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He knelt beside her as she gazed up at him through tears.
“My head,” she sobbed, reaching for it. “A sudden, sharp, searing pain shot through the wound on my head.”
“Is it still hurting?” Blue Thunder asked as he swept her hair back from her face.
“It has subsided somewhat,” Shirleen said, her voice catching as she slowly sat up. “Thank you again for being so kind and caring.”
“Who would not be kind and caring toward you?” Blue Thunder said thickly as he gently wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
Never in her life had Shirleen met a man as gentle as Blue Thunder.
Not even her papa had been this gentle.
Blue Thunder’s kindness, caring, and gentleness melted Shirleen’s heart.
She knew now that she was lost, heart and soul, to this man.
The color of his skin didn’t matter.
Yet there was still that question she had not yet asked him.
“Why did you have me guarded when you brought me to your village?” she blurted out.
“Why?” Blue Thunder repeated, reaching over and testing the doneness of the meat. It still had a ways to go before being ready to eat.
He drew his hand back and looked over at Shirleen, slowly smiling. “You thought that you were being held captive?” he asked, searching her eyes.
“How could I think otherwise?” she asked. “I had you guarded from others who might sneak into my village under the cover of darkness and try to steal you away,” Blue Thunder softly explained. “The guard was not there to prevent you from leaving, for you have never been a captive. You were brought to my village so my shaman could make you well, and for nothing else.”
“I am so glad to know that you never saw me as a captive,” Shirleen murmured. “I . . .”
When she started to say something but then fell silent, Blue Thunder’s curiosity was piqued. “What more do you want to say?” he asked, again searching her eyes and finding them so beautiful.
Even beneath the moonlight they shone so mystically green.
“I . . . I . . . shouldn’t,” Shirleen said, blushing.
She had came close to saying that she thought perhaps he had brought her to the village because he was enamored of her, just as she was of him.
But she knew this was not the time to reveal such a thing to him.
She wanted to be certain of his feelings first.
“Then don’t,” Blue Thunder said, his pulse racing. He had hoped she was about to reveal her feelings for him.
“It is time to eat,” Blue Thunder said quickly. “The meat is dripping its juices into the flames. I prefer them to be in my mouth, do you not, too?”
“Yes, I truly do,” Shirleen said, laughing softly. Strange how her head no longer ached, how her seat was no longer sore from long hours in the saddle.
She suddenly felt as though she might be floating above herself. She was now absolutely certain that she was in love with a man who also loved her.
And she would not let the fact that she was married mar the beautiful relationship that was developing between herself and this handsome, wonderful man.
In her eyes, she truly was no longer married to the cruel, heartless man she had grown to detest . . . even hate.
In the West, life could be abruptly snuffed out at any time, so she was going to take advantage of each and every moment that she had breath left in her lungs.
She blushed as Blue Thunder handed her a piece of hot meat.
