Savage Summer (21 page)

“I can tell you no more, Morgan. This is the last time I will ever see you. I am going home tomorrow, and I shall never come back to Philadelphia. Tonight is good-bye for us.”

His hands gripped her shoulders and he pulled her back against him. “No, damn it, this isn’t good-bye. Don’t you know you are tearing my heart out? Don’t you give a damn that I love you?”

Her eyes were tear-bright. “I would rather tear out my own heart than to cause you pain, Morgan. I do love you, but you will have to understand I must go away.”

She could feel the shudder that shook him. “How can I let you go when I know you love me? I have never felt this strongly about a woman before. It seems to me that when two people are meant for each other, as you and I are, there should be nothing else to consider. What a proud woman you are. I think what I love about you most is your strength and courage. I do not admire that you can turn your back on love.”

Skyler rested her face against his chest, knowing this was the last time they would ever be together. “I am not strong,
Morgan, and I would like to have your admiration above all others, but I have to do what is right.”

“Is there another man in your life?”

“No.”

“I can’t believe that you are going away—leaving me with nothing to hold on to.” He raised her face and rested his against it. “I want you, Skyler Dancing. I want you for my wife.”

Skyler shook her head. “That can never be.” She tried to close her eyes against the tears, but was unsuccessful. “I can never be your wife, Morgan, but I will give you what should only be for my husband on my wedding night.” She found herself saying the very words that she had spoken in her dream. For a moment she couldn’t tell if she were dreaming or awake. Where did dreams start and reality set in, she wondered.

Morgan searched her face. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

“Yes. I will be with you tonight. This is all I can ever give you, Morgan.”

Anger moved over his face. “How magnanimous of you, Skyler. You are leaving me, so you think to pacify me with a few crumbs. I don’t want what you offer…now or ever.”

She knew it was his hurt that was talking. “You do want me, Morgan. Your words may deny it, but your eyes never could. It will cost you nothing to take what I give you tonight.”

“How many other men have you offered yourself to, Skyler? Am I the next in a long line of men to whom you have offered crumbs?”

She reached up and unfastened the neck of her robe. “I have never given myself to another, Morgan. I want to give myself to you so you will know how deeply I feel about you. I don’t want you to remember me with anything but kindness and love.”

“No! I will not take what you are so willing to give. If I can’t have all of you, then I don’t want anything at all. I
could find plenty of women who are willing to give me what you offer so freely. Perhaps you were right, and I should just leave.”

His mouth was moving, and he was talking, but he wasn’t aware of what he was saying. His eyes were drawn to Skyler as she let her robe drop onto the floor of the summerhouse. He stood mesmerized as she slipped out of her gown and stood before him naked. He took a step toward her, but stopped when she raised her arms to him.

The bright moonlight seemed to turn her body a golden color. Morgan felt his breathing close off, knowing he could no longer resist the lovely vision that stood before him with her arms outstretched.

“Skyler,” he cried in a strangled voice. Suddenly she was in his arms, and his hands were running up and down her back. He sought and found her lips as his hunger for her deepened into a maddening whirlwind.

Skyler felt his hands sliding blissfully up and down her back and across her hips as he whispered her name over and over. She would give him all she had to give, for she couldn’t bear to go away and leave him with nothing. There was no doubt in her mind that he loved her, and she doubted she would ever love another man as deeply as she loved Morgan. She would one day have to marry, but if she gave herself to Morgan tonight she wouldn’t be cheating anyone but herself.

The dream was being fulfilled. Tomorrow she would go away never to see her love’s face again.

Alexandria couldn’t sleep, so she got out of bed and walked over to the window. She couldn’t get Danielle out of her mind. The horrible part in all this was in not knowing if she was dead or alive. If she were alive, she would be a captive. It was tearing her apart to think how Danielle might be mistreated.

As her gaze wandered down to the garden toward the summerhouse, she saw someone moving out of the shadows.
It was a bright night, and Alexandria had no trouble recognizing Skyler and Morgan. She didn’t need to see clearly to know they were locked in an embrace. Alexandria remembered the time when she had freely given herself to Tag. She felt pity in her heart for Skyler and Morgan. Tonight was all they would ever have.

“Can’t you sleep either?” Tag asked, getting out of bed and walking toward her.

“I think I can now, if you will hold me,” she said, moving to his side so he wouldn’t discover Skyler and Morgan.

