AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kaylene Shelton’s head bobbed as she sat beside her mother and father on the seat of the covered wagon. They had passed through a storm and had gone safely onward. The carnival was headed now across the border, toward San Carlos, Mexico.
“Kaylene, sweetie, why not go to the back of the wagon and stretch out? You will be able to sleep more comfortably,” Kaylene’s mother said, as she placed a soft hand on Kaylene’s arm. “I’m sure Midnight would love to have your company. The storm gave him quite a start, you know.”
Kaylene rubbed the sleep from her eyes and nodded. “Wake me up, Mother, when we reach San Carlos,” she said. “We’ve not performed in Mexico before. I’m anxious to see the town, how large it is, and what the people seem like.”
“Yes, Kaylene, I’ll awaken you,” her mother said. “I, too, am anxious to see how we are received. We could come back more often if the people like us.”
“How could they not like us?” Kaylene’s father boasted. “We are the best carnival performing today in and out of Mexico.” His pitch-black eyes narrowed. His thick mustache twitched nervously. “We’ll show ’em. They’ll not think of us just as ‘carnie’ people. They’ll see us as special.”
“Yes, Father, they’ll see us as special,” Kaylene said, sighing. She had grown tired of worrying long ago about what anyone thought of her.
She, in truth, was tired of the whole thing; performing at each stop, watching people ogle her as though she were, herself, a sideshow.
She wanted a real life, with a real house, with a husband and children.
She wanted roots.
Before she reached the back of the wagon, she could see the glowing, green eyes of her pet panther as it watched her approaching.
“Midnight, did you miss me?” Kaylene asked, reaching out to stroke her panther’s sleek, black fur.
She curled up next to Midnight, welcoming the warmth of his body next to hers. She smiled when Midnight began to purr contentedly as he settled in more comfortably against her.
“Oh, Midnight, I thought sitting outside with Mother and Father would keep me awake.... Would keep me from thinking and dreaming about that handsome Indian I saw today,” Kaylene murmured. She laughed softly as the rough-textured tongue of her pet licked her face, tickling it. “But nothing helps. I can’t get him off my mind.”
She squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “I must get some sleep,” she whispered. “We have several performances to give tomorrow, Midnight. I must look my best.”
Sighing, again she drifted off to sleep. The Indian was there, his blue eyes touching her as though they were his hands. His smile sent a radiant glow throughout her.
“Who . . . are . . . you?” she whispered in her sleep to the Indian. “Ah, but your eyes! How they sparkle so blue against your dark, coppery skin. Can . . . I . . . touch your skin? Do you want to touch mine?”
In her dream, he was standing before her, so tall and lean, so very handsome. His dark, waist-length hair was blowing gently in the breeze, lifting from his bare, muscular shoulders.
“Yes, I wish to touch you, to hold you, to kiss you,” the Indian said, making Kaylene tremble in response.
“Please do all those things,” she whispered, her head swimming with desire as he grabbed her in his arms and kissed her.
She clung to him.
She reveled in the kiss and the way he held her.
Then Kaylene’s insides melted when the Indian reached inside her blouse and cupped her breasts with his hands, his thumbs tweaking her nipples.
Then he drew his hands away and lifted her and carried her toward a campfire. Kaylene lay her head against his massive bare chest and let the sensual feelings inside her take over.
She had never made love with a man before.
She had never loved a man.
And now she was ready to give herself to an Indian, the one she had seen pass by with several warriors on horseback earlier in the day.
Even then, their eyes had revealed their sudden attraction to each other.
She had not wanted him to pass by. She had wanted to at least know his name.
“What is your name?” she asked in her dream as he lay her on a blanket and removed the rest of her clothes.
As he covered her with his body, she reached a hand to his lips. “Please tell me your name,” she whispered.
