Wild Desire (28 page)

“God, no,” Adam whined.

Runner slipped his moccasined foot away from Adam's chest. He smiled as Sage yanked the white man back to his feet. Runner placed his rifle barrel against Adam's chest. “You go, or I will shoot,” he said quietly.

“Runner, do you forget so easily the friendship that we had?” Adam pleaded, his eyes glued on the gun.

“That friendship was first forgotten by you,” Runner said, nudging him harder with his rifle.

“I'll go,” Adam said, sweat pouring from his brow. “Just point that rifle somewhere else.”

Slowly Runner moved the rifle away from Adam's chest, but he did not turn it totally away from him. “Go out and get on your horse and ride to Fort Defiance,” he said flatly. “And don't try anything, Adam. This rifle will be leveled at your back the whole way.”

Adam scurried outside and nervously flung himself into his saddle. He gave Sage and Runner glares. “Once at the fort, when your rifle will be taken from you, I'll laugh in both your faces,” he said, chuckling.

“The last laugh would be on you, if you are set free,” Runner warned. “Never will you be able to ride again in Navaho land. The first time you were alone, you would die quickly. If not by my gun, then by another Navaho's. Perhaps even your sister might pull the trigger and end your pitiful life.”

Adam paled. He turned his eyes from Sage and Runner and rode off, understanding the warning and knowing that all of his dreams had gone up in smoke the very instant the train had exploded by his own orders.

Tears came to his eyes. And when Stephanie's face came to his mind's eye, he felt no scorn for what she was doing against him, only remorse for having caused her to turn her back on him.

Runner and Sage rode behind Adam. When they reached the fort, their rifle alerted the soldiers. One rode up on horseback and grabbed the gun from Runner.

Runner made no move to get it back. It was enough now that Adam was at the fort and knew that he must tell the truth, or die later, alone, never knowing when.

Runner, Sage, and Adam were ushered inside, where Stephanie still stood stubbornly before Colonel Utley's desk. She turned and her eyes met Adam's. She was torn by conflicting feelings. She ached for what they had been to one another, yet there was a part of her that felt no pity for him. She shifted her gaze to Runner and smiled.

Runner returned the smile. He and his father had known that she, alone, would not be able to get Thunder Hawk released. They had known that in this man's world a woman's word would not be enough. That was why they had ridden separate ways when Stephanie had headed for the fort. They knew that they would have to bring Adam in, themselves, to make a confession.

Stephanie stepped aside as they were ushered to the desk, to stand and be scrutinized by Colonel Utley.

“Sage . . . Runner, don't tell me,” the colonel said gruffly. “This must be Adam. You've brought this man to exchange him for Thunder Hawk.”

“Only because Thunder Hawk is innocent and Adam is guilty,” Runner said, glowering over at Adam.

“Adam, what do you have to say for yourself?” Colonel Utley said, tapping his fingers on the desktop.

“You should release Thunder Hawk,” Adam said, fearing for his own life should he not tell the truth. His voice trembled. “I'm the one who should be behind bars. Me and Damon Stout. We are in this together.”

There was a hushed silence, then the colonel rose from his chair and went around to speak up into Adam's face. “Do you realize what you're saying?” he asked. “Are you doing this because you fear for your life? Are you being coerced?”

“I do fear for my life,” Adam said, swallowing hard. “But what I am saying is true. I paid Damon to blow up the train. I was wrong to do it. What else can I say?”

Everything happened quickly then. Adam was marched away, and soon Thunder Hawk was free, his face all smiles as he was first embraced by his father, then Runner, and then Stephanie.

“You are free, my son,” Sage said, and turned to Stephanie. He gently gripped her shoulders. “Because of you my son is free. How can I ever repay you?”

“By accepting me among your family and people as the woman who will soon be your older son's wife,” Stephanie said, tears pooling in her eyes. “I'm sorry for all of the grief my brother caused you. Even that which
I
caused. I want you to know that I will never again bring a camera among your people. I even plan to destroy all of the photographs that I took of Navaho land. I hope that these things are enough to prove my loyalty to your son, and the People.”

“Proof?” Sage chuckled. “White woman, today was proof enough.”

He drew her into his embrace. “I speak for my family and my people when I say how eagerly I welcome you as part of my son's life,” he said. “Runner is a lucky man.”