Tag helped her back to bed and lay down beside her. She closed her eyes, wishing that Skyler and Morgan would realize that love was the most important thing in life. No one could tell them that—they would have to discover the meaning of love on their own. It didn’t matter if they came from different backgrounds; all that mattered in the end was whether they loved each other enough to sacrifice some of their beliefs.

Alexandria thought of Danielle, and a sob broke her lips. Poor, sweet Danielle would never know love. Alexandria felt in her heart that she must be dead.

She felt Tag’s hands move across her face, and he pulled her forward to rest against his shoulder. “Don’t give up, Alexandria. I need you to believe that we will find our girl. If you believe it, then perhaps I can hope, too.”

“I want to believe it, Tag, but Farley would never have come for you if he thought there was any hope.”

Tag held her tightly, fearing she might lose his baby. Now when she needed him most, he was forced to leave her. “What kind of nonsense is that, my sweet love? I would be willing to bet that when I get to the village, Danielle will be there to greet me.”

He closed his eyes, knowing he was only trying to pacify Alexandria. In his heart he feared Danielle had met a terrible fate. When she was gone, he would lose the last link he had with Morning Song.

In one of the guest bedrooms Farley swore under his breath because he couldn’t get to sleep in the too soft bed. Tossing the wine-colored coverlet onto the floor, he climbed out of bed and lay down on it. Staring at the window he still couldn’t sleep. There was much unhappiness within this family he loved, and there didn’t seem to be a damned thing he could do about it.

The prairie grasses no longer green were scarred with a thick black dust that covered the land. Smoke still rose into the air, mixing with the night shadows only to be lost in the ebony skies.

Wolfrunner bent over Danielle’s unconscious body, examining her closely. Her face was streaked from the soot and ashes, but she didn’t seem to be burned. He could see the steady rise and fall of her breasts, so he knew she was breathing.

Cupping his hands in the river, he proceeded to wash her face clean. When that was accompanied, his eyes traveled down to her ankle, and he saw it was swollen almost twice its normal size. She must have injured it when she fell earlier in the day, but she hadn’t complained. He had pushed her mercilessly and she must have been in agony. Examining her ankle, his eyes wandered to her shoes. He saw the soles of her shoes had been worn through and the bottoms of her feet were raw and bleeding.

Gathering her into his arms, Wolfrunner held her limp body against him. Great Father, he had thought her weak and unworthy, when she had possessed great courage. When the fire had raged out of control, and it looked like they would both be burned alive, had she not urged him to leave her and save himself? Never had he met a woman with such
bravery and courage. His heart seemed to shatter, knowing he would never be worthy of her. In her eyes he was nothing but a savage—had she not said so herself?

Picking up her small hand, he held it to his face, rubbing his lips across the soft palm. Now, while she was unconscious, he could touch her and hold her in his arms. He could allow his love to wash over him without her being aware of it. He had been forced to hide his feelings from Danielle and himself. It had been difficult to pretend indifference and dislike when his heart had been crying out to touch her.

Lifting Danielle’s head Wolfrunner cupped his hands in the water and held it to her lips. She stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

For a moment there was confusion written in her beautiful blue eyes. When she saw the look of concern on Wolfrunner’s face, she smiled weakly.

“Are we not dead?” she whispered through parched lips. “Do I walk among your spirit world?”

Wolfrunner laid her back on the grass. “It would seem the Great One smiled on us today. We should be dead, but we somehow survived.”

“It was because of you that we live,” she said, sitting up. A grimace of pain flickered across her face and she reached down to her ankle. “How was it possible that the whole prairie caught on fire?”

Wolfrunner’s eyes traveled across the river where earlier he had seen a lone Indian watching him, and he knew it had been his old enemy. “Scar Face set the fire. He must be very angry that we refused to die. He will try again.”

Danielle’s eyes searched the darkness. “Will he come tonight?” she asked fearfully.

“No, he is a coward and knows we will be watching for him. He will strike from behind when we least expect it, so we must always be on watch for him.”

Danielle tried to stand, but pain shot through her ankle and Wolfrunner pushed her backward. “You will rest and I
will tend you. Why did you not tell me you were in pain? I can see this is very bad.”

“Would you have stopped for me had you known that I was injured?” she asked.

He plunged her feet into the cool river water and stood up. “I will find the soothing herb that will help you heal. It will be best if we remain here until you are well enough to travel. If you would have told me you were hurt today, we would not have to lose valuable time now.” His voice was cold, and Danielle shivered at the anger on his face. She didn’t know how to please him. If she had told him of her injury today, he would have accused her of complaining. Now, he claimed it was her fault they would lose time getting back to the village. Apparently anything she did would anger him.

