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Leonida hated the reaction of the white women, who stood aside with their children, obviously appalled by Leonida’s decision to marry the Navaho chief.
At dusk she walked arm in arm with Sage away from the village of hogans, finding refuge behind the oaks and the currant bushes that grew in a niche of red rock like the folds of a giant curtain.
They continued walking, not saying anything, just enjoying one another’s company. Behind a lofty fir was a cleft that opened at shoulder height into transparent shadow. The footholds were worn to velvety roundness, and it was hard for Leonida to keep her footing.
But she did not mind the challenge, for here she was finding it so beautiful—the soft, gray stone, dark shadows, green coolness, and sweet smell of dampness. No breeze stirred. No details could be seen in the cliffs, only the silhouette of a river of mountains in the distance against the sky.
Sage gave Leonida’s hand a gentle jerk, stopping her. Swinging her around, he pulled her against his hard body. His heart thumped wildly as she gazed up at him with adoration in her eyes. He reached his hands up to her hair and gently pushed his fingers through her silken tresses, then placed a hand at the nape of her neck and brought her lips to his. His mouth trembled against hers, his tongue flicking between her lips, touching her tongue, tip to tip with his.
Leonida splayed her fingers against his chest, then moved her fingers lower until she had managed to get his shirttail out from the encumbrance of his breeches. Slowly her fingers worked with the buttons of his shirt, then spread the shirt open and placed her trembling fingers on the magnificence of his chest.
Sage stepped back a fraction, giving her space to work at removing the rest of his clothes, and when he was naked, he gave her a lingering kiss as his fingers worked at disrobing her.
After they were both naked, he led her beneath a rock overhang, where there was a thick bed of moss. Pressing his body against hers, he led her down so that her back lay against the soft cushion of moss. She was not even aware of the air becoming cooler as night came on. Sage was blanketing her with his body, his hands warm as he softly kneaded first one breast and then the other.
Leonida hungrily strained her body up against Sage’s when one of his hands went to the center of her passion and began caressing her, readying her for the ultimate pleasure. She moaned throatily when he leaned down and flicked his tongue around one of her nipples, causing a fierce, fevered heat to spread through her like wildfire. Needing him, wanting him so badly, she opened herself to him, almost choking on a cry of bliss when he understood her message and entered her with one deep thrust, which seemed to reach clear up into her heart.
Rhythmically he moved within her as she rocked with him, thrusting her pelvis. She was becoming delirious with sensation as desire washed over her, his thrusts becoming faster and more determined, his lips everywhere, it seemed, kissing, his tongue lapping.
Sage felt pleasure spreading within him, tremors of ecstasy cascading down his back. He kissed Leonida again, his mouth urgent and eager. Their flesh seemed to fuse, their bodies sucking at each other. He was nearing that moment of sensual shock, feeling it growing within him, spreading, growing, then bursting forth, as though great, flashing rays of sunshine had been set off inside his brain.
His hands moved to her buttocks and cupped them, forcing her hips to his, crushing her against him, pressing himself endlessly deeper.
And then he gave himself up to the shuddering in his loins, flooding her womb with his seed, smiling as she strained her hips up at him, crying out at her own fulfillment.
Afterward, their bodies subsided together, exhausted. They lay there for some time with her stroking his smooth copper back. Sage caressed one of her breasts, then leaned over and sucked the nipple between his teeth, softly chewing on it, his tongue flicking around it.
Leonida closed her eyes in ecstasy. “If you don’t stop, we’ll spend all night here,” she said. In response, his hands moved down her body, his fingers soon touching the center of her desire again, softly caressing it.
Sighing, Leonida moved with him as he turned her around so that she lay on top of him, her breasts crushed against his chest. Her hair tumbled down, surrounding his face, as she moved her mouth to his lips and urged them apart, soon touching her tongue to his.
She gasped and threw her head back when she felt him thrust himself into her again. Her heart pounded and she bit her lower lip as the same wild splendor captured her.
Sage clasped his fingers to her breasts, and she moved to a sitting position atop him so that he could more easily fill her with his hardness. Once more they entered that realm of total bliss, forgetting what might happen tomorrow, only relishing the moment, as though it were their last.
Chapter 15
Is there within thy heart a need
That mine cannot fulfill?
One chord that any other hand
Could better wake or still?
—ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER
The fire was burning low and soft in the fire pit. The aroma of food lay pleasantly in the air. Sitting beside the fire on mats, Leonida filled Trevor’s bowl again with corn mush. She patted his head affectionately as she replaced the black pot of food on a hook over the fire, marveling at how Pure Blossom could come and go with her offerings of food without Leonida hearing her. Leonida was surprised that Pure Blossom could keep going when she so obviously showed signs of being progressively ill with some mysterious disease. Leonida feared the morning that she might awake and hear that Pure Blossom had passed away in her sleep.
Shuddering at the thought, hoping that she was wrong about Pure Blossom’s state of health, Leonida forced herself to think of other things. Her gaze shifted toward the door of the hogan. When she had awakened this morning, Sage had been gone already, without even a word.
“I want to go out and see my pony,” Trevor said, bringing Leonida out of her reverie. “Please? Can I? I want to show him to the other children.”
Leonida swept him into her arms and gave him a hug. “Yes, darling,” she murmured. “You go outside and see your pony. But don’t go far. There are cliffs everywhere. Stay within the village.”
“I will,” Trevor said, easing out of her arms. He scrambled to his feet and left the hogan at a run.
Leonida stared at the door blankly for a moment, knowing that she should feel grateful for so many things, but the weight of the world seemed to be on her shoulders this morning and she was finding it almost impossible to shake the feeling.
