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Stands Strong grinned as he walked away from the beauty. So, she liked him well enough to present him with the gift of her body. But, he realized another pertinent fact: she would never have made the offer to him if she didn't already sense he might be a good mate for her. Women possessed instincts about this, and it was known to him that a wise man paid attention to a female's primeval senses.

A man was also much the same, he figured: he might desire and lie with many women—and without consequence—but he, too, could primordially sense his equal in a woman. And, in this regard, they had much in common.

Still, for Czanna, he assumed there must be some feeling of love for him, or at least passion, for her to even entertain the idea of offering him the gift of her body. áa, although it might appear she had proffered the suggestion out of the need for his guidance, he knew she would never have suggested it without also desiring to keep him near her.

However, it was now apparent to him why she hadn't said yes to marriage, but had asked him to agree, instead, to love without marriage.

Maybe he should rejoice in her proposition since, in defining her concept of the state of marriage, and seen from her viewpoint, she had paid him a compliment. Marriage, to her, was a loveless cause, not the realization of the spiritual enlightenment that came from two people becoming united. She also thought love was not necessarily a part of marriage, but, rather, it was a precious gift to be bestowed to another man she desired bodily—a man other than her husband.

And, if this were so, why then should he strive to marry her when she thought real love was to be given not to her husband, but to a stranger?

However, there was a negative concept he had gleaned from her body movements and her facial expressions, and he should give some attention to this, too: not only did she consider him to be unequal to her because of their differences in culture, she also thought him to be lacking in wisdom, perhaps even intellect. It had been there in her eyes, a form of disrespect, as though she considered herself to be superior to him. It was an error—one perhaps garnered from her upbringing.

But, only a strong man, one quick in thought and in action, could protect her in this land of unpredictable weather, war parties and other dangers, where the elements could be as deadly as an enemy. Most likely she would come to realize this…if she were to remain here.

But, perhaps she hoped to return to her homeland. If she did return there, she would take a part of him with her whether he wished it to be this way or not.

What she didn't know and what he was not going to tell her was this: he would take her into the mountains regardless of desire, love affairs or marriage. He would do it simply because of his male sense of duty to the female of the species. However, he also liked her. Maybe he liked her too much. Indeed, if it were left up to him, he would have already bedded her and, by doing so, would have made her his woman.

Truth was, he didn't care what her ethic was or was not as regards marriage and love, or lack of love. To the Pikuni, as well as the Lakota way of thinking, if a man desired to bed a woman, he married her and stayed married to her.

But, he wouldn't tell her this either; it might scare her away from him when, even now, thinking as he was about her, his blood was pooling toward the center of his body, creating quite a masculine response. áa, it was true: he wished to keep her with him, at least for now. But, despite her negative response to his proposal, if he were to be honest, he would admit he might like to keep her with him for a long, long time—perhaps for the rest of his life.

****

On bended knee, Stands Strong leaned over the top of Czanna's head and placed his hand upon her shoulder.

"Wake up, O'tsipi Matsowá'p. Though the sky is still dark, dawn is nearing and we must be on our way."

He had positioned himself on the ground above her head, the best position in which to resist her allure. However, Czanna's high-pitched groan almost caused Stands Strong to throw away all caution and take her in his arms right now and make love to her.

But, it wasn't right. There were others here, and his actions might cause her family—if they were to awaken—to think of her in a bad way. Besides, he didn't wish her to know how much he truly desired her.

Still, when she stretched out her arms and the material of her dress pulled at her breasts, perfectly outlining each lovely mound, he experienced an instant and utterly virile response.

He shouldn't do it, he knew he shouldn't, and yet he found it almost impossible to resist leaning down over her face where he could inhale her luscious feminine scent. His senses reeled, and, positioning his face over hers, he kissed her, gently tracing her lips with his tongue. When her groan—high and feminine—reached his ears and when she raised up her arms to bring him in a little closer, he almost lost control.

Without moving away from her, however, he whispered, "Dawn is coming swiftly, and we must be on our way. Your beauty might cause me to wish to stay with you and make love to you regardless of the others in our camp, but perhaps now is not the time to teach you about lovemaking."

Again she groaned, and Stands Strong knew he had best end this while he could still maintain control over his lust. As it was, an overpowering urge to take her in his arms and have his way with her was goading him on, telling him no one would know if they made love now. And, when she brought back her head to rain kisses upon his neck, he almost consented to the urge.

Instead, he took her arms from around his neck and sat back upon his heels. Then he murmured, "Imagine, if you were my woman, with every movement of the sun, we could awaken each other as we have done this morning…and we might enjoy more than simply admiring the looks of the other."

Again she moaned, then whispered, "So, my knight, you agree to an expanded friendship with me?"

