Wild Splendor

Join lips with a sigh, a smile . . .

—ERNEST DOWSON

Both wanting to put all connections of the past with the white pony soldiers behind them and feeling threatened by the spirits of his enemies, Sage and his warriors held a week-long curing ceremony to help them rediscover their true selves, threading throughout it the relationship and trust and respect among his Navaho clan. The ceremony was also meant to free Sage and his warriors of anxieties by “killing” off their enemy spirits, gaining strength from a juniper stick given added power by attached eagle and turkey feathers.

It was now the last day of the ceremony, a time for its lighter side—a time of dancing, singing, laughter, and feasting.

Leonida sat among the women, close to the large outdoor communal cook fire, where many delicacies were steaming, wafting delicious aromas into the night air. She was clapping her hands in time with the music while the young braves of the village performed a dance, their breechclouts flapping in the wind as they lifted and stamped their feet in the dust.

Sage came and sat down beside Leonida. When she gazed over at him, she could see what she had hoped to see ever since she had met him: peace. Within his midnight-dark eyes she could see contentment, happiness, and tranquillity. The ceremony had lifted all of the troubles and burdens from his heart.

She became overwhelmed with happiness herself, knowing that he was no longer carrying around with him all of the sadness and heartaches of his people. They had been cast away into the wind, hopefully gone forever.

Sage put an arm around Leonida’s waist and drew her to lean close against his side. His throaty laughter drew her out of her deep thoughts. “What is amusing you?” she asked softly.

“Thunder Hawk,” Sage said, motioning toward him with a nod. “See how he dances skillfully among

those who are much older? He is as agile as a bobcat. Just watch him. Does he not make you so proud?”

“Yes, very,” Leonida said, reaching for Sage’s hand, gently grasping it. She glanced over at Runner, whose attention seemed to have been drawn from dancing to a pretty young maiden.

Leonida nudged Sage with her elbow. “Look at Runner,” she said, giggling as the pretty girl grabbed her son’s hand and ran off with him, taking him to a group of other children who were more interested in playing games than dancing. “Who is she? She is a beautiful child.”

“That is Gentle Fawn,” Sage said, his eyes also admiring the young thing, who wore a pale blue velveteen skirt and a matching velveteen blouse, with turquoise jewelry at both her throat and her wrists. Her raven-black hair was worn in one long braid down her back, and she had dotted smudges of bloodroot on her cheeks to make her look older.

They watched Runner for a moment longer, then both rose to their feet when they heard Pure Blossom crying from inside their hogan. Arm in arm, they went inside. Sage lifted Pure Blossom into his arms, as Leonida sat down on a soft cushion of blankets beside the fire.

“Soon she will not be feeding from your breast, but joining her family to eat meals,” Sage said, putting the babe into Leonida’s waiting arms. “Look at how fat her arms and legs are. And look at her face. With your milk she has blossomed into someone very pretty.”

“Yes, she is pretty, and it won’t be long until she is singled out by a certain young man to join her in fun and games,” Leonida said, laughing softly as she put Pure Blossom’s lips to her breast. She watched her daughter feeding for a few moments, then gazed over at Sage with a soft smile. “Everything is so wonderful now, darling. I am so very happy.”

“Life among the Navaho is not a simple thing,” Sage said, placing a hand on her cheek, this thumb caressing her beneath her chin. “But it is a challenge most welcomed by my wife? Yes?”

Leonida leaned into his hand. “I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she murmured.

Sage bent low over Leonida and cupped her free breast, then placed his lips over the nipple. He flicked his tongue around the nipple yet did not suckle from it, leaving that honor to their child. After Pure Blossom was finished nursing, having grown old enough to get her nourishment elsewhere, then he would claim his wife’s breasts as his own again, the source of much pleasure for him.

“She’s asleep,” Leonida whispered, laughing softly. “That was the fastest dinner my daughter has ever drunk. For the moment I guess she prefers sleep over milk.”

“That is good,” Sage said, his voice now husky with desire for his wife. “She can sleep. We can make love.”

Sage lifted the child from Leonida’s arms and took her back to her crib, gently placing her on her cushion of blankets. He pulled another blanket over her, then turned to Leonida, his eyes filled with hunger for her.

Leonida rose to her feet and went to Sage, melting into his arms. She gazed up at him. “What about the boys?” she whispered, her heart throbbing with need of her husband. “What if they decide to come home sooner than we expect them to?”

Sage held her within his muscular arms, his head bent low, his breath hot on her lips. “Do you not hear the laughter and music?” he said, teasingly brushing a kiss across her lips. “As long as there are games and fun to share with others, both of our sons will not even think about home. Do not fret so, pretty wife. This time is ours alone. Let us take advantage of it.”

Leonida’s stomach growled hungrily as the aroma of food drifted into the hogan through the door. “Handsome husband, are you not hungry?” she whispered, sucking a wild breath of rapture as he smoothed his hands between them and cupped both of her breasts, kneading them.

“Let us not speak of food,” Sage said. “Let us not speak of anything. The moments are wasting away in talk.”

Suddenly he grabbed her up into his arms and carried her toward their bedroom, lifting her high enough to kiss her. Leonida twined her arms around his neck, thrilling inside as though it was their first time together. All of her senses were yearning for what lay ahead—the promise of boundless pleasure.

Stretching her out on her back on the soft cushion of their bed, Sage was already aware of the tingling heat pressing in on his loins, surges of warmth flooding through him at the promise of what he was going to share once again with his wife.

Her pulse racing, Leonida stretched her arms above her head as Sage removed her blouse. Once it was tossed aside, she lifted her hips so that he could quickly remove her skirt. She shivered with pleasure from her head to her toes as he knelt down over her and began worshiping her flesh with his mouth and tongue. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the euphoria building within her as he found and pleasured her most sensual places. Yet she was glad when he rose from her, realizing that she was too near to going over the edge into ecstasy.

Sage understood her bidding as she ever so gently shoved him away from her. He also was near to the exploding point, and he had not yet filled her with his throbbing hardness.