Savage Dawn

But Eagle Wolf had returned now to his tepee, his long, black hair sleekly wet down his bare copper back. All that he had on was a breechclout that covered only what was necessary for modesty’s sake.

As Nicole sat there before the lodge fire, she felt especially pretty today. She was wearing one of several dresses that had been brought to Eagle Wolf’s lodge by the women of the village. They were gifts for the newcomer.

Today’s was a soft, white doeskin, embellished with various shells and beads along the hem of the skirt.

The neckline swept down low, leaving Nicole a little self-conscious because the upper swells of her breasts were exposed.

As Eagle Wolf stood across the fire from where she sat, using a cloth to dry his long, black hair, Nicole caught his occasional admiring glance at that part of her body she rarely had shown to anyone.

She self-consciously swept a hand up over her breasts, eliciting a soft chuckle from Eagle Wolf as he caught her blushing.

“My woman, if you knew just how beautiful you look sitting there beside my lodge fire, with the glow of the fire on not only your cheeks, but also your breasts, you would not think to cover any of it from the view of this man who loves you,” Eagle Wolf said, glad when his words brought a smile to her face.

“I do find the dress so pretty,” Nicole said as she slowly moved her hand from her breasts. “And it is so soft. That was what I was doing. I was feeling the softness of the dress.”

She smiled and shook her head, knowing she wasn’t being completely honest.

“Oh, well, yes, I must admit that I was feeling a bit shy a moment ago,” she said, now laughing softly as she gazed into his dark eyes.

“And now?” he asked, tossing the cloth aside. “You are no longer shy? You are comfortable?”

“Yes, very,” Nicole said, again smiling. “And it is so generous of the women of your village to give me these beautiful dresses.”

She gazed down at the beads and shells on the skirt of the dress. She ran a hand slowly over them. “The shells and beads are so beautiful and delicate,” she murmured, then gazed up at him. “I love them. I love everything about all of the dresses.”

“You look beautiful in them,” Eagle Wolf said, then went and knelt beside her, his back to her. “Would you braid my hair for me?”

Surprised by his request, yet glad to have the opportunity to touch his beautiful hair, and to be so near him, Nicole nodded. “I would love to,” she murmured.

Then she said something that seemed to come from nowhere. “Will you braid mine after I finish yours?” she blurted out.

She had never worn her hair in braids. But now it seemed the natural thing to do after seeing so many of the Navaho women with braids.

“I can do yours first,” Eagle Wolf said, glancing at her over his shoulder.

“No, I want to do yours first,” Nicole murmured, already separating his hai

r so that she could braid it. “I have noticed that several warriors wear their hair in one braid, yet I have seen some wear two. Which do you prefer?”

“You braid it as you would wish to see it,” Eagle Wolf said, feeling more and more attached to this woman. They were united in every way a man and woman could be.

Except for making love. He would not initiate that until he knew she was absolutely ready.

He didn’t need to ask whether or not she was a virgin. He knew this already. She was not the sort of woman to give herself to a man until wedding vows would soon be spoken between her and the man she chose to love.

“One long braid fascinates me,” Nicole murmured.

“That is my favorite, too, so braid mine that way and then I will braid yours,” Eagle Wolf said, feeling her tugging on his hair as she carefully made each twist and turn.

“It has just begun to rain,” Nicole murmured, hearing the drops fall softly against the outside buckskin of the tepee. “I love softly falling rain. Do you?”

“Yes, I always have,” Eagle Wolf said, gazing upward through the smoke hole. The sky was not very dark, so he thought that this might be a brief rain.

He could smell its sweetness.

He recalled as a child how he’d enjoyed this sort of rain. He would run through it with his friends, splashing their bare feet in the puddles. They would play outside until all the mothers made their children come inside their lodges. This would happen instantly if a clap of thunder reminded them that there could be danger from lightning.

He and his friends would then scatter in all directions until they had gotten safely into their lodges with their mothers and fathers.