Dark Journey [Ariel's Desire 2] (19 page)

“You can do better than that, Drizzling Rumble,” he joked back.
 
Clear Skies knew this was the way Raining Thunder told him, he was his friend.

While Gentle Wave and Gray Dove prepared dinner, Fierce Bear and Clear Skies talked.
 
“I have so much you need to teach me.
 
Other than these pants Wild Flower gave me, I have nothing.
 
I don’t know how to hunt, I’ve never ridden a horse...
 
Hell, I’m even lousy at fishing.”

“You’re my son.
 
I’ll teach you these things and help provide for you until you learn.
 
I was worried Gentle Wave was going to settle for Straight Arrow. I never thought he was strong enough for her.”

After dinner was finished, Gray Dove said, “Show them, husband.
 
It’s time.”

Gentle Wave glanced at Clear Skies, obviously as confused as he was.

“Come with me.” Fierce Bear stood and walked behind his lodging. Everyone followed.
 
Twenty feet away stood a lone teepee with heavy stones circling a fire pit of logs.
 
Gentle Wave recognized the hides of the structure as the deer her father had hunted last year, and that Gray Dove was tanning for new breeches for him.

“A warrior builds his lodging for his joined path.
 
Your journey was a quick one, with many unusual bends.
 
A father provides for his children until they can walk alone.”

Gentle Wave hugged him.
 
“When did you do this?”

“While you were distracted with your blue eyed stallion,” he chuckled.
 
He looked at Clear Skies.
 
“I do expect you to replace the hides someday.
 
These pants will last another winter.”

Clear Skies held out his hand.
 
“Thank you, Fierce Bear.
 
This is a generous gift.”

“Yes, well, I didn’t think it would be safe for me to share my tent while a man loves my daughter a few feet away,” he admitted.

Clear Skies and Gentle Wave had privately discussed spending the night down by the stream or in the stables.
 
He wasn’t crazy about the idea of sharing a teepee with the big man either.

Gentle Wave lifted the flap.
 
Her sleeping furs and belongs were already inside as well as a few supplies.
 
She smiled.
 
“Thank you, Mother.”

“I knew you’d get your blue eyed Indian, Gentle Wave.
 
The two of you are good together.
 
Come on, husband.
 
This will be the first night we’ve had the teepee to ourselves for eighteen years.”
 
Gray Dove pulled the big man toward their lodging.

Clear Skies followed Gentle Wave into their home.
 
She lit the wood already waiting for them.
 
They knelt on the furs and she put her hands on his shoulders, feeling his slight tremble.

“I’ve missed your touch,” he whispered.

“I’ve longed for yours.”
 
Gentle Wave’s lips brushed lightly across her warrior’s.
 
She stared into his blue eyes, still not quite believing the proud man had chosen her.

His strong hand fisted in her long hair and pulled her closer, deepening their kiss.
 
Clear Skies’ other hand pressed against the small of her back and she gasped into his mouth as her hips connected with the erection trying to spring from his breeches.

The laces on his pants were untied by her small hands and he felt her lips smile against his as her fingers wrapped around his shaft.
 
He laughed as he broke their kiss and tossed her lightly onto the furs.

“Oh, no you don’t.
 
I’m not tied down anymore, forced to subject myself to your tortures.”
 
His eyes shone with desire.
 
“I think it’s my turn to torment you.

She squealed and tried to scramble away.
 
A strong hand gripped her ankle and she kicked, leaving him holding an empty moccasin.
 
He quickly dropped it and grabbed her ankle.
 
His other hand slid the other boot off and bared her other foot.

“That’s a start,” he grinned.
 
The desire in her brown eyes pierced his passion and he growled at her.
 
He let go of her ankle and crawled up her body.
 
“You forget.
 
I am a cougar.
 
I am cunning and strong.”

“You are handsome and mine,” she laughed and pulled his head back to her. She lost herself against his soft lips and the liquid motion of his tongue.
 
His hands found her breasts and stroked and lightly squeezed the soft flesh.
 
Her eyes opened in surprise.
 
She hadn’t noticed him untying her laces.

“I told you I was cunning,” he smiled.
 
His lips traveled down her throat and he kissed up the rise of her breast, settling on her tight brown nipple while her fingers traveled slowly through his hair as she closed her eyes.

“I don’t think I mind your torment, Clear Skies,” she murmured.
 
He nipped a tight peak.
 
“Ouch.”

“I haven’t begun, my Indian princess.”
 
He pushed her shift down and sifted through her soft curls while he drew on her breast.
 
His hand stroked her damp arousal and she squirmed, lightly thrusting with impatience.

“I think you should torment me later, Clear Skies.
 
I need you inside me right now,” she moaned.

She felt the silent quiver of his amusement as he kissed his way down her trembling stomach.
 
Releasing his hair, her fists gripped into the furs. She had touched herself when she watched her parents’ passion.
 
Never did she dream it would feel like this.

When his tongue stroked across her sensitive clit, she inhaled harshly and tried to squeeze her thighs together.
 
His fingers separated her folds and added a million sparks of desire to her aroused nerves.
 
He looked up from his feast and smiled.
 
Her eyes were squeezed shut and her lips quivered.