Danielle watched Wolfrunner disappear, knowing he wouldn’t be far away. He might have threatened to leave her in the past, but she now knew he never would have. He had protected her with his own life today. She had never known a man like him. She wished she knew the words to say to him to let him know how grateful she was. She had come to know him well enough to realize he wouldn’t welcome her gratitude. What a proud man he was. Could no one break through that wall he erected about himself?

Danielle was experiencing a way of life that was as different from the way she had been brought up as day was different from night. Here in this lovely land of her Indian ancestors, she had lost her identity, but found herself. She had slowly been molded into a girl her friends would never recognize. Wolfrunner had helped her find the meaning of who she was. It didn’t matter to her any longer that she would be considered a half-breed. To her surprise she found herself feeling that she belonged to this land. It was as if she had been searching for something and someone all her young life. The something was the land of her mother’s people, the someone was Wolfrunner!

I love him, she thought. I love this man who has stood
many times between me and death. She knew she could never tell him how she loved him—he would only scoff at her feelings. In the new person she had become, Danielle knew that she could be strong. She could face whatever the future held for her with pride and dignity.

How brave and noble Wolfrunner was. It would never have occurred to him to leave her today to save his own life. Again she found herself wanting to learn more about this man who had become her savior.

A short time later, Wolfrunner returned to her. He came so quietly out of the shadows that he startled Danielle. Sitting down beside her, he lifted her feet out of the river and gently dried them off. Danielle watched as he crushed some kind of leaves in the palms of his hands and then rubbed them on the bottoms of her feet. After that was done, he ripped a strip off her skirt and bound it tightly about her ankle.

“If you keep tearing my clothing, I will be wearing very little when we reach the village.” Her smile told him she was teasing, but he didn’t seem amused.

“White women wear too many clothes. It is not good to cover the body when the sun is hot.”

“Well,” she said, looking down at the once expensive gown, that now came just above her knees. “You couldn’t say I was overdressed.”

He caught the humor in her voice, and inside he smiled, even though the face he turned to her held a grim expression. His eyes ran the length of her shapely leg, from foot to calf, and he quickly looked back to the binding on her foot.

When he was satisfied he had done all he could to make her comfortable, he bathed her face once more to remove the remaining smudges. “You must try to rest now. By tomorrow you will feel much better, I think.”

When he would have risen, she placed her hand on his arm. “Stay with me,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be alone. Could we talk?”

Wolfrunner’s dark eyes sought hers, and Danielle thought she detected a softness there. He said nothing as he stretched out on the grass beside her. Reaching out her hand, she found his and laced her fingers through it. He didn’t pull away as she expected. Somehow they seemed bound together in that moment. They had faced death today; tonight they had been blessed with another chance at life.

Danielle sighed and closed her eyes, immediately falling asleep. She didn’t know when Wolfrunner drew her into his arms, nor did she feel his lips brush against her cheek to rest at the side of her mouth.

Wolfrunner could feel his senses reeling. He felt as if he held the world in his arms. How easily he could have lost this wonderful gift today. Had the Great One placed her in his keeping for a reason? His hand wandered up to her silken hair. His heart felt as if it were overflowing. He wanted this woman—he needed her—she was the breath of life to him. His hand wandered down to her soft cheek. No, she wasn’t for him. She was a princess of his people. Even though he was the son of a powerful war chief, Danielle was as far from him as the invisible line that separated his world from the white world. He could only have her for the short time that it took for him to get her safely back to the village. Then she would be lost to him forever.

Wolfrunner’s body craved the closeness that was denied him. Sitting up, he moved down to the river and bathed his face in the cool water. He must not think of her. His only purpose was to keep her safe.

His eyes traveled across the river, knowing Scar Face was out there watching him. His trials were not yet over, nor would they be, until either he or Scar Face lay dead!

Danielle awoke with the sun shining on her face. Stretching her arms above her head, she smiled to herself. She had slept soundly all night and felt rested and refreshed. Rising slowly to her feet, she hobbled down to the river, cupped her hands, and took a cool drink.

Glancing about her, she looked for Wolfrunner, but apparently he was off scouting the area.

Turning her eyes toward the prairie, she gasped at what she saw. It was a wasted desert land now. Yesterday it had offered sanctuary and food to numerous kinds of wildlife. Today nothing could live on the ugly blackened land. Danielle shivered, knowing that if Wolfrunner hadn’t saved them yesterday, their bones would soon be bleaching in the scorching sun.

