Whispering Spirits (10 page)

“No! Don’t leave me!”

“I just want to get my backpack and bow from
a nearby tree. I hope it’s still there.”

“I’ll come with you.”

He didn’t care to stress her more. He moved
back outside and in the moonlight led the way toward the river’s
edge. He paused, standing and listening. Crickets and frogs
answered.

An owl hooted. Summer whispered, “He’s the
spirit of Jordan, haunting me to find his killer.”

“Somehow I don’t think you believe that. Many
of our old ones still believe the spirits of the dead appear in the
form of an owl. I’m of the belief he’s just an owl. There,” he
pointed at a tree just ahead of them.

He untied a rope and lowered a backpack. “You
still have that gun I gave you?”

“I…rolled it up in my dirty clothes and I
left them on a towel by the water.”

He led the way, knowing there was a good
chance it was still there.” Within minutes they reached the towel
still spread out on the grass.

She dropped to her knees and lifted the edge
she’d placed the weapon under. “The gun is gone. How…would he know
where I put it?”

“Good question.” Running Crane led the way
along the shore and stopped by an old Cottonwood. “I might not have
a gun, but I’m every bit as accurate with this.” He untied a rope
and lowered a bow. “I only have six arrows, but we can make more if
we need to.”

“You think it’ll come to…that?” She rolled
her clothes and shoes inside the towel and tucked them under her
arm.

“I hope not.” He dug in the pack side pocket
and removed a flashlight, then slipped it over his shoulders. “Come
on, we’re going back to search my tipi. Maybe the intruder left a
note telling us what he wants. We can also check
Nah’ah’s
—
look!” Summer screamed.

He turned and spotted fire shooting toward
the sky. “Damn it to hell! I think that’s my tipi. Hurry, Summer!
We don’t want to start this forest on fire.” He ran, holding her
hand and pulling her along as fast as he could.

“They’re both on fire. Who would do such a
thing?” Summer asked.

“Right now we have to take those two buckets
you washed dishes in, fill them with water and get these fires
under control.” Once they reached the river and were out of the
light of the burning tipis, Running Crane reached up and hooked his
bow in the first tree alongside the river. Several trees down he
hooked his pack as high as he could reach, hoping the doer couldn’t
see him. He hurried back to Summer’s side, glad she had both
buckets full.

They rushed back up the small hill and poured
water on first
Nah’ah’s
tipi, running back and forth filling
their buckets with water. Once her tipi smoldered, they ran further
down the trail and dowsed the fire consuming his tipi. Exhausted,
they finally finished. He couldn’t help being impressed how quickly
Summer pitched in and how hard she worked. Side-by-side they
managed to get the job done.

“We need to wash the smell of smoke off our
bodies and clothes.”

“Why do that right now? I’m exhausted and
it’s starting to get chilly.” She dropped to her knees and sat on
the grass, spent. “Unless you plan on building a bold campfire, we
won’t dry until the heat of tomorrow. I don’t feel like being wet
and cold the whole night.”

“That’s just it. Whoever started these fires
knows we’re right here. He watched us put those fires out. We wash
up, build our fire and dry off. Then we get some sleep until the
wee, quiet hours of the morning. Then we slip into the forest like
a snake under a log. Now you see us…now you don’t. If we smell like
smoke every animal upwind of us will spook. It’ll be a dead
giveaway to our position.”

“Oh, I guess you’re right. I’m stuck in a
sundress? You’ve got to be kidding. I hate dresses and I’d be more
comfortable in a bikini.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” he laughed and tossed
several sticks onto the glowing embers from the campfire near
Nah’ah’s
smoldering tipi. It sprang to life. “If you hate
dresses so much, why are you wearing one now?”

“Well…
Nah’ah
went through my suitcase
and gave it to me to wear. I wanted to please her. You have to know
she’s been playing cupid with us. It’s like this. I didn’t have
much time to pack up my stuff at the apartment. Father and I tossed
things together, loaded up his truck, and we headed to Browning. It
took all of two hours. When we arrived home the chopper was
waiting. I grabbed two bags, not sure what all was in them and left
with you and
Nah’ah
. That explains the dress. I wore it once
to a friend’s wedding.”

