CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Sharon tried to contain her scream of delight as they sledded down the gentlest slope they could find. However, she couldn't keep from crying out as they reached the bottom of the gulch. Strikes Fast was sitting in front of her, and it was he who guided them down the hill.
"Come," he said in English, then signed, "I will carry you up to the top, and we will slide down it again."
"But, I can walk."
He grinned at her. "I would rather carry you," he signed. "I like having my arms around you."
She giggled a little and shrieked as he picked her up along with the buffalo robe and trod back up to the top of the hill. As she threw her arms around his neck, he chuckled.
"Why do you laugh?" she asked.
"Because…happy am…I. Would…like…never to…let go…you. Always…we be…close. Come, sit…behind," he said as he sat down upon the robe. "We do…again."
He sat down upon the robe with his legs extended out in front of him. He said, "Sit behind."
She sat.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
He shoved off and down they went, swiftly rushing toward the bottom of the gully. But, suddenly, when close to the end of their slide, the robe slipped out from underneath them and they both swept on down the hill, she being on top of him. As they sped downward, he remained as a cushion beneath her until they were almost to the bottom of the ravine, when their speed downward caused them to roll one over the other. At last they hit the base of the coulee and the end of the roll, and she was positioned on top of him with her hips on his chest and her legs bent and spread on each side of him.
She heard him laughing with delight and gazed down at him. But, then she beheld a more serious look come into his handsome gaze, and he said, "Too…low on me…you are."
"I do not understand. Too low?"
He nodded, even while he was repositioning her over him, pulling her body up until her hips were on a level with his head. Then, pushing her dress and cloak to each side of her so the material was spreading out around them, with only one hand, he pushed her chemise away from her and kissed her bare thighs, first one, then the other.
Oh! The utter sensation of his lips there on her skin in so sensitive a place took away whatever she had been about to say. Indeed, she wasn't certain she could have uttered a single word. She moaned, instead, as a blaze of hot passion ignited within her.
Exhilaration, craving and utter need for more of this fled through every part of her body, making it impossible to think of anything but what he was doing. And, when he scooted down a little farther and began to kiss her there at her core, she didn't even think to caution him. It was too wonderful, too exciting, too perfect.
Caught up in the fire of their love, she shut her eyes, lost to the magic of his lips against her. And, then the need for more caused her to move with him in the magic of love. Her release came promptly and easily, her breathing quick and fast.
And, before she had a chance to adjust to the utter thirst for more of the same, he was sitting up in the snow and was positioning her again, only this time he placed her legs, bent at the knees, around his waist until she was in a position where he could enter himself into her warmth. Her breasts were at the same level as his face, and he proceeded to adore them, each one in turn.
How glorious this was, although, in this position, she discovered she alone was required to dance and move with the rhythm of love. And, as the moon and stars overhead bathed them in a radiant glow of silvery light, she adored him with her love, giving him all the love she possessed within her, thrilled that she could bring him to the same brink of passion as she had experienced, and with the simple and natural movements of love.
Sitting as they were, she had to look down at him, and as her eyes met his, she watched as the sheer rapture of what they were doing painted his face with desire, and, when he moaned in the frenzy of carnal excitement, it made her feel a little powerful. They loved one another, every motion in their dance attuned to their mutual need so that when their movements brought on his release, she welcomed him with all her heart, joining him in this, their appreciation and celebration of one another.
With her arms around him and his head nestled in amongst her breasts, he murmured, "Love you…more…than life. Always."
And, when she repeated, "Always, my love, always," she knew it was another vow she would keep.
****
"We must leave here in two days," Strikes Fast signed as soon as they returned to their small encampment. Their lodge, safely hidden by it being landscaped in a way to cause it to fade into the environment, stood beside them. But, they didn't enter the temporary home; instead, they stood at its entrance, allowing the misty moonlight to gently immerse them in its ethereal beauty.
Sharon turned at once to him, and, placing her hand on the sleeve of his shirt, asked, "Leave?"
"Éeh,we will be going home, back to your family and mine in the Pikuni camp."
"Really?"
"Éeh,"he said. Then he signed, "The boy will help you pack, but we must be on our way in two suns. This mountain forest has been good to us, but it is not our home. We are not a mountain people.
