He turned around and smiled at her. "I know."
She found a small, wooded area nearby and soon had collected enough of the varied small and large branches to make a fire. When she returned, the lean-to was already set up, and a small fire had already been lit. With a quick look inside the shelter, she was surprised to discover Eagle Heart was not within.
Looking outward, she saw him stepping toward her, and soon they were both sitting within their new abode. With the open end of the refuge facing the cliff and the more natural-looking logs and pines branches looking toward the only approach to this ledge, Laylah supposed it was as secure a temporary dwelling as could be constructed.
"Where did you go?" she asked.
"I scouted the environment around this butte to see if any enemy is about. A man does not rest until he has ensured there is no danger from man or animal close to his home."
"Did you find any?"
"I found nothing," he replied in sign, "except a beehive. Sometimes bees can become an enemy. But, not today. There were no bees in the hive."
"Oh," was all she said. "Where are the horses?"
"I hobbled them within the small woods below this ledge. There, the grass is still green and the little stream running through those woods will keep our ponies happy. And now, these things done, it is time for you."
"Me?"
"Áa," he said aloud, then in sign continued, "I notice you are still limping and your ankle is swollen. The roots of the flowers I picked today should aid you in healing." He took off one of the bags he wore around his shoulders and took from it a bowl that looked as though it were made from a buffalo's horn. Next, he set up a tripod over the fire, and, from a string attached to it, he hung the bowl.
He signed, "One of our water pouches is hanging behind me. Would you hand it to me?"
She rose up and stretched a little to get it, offered it to him and then watched as he emptied the water into the bowl. Perhaps as long as a half hour passed as they waited for the water to boil, but at last it began to steam.
Oddly, they didn't speak to one another during this time. Instead, he looked at her so directly and with so much passion within his gaze, she began to feel as though with a look, alone, he made love to her.
In response to him, a sensation of desire rose up within her, and, at the core of her body, a sensation of raw need clamored for her attention.
What was happening to her? To them?
"Come here," he whispered in English, and she found herself scooting around the fire until she sat beside him. "Give me your ankle," he signed.
She didn't even think to refuse.
He spoke to her in English and said, "These"—he indicated the flowers—"ek-siso-kit...bear-grass. I cut up...when you gone. Roots...for...sprains. Here, put leg...in hand."
She nodded and complied, raising her skirt a little. With his knee, he held her injured ankle over the boiling water containing the bear-grass roots. With his hands, he massaged her leg upward until his fingers found her core.
"Come closer," he encouraged. "While hold...ankle over fire...make love...to you."
"But—"
Then he touched her there between her legs, and any protest she might have made died. Indeed, she thought she might explode with the pleasure of his hand against her. And, with his every touch, she felt herself surrender to him a little more and found her hips and his fingers were keeping time together. He said, "It...good."
But, she was beyond speaking. Her world was on fire.
"Spread legs," he coaxed.
She didn't even think to disobey. And, as she twisted and turned against his touch, she felt as though she burst with sensation, as one erotic pleasure after another filled her senses. She had never before experienced a gratification this intense, this sweet. Was this what being married was all about? If so, she wanted more of it.
He lifted her skirt, and she watched him as he looked at her there. He said, "Must...keep ankle...over steam. We do again...maybe ankle better then."
And, they did, indeed, do it again while he supported her ankle over the steam...and again, and again, on and on, until all the water eventually evaporated from the bowl.
"Water gone," he said, as he used his knee to guide her leg to the buffalo robe she used for sleeping.
"So it is," she said.