“I like it. You look soft and…alluring.”

“Cameron Running Crane said soft and
alluring? You really have changed from the loud, know-everything
guy I remember.”

He smiled and added a few more sticks to the
fire. “It’s called growing up. I really wasn’t as obnoxious as you
remember, was I?” He offered his hand and pulled her to her
feet.

Summer smiled. “Maybe not quite that bad, but
you were an in-your-face sort of guy. You wanted to be noticed, and
you made sure everyone did.”

“Did you notice me?” He wished he hadn’t
asked.

“Well…yes and no. I was interested in you
before I started dating Terry. You never noticed me back and Terry,
well you know him. He was a good ole boy, happy with life and
hating change. You were the opposite. Every girl wanted you.”

“Did that include you,
Niipo
?” He
turned to see her expression in the firelight. He found her even
more beautiful than when they were young. If only she knew how
often he watched her. How often he wished she was his girlfriend
and not his brother’s.

“I wasn’t the kind of girl who would date
first one brother, then another. I had my scruples, no matter how
screwed up they were. I left all that behind me. I want more,
Running Crane. I want so much more.”

“Come, we both reek of putrid smoke.” He led
the way to the stream, searching the darkness for signs of
movement. “Don’t bother taking your shoes off. We have to scrub
every inch of our clothes and body. I’d be happy to help you if you
need it.” He hoped she wouldn’t take offense to his bold
comment.

Summer laughed. “Really? And would that
involve scrubbing our clothes first and tossing them on shore so we
can truly scrub our bodies?”

He lifted her into his arms and stepped into
the cold, rushing river. Having reached the inlet where the water
dropped to about five feet deep, he dropped her.

She surfaced within seconds, spitting and
gasping. “You royal pain in the—”

He dunked her again, pulling her up by the
waist and into his chest. He didn’t give her a chance to complain
or chastise. He lowered his head and claimed her lips, hard and
demanding. Raising his mouth from hers, he gazed into her eyes.
He’d dreamed of holding like this in the moonlight. Her eager
response shocked him, yet he loved her not holding back.

Again he hungrily covered her mouth with his.
Her lips were more persuasive than he cared to admit. He released
them and kissed the pulsing hollow at the base of her throat, then
moved back up her neck. He nibbled her earlobe, then kissed across
her cheek and recaptured her lips.

“You have no idea how I’ve dreamed of doing
this very thing. Your kiss from all those years ago has haunted me.
I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve compared every woman’s kiss to
yours. None compared. It’s hard for me to believe I’m holding you
in my arms.” He kept them below the surface, allowing the flow of
the water to rinse the smoke from their clothing.

“I had no idea. Promise me we’ll move slow.
I’m…vulnerable right now and the last thing I need is—”

He kissed her hard and demanding. “No demands
and no promises? I can do that,
Niipo
Timber Wolf. Just
don’t break my heart when you’re done with me.”

“Could you be any more dramatic?”

Running Crane laughed. “Take me, use me, but
be kind when you sent me packing…alone down the broken heart
trail.”

“Much better.” She laughed and leaned her
head back.

He took full advantage of viewing soft, yet
firm, breasts pressed against the v-dip of her dress. He trailed
kisses…lower and lower. He unzipped the back of her dress and she
allowed him to pull it over her head. Keeping her shoulders at
water’s edge, he eased them near a tree branch and hung her dress
over the sturdy branch. Releasing her he pulled his shirt over his
head and added it to the branch, along with his jeans and
underwear. “Don’t think this means I expect to…wait a minute. You
were naked under that dress? My…my
Nah’ah
doesn’t mess
around, does she?”

Summer laughed. “She’s never believed in
holding back. She often said she knew she wanted grandfather at a
very early age. But so did many other girls in her village. She
first made him wild for want of her, then she gave him a taste. He
looked at no other maidens from that time on. She said they were
made for each other. They made no secret they had the kind of love
only
Napi
created. She wanted that kind of love for me.”

