Betwixt her lips and mine,
There fell thy shadow.
—Ernest Dowson
Storm knelt beside the bed of blankets and pelts upon which Shoshana had slept. He saw the distinct outline that she had left there before rising. In his mind’s eye, he could still see her tempting body with its lovely, delicious curves.
His heart beat faster as he slowly reached a hand out to touch the imprint. Then, feeling foolish that he had let this woman affect him so much, he quickly drew his hand away.
But his heart would not stop its fierce beating. Nor would his mind wander elsewhere.
He had watched her sleep. He had hungered to kiss her lovely, full, voluptuous lips. He had even ached to kiss her closed eyelids.
He had successfully fought off those temptations. But now?
He could not help himself. He reached his hand again to the bed and slowly ran it across the imprint, somehow feeling as though he were touching her.
“No!” he said aloud, jerking his hand away. He knew that what he was doing was foolish, yet he had feelings for Shoshana that he could not ignore.
But he also knew that succumbing to temptations like this would cause his people to lose faith in the strength they had always seen in their leader . . . their chief.
His jaw tight, his hands doubled into fists at his sides, he rose quickly from the blankets, and then kicked at them as frustration got the best of him.
He gazed toward the closed entrance flap. It dawned on him that Shoshana and No Name had been gone too long. What if they had met with some danger?
Grabbing his rifle, he left the tepee at a run.
He ignored the people who stopped and stared as they saw him leave in such haste with a worried look on his face.
He ignored the young brave who always stood ready to bring him his steed. The boy scurried out of the way when Storm ran past him without even a nod of hello.
He ran on until he caught a glimpse of Shoshana through a break in the trees. To his astonishment, she and No Name were sitting beside the water, their hands clasped as they talked and smiled and even sometimes cried.
“What is this?” he whispered to himself. “What has happened?”
And No Name was talking! What had brought her voice back to her?
He moved stealthily onward, making sure that the women did not hear him. A little distance from the clearing he stopped to observe them.
He was truly puzzled by No Name’s behavior. Since the day of her rescue, she had never spoken, not even enough to say her name.
What she was saying now warmed his heart, though. She was telling Shoshana that he, Chief Storm, was kind and considerate, that he and his young friends had been so brave that day when they found her wandering alone and thirsty and hungry. They had saved her, when it would have been so much easier to leave her to die beneath the hot rays of the afternoon sun.
Then his heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened when he heard No Name call Shoshana her daughter. He heard Shoshana address No Name as Fawn in the Apache tongue.
Then he gasped quietly when he saw Shoshana suddenly embrace No Name, whom he now knew as Fawn.
He was absolutely stunned. Somehow fate had reunited mother and daughter.
His heart was warmed by the sight, and it was at this moment, as he watched the heartfelt reunion and witnessed Shoshana’s sweetness, that he knew he could no longer deny the deep loving feelings he had for her.
He wasn’t sure what to do now—turn and leave them undisturbed with their sudden happiness, or . . .
When he stepped closer and his moccassined feet broke a twig in half, Shoshana turned and discovered him standing there.
He did not have time to say anything. Shoshana leapt to her feet and ran to fling herself into his arms.
“Thank you, oh, thank you,” she cried as she clung to him. “Thank you, Storm, for allowing me to come to your stronghold.” She stepped away and gazed at him with tears streaming from her eyes. “Storm, oh, Storm, remember how I said that my dreams had told me my mother was not dead?” she said, a sob catching in her throat. “Oh, Storm, my dreams were right.” She held a hand out toward Fawn. “This is my mother. I am her daughter!”