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Moon Glow’s gaze lowered to Midnight. “Pretty and sleek,” she said, her head bobbing as though she could not control it.
Running Fawn took a step toward the elderly woman. She gestured with a hand toward Kaylene. “Moon Glow, this is my friend—”
Running Fawn got no further. She turned and gazed, startled and wide-eyed, at the entranceway, where Fire Thunder suddenly stood, his arms angrily folded across his chest. She swallowed hard and trembled as she took a slow step away from him.
Fire Thunder glared at Running Fawn. “You bring my woman here?” he shouted. “You know that you should not have.” He doubled a fist at his side. “Running Fawn, you stay away from Kaylene. Today proves that I was not wrong not to trust you with her! You are a bad influence!”
Humble, hurt, and angry, Running Fawn swallowed back an embarrassing sob. Then she ran past Kaylene and by Fire Thunder as he stepped aside and allowed it, and outside.
“Fire Thunder, why did you do that?” Kaylene asked, after getting over the initial shock of his severe scolding of Running Fawn. “She meant no harm.” She took a bold step toward him, her eyes filled with fire. “Or is it because you wish to keep me all to yourself?”
Even more angry at Running Fawn now, for having caused Kaylene to be upset with him, Fire Thunder sighed heavily.
He then swept Kaylene up into his arms and carried her from the lodge. Midnight romped after them.
Kaylene struggled to get free from Fire Thunder. But his grip on her was too strong.
“Never go to that lodge again,” Fire Thunder said as he stomped through the village, ignoring the eyes that stared at them.
“So now you are again going to tell me what I can and cannot do?” Kaylene fumed, her heart beating with her fury. “Perhaps that will work with Running Fawn. But not me. I am not your child, slave, or . . . or wife! You aren’t my chief. I am my own person. I will do as I damn well please!”
The curse word brought Fire Thunder’s eyes down to hers as she glared up at him. “It is not ladylike to say bad words that only bad white men speak!” he scolded. “Say them no more in my presence!”
“Again you are telling me what I can and cannot do?” she marveled. “Damn. Hell. Shit. And I shall go on with more if I wish.” She laughed sarcastically. “What will you do? Wash my mouth out with soap?”
“Soap?” Fire Thunder said, forking an eyebrow. “I have never known of anyone who washes their mouths out with soap. Have you done this before?”
Seeing his innocence, and loving him so much she could not stay angry, she laughed softly and flung an arm around his neck.
Smiling, she gazed into his eyes. That same sensual warmth spread through her as she became mesmerized anew by him. She wanted to fight off the rapture, yet it felt too wonderful to brush it aside so easily.
She didn’t want to argue with him. And she knew that he did not mean to order her around.
For some reason, he felt that she should not be in Moon Glow’s lodge. He was only looking after Kaylene’s best interest by scolding her so vehemently after having found her there.
“No,” she murmured, “I’ve never washed my mouth out with soap, but perhaps I should. Those words I said are quite nasty. Cursing is not a normal thing for me to do. But . . . you . . . you . . . riled me so by ordering me around. I’m sorry I got angry at you.”
“My anger at finding you at the ‘trotter’s’ house, and seeing you there with Running Fawn, was too quick,” Fire Thunder said, as they went inside his lodge. “I apologize.”
He placed Kaylene on her feet. She loosened the leash so that her panther would have freedom of the lodge.
Then she eased into Fire Thunder’s arms as he reached out for her.
“Apology accepted,” she murmured. She stood on tiptoe so that she could brush a soft kiss across his lips.
Then she eased from his arms and questioned him with her eyes as she gazed up at him. “That poor woman,” she said, her voice drawn,” she is so alone. Why must she live in such total isolation?”
“That woman is a witch,” Fire Thunder said. He bent to lift a heavy log onto the fire. “My people have a great fear of witchcraft.”
He looked over his shoulder at Kaylene. “Witches can cause terrible harm. It is best that you, who will soon live the rest of your life as the wife of a powerful Kickapoo chief, not associate yourself with the lowest form of life.”
“If this woman is so horrible, and hated by so many, why is she allowed to stay in your village?” Kaylene said, kneeling down beside him. She reached a hand to his cheek. “She has not been totally banished. Why?”
“Any old person is considered a witch, whether they are man or woman. They have lived many years and are thought to have acquired the power to transform themselves into anything they wish. Anyone whose conduct is in the least deviant is considered a potential witch. But as for Moon Glow? She is in my village, still, for a purpose,” Fire Thunder said.
He placed his hands at Kaylene’s waist and yanked her to him. He eased her down on the floor on her back. He blanketed her with his body, a hand snaking inside her blouse.
She closed her eyes and shivered in ecstasy when his hand kneaded one of her breasts.
