell on someone
who has brought heartache to those who do not deserve it. Oh, Master of Breath, I seek not to be superior to my brothers,
but I need power enough to cast a spell this day.”

Lavinia gasped when she saw Shining Soul fall suddenly quiet, seemingly going into a trance, his eyes rolling back into his
head.

Wolf Dancer had forewarned Lavinia of all that she would witness today, and she had then told her daughter and Joshua and
Twila, so they would not be too afraid.

Wolf Dancer had told Lavinia that while Shining Soul was in a trance, his spirit would leave his body and soar to the heavens,
where he would converse with the Sun God, asking this god to hear the same plea that he had spoken aloud to the Seminole’s
Master of Breath. It was then that Shining Soul would disclose his wishes to the Sun God.

Wolf Dancer had further said that the Sun God was the most important god to his Seminole people. But now, in the midst of
the ceremony, Wolf Dancer reached over and took Lavinia’s hand as they waited for Shining Soul to return to himself.

Wolf Dancer looked over his shoulder and saw that Dorey and Twila were clinging tightly to one another, their eyes wide with
a mixture of fear and wonder as Shining Soul’s eyes remained rolled back in his head.

Wolf Dancer glanced over at Joshua, who seemed just as afraid, but who even now, as Wolf Dancer watched, placed an arm around
both girls, drawing them closer to him.

Wolf Dancer sensed that perhaps enough timehad elapsed for Shining Soul to complete his conversation with the Sun God. Just
as he turned to look at Shining Soul, the elderly man’s eyes opened and blinked several times.

“It is done,” Shining Soul said, looking from one to the other of his audience. “Visible only to me, the Sun God did not await
my ascent into his sky home, but instead came to me and hovered just above my head as I spoke of my wishes. The Sun God replied,
assuring me that he would play a major role in what happens to the evil white man.” “How will it be done?” Lavinia asked,
even though she found it peculiar to act as though she believed in this strange sort of magic. But while she was with Wolf
Dancer, she had begun to believe that anything was possible.

“He did not divulge to me how, but only said that it would be done,” Shining Soul explained. “He told me to wait one sleep
and then go to the huge white house when the moon is full. That will be the time when the evil man’s end will begin.”

Shining Soul rose slowly to his feet.

He teetered as though he might fall, then steadied himself just as Wolf Dancer went quickly to help him.

“When I enter trances, the magic takes away much of my strength,” Shining Soul said, his voice drawn. “I must go and rest
now. Just know that what I have told you today is truth.”

“We know,” Wolf Dancer said. He took Shining Soul gently by an elbow and helped him into his home.

“My owl headdress,” Shining Soul said, leaning his head down for Wolf Dancer to remove it. “Please take it from my head and
place it in its special case until it is time to wear it again.”

Wolf Dancer gently lifted the headdress from the shaman’s head and placed it in its magic case, then went back to Shining
Soul and helped him down onto his thick pallet of furs.

After Shining Soul stretched out, his eyes already closed, Wolf Dancer gently placed a blanket over him. He knelt there beside
his shaman for a while longer, and only when he saw that Shining Soul was asleep did he leave.

When he stepped outside the lodge, Lavinia ran up to him. “Is he alright?” she asked, having seen how the trance had weakened
Shining Soul.

“He is elderly, but as I have told you before, he is a strong man, and will be among us for many more moons to come,” Wolf
Dancer said. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders. “He will witness not only the first child born of our love for one
another, but also the second.”

“You are looking ahead to children?” Lavinia asked, smiling into his eyes. “That is wonderful, Wolf Dancer. I dearly wish
to give Dorey a sister and a brother. Except for Twila, Dorey has been lonesome for other children.”

“She will have a true family again once we have spoken our vows,” he assured her.

He looked over at Twila and Dorey, then at Joshua. “Joshua,care for the children today, will you? Lavinia and I have much
to discuss concerning our future.”