Stephanie returned his embrace, turned to Runner, then grew cold as she watched him step up to the cell in which Adam was incarcerated. She listened and shook inwardly with a guarded fear when she heard what Runner was telling Adam.

“Adam, not only is your sister Stephanie well rid of you, but also my sister, Pure Blossom,” Runner said, speaking to Adam through the bars.

Adam laughed sardonically. “I played the game well with them both, wouldn't you say?” he said, feeling safe behind the bars.

“As for Pure Blossom, I suckered her from the very beginning into believing that I loved her,” he bragged. “I hoped that it might bring some sort of understanding between me and the Navaho, so that I could feel comfortable building my town on Navaho land. I never loved your sister. Only what I could get from her.”

Beneath Adam's rough exterior and harsh words, his heart was bleeding for those times when he had found such bliss within the arms of his sweet Pure Blossom. He still loved her. He would never love again.

Anger flaring his nostrils, Runner grabbed Adam by the throat through the bars and yanked him closer. “If you are ever released from jail, for any reason, you had better keep a good watch on your back, because I, personally, will soon seek you out to kill you.”

The sweat of fear beaded Adam's brow.

Chapter 31

The entrance into the Navaho village was one of celebration. Stephanie rode at Runner's side as Sage and Thunder Hawk rode ahead of them, proud, free, and jubilantly accepting the chants of welcome.

Stephanie saw that obviously the word had spread while she had been gone about Thunder Hawk's incarceration. But she wondered just how many of the People knew exactly
why
, and who was responsible? Thus far, no one had singled her out with a frown. She wasn't sure if this was because they didn't know about Adam's guilt, or if they knew that she, Adam's stepsister, had gone against him, on behalf of Thunder Hawk.

Stephanie was taken up with the joy that shone on everyone's face; it was quite contagious. Inside her heart she felt such peace, such wonderful, precious peace, even though she had only a short while ago bade a farewell to a part of her past that had at one time been as special to her as her acceptance into Navaho life was to her now.

She smiled as Sky Dancer came running toward Thunder Hawk. Something tugged at her heart as she watched Thunder Hawk take Sky Dancer into his arms and twirl in a circle with her as she laughed gleefully.

Stephanie wiped tears of joy from her eyes and gave Leonida a warm smile as the older woman stepped away from the throngs of people and met Sage as he approached on his horse. After Sage swung himself down from the saddle, he grabbed Leonida into his arms and gave her a fierce hug.

“I have heard it said that if one waits patiently enough, things will fall into place where they belong,” Runner said, drawing a tight rein as Stephanie drew her horse to a halt.

He dismounted and went to Stephanie and held his arms up to her. “Because of you, things are being restored to proper balance one by one,” he said. “Soon you will join with my people for a ‘Chant Way Ceremony, ' and then the balance of my people's lives will be fully restored.”

Stephanie slipped easily from the horse and into Runner's arms. His hands at her waist, he drew her close to him, their eyes locked. “Darling, I have never heard of a ‘Chant Way Ceremony,'” she murmured.

“We Navaho believe in always maintaining
hozho,
or harmony, within our world,” Runner explained, his eyes dancing. “When one of us upsets the balance between good and evil, misfortune will result, and it may affect our people as a whole.”

He slipped an arm around her waist and drew her to his side as they began gently pushing their way through the crowd. “To restore disrupted order in our village, we turn to our ceremony called ‘Chant Ways,'” he said. “Each ‘way' is a series of prayers and songs telling tales of my people's history. Some of them can take as long as nine days to complete, so the singers who perform them rarely know more than one or two ‘ways.'”

“That sounds so interesting,” Stephanie said, then stretched her neck to see over the crowd when she caught sight of Pure Blossom standing alone in the doorway of her hogan.

Stephanie's insides tightened. She had to wonder how much Pure Blossom knew about what had happened, and whether or not she knew about Adam's participation in the crime that had been committed.

She recoiled when she recalled what Adam had said about Pure Blossom at the jail, how tauntingly and mockingly he had told Runner that he had never loved the sweet Navaho maiden.

