Reckless Desire Read Free

sick at first, awed by the speed with which a man’s life could be snuffed out. And then he had been filled with exhilaration. He had killed an enemy of the People, and it was a cause for rejoicing and celebration, not a time for sorrow.
    I had listened to Shadow’s voice, letting the sound surround me like loving arms as I grasped his hands, strong, capable hands that could take a man’s life—hands that had shown me nothing but kindness and tenderness and love. I had gazed into Shadow’s eyes, loving him with all my heart, as our daughter made her way into the world…and now she was grown and gone. How had the years gotten away so fast?
    I left Mary’s room as I heard Blackie’s voice calling my name.
    “ Nahkoa , nahkoa !” He burst into the parlor, a wolf cub clutched in his arms. “Look, nahkoa ,” he said, thrusting the cub toward me. “I found him near the river.”
    I shook my head. Blackie was still wearing his good suit. This morning it had been clean, but now it was covered with grass stains and dirt. His shoes were muddy, his hands and face streaked with grime. It was in me to scold him, but the words wouldn’t come. He was my last child, my baby. How could I scold him when he was smiling up at me, his dark eyes alight with excitement as the cub licked his face?
    “Better give him something to eat,” I said. “I’ll see if I can find a box to put him in.”
    With a joyful nod, Blackie headed for the kitchen. I could hear him talking to the cub as he poured some milk into a bowl.
    I stared after my son. Since the day he could walk, Blackie had been bringing stray animals home. Snakes and frogs, raccoons and possums, a skunk, a spotted fawn, countless birds and squirrels, a baby fox. And now a wolf cub. My Blackie, child of the woods and water. He seemed to have a natural affinity for all of God’s wild creatures.
    Shadow was shaking his head in wonder when I went out to the barn to find a box.
    “So,” I said, smiling, “you’ve seen the latest addition to our family.”
    “Yes,” Shadow said wryly. “Perhaps we should open a zoo.”
    I laughed, my spirits rising as Shadow pulled me into his arms. My body molded itself to his as I lifted my face for his kiss, and then I wasn’t laughing anymore, for Shadow’s mouth claimed mine in a kiss that took my breath away and left my knees weak and my legs rubbery.
    “Hannah.” His voice, deep and husky, caressed me even as his hands kneaded my back, then slid down to cup my buttocks.
    I nodded at the unspoken question in his eyes. Effortlessly Shadow lifted me in his arms and carried me up the wooden ladder to the loft and there, in a bed of sweet-smelling hay, we made love.
    My desire for my husband had never dimmed, and as he undressed I marveled anew that the sight of his body still had the power to excite me, that I still found his lovemaking thrilling and wonderful. My gaze moved lovingly over his face and form and found no flaw. He was tall, dark-skinned, and handsome. My fingers traced the powerful muscles that rippled in his arms and legs as he stretched out beside me. His stomach was still hard and flat, his chest broad and strong.
    Shadow gasped as my wandering hand traveled leisurely down his belly to settle on his inner thigh, and I laughed softly, pleased by his response to my touch. Straddling his thighs, I let my hands roam over his body, my fingers tracing the scars on his chest. I remembered the day of the Sun Dance, how he had stood beside Hawk while Eagle-That-Soars-in-the-Sky slashed their flesh and inserted the skewers under the skin. I had marveled that Shadow and Hawk could endure such pain without a murmur, that they had possessed the strength and courage to dance around the Sun Dance pole for hours without food or water to sustain them, until the skewers had torn free of their flesh, releasing them from the sacred pole. The Sun Dance ritual was the most sacred of the Cheyenne traditions, one that few white people ever