Danielle looked down at her feet. Although they still bothered her, the herbs Wolfrunner had put on them had gone a long ways toward easing the pain.

Danielle’s hearing had become attuned with the sounds about her. This time when Wolfrunner came up behind her, she heard his footsteps.

Placing the rabbit he had killed down on a rock, he smiled at her. “I have brought you a surprise, Danielle.”

The biggest surprise for her was that he called her by name instead of “white girl.” “What is it?” she asked, her eyes dancing with anticipation.

Pulling his hand from his back, Wolfrunner extended it out to her. Curled up in his palm was a tiny gray rabbit with a white cotton tail.

“Oh, the dear thing,” she cried, taking the animal in her hand and raising it to her face. “Its fur is so soft. Where did you find him?”

“It is a she,” he corrected. “I fear I unknowingly killed her mother. I try never to kill an animal if I know it has young to feed.”

Danielle sat down on the grass and stroked the rabbit gently while talking to it softly. “I am going to call her Cottontail,” she said, smiling up at Wolfrunner.

He raised a dark eyebrow. “Not a very original name.”

“I don’t care, I like her. May I really keep her?”

“That is what I intended. She is young enough not to be afraid of you.”

“What will we feed her?”

“Grass, green leafy plants, and clover. You will have no trouble finding food for her.”

She noticed for the first time that he was stacking wood to build a fire. “Let me do that,” she said, placing her newfound friend on the grass and bending down beside Wolfrunner.

“No,” he said, picking Danielle up and sitting her beneath the shade of a tree. “Until you are recovered, I will take care of you.”

She watched him turn away, wishing he would always take care of her. Danielle noticed the way his back rippled with muscles as he broke the firewood in half. Her eyes went to his strong hands, and she felt a physical ache for him to touch her.

Turning away, ashamed of her outrageous thinking, she picked up Cottontail and held her next to her heart. She couldn’t touch Wolfrunner, but she could love and caress the living thing that he had given her.

Soon the aroma of cooking meat filled the morning air. Danielle watched Wolfrunner turn the wooden spit so the meat would brown evenly. She couldn’t help but notice he was acting differently toward her today—he was being kind and considerate. How unlike him to bring her the baby rabbit.

Suddenly the irony of it all hit Danielle, and she started laughing. Wolfrunner turned to her with an inquiring glance.

“I was just thinking. Yesterday we were fighting to stay alive. Today we are acting as if nothing ever happened. Life is strange sometimes.”

He said nothing, but turned back to remove the rabbit from the spit. Carrying it over to Danielle, he sat down and offered her a piece of meat.

“No!”
she exclaimed, shaking her head from side to side. “I could never eat Cottontail’s mother. It’s like cannibalism.”

He shook his head. “What is that word?”

“It means when a human eats the flesh of another human.”

He chuckled just before he bit into the meat. “You have
some strange ideas, Danielle. If you will not eat the meat, you must feast on roots and berries.”

“That suits me fine. I’m not in the mood for meat.”

Again he laughed. “It was not long ago that you declared you loved the meat of the rabbit.”

“Well, I don’t anymore. I will just have to eat something else from now on.”

As his strong white teeth tore into the meat, he smiled at her. The two sides of you battle, Danielle. I wonder which is stronger. Which one will win in the end?

She turned away from him, thinking he could see too much. Curling up on the grass, she fell asleep with Cottontail cradled in her arms.

It was almost sundown and so peaceful beside the river, if Danielle didn’t look to the south and see the ugly, charred prairie.

She sat with her back against a tree and Cottontail curled up in her lap. Wolfrunner had been gone all afternoon, and she heard him returning now.

As he dropped on the grass beside her, she couldn’t help but notice his hair was wet. “Did you go for a swim?” she asked.

He smiled slightly. “I took a bath. Regardless of what you may have been told, not all Indians are filthy savages.”

Shame washed over Danielle as the words she had once spoken to Wolfrunner came back to haunt her. “I never…I didn’t…” she stammered, trying to think how to retract her cruel words. “I know my aunt Joanna’s lodge is spotless, as was my grandmother’s.”

All of a sudden their eyes met, and Danielle had the sensation she was drowning in the dark, mysterious glow in his eyes. He reached around her and plucked a blue wildflower and brushed her lips with the petals.

Danielle drew in her breath, astounded by the wildfire that seemed to churn through her veins. Cottontail was resting against Danielle’s throat, and Wolfrunner reached up and softly stroked the rabbit. As his hand moved from
the rabbit to Danielle’s cheek, she felt as if an earthquake shook her body.