“Are you telling me to taste you,
Niipo
?” His heart pounded as he reached for her and pulled
her close. She curled into the curve of his body. He slid his palm
down her back, skimmed her shapely buttocks, then guided her legs
around him. Her increased breathing matched his.

“Is this what
Nah’ah
would want…or are
we confusing need—”

He smothered her lips and drank in the
sweetness of her kiss. “We’d better stop here before we go too
far.”

“We haven’t gone far enough yet, Running
Crane. Please make love to me. Make me feel wanted. Make me part of
something special. Erase the hurt of the past…and make me feel the
center of your world. If not forever…just for this moment.”

He pressed his palms on both sides of her
cheeks and lowered his mouth down to capture her lips. He brushed
her lips with his, then kissed her slow and thoughtful, with
tenderness and feeling. He increased the pressure, more demanding
with each kiss. He lifted her and licked the bud, then covered her
breast with his mouth. The action caused him to shudder. No woman
excited him like
Niipo
.

She writhed against him, pressing her breast
into his mouth, giving what she had to offer. The feeling was much
more than sexual desire…he had wanted this moment since the first
time he kissed her.

His hardness brushed against her cool skin.
“We should wait—”

“For what, Running Crane. We both want this
and you know it. Taste me…take me…make me feel your love.”

Her whispering tantalized him. Her pleading
and offer only excited him more. He could fight it no longer.
Capturing her lips, he slid his palms on both sides of her waist,
lowing them slowly until he cupped her firm bottom. He raised her
gently above him. “You sure?”

“I’m sure,” she gasped.

He slowly lowered her, entering her moist
gift. She ignited the lover he always wanted to be. Together they
found the tempo that bound their bodies together. Each thrust made
them gasp and cry out in harmony. Wave after wave rippled deep
inside him, releasing in a pure and explosive shiver…climaxing
beyond anything he’d ever experienced.

They clung to each other in the cold,
rippling water. Words weren’t needed. They had found that passion
so sung about, written about, even whispered about. They found each
other…in the midst of fear and need.

“Forgive me if I say…that was amazing, hot,
and emotional. You’ve taken me to a place no other woman has. Thank
you for the gift.”

“That, my hot lover was just a taste.”

Running Crane laughed out loud. “Let’s duck
under water and make sure our hair is smoke free. We need to get
back to that fire before we catch our death of cold.” He rubbed her
arms as she shivered against him. “Here I thought I had excited you
so much you were quivering. Now I realize you were just shivering
from the cold.”

“Oh, but I was quivering…and so were you.”
She clung to him while he snatched their clothes from the tree
branch. He grabbed his bow and backpack before hurrying across the
small hill. Summer grabbed the towel she’d earlier left on the
grass and wrapped it around herself. They ran back to the roaring
campfire, both of them shivering.

“Stand behind that brush and get that dress
on. If we’re being watched, we’ve given him quite the show.”

She stood by the firelight, dropped the towel
and lifted her arms above her head. “Pull that wet dress over my
head, would you?”

Running Crane laughed. “You surprise me at
every turn,
Niipo
.” He struggled with the wet material,
brushing her nipples with his palms as often as he could. Her
laughter at his boldness excited him all over again. Finally he
stood in front on her, claimed her lips while pulling the zipper up
behind her.

“Very nice job, Running Crane. You do realize
all the while you dragged that out, our watcher got a very good
view of every inch of you…as did I.”

“Maybe that was my intent.” He lifted her,
encouraging her legs to wrap around his waist. He took several
steps, drawing her behind a tree, then quickly lowered her onto
this throbbing member. She gasped, taking him full. He raised and
lowered her…taking all she had to give…giving her all he had to
share. The clung to each other, quivering in complete release.

“I can’t seem to get enough of you. I’m sorry
if I…took that one for granted. But…I can’t help myself. I no
sooner finish and I’m ready to bury myself in you again. What have
you done to me?”

She still clung to him, her dress draping
them in privacy. Leaning down she nibbled his earlobe, then
whispered, “I’ve never acted like this before, just so you know. I
fear you’ll think little of me after this…but I had to have you,
Running Crane. I’m drawn to you like the hummingbird is to
nectar.”