Sage turned to Leonida. He smiled as he took her hands, then helped her from the platform. She followed him to the rug and sat down beside him on it.
“My sister, bring the medicine basket to us,” Sage said, smiling up at his sister, yet noticing her extreme pallor. She was walking slowly, as though each step might be her last. He felt helpless, knowing that everything had been done for her as a child to make her stronger and to rid her of her afflictions. There was nothing else to do now but watch her slowly fade away.
Not wanting to think further about the sadness of his sister, Sage turned his gaze to Leonida. He had wanted to do everything possible to make this wedding ceremony beautiful for his woman. She must be of prime importance today, her welfare the only thing filling his thoughts and heart.
“What is a medicine basket?” Leonida whispered.
“It is part of the ceremony that makes you my wife,” he said, gently touching her cheek with his hand.
Leonida smiled weakly at him, wondering about a wedding ceremony that included “medicine baskets.” But she did not have time to question Sage further. Pure Blossom came to them with a basket filled with corn mush that she had prepared for the ceremony.
Leonida did not question anything else. She just followed Sage’s lead, doing what he asked her to do.
Sage divided the mush in four directions.
Now he was praying for them.
Now they were ceremonially partaking of the yellow corn.
Then Leonida sat spellbound as Sage began singing to her solemnly.
It was a traditional Navaho song, which he translated so she could understand, a song about the mingling of the white and yellow corn, the mingling of a man and a woman, and a happiness that would never pass.
She was touched deeply by his song and the endearing look in his eyes as he gazed at her, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She flung herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, then thrilled when he said softly in her ear: “You are now my wife. The ceremony is complete.”
Everyone swarmed around them. Sage helped Leonida to her feet. She accepted hugs and kisses, and was touched deeply when Sally came and gave her a heartfelt hug.
“I shall talk to the others,” Sally said, standing back from Leonida and holding her hands. “It’s been hard to understand, all of this between you and the Indian. But I see such happiness in your eyes. How can I question that? Please stay happy. And may God be with us all should Kit Carson arrive intent on killing Sage and his people. I fear Kit now more than any Indian.”
Choked with emotion, Leonida could only nod and hug Sally again. When Trevor came to her and tugged the skirt of her dress, Leonida broke away from Sally and knelt down to give him a big hug.
“You said that I would be staying the night with Pure Blossom,” Trevor said, wriggling from Leonida’s arms. “Can Adam stay there with me? Can two other boys? We promise not to bother Pure Blossom. We’ll be quiet.”
Leonida glanced up at Sally, realizing that she had heard Trevor’s request. She saw a reserve in Sally’s nervous smile, but was glad when she gave a nod of approval. Leonida had to wonder if Sally would be so eager to approve if she knew that Sage had assigned Trevor an Indian name.
Soon everyone was scattered in all directions, going to their own hogans. Sage was leading Leonida through the night, to the cliff that she now knew so well. He had wrapped her in a rabbit-fur cloak and was holding her snugly against his side as they reached the summit of the cliff where the world was basking in night’s silence.
“My wife,” Sage said, testing the words on his lips again, as though finding them hard to believe. “You are now my wife. My heart is singing with the knowing.”
He turned to her and put his hands at her waist. Gently he drew her into his embrace and gave her a kiss that made her head swim and her knees grow weak. When he reached up and brushed the cloak from her shoulders, she was not conscious of the damp mountain air. She was too consumed with the fires being ignited within her by her husband’s kisses and the caresses of his hands as his fingers went to her breasts, kneading them through the soft doeskin of her dress.
Lost heart and soul to this adorable man, Leonida began running her hands over his powerful chest, reveling in the mere touch of him. Lower her fingers wandered, and she smiled to herself when his stomach muscles quivered as she touched him ever so lightly when seeking out the fabric of his breechclout. When she had been held against him, she had felt his arousal even through her dress, and it made her seek out that part of him now, to touch, to caress
.
When she finally reached his breechclout, she did not stop her exploring. Her heart pounding, she slipped her hand inside it, hearing Sage’s gasp of pleasure against her lips as she soon wrapped her fingers around his throbbing member, moving them on him slowly, ever so slowly.
Sage slid his mouth from her lips and kissed the hollow of her throat, becoming mindless from her skillful ways of pleasuring him. He smiled to himself, realizing that he had taught her well. Even now, as she stopped long enough to slip his breechclout down his thighs, he knew what to expect next from her.
But he did not want that sort of pleasuring just yet. He wanted to touch her all over, feel the heat of her passion rise as he caressed her body with his tongue and fingers. Then he would accept her lips on him, wherever and however she wanted to pleasure him. Now it was her turn to be awakened fully to how much he truly loved her—would always love her.
With the urging of his hands, Leonida stepped away. Her pulse began to race as he slowly disrobed her, his hands reacquainting themselves with her newly revealed flesh a portion at a time, enjoying teasing her. He could see the rapture building in her eyes, and in the way her breasts heaved, as he finally bared them to his feasting eyes.
Leaving the dress resting around her hips, Sage cupped her breasts in his hands, letting their weight rest within his palms. His thumbs circled the nipples, causing Leonida to close her eyes and sigh.
When Sage knelt over and touched his tongue to one of the nipples, he drew a groan of ecstasy. Leonida placed her fingers at the nape of his neck and urged his lips even lower, her whole body pounding as if it were one large heartbeat, with that which she was encouraging him to do.
He answered her plea by slipping her dress down to the ground. Then he knelt before her, gaining access to the center of her passion. Spreading her soft down of hair apart, he touched his tip slowly to her swollen nub, sending a shiver up and down Leonida’s spine. She urged him even closer to her and sighed languorously when he complied and gave her a loving so intense, she felt as though she might faint.