Coming once more over her, his face above her face, he murmured, "I said 'if you were my woman,' which you are not. As for agreeing to your pact, I am still wondering whether it is worth the trouble to teach you about lovemaking only to have you leave and give your knowledge about love to another." Once again, he brought his lips down to hers and kissed her, only this time he rained kisses not only upon her lips, but on the tip of her nose, her chin, her cheeks. Then, he barely breathed, "Awaken, my beauty. We must prepare to leave before the sun is up and a war party comes upon us when we are unaware."

Changing his position, he came to squat at her side and, once settled, reached down and helped her to sit up, admiring the wayward sway of her long, dark curls and the dizzying scent of her body. When she again moaned, his body reacted in a purely male way, as if he needed reminding that he was attracted to her.

He ignored his body's response, however, and, gently taking ahold of her, he turned her so her back was facing him. Then, lifting up her hair, he massaged her shoulders, following the action with wet kisses all along the breadth of her shoulders and neck, basking in the feminine scent of her.

She moaned, and he answered her in return with pure male readiness. He, however, ignored his response—at least for now.

Even though she wore layers of clothing, he could feel the texture of her skin—soft, pliant and utterly feminine—beneath his fingertips. And, her clean, alluring scent was urging him to make love to her now.

Upon this thought came another: if he were to make love to her, their agreement would be set. Strangely, he found he was unwilling to give in to her offer so easily…yet.

He expanded his massage up and down her back, cherishing each gentle curve of her figure, and when her high-pitched sigh reached his ears, he couldn't help himself: he pulled her back into his arms.

Immediately, he found the pressure point on her neck and kissed it, then made a trail up to her ear, massaging it with his lips. She squirmed and tried to turn around so she was facing him, but he knew if he let her do this, he would make love to her despite the others, despite war parties and despite even himself.

Instead, he kissed his way across her back to the other side of her neck where he caressed her from the top of her collarbone up to her other ear. She sighed again, and he knew he had best stop now while he still could.

But, she didn't appear to be in any hurry to let the embrace end, and, reaching her arms up, she brought them together around his neck and leaned back against him. But, it was her question which alarmed him when she asked, "Do you love me?"

"I wish to make love to you," he responded easily.

"You know, of course, that's not an answer to my question."

"All right," he said. "Then, let me ask you the same question: do you love me?"

"I do, Mr. Stands Strong. Even on such short acquaintance, I can honestly tell you I love you very much. I just can't marry you."

He almost surrendered to her right then. But, caution caused him to hesitate. If he made love to her now, not only would a marriage between them be unlikely, but he would also, in the eyes of his people as well in his own eyes, ruin her. He whispered, "Ah, but this isn't bad, is it? To not marry me? After all, don't you look upon the union of a man and a woman as loveless?"

"I do."

"Then," he responded, "I would rather we engage in a love affair and cease to discuss marriage at all."

"Oh, yes. Then, you agree to my suggestion?"

He laughed. "I am not so lacking in wisdom as to be quick in leaving my thumbprint on your white man's truce paper. We will see how much trouble it will be to properly show you how to love a man."

"Hmmmm," was all she replied. "But, Mr. Stands Strong, wouldn't it be worth your time? After all, what if I might possess some quality about me to add to your knowledge of lovemaking?"

He laughed. Truly, his reaction was honest, if only because she had surprised him. He had never imagined she might be privy to a bit of wisdom concerning lovemaking, perhaps bringing with her a form of knowledge over and above what he already knew concerning the topic.

After a moment, he kissed her neck once more and sat back on his heels, though he kept his arms around her, resting his head against the back of hers, aware that even the scent of her hair enticed him to do more. He murmured, "Come, awaken the others. I have started a fire and have two of your kettles filled with warm water for your women's bathing. Then, we will begin our journey. But, our time on the trail will be short. We are in a part of this country and at a time of year when many war parties are out upon the prairie. And, we have little defense against them. In truth, if a war party should discover us, they would kill both me and your brother. And, since you and your sister—"

"Liliann is not my sister. She is my maid."

"Sister." He emphasized the word. "In this country, she would be considered your almost-sister, since the two of you must remain together for the safety of you both. Now, a war party, if they were to come upon us, would take you captive, and since the both of you are beautiful, one, maybe two of them, would take you both as a wife."

"Do you really think Liliann is beautiful?"

He laughed aloud and heartily. Leave it to a woman to single out this detail from all the other cautions he had told her.

He asked, "Do I have eyes to see?"

"Then, you do?"

"Of course she is beautiful. But, I am not wishing to make love to her, nor is she as pretty as you."

"Then, you think I am prettier than she?"

"I do."

"But, you still think she is pretty?"

