Also she could never forget about the white panther that people said guarded the island. She hadn’t seen the white panther for quite a while now.
Perhaps she never would again.
Something told her that neither she nor the children had anything to worry about as far as that panther was concerned.
But Hiram was another matter. He was a true concern, one that wouldn’t go away, at least not until the Sun God’s prophecy was fulfilled. Until then, she could not help being uneasy at the possibility that he was searching for her.
She wondered if he would have the courage to come this far into the Everglades to find her. Or had he given up on having her?
She prayed each morning and night for the latter.
“My people depend on honey as a quick source of energy,” Wolf Dancer said as Lavinia pushed her empty wooden plate aside. “I am certain the two young braves know exactly where a honey tree can be found.”
“Didn’t I hear you say earlier that some warriorshave gone out this morning on a hunt?” Lavinia asked, suddenly concerned. What if the children got in the way of an arrow?
“Both young braves know where the hunters usually go, so they will not venture anywhere near,” Wolf Dancer said. He gazed into the flames of the fire, and then into Lavinia’s eyes. “In our village, the men bring to me all the game they catch. I will then divide it among the families according to their needs. Moon Beam will be one of those who gets the most, for she no longer has a husband to hunt for her and her children.”
He smiled. “The chief is privileged to keep all hides, unless he wishes to give them to someone needy,” he said. “I have enough hides, so I shall give them to those who do not.”
“You prove over and over again how kind and generous you are,” Lavinia murmured. She moved over to Wolf Dancer and slowly ran her hands across his bare, muscled chest. “Can you be as generous with me this morning?”
“And what can I give to you?” Wolf Dancer asked, reaching out for Lavinia and bringing her down atop him as he stretched out on his back on the rich pelts beside the fire. “This?”
He framed her face between his hands and brought her lips down onto his. He gave her a heated kiss, then put his hands at her waist and moved her beneath him.
He did not bother undressing her. He just smoothed his hands up under the skirt of her dressand began caressing her where she was already wet with want.
“Your breechclout,” she whispered against his lips as he moved his mouth to her cheek. She was breathless with the passion building inside her as he moved his fingers skillfully over her love mound. “My dress.”
He said nothing. Only sat up and pulled her dress up and over her, then tossed it aside.
He stood up long enough to remove his breechclout, revealing how ready he was to make love with her. His manhood was at its fullest.
Lavinia reached out a hand and filled it with his flesh, moving her fingers on him. She was soon very aware of how she was making him feel.
He was breathing hard. His head was thrown back in ecstasy, his long black hair hanging down to his waist behind him.
She saw his jaw tighten as the pleasure built within him, and then suddenly he took her hand away and surprised her by placing her hand on herself, where his fingers had been only moments ago. He moved her hand over her mound.
She blushed with the wantonness of what she was doing, for she felt a pleasure from her own caresses that usually only came with Wolf Dancer’s touch.
“How…?” she said, searching his eyes.
“It is just one other way to receive pleasure,” Wolf Dancer said, easing her hand away, then stretching himself over her and gently shoving his manhood into her.
“While the children are gathering sweetness in the forest, we shall gather our own in the privacy of my home,” Wolf Dancer whispered into her ear. Lavinia’s breath caught with rapture as he delved even deeper inside her. “I love you. How did I ever live without you?”
“I wasn’t truly alive until that day I first saw you,” Lavinia whispered back to him. “It was as though a magic wand had been waved between us, causing us to love one another at once.”
“And it is forever,” Wolf Dancer said huskily.
He gave her another meltingly hot kiss as his body continued moving within her. He was very aware of how she was writhing in response.
Her soft moans came rapidly, making him sure that this time it would not take long for both of them to reach that place of pleasure that only those who were truly in love ever found.
“Oh, how I need you,” Lavinia said as his lips fell upon one of her breasts, even as he continued to stroke within her.
She gasped when he nipped at the tip of her breast, then swirled his tongue around it.