"I will," she said with her mind. "And, Eagle Heart, I love you!"
"And I, you."
Their communication ended.
He is coming to me! Oh, how I wish I had a mirror, for I would look my best.
Laylah sat up away from the tree, wondering for the first time what clothing her mother had packed for her; she didn't wish to meet Eagle Heart wearing a dress that she had donned for a different wedding. She had better discover quickly what other clothes were packed.
****
EAGLE HEART RUSHEDover the short, brown grasses of the plains as though there were a prairie fire at his back. His attention was outward and all around him, but it was mostly fixed on the horizon, which he could see clearly because the light from the half-moon outlined the prairie, with all its flaws and bumps. As he hurried over the plains, he was not afraid his pony might step into a prairie-dog hole. He had decided it would not be so; therefore, he knew it would not happen.
He had already planned to ride through the night, if needed, to get to her. And, once he was with her, he intended to make love to this woman; at least he would do so as soon as he found and erected a safe shelter for them. Perhaps then, if she were willing, they could make love for several days, spending their time doing little more than admiring one another, both physically and spiritually.
He inhaled deeply, then sighed. The coulee would not be safe for them. They could be too easily discovered, and at a time when her father would be angry, perhaps to the point of committing murder.
As he watched his path along the moon-bathed prairie, he felt confident enough in his pony's sure-footedness so he might let his thoughts drift a little, and he found himself reaching out to her.
"I love you," he said in the mind-to-mind discourse.
"And, I love you," she returned. "As I am sitting here on my blanket, I am hoping you have an extra breechcloth with you, for I intend to keep the one you'll be giving me."
He laughed. "I am afraid you will have to keep more about me than my breechcloth."
"Oh?"
"It is merely the symbol of the start of our lives together. I fear you will have to keep me, also...and any children we make together."
"I am pleasured to hear you say it."
He smiled. "Is there a man who has ever been as happy as I am? I did not know it is possible to be filled with so much joy...and lust."
"Lust?"
"Even when we were together, I was barely able to keep myself from sweet-talking you into lying with me. Do you not remember the many times I had to leave our shelter suddenly?"
"Is that what those visits outside were all about? Of course, I remember."
"Do not mistake me. I wanted to make love to you many times when we were together. And now, knowing you are also wanting to be my woman, it is almost all I can think about. I warn you, it might be several moons before I am fulfilled. Perhaps I never will be. I hope you will be happy with this."
"Mr. Eagle Heart, I am certain I will be delighted with whatever it is you feel needs to be. You do know I will be pleasured, indeed, to hold you in my arms. It is not you, alone, who is joyful—and perhaps lustful, also—about our coming marriage. It is possible I will treasure our closeness even more than you, simply because I am a woman and desire to have you in my arms continuously...if it were only possible. Speaking of being close, how far away are you now?"
"I should be in our coulee before daybreak.”
"I shall await you. I am so excited you are coming here to our coulee, I don't think I will be able to sleep. Of course, I now owe my gratitude to the she-wolf. Did you know I was able to talk to her in the mind-to-mind speak? She asked me where you were."
"What did you tell her?"
"I told her I didn't know."
"Áa,this is why she came to find me and tell me of you. She is a babe from one of the litters of the mother wolf who found me and nurtured me when I was a baby. She is my sister."
"Your sister... What a beautiful thing to say about a wolf...about all life, actually. I didn't know my life could feel this full, and I don't think I will ever be the same again, and it is all because of you and my love for you."
He didn't answer right away.
"Eagle Heart? Are you all right?"