“Runner, shouldn't someone in the family tell Pure Blossom the details of what happened today, before someone else does who would not treat her as delicately about it?” Stephanie asked. “And how will she react? I am concerned for her feelings, yet she must be told.” She gave Runner a sideways glance. “Don't you think so, darling?”

Adam's words were flowing through Runner's mind like a rushing river, over and over again, flooding his thoughts. His heart pounded at the sight of his sister standing so forlorn and alone at the door of her hogan. She had certainly heard enough to cause her to have such sadness in her eyes. This made Runner's hate for Adam even worse. Yet, for now, he had to cast hate aside. Loving his sister, and protecting her, was of prime importance.

“We will go together and explain to Pure Blossom,” Runner said, changing Stephanie's direction as he guided her with his arm around her waist.

When they reached her, Pure Blossom ducked her head and disappeared into her hogan. Stephanie and Runner exchanged troubled glances, then followed after her.

Stephanie looked around her, at the grand sight of the many beautiful blankets lining the walls of the hogan, decorated with exquisite designs drawn from nature and Navaho history. Pure Blossom sat at her loom, as she skillfully worked her yarn into another beautiful, multicolored design.

“Pure Blossom,” Runner said, stepping away from Stephanie. He knelt down onto one knee beside the fireplace, close to his sister. “I understand why you aren't joining the others to celebrate. You feel as though you have lost, instead of having won anything.”

He placed a hand to Pure Blossom's arm, stopping her weaving, so that she would look over at him. “Pure Blossom, Adam is not worth grieving over,” he said gently. “He is a worthless, scheming, lying cheat. You will find another man more worthy of your love. In time, sweet sister, you will see. Another man will steal your heart away. But do not wait until then to show me your perfect smile. Give me one now, Pure Blossom, so that I can, in turn, have cause to smile.”

“You say that my smile is perfect,” Pure Blossom finally said, her voice breaking. She held up her free hand so that Runner could see how her fingers were beginning to twist and gnarl. “Do you see anything perfect about my hand?” She turned her back to Runner and held her hair up so that he could see the hump on her back. “Do you see a perfect back?”

She turned tearful eyes back to Runner. “No one will want me again,” she sobbed. “Even Adam did not want me. He only pretended.”

Runner's gaze became steely with anger. “Why do you say that?” he said, his voice low. He could not understand how his sister would know Adam's true feelings. Only a few had heard Adam's confession at the trading post. He knew that his father, Thunder Hawk, and Stephanie could not yet have told her.

That had to mean only one thing, and if that were true, Runner was not sure if he could restrain himself from going to kill Adam right away and save the white man's courts the trouble.

Pure Blossom's eyes filled with tears. She lowered her eyes and began crying so hard her body was wracked by the tears. “Adam told me how ugly I was,” she cried. “How could he be so cruel?”

Stephanie bit her lower lip, stung speechless by the extent of her stepbrother's cruelty toward Pure Blossom. And she was beginning to feel guilty for so much of this. Even though she was not a direct cause of the hurt that Pure Blossom was feeling, the fact that she had accompanied Adam to the Arizona Territory seemed cause enough. If she had discouraged Adam from coming, surely he wouldn't have, and all of these heartaches would have been spared.

“He told you . . . ?” Runner said, his throat suddenly dry. “He not only destroyed you by his deceit, he tried to destroy all of the Navaho by paying for a train to be blown up so that he could point an accusing finger at us.”

“How could I have loved such a man?” Pure Blossom sobbed.

“Pure Blossom, you must forget Adam,” Runner said softly. “He is not worth the tears shed over him.”

“These tears are not for myself,” Pure Blossom said, clutching at herself. “It is for the child that I carry within my womb. It is Adam's child.”

Runner and Stephanie exchanged quick glances, then Runner gently took Pure Blossom's hand from her stomach. He caressed it. “A child,” he said softly. “It is
your
child, Pure Blossom. It will be loved. The child need never know the true worth of its father. It shall be blessed with knowing you, its mother. Why would a child want anything more when it has you?”

“I need time alone,” Pure Blossom said, rushing to her feet. “Do not follow me, big brother. This is a time for mother and child to be alone with the Great Unseen Power.”

It took all of Runner's willpower not to go after Pure Blossom. When he heard her leave on a horse he closed his eyes and said a soft, silent prayer for her well-being, then opened his eyes and found Stephanie standing directly before him.

