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She wanted to reach out and plead with him to take her on his lap and embrace and kiss her. It took all of her willpower not to blurt out to him that she needed no more explanation, that she now understood his feelings.
“But…?” she prompted at his awkward silence. “You were saying…?”
“I was saying that I did not want to live without you,” Eagle Wolf said, his voice drawn. “I am saying that I want you to go with me to my home and allow me to love and protect you, forever.”
Nicole’s face turned hot with a blush, for her inner excitement was almost too much to bear.
It was a sweet sort of pain that came from loving him and knowing that he loved her, too.
This man with the voice that stirred all of her inner emotions, this man with the boldest of dark eyes that made her almost swoon, truly did love her and want her.
“Why did you leave the safe shelter of the Mormon settlement?” he asked next. “Did you not know the danger of traveling alone?”
“There are all sorts of dangers to avoid and I just left one of the worst kind behind me,” Nicole said, a sudden shiver going through her body at the thought of Jeremiah forcing her into his bed with him.
“What do you mean by that?” Eagle Wolf asked, leaning closer to her, yet still not taking her hand in his as he so badly wished to do. He never wanted her to be afraid of him.
“The danger that I avoided by leaving the Mormon community came from one man,” Nicole said, her voice full of emotion.
“How so?” Eagle Wolf asked.
“Jeremiah Schrock found me and took me back to his community for only one reason,” Nicole said. “He wanted to make me his third wife. Yet there is more than that. He…he…wanted me to bear him sons, something his other two wives had not been able to give him.”
Eagle Wolf had heard about how Mormon men took more than one wife, so he was not surprised at this news, but it still angered him. This white man had tricked Nicole into believing that he was rescuing her, while all along, he had an ulterior motive for taking her to his home.
Eagle Wolf also wanted to marry Nicole, but he would never entice her to his home with tricks. He never wanted anything but truth between them, for he knew that she was the sort of woman who hated tricks and lies as much as he.
Yet he still had to ask her, for he had learned many lessons in life, and one was never to take anyone, or anything, for granted.
“I understand why you fled the Mormon settlement,” Eagle Wolf said, a note of caution in his voice. “If you accept my invitation to return to my stronghold, would you flee again as you have twice before? The first time, you ran away from a man who had your best interests at heart; the second time from one with selfish needs. Could you be happy in my home? I left the safety of my stronghold to search for you in the Mormon settlement. I was waiting for darkness, and then I was going to enter the settlement without anyone knowing that I was there. You are the only reason I would take such a risk.”
“How did you know that I was there in the first place?” Nicole asked.
“I spotted the Mormon town from the mountain. While I was watching, I saw you leave the schoolhouse after many children,” Eagle Wolf said.
“And you waited until it was dark to come to me,” Nicole said.
She then blurted out, “Eagle Wolf, did you not know the dangers in doing that? There are many men standing guard all around the town. Had you been caught, I cannot say what they would have done to you.”
She lowered her eyes, then quickly raised them again and gazed intently into his. “You risked everything for me,” she murmured. “You care that much for me?”
“I care that much for you,” he affirmed. “I see in your eyes that you also care for me. I am right, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are right,” Nicole said, again feeling as though her insides were melting. He took one of her hands in his and kissed it, then released it again and grabbed his reins.
“I know that you are puzzling over how quickly we have fallen in love, but in life, it is best not to question such things. Just accept our good fortune and be happy for what your God and my Great Spirit have given us,” Eagle Wolf said, his heart soaring to know that he had been right about Nicole, that she did care for him.
She had surely fled him out of fear of what his people might feel about their chief bringing a white woman home with him.
“My mother read the Bible often,” Nicole murmured. “One thing Mother taught me was that th
e good Lord sometimes takes away, but He also gives back. My parents were taken from me, but now God has blessed me with knowing you.”
“Will you go with me to my home?” Eagle Wolf asked, searching her eyes, which were suddenly wet with tears. “I owe you a debt because you cared for me when I was ill. I would like to repay this debt by taking you where you will always be safe.”
Nicole wiped the happy tears from her eyes, then smiled and nodded.
“Yes,” she said softly. “Oh, yes, Eagle Wolf, please take me to your home.”
