She’d moved with him, eyes closed, arms around his muscular shoulders. He’d been slow, patient and careful, his breath purling on her chest as his hips rotated against hers. If only she could have kept those honeyed sensations forever.
So this is what it’s all about! The thought had barely formed when her loins exploded. She was panting, hugging him to her, when the sensations faded.
“Shhh!” Wrapped Wrist had whispered. “Orenda is trying to sleep.”
She’d swallowed hard. “I’ve heard women talk … . It’s just never happened to me before.”
“Well, let’s see if we can do it again.”
When she’d awakened in the predawn, his muscular arms had been around her, his body sending its warmth into her night-chilled flesh. She had turned, finding herself face-to-face. He’d looked her in the eyes and given her a happy smile. After he brushed his lips across her cheek, his hands began smoothing her sides, rounding her hips, and stroking her legs.
His touch lit the fires inside her pelvis, and they were at it again. Not once, but twice before she had to dress, leave his bed, and find her way outside for the purpose of relieving herself.
Gods, what has happened to me? She ached to be alone with him, to ask him about what had been kindled between them. Did he share the same mad desire she felt for him? Was his memory as filled with her as hers was with him?
Snake’s blood! What if he’s planted a child in me? Dumbstruck, she wondered what the consequences of that would be.
They stepped out onto the crest of Juniper Ridge, and Wrapped Wrist took the moment to catch his breath. A biting chill was rising, and she shivered against it. Two pit houses stood back in the trees. First Moon Valley was masked by the thick haze.
She caught his eye. “I have to speak with you.”
He nodded, a reassuring smile on his lips. To Orenda, he said, “We’ll be back.”
She nodded, granting them a wistful smile before returning to her gloomy thoughts.
Wrapped Wrist walked several steps down the ridge. “It’s hard when there are three people, isn’t it?”
“There are so many things,” she began. “I’m confused. Delighted. I’m half-scared. What happened to me last night?”
He took her hands, grinning. “I’m hoping you fell in love.”
“It’s impossible!” She dropped his hands, limping off and crossing her arms as she stared out at the smoke and falling ash. The wind gusted, whipping the trees. The cold seemed to intensify. “Wrapped Wrist, you have a life here. I have duties to my war chief.”
“Crow Woman, I’ve lain with a lot of women, but last night my souls were Singing.” A conspiratorial grin crossed his lips. “And yours were, too. You’re anything but quiet when your moment comes.”
“I wasn’t that loud.”
“Orenda didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“She knows?”
“Well, it was pretty hard to miss.”
“She didn’t say anything, didn’t stare at us.”
Wrapped Wrist raised his hands to calm her. “Because what we did is normal for two people who really like each other.”
She swallowed hard. “Do you really like me?”
He nodded.
“Why? Most men, and nearly all women, think I’m unlikeable.”
“You never let men see the souls you keep locked inside that wonderful body of yours. As to the women, you’ll have to find your own answer to that.” His voice dropped. “When this is over, I want to go away with you. Just you and me, where we can be alone with each other.”
“Why?” she almost cried. His words kept stirring feelings she’d thought long dead. Hope, longing, and dread all mixed together. By the gods, she hated being confused—especially by herself.
His grin was contagious. “I like you. I think I love you. But I want to know that you and I can love each other forever. It will take time for both of us, but I want to try.”
“What if you made me pregnant?”
“We will deal with it,” he replied reasonably. “If, for some reason, you don’t want me to help raise the child, that’s fine. On the other hand, if your life precludes raising it, my clan will be happy to adopt. I’ll raise it.” He arched a teasing brow. “Who knows? Maybe we’ll decide to raise it together.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “It can’t be that easy.”
“It’s not.” He turned deathly serious. “There’s nothing harder on earth than a relationship between a man and a woman. It’ll even be harder between you and me because of what fate and other men have done to you.”