He smiled and murmured in Czanna's ear, "When a man desires a woman, it is she and only she who is in his thoughts. Besides, your almost-sister is young and not yet a woman. I desire to have a woman in my arms, and this she is not."

"Then, you do not desire her?"

"I do not," he confessed. "Only you."

She sighed. "I guess this is good enough. And so, you are in love with me?"

He grinned. Here they were again at the question of his love for her. Obviously, he was going to have to tell her the truth, though disguised, and he said, "Of course I love you. We are friends."

"Friends? But, I thought you said you could no longer consider me a friend when you wished to bed me."

"I did, and for good reason. I asked you to be my woman for your sake and for your reputation within my tribe. I should not mislead you. Desiring a woman and caring for her in friendship is a part of a man's nature in loving a woman. But, let me explain further: if we make love and are not married, in my tribe there is a disgrace which paints a woman in a bad way. And, it could go bad for you."

"And, you? Would you be painted, too?"

"I fear not," he replied. "I would be congratulated on my good judgment and good luck, while you would be shunned, perhaps worse. Further, no good woman would speak to you. This is why I suggested we should marry. I will, however, be happy with being no more than your lover if I decide it is worth teaching you about lovemaking. But, whatever you and I decide, we will be friends anyway."

Because they were sitting so closely together, he felt her sigh, and holding her as he was he could feel her breasts rise and fall with her breathing. Meanwhile, his body answered hers in the age-old manful way.

"But," Czanna said after a while, "it isn't fair to judge a woman and not the man, though I must admit it is much the same in my society."

Perhaps it was because they were sitting so closely together, but he felt her frustration, and he said, "I agree. It is not fair. However, I cannot change the ideas and thoughts of each man and woman in the tribe. It has been this way for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. And, this, my beautiful friend, is why I asked you to be my woman."

"Then, you didn't propose this to me because you have come to love me?"

He groaned, wishing he were not involved in this conversation with her. But, common courtesy demanded he answer her, and he said, "I desire to make love to you. For me, if I feel this way about a woman, I should propose to make her my woman."

She was quiet for so long he was about to rise to his feet and begin the chores needed for their journey, when she asked, "Have you ever asked another woman to marry you?"

He let out his breath in a gasp, wondering how she had managed to pull him into a conversation so taboo. But, he answered her politely and said, "I have."

"You have? And, did she agree?"

"She did not, though she told me she wished to be my woman."

"But, why did she not marry you if she wanted to?"

Again he paused, while he considered rising up to his feet and walking away. But, then again, it was he who had originally spoken of marriage to her, and he understood the bad effect it might have on her were he to refuse to discuss the matter now at hand with her. And so, he said, "Because I am Lakota, and she is Pikuni."

"I do not understand," Czanna said. "Aren't the Lakota and the Pikuni tribes?"

"They are."

"I still do not understand."

Stands Strong sighed before seeking to enlighten her, and he paused for a moment, realizing there was to be no backing away from having this talk with her, though it was a subject he had not ever discussed with another living being. It was at some length when he said, "The grandparents of the girl I sought to marry were killed by a Lakota warrior. Indeed, her father's own brother was killed in war with the Lakota. Because of this, the father of the girl I sought to marry swore he would never have me as a son-in-law, stating he would kill me first."

"Oh dear," she said. "But, couldn't you both have stolen away?"

"We could have, but instead she chose the peaceful way to bring the matter to a close, and in the end, she chose to marry another. The man she married is a good man, and they are happy together. She is now with child."

"Oh. What is her name?"

"Good Shield Woman."

"And, did you love her?"

He slanted Czanna a smile, one he hoped was lopsided, as though he didn't care about what had happened. But, at length he confessed, "I did."

"And, do you love her still?"

He deliberately refrained from answering her question directly, saying only, "A man never stops loving a woman. He merely moves on."

"Oh," was all she said. Then, she asked, "Are you courting another woman in your tribe now?"

"What means this word 'courting'?"

"It means to show a woman you are interested in marrying her."

"Saa."

"And, the word 'saa' means…?"

"No."

She didn't seem to have an answer to his simple admission, and so he came up to his feet quickly so as to get on with the day as well as to put the topic of discussion behind him, when she said, "I am glad."

Caught off guard by her admission, he further astonished himself when he replied, "So am I. Now, awaken your little sister and your almost-sister, before dawn comes upon the land. We must be on our way."

"I will do as you say. But, sir, if you have prepared our baths, as you said earlier, and we women are to bathe, I must have your word that neither you nor my brother will be anywhere near us as we attend to our bath. Do you promise you will not look at us?"

"I will not promise this to you. What man can resist looking?"

"Then, I will require one of your buffalo robes to place around us while we bathe."

He chuckled. "You would deny me the pleasure of a simple look?"

"Indeed I would, sir."

Again he laughed. "Then, