“No.”
“Yes. On this,mymind is made up. Where you go, I go.”
He shook his head. “You would only hinder me.”
“I will not hinder you. I will help you. You know this is so.”
He sighed. “We will not speak of this now. Once we escort your brother to Santa Fe, perhaps then we might discuss it again.”
“Certainly. Discuss it all you like. But I will go with you.”
He grinned at her. “You know that I could slip away from you without your knowledge.”
“I know. But I’d only set out after you and possibly get myself into trouble. You know this.”
He laughed, and turning toward her, he kissed her, pulling her hips in close to his. “And I would find you and take you back to Santa Fe.”
“But if you didn’t know when I had left, or where I had gone…”
Again he grinned. “Are you threatening me?”
“Certainly. I mean it. Where you go, I go.”
His smile faded, and by the look in his eyes, she was given to understand that the moment had become more serious. “Know this: I love you very much. And I am honored to have your love. Know, too, that I pledge to you that I will do what I can to earn your loyalty, that which you give so freely.”
She smiled, and taking a finger, she ran it gently over his chest. “Does that mean that you have changed your mind about taking me with you? You’ll do it without argument?”
He shook his head. “You are impossible,” he said, but he smiled. He also captured that finger. “I have not promised you that. We will talk of it later. But for now, I have other things on my mind.” He ran a hand over the curve of her hip.
“Oh? What sort of things were you thinking of,my husband?”
He kissed her again, his touch lingering over her buttocks, where he pulled her hips in so closely to his own. She was at once filled with the knowledge of exactly what this very exotic man had in mind.
She purred in response. “Oh, that sort of thing.” She smiled at him and returned his kisses, one for one. “I think that would be a fine thing. A very fine thing, indeed.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
Let neither cold, hunger nor pain, nor the fear of them, neither the bristling teeth of danger nor the very jaws of death itself, prevent you from doing a good deed.
—CHARLES A. EASTMAN,THE SOUL OF AN INDIAN
Several hours later Swift Hawk sat up, away from her. Angelia immediately pulled him back.
“Where are you going?”
He leaned over her and pushed a lock of hair from her face. Then he kissed her. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was.” She gazed up at him, her eyes searching his, as though by a look alone she would determine his thoughts. But his glance revealed nothing, so again, she asked, “Where are you going?”
He sighed. “I am leaving here to see if I can discover what has happened to your brother. It is my hope that he has made fresh tracks now that the rain has stopped.”
She nodded. “I’ll come with you.”
“No. It would be better if you stay here. You can watch over the pony.”
“You are not taking your pony?”