“Runner, do you think you should go after her?”

“
E-do-tano
, no. She is going to seek solace with the Great Spirit and she must do this alone.”

He slipped an arm around her waist and led her from Pure Blossom's hogan, through the crowd, and then into his own dwelling. A fire cast its soft flickering light around the room. Food was simmering in a large pot over the flames.

Runner took Stephanie's hands and drew her against him. He gazed into her eyes. “I did not think we would ever be alone again,” he said, bending to softly kiss her lips. “But here we are. Can you think of something we might do to celebrate?”

“Darling, what would
you
suggest?”

“I am hungry.”

She cast the food a quick glance.

“Shall I feed you?” she said, looking teasingly up at him.

“Yes,” he said huskily, his fingers eager on the buttons of her blouse.

She smiled seductively up at him as he slipped the blouse off. “Darling, am I to feed you with my clothes off?” she said, her lips parting in a slight gasp as he bent over and flicked his tongue over one of her nipples.

“You are feeding a different sort of hunger than that for food,” Runner said, his hands now at the waist of her skirt, lowering it past her hips.

“Will you also feed my hunger?” she asked in a soft purring voice as he continued disrobing her, finishing by tossing her boots aside.

“You will soon see,” Runner said. He grabbed her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.

As she stretched out on her back on the soft blankets, she watched with a thudding heartbeat as he quickly disrobed himself. She felt a twinge of guilt again for this happiness that she was sharing with the man of her desire, when Pure Blossom had no one.

And the child—what of the child? Couldn't it be a blessing in disguise? The child might be the only one whom Pure Blossom would have to share her life with.

Stephanie shook her thoughts aside and reveled in how it felt to have Runner's body against hers again as he came to her and lay over her, drawing her into the warmth of his body. He nudged her legs apart with one knee so that she could feel the heat of his manhood probing where she throbbed with sexual need of him.

He kissed her, his mouth hot, demanding, and wonderful. She was overwhelmed with a wild desire for him and twined her arms around his neck to draw him even more tightly against her. She pressed her breasts up into his chest, savoring the feel of his muscular body.

When he thrust himself into her, she threw her legs around him and locked them at her ankles. She thrust her pelvis toward him and rode him, movement for movement. Surges of ecstasy were welling within her, spreading, drenching her with warmth.

When he moved his lips down and swept his tongue around her breasts, she caught her breath, not daring to breathe for fear of disturbing the soft melting energy that was swimming through her.

When their eyes met, they locked in an unspoken understanding, promising ecstasy, the air heavy with the inevitability of pleasure.

“It's been too long,” Stephanie murmured, twining her fingers through his thick, dark hair.

She drew his mouth to her lips. Their tongues touched, and then he kissed her again, his hands seeking her breasts. Her breasts were warm beneath his fingers, his thumbs circled her rose-tipped nipples, his mouth seared into hers with intensity, leaving her breathless.

Runner felt the nerves in his body tensing, a tremor beginning from deep within him as one kiss blended into another. He locked his arms around her and held her in a torrid embrace, fiercely anchoring her as his eager mouth tasted her sweetness.

The blaze of urgency set fire to his insides, leaping higher, a wild, exuberant passion spinning through his veins. His hands cupped the rounded flesh of her bottom and held her up to him as he filled her innermost depths with his throbbing hardness.

He groaned against her lips as he felt himself at the edge of that brink that would take him into total bliss.

He paused, laid his cheek against one of her breasts and took a deep breath, then plunged one last time deeply into her. He held her tightly as their bodies shook and quaked, their pleasure spilling over into each other, as though one being, one soul, one heartbeat.

Stephanie clung to him. She licked his neck, then kissed it. “I want to share this with you every day of my life,” she whispered.

When he looked down at her, he framed her face between his hands. “You know what you are saying?” he said thickly. “You know what you are giving up?”

“My darling Runner, I'm gaining everything that I want in life when I marry you,” she murmured, smiling softly up at him. “Don't you know?
You,
you alone, are my only passion now.”

“And what of your passion for photography?” he asked, searching her eyes for the truth.

“Sometimes one must make choices,” Stephanie said, touching his cheek gently. “I have made mine.”

“What of your camera and equipment?”

“They will belong to someone else.”