Wild Embrace

“My son will be a while,” Pretty Nose said, glancing down from the bluff, watching Strong Heart taking wide and even strokes as he swam in the bone-chilling waters of the river. “He is saying his last good-byes to those whose ashes are now a part of the river. It is his f

arewell to friends and comrades. Come. Let him do this without an audience.”

Elizabeth blushed, now thinking that she had been intruding on a private ritual. “I’m sorry,” Elizabeth apologized. “I . . . I didn’t know.”

“No one expected you to,” Pretty Nose said, urging Elizabeth to walk beside her as she moved slowly down the slope toward the village. “It is true that your customs differ much from ours. If you stay among us, you will learn quickly enough, for my son is a great teacher of many things.”

Elizabeth was in awe of the kindness of these people, after having recently suffered so much at the hands of their enemies.

But she knew that Strong Heart had spoken with his mother and father about her, which might have made their acceptance of her more coerced than actual.

Elizabeth went with Pretty Nose to the longhouse of the chief and accepted a place beside where the lodge fire was blazing. Gazing across the fire at Chief Moon Elk who reclined on the platform piled comfortably with pelts, she smiled weakly as he offered her no more than a nod of welcome.

She then eased down onto a pillow pad of shredded bark. With a quiet nod of thank you, she accepted a makuk of roasted fish that Pretty Nose had taken from a flat tray of wood.

With a large bone spoon, Elizabeth attempted to eat the fish. She wished that she had a fork, which would have made it much simpler.

Pretty Nose sat down beside her and began eagerly eating. Elizabeth attempted to continue eating, but her heart wasn’t in it. Today’s rites had made her hunger wane. All that she wanted was to be with Strong Heart—to have his comforting arms around her again. Only then could she for at least a little while forget the savagery that had been done against his people.

She looked around her, examining the way in which the chief and his wife lived. It was quite simple, yet much better than she would have expected the Indians to live. The house was one large room, with one end partitioned off by a large buckskin curtain. Beyond that was the sleeping quarters, where the chief and his wife had a comfortable looking bed of furs and wool blankets made of the hair of mountain goats.

Hanging from the rafters in the main part of the room were hiaqua shells, which Strong Heart’s people used for trade. There were also bladders of whale oil, and on wall pegs, clothing, brightly woven blankets, spare furs and masks used for various ceremonies. These were carved and painted, and she noticed that many of the household items were marked with the family crest, which she had also seen on the totem poles outside. Even the hollowed out alder wood dishes were painted with these designs.

Elizabeth’s attention flew quickly to the door when Strong Heart came into the longhouse, dressed in only a breechcloth.

He came to her and held out a hand, beckoning for her to come to him. She lay down the large wooden dish and took his hand, inhaling the heady fragrance of pine emanating from his muscled body. Strong Heart had dried himself with pine needles and the smell clung wonderfully to him.

Strong Heart offered his parents only a silent nod each, then walked with Elizabeth out of their longhouse to his.

After they were inside the privacy of his dwelling, Elizabeth noticed that the lodge was lit not only by the flames in the firepit, but also by several “candlefish.” Strong Heart explained that the oil of the small eulachon was so plentiful, it would burn for hours when a wick was inserted in the dried fish.

Many Stars had been there in their absence to prepare the lodge. Soft fur rugs and embroidered buckskin pillows had been arranged near the fire, and the sweet smelling grass and herbs that covered the floor had been refreshed. It was a comfortable setting with decorative quillwork brightening the walls, and the glow of the flames flickering gently.

“The day was long,” Strong Heart said, stroking Elizabeth’s cheek with his hand. “The day was hard. But now it is night, and the night belongs to you and me. Love me, my la-daila, so that I may only think of now—of us. Today was sad. It is hard to shake away the sadness. Except with you, my la-daila. Except with you.”

Overwhelmed by the joy of being with him again, his eyes mesmerizing her anew, Elizabeth stepped away from him and slowly began undressing herself. She watched with a tremulous excitement as he also began undressing.

When they were both nude, their hands reached out and touched, and caressed. Elizabeth crept closer and molded her body against his as he held her and lowered her to a thick bed of pelts beside the fire.

As Elizabeth lay there, Strong Heart leaning over her, she ran her fingers over his finely chiseled copper face, along his bold nose, his strong chin, and the line of his hard jaw.

She then ran her fingers over his wide shoulders, across the expanse of his sleekly muscled chest, and then smoothed her hands down and across his hard and flat stomach.

As she smiled up at him, she found his eyes smoky and dangerous, as her hand paused before going on. She could already feel the throbbing hardness of his shaft as it lay thick and heavy against her thigh, and to go on with her exploration of his body meant that was the place to touch next. She was reminded of the other time that she had touched it, and how it had felt the moment he had pressed it inside her.

The pain had been brief. The pleasure had been blissful.

“You stop now?” Strong Heart said, his eyes dancing. “You have yet to touch the center of my passion, and you stop?”

“A part of me is almost afraid to,” Elizabeth murmured, her face flushing with a building arousal as Strong Heart cupped one of her breasts and circled his thumb around her taut nipple. “I’m not sure if I can stand such rapture again, Strong Heart. It stole not only my breath away, but also my senses. Surely there is danger in that.”

“The only danger is in not answering the need that I have awakened inside you,” Strong Heart said, his hand leaving a heated path in its wake as it moved from her breasts, across her stomach, causing her body to tremble with pleasure. Then his hand reached the juncture of her thighs where he began stroking her.

When he thrust a finger inside her, he smiled at how she moaned and how her eyes rolled with the pleasure. “Never deny yourself this that I so freely offer you,” he said huskily. “Who is to say what tomorrow brings? Did you not see how quickly life was snuffed from those whose ashes I spread today? One can never be certain of tomorrow. So it is only right to take from life today, as it is being offered you.”

Elizabeth’s head swam as he lowered his lips to hers and gave her a fiery kiss. She returned the kiss and moaned against his lips as she felt the thrust of his hardness as he entered her, and then arched her hips to meet his steady strokes within her. His mouth urged her lips open as his kiss grew more passionate and demanding, his fingers teasing and stroking the supple lines of her body.

Her world melted away as his fingers moved purposely slow in circles around one of her breasts, then swept down her spine in a soft massage.