Savage Arrow

But she wanted it to last longer than this.

This was what she and Thunder Horse had waited for. The long journey now seemed far away. Finally they were together in their new lodge, married, she was so happy she felt she might burst from it.

Even now, she felt his hunger in the hard, seeking pressure of his lips. He held himself up and away from her, his eyes slowly moving over her.

“You awe me with your beauty,” he said huskily. “My mitawin, my wife, I shall love you for eternity.”

“As I shall always love you,” Jessie said, hugging his words to her.

She sucked in a wild breath of joy as his steel arms enfolded her again and he pressed himself more deeply inside her. She was overwhelmed by a need she was familiar with, now that her husband had taught her the true meaning of what it was to be loved. The ecstasy spread and swelled within her until it almost blotted out all other sensations.

Yet she still clung to the moment, wanting it to last as long as possible before reaching the ultimate pleasure with her new husband.

Thunder Horse reveled in the touch of her soft flesh against his, as licking flames spread through him. He could not get enough of her tonight as his hands moved over her.

He then reached his hand between their bodies, where they had come together as man and woman had since the beginning of time. He moved slightly away from her so that he could caress her warm and secret place, feeling a tremor go through her body as he touched that most vulnerable spot of a woman.

He flicked it with his forefinger, rubbed it, then moved down where he could touch her with his lips and tongue. He could hear her suck in a breath of pleasure as he moved his tongue over her. His hands were on her breasts, kneading.

But when he heard her breath coming more quickly, he knew that he had readied her for the ultimate bliss and moved over her with his body again. He thrust his manhood inside her again and felt the euphoria that came with the final moments of ecstasy.

Then he could not hold back any longer. He clung to Jessie as his body exploded in spasms of desire. Simultaneously he felt her body jerking and quivering against his as she reached her own peak.

They clung for a moment, their breaths mingling as they kissed, and then Thunder Horse rolled away from her and lay on his back, gazing up through the smoke hole where the stars and the moon had taken the place of the sun in the heavens.

Outside, the celebration continued with much music and laughter, all of which was filled with hope for all their tomorrows.

“It will be a good life here in the Dakotas for my people,” Thunder Horse said as Jessie sat up beside him. “It was good to find the lone buffalo today before our celebration. It means that a herd cannot be that far away.”

Jessie said nothing to that, for she knew that most of the buffalo had been annihilated by the white man to starve the Indians.

It was as though God had placed this one buffalo near the village for their night of merriment. The largest portion of the animal now cooked slowly over the outdoor fire, the tantalizing aroma of its drippings filling the air.

“There should be many deer for your hunt,” Jessie said reassuringly. “And for our children, too.”

“This land that the government has put us on impresses me,” Thunder Horse said, wrapping a blanket around them so that they sat beneath it together, their shoulders touching.

“Yes, it seems very nice,” Jessie murmured, not wanting to think negative things at such a time as this.

But she could not help worrying that what they had would not be everlasting. She just didn’t see the government being that generous when all along they had tried to make the red man disappear from the face of the earth.

“Our children will be happy here,” Thunder Horse said as if he was trying to convince himself of what he was saying.

“We will make it so,” Jessie said, then watched as he reached for a chunk of buffalo meat.

He gave it to Jessie. She took a bite, then handed it back to him. She was reminded of the weddings she had attended in Kansas City, where the bride and groom gave each other bites of the wedding cake. This meat was their cake!

“It is good,” Thunder Horse said, chewing.

“Yes, it’s good,” Jessie said, not wanting him to realize just how much she disliked the taste.

She preferred deer meat. Perhaps it was just as well that deer would be the main meat found in these hunting grounds instead of buffalo.

He laughed softly. “It is not all that good,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he gazed into hers.

Jessie laughed, too, as she tossed the greasy, tough piece of meat into the fire. “No, not really,” she agreed.

He reached for her and gently laid her back down on the blankets.