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“Do you believe, then, that you are making the wrong decision by allowing yourself to love Brave Wolf ?” he asked, his eyes searching hers.
“No, no,” she said, a new guilt grabbing at her . . . guilt over making him feel all the wrong things. “I . . . I . . . do love you. Oh, truly I do. I . . . adore . . . you.”
She was stunned that she had actually said it . . . that she had told him she loved him.
She was not a person to be so forward, especially with men.
She had truly known only one man . . . her husband.
But she felt such ease while with Brave Wolf, as though she could tell him everything.
His heart sang to realize his deepest hopes were true, that she did . . . she could . . . love him.
He had believed she did, but knew that those beliefs could have stemmed from wanting her to love him so badly.
“You say words that mean so much to me,” Brave Wolf replied. “I love you. I knew that I did almost the moment I saw you.”
“As did I, although I was afraid to admit it because I didn’t dare trust you,” she murmured.
“But now you trust enough,” he said, drawing her closer, yet not fully into his arms.
“Yes, oh, yes,” she said, her heart throbbing, her knees weak with passion.
“Yet you always pull away from me when we embrace . . . when we are about to kiss,” he said, again searching her eyes.
“Only because I think I shouldn’t be feeling these things for a man so soon after my husband’s death . . . and when I don’t even know the fate of my son,” she said, swallowing hard. “Now do you understand? Do you?”
“Yes, now I understand,” he said, then brushed kisses across her lips that made her feel faint with rapture.
He stepped away from her, yet still held her hands. “And because I do understand, I will wait for you to tell me when you are ready to follow your heart’s desire. When you are ready, I shall give you such loving. . . .”
“I know,” she said, grateful that she was in love with a man who was not only handsome and gentle, but also so sweetly understanding. “I know that what we will share will be so beautiful. You . . . you are such a special man. Thank you, oh, thank you for loving me and for giving me the time I need to get past my guilt . . . my sadness.”
“Until then, we shall share in simple things, like talk, like teaching you the ways of the Crow, because I want you to be as one with my people when you become my wife.”
Her eyes widened. Her heart was filled with sweet, wondrous joy as she gazed lovingly up at him.
His wife?
Could it truly be?
Knowing he loved her so much made her feel less guilty already. She finally could see the promise of a happy future. . . . a future with him!
Chapter Thirteen
She’s beautiful and therefore to be woo’d.
She is a woman, therefore to be won.
—Shakespeare
Several days had passed and still the warriors had not returned with word about David. Mary Beth feared the search had been unsuccessful.
But not all of the warriors were involved in the search for David. There were normal, everyday chores to be taken care of. Some men had gone hunting, returning with bucks slung across their horses’ rumps.
Mary Beth was trying to prepare herself to accept the news Brave Wolf’s men might bring back with them about David. Brave Wolf had told her this morning that he expected them to return either today or tomorrow.
“Do not give up hope that you will be reunited with your son, whether or not he is found by my warriors,” Brave Wolf said as he sat with Mary Beth beside the fire in his tepee.
