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She had bathed earlier. She could smell the sweetness of the river water in her hair, and the fragrance left on her skin from the tiny bar of soap, which Little Sparrow had explained had come from the shops in San Carlos.
She watched him until he stepped out of sight, then she went inside the lodge where a large pot of food hung on a tripod over the fire.
After Midnight was untied, giving him the opportunity to lie down before the fireplace, Kaylene went from room to room, looking for Little Sparrow.
Then she recalled what Little Sparrow had told her earlier in sign language. After listening to the storyteller by reading his lips, she was going to spend the night with a friend.
That made Kaylene’s heart skip a sensual beat, for with Little Sparrow gone, that meant that she would be totally alone with Fire Thunder the entire night.
They had not been given this sort of privacy since she had arrived.
Was that what he had waited on before approaching her again, sexually? Had he even planned this?
Had he asked the family that Little Sparrow was staying the night with to do this, not so much for his sister, but for himself?
Her pulse racing, her head spinning with thoughts of what might transpire between her and Fire Thunder, made it impossible for her to relax.
She paced nervously.
When she felt Midnight’s wondering eyes on her, she stopped and laughed softly.
She went to her panther and sat down beside him, then stared into the fire as she stroked his sleek fur.
She was so lost in thought, she didn’t hear footsteps enter the cabin. She was not even aware that someone stood over her, studying her, wanting her.
Then, with a leap of her heart, she realized that Fire Thunder was behind her.
She turned with a start and gazed up at him.
Kaylene’s face flooded with color when she recognized that same look in Fire Thunder’s eyes that she had seen the day she had awakened after he had thought she was asleep and had kissed her.
She swallowed hard. “Your hair is wet,” she blurted out, searching for anything to break the strained silence between them. “Did you enjoy your bath?”
“It was refreshing enough,” Fire Thunder said, glad to have been drawn from his trance—a trance that made his heart swim with need of this woman.
He went to the kitchen and took down two wooden bowls, spoons, and mugs. He filled the mugs with cold tea that had been prepared by one of the village women and left there on the table in a pitcher.
He took all this to the fireplace hearth and set them down. “I have worked up an appetite,” he said, ladling food into the bowls. He gave Kaylene a questioning look over his shoulder. “And you? Did your walk make you hungry?”
“Yes, quite,” Kaylene said, taking the bowl and spoon. “Thank you.” She glanced down at Midnight, whose eyes were on her as she started to eat.
Seeing that he was hungry, she excused herself and went and got another bowl.
After giving food to Midnight, she resumed eating and drinking.
“I found the stray longhorn,” Fire Thunder said, between bites of stew. “It had wandered farther than the others. It was easy to find.”
“That’s nice,” Kaylene said. Her heart pounded to realize that he seemed to be forcing small talk, surely because he was feeling the aloneness, the absence of Little Sparrow, as much as she.
It seemed strange to have the cabin all to themselves.
Strange, but nice, she thought to herself, as she glanced over at Fire Thunder. Being his captive, she knew that she should be afraid of what might transpire between them.
But she no longer thought of herself as a captive, instead she was a woman in love with the man of her desire, who just happened to be the one to have taken her away from the life she had hated for so long she could hardly remember!
If he only knew, Kaylene thought, smiling.
Although she had fought her captivity at first, he had truly done her a favor. She had hated the carnival.