“I will do that for you and Lavinia,” Joshua said, smiling at her. “Lavinia, you take your time with Wolf Dancer. De girls
always have enough to do to keep dem busy.”

“Before we can return to my home, which will soon be yours also, Lavinia, I must alert my people that they may leave their
lodges and resume their normal day’s activities,” Wolf Dancer said. “You can wait for me, or go on to my lodge.”

“I will wait here,” she said, then stood alone as she watched Joshua and the girls go to Joshua’s home, while Wolf Dancer
asked one of his warriors to spread the word that their shaman had performed his spell.

Then Wolf Dancer returned to her. “Come with me,” he urged, taking her by the hand. “There is something else I want you to
see.”

“What is it?” Lavinia asked curiously. Each day now she was being shown something new and exciting.

“You will see,” he said, then led her through the thick vegetation until they came to the river.

He suddenly stopped. He bent to his knees and lifted a rock that was not too heavy for Lavinia to carry, then gave it to her.
“You will need this,” he said. “You have much to learn about my people, now, before we are married, and later, after we have
shared our vows. From now on, we will share everything until we are no longer of this earth.”

Lavinia hefted the rock and followed Wolf Dancer, then stopped and gazed in awe at what lay ahead of them.

There were many rocks, stacked upon one another in the form of a wide circle.

She gazed questioningly at Wolf Dancer. “Is this what you wanted to show me?” she asked, turning and gazing at the carefully
stacked rocks.

“Yes, it is important for you to know about this,” he said. “We should go close enough for you to place your rock with the
others.”

“Why am I going to do this?” Lavinia asked, following him until they came to the circle of rocks. Up close, she realized the
rocks formed a wall higher than her head.

“This is a sacred circle of rocks,” Wolf Dancer said. He stepped closer and placed his hand on one of them. “It has been built
by people who bring stones here in memory of a loved one who has journeyed on ahead of them.”

“I have brought only one stone, but I want it to represent my mother and father, as well as my husband,” Lavinia murmured,
wanting to embrace this Seminole belief.

“Lay it with the others,” Wolf Dancer encouraged, stepping back. “Speak with all of the stones that are there and tell them
what is in your heart.”

Lavinia stepped up to the stones and very carefully placed the one she had brought with the others, making certain it was
secure so that it would not tumble free after she was gone.

She gave Wolf Dancer a questioning glance.

“Tell them your feelings, but not aloud,” he said. “It is between only you and the sacred rocks. They will hear your thoughts.”

Lavinia began thinking to herself how she missed her parents and her husband, and thought of everything else that had made
her feel so alone these past months, even when her husband was alive.

But she then thought with gratitude of what she had found with Wolf Dancer, feeling blessed in every way since their acquaintance.

Having thought everything that she felt needed to be expressed, Lavinia turned to Wolf Dancer and smiled. “Thank you for bringing
me here,” she murmured. “I felt the presence of my parents and my husband as I stood thinking about them.”

“They were there,” Wolf Dancer said, drawing her into his embrace and holding her gently against him. “They always will be,
now that you have placed your stone there to represent them. Come here when you need them. They will be here for you.”

“It’s wonderful that you understand about my husband,” Lavinia said, gazing up into his eyes. “Most men would be jealous,
even of a dead husband.”

“Jealousy is a wasted emotion,” Wolf Dancer said, placing a gentle hand beneath her chin.

He brought her lips to his and kissed her, then whispered, “Let us go home, woman. I believe you have learned enough today
about my people and their magic.”

“I shall never tire of learning about your people,” she said.

Holding hands, they walked back toward the village, Lavinia truly feeling blessed that she had found this wonderful man who
cared for her so much.

Then she thought of Hiram. Although a spell had been cast to ensure that he would finally get his comeuppance, she knew how
shrewd a man he was. She prayed to herself that he would not find a way to escape what was planned for him.

While he was out there somewhere, possibly plotting how to get her, she knew she could not rest easy!