His tongue licked slowly through her juices and a finger breached her tightly clenching channel.
 
Her moans and gasps heightened his passionate desire and he slid up her body.

She tasted herself on his lips as he kissed her while he slipped into her tight warmth.
 
Feeling her freeze from the brief sharp pain, he stilled his movement, letting her adjust.
 
Her hips pushed into him and he resumed a comfortable rhythm, forcing himself to move slowly.
 
“You still torture me, princess.”

“I will come up with new ways every day, warrior.”
 
She squeezed his cock in her warm liquid glove and they erupted in a wave of ecstasy.

When the shudders subsided, Gentle Wave curled into his side with her head on his muscled chest and her leg thrown across his.
 
She smiled with contentment as she felt his lips brush across her hair just before she fell asleep.

Gentle Wave talked to him while they walked to her parent’s teepee for breakfast.
 
“My father is a proud man.
 
He’s going to want to show you off and let people know you’re his son.”
 
Gentle Wave looked at her father.
 
He was embracing her mother, with his big head lying on her shoulder.
 
“Let’s give him the day to do that.
 
He’s waited a long time to have a son.”

“I love you, my Indian princess.
 
I can see the love you have for that grumpy father of yours.
 
I can also see you’re right.
 
He’s waited a long time for this day.” Clear Skies put his arm around Gentle Wave’s shoulders and said, “Fierce Bear, will you introduce me to the tribe as a man?”

Fierce Bear stood straight.
 
“No, Clear Skies, I will introduce you as my son, the warrior.”

After they ate, Clear Skies walked by Fierce Bear’s side to be introduced to his tribe.
 
He stifled his laughter as the scowling man’s eyes challenged anyone to dispute his claim.

He could see the anger in Night Wind and Little Moon’s eyes at being out maneuvered by Fierce Bear.
 
Little Moon was a very pretty girl, but she wasn’t Gentle Wave.
 
Now, she had to make amends to Fleet Cougar.

When they approached Yellow Hawk’s teepee, Clear Skies said, “I’m going to stay here for a little while.
 
I’d like to talk to Yellow Hawk.”

“Welcome to the tribe, Clear Skies.
 
I never doubted you would be a man,” Yellow Hawk smiled.

“Thank you for helping me with my journey, Yellow Hawk.”
 
Clear Skies sat by the fire pit.
 
He saw Whispering Wheat’s eyes travel to the white feather secured to his side with the dyed leather strip and she smiled.
 
After Fierce Bear bellowed his introduction of his son, he left.

“I think you’ve furthered another man’s journey,” Yellow Hawk noted as Fierce Bear strode proudly back to his teepee.

“He scared the hell out of me when I first saw him.
 
I realize, now, he’s just insecure.
 
To be the largest warrior in the tribe and not to have a son must have been frustrating.
 
I’ll work hard at what he teaches me and I think we’ll see the end of his scowling nature.

“When you first trained me as a dog, you told me you never regretted your life with the tribe.”
 
Clear Skies stirred the ashes with a stick.
 
“I thought you were crazy,” he grinned.
 
“Now, I understand.
 
It’s life in the flatlands that’s the real insanity.
 
I had been trying my whole life to win the respect of my father, knowing it would always be out of reach.
 
The tribe respects me as a man.
 
Fierce Bear is proud of me in a way my father never would be.
 
I guess I’m telling you, my life is here just as yours is.
 
I couldn’t imagine going back or trying to live without Gentle Wave.

“And Lucien, how do you feel about him?”

Clear Skies thought for a minute.
 
“I don’t like him, but I think it’s an irrational memory that will pass.
 
I think he was meant to be a part of my journey, the beginning of my journey.”

“You feel much the way I did.
 
Yes, it passes.
 
When you think of what you would have missed if he hadn’t brought you here, it passes.
 
You will have to face him as a man to release the ghost.

“When they brought you here,” he continued, “I knew almost immediately, that one day you and I would be friends.
 
Black Horse and Raining Thunder feel this, too.”

Clear Skies squinted at something in the street.
 
Yellow Hawk followed his gaze.
 
“Come with me.
 
I’m going to introduce you to Lonnie.
 
Lonnie came with Patrick’s Clan ten years ago.
 
I think Patrick was really going to gift us Robby.”

“Patrick’s Clan is different than Lucien’s.
 
Only he and Constance are Protectors.
 
Elders go down with Patrick for the harvests.
 
They are given a choice of the women, just as Lucien’s Clansmen are.
 
Constance and Patrick run interference and influence the new settlers.
 
Still, the companions have to be separated or they’ll conspire to run.”

“Lonnie’s woman was paired with Patrick’s Slave-master.
 
Lonnie broke down.
 
When he saw them together at the settlement, and that she was happy, he killed her.
 
Patrick had to send him to us.
 
He was sure his Slave-master would have found a way to get him.”

“By the time they arrived here, we all knew Lonnie’s mind was gone.
 
He could never take our journey.
 
His journey is the ghosts in his head.
 
We had to keep him chained or leashed all the time.
 
That’s not our way.
 
We tried letting him free, but he’d run into the grasses.
 
The last time, he’d managed to hide for almost two days.
 
By the time Wind Seeker found him, he was so dehydrated we thought he’d die.