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Then he moved away from her, silent for a moment.
He leaned up on an elbow and gazed at her. “Hannah, I’ve had to make a decision lately that I hope you will understand,” he said.
Hannah’s breath caught, praying to herself that this wasn’t the time that he would reveal to her things that she knew he had kept from her. She wanted nothing to spoil this night. She only hoped that her fears were not founded—that he had kept something terrible from her!
“What is it?” she asked, her voice guarded.
He laughed loosely and drew her over, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. “Don’t sound as though you don’t trust what I am going to say,” he said softly.
“Then, what is it?” Hannah said, her eyes searching his face and eyes for answers.
He leaned away from her again. He grabbed her by the waist and drew her close to his side.
“Hannah, I have had sad news. A messenger from my mother arrived yesterday to tell me my grandfather has passed away. I did not want any sorrow to mar our wedding, but now it is up to me to guide my people. I have decided that it is time for me to return to Wisconsin,” he said. “I must now lead my people to this land. I know that no land is perfect, nor are the white people who will be our neighbors. But this is the best I can do for them. It is time for them to be with me, as one heartbeat.”
“I wish to go with you.” Hannah said, relieved to know that this might have been what had troubled him during their marriage ceremony. Surely this, his concern for his grandfather and people, as a whole, was what had caused him to occasionally get that haunted look in his eyes at other times.
Oh, if only it were so! Too often she had feared some dark secret that he was keeping from her!
Sometimes she had even thought that the haunted look was because he had doubts of marrying her!
But now?
Perhaps it had nothing at all to do with secrets, or . . . her.
“Hannah, the journey is long,” Strong Wolf said drawing her thoughts back to the present. “I don’t want to tire you. You have only recently been overwhelmed by exhaustion after caring for the ill.”
“How can you even think that I would not insist on accompanying you on such a long journey?” Hannah said, her eyes wide. “I would never stay behind. I am your wife. I belong with you.”
“But, Hannah . . .”
“Strong Wolf, if you had planned not to share everything with me, then why did you marry me?”
Hannah left the bed and stood over the fire, her pulse racing.
Strong Wolf was stunned by her outburst and knew now that he should have never kept anything from her. He now knew just how she might react when he told her the true facts about himself!
Yet now he knew to guard that secret even more than he ever had!
He could not chance losing her.
Strong Wolf left the bed and went to Hannah. He placed his hands at her waist and turned her around to face him. “Hannah, do you realize that we just had our first argument as man and wife?” he said softly, his eyes imploring her.
“I didn’t mean to argue,” Hannah said, her voice breaking.
She crept into his arms. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “But I just feel so strongly about things, sometimes. I don’t want to be left out of any portion of your life. I want to share! Please allow it.”
He unbraided her hair until it lay silken and long down her naked back. “You will go with me,” he agreed. “And you must understand something about me, Hannah. I have never been married before. There will be times when . . .”
Hannah placed a gentle finger to his lips to seal his words behind them. “Shh,” she murmured. “We both have some adjusting to do. Loving each other so much, that shouldn’t be so hard to do.”
He smiled down at her, then swept her into his arms and carried her back to the bed.
They made love again and again.
Chapter 35
The air was heavy, the night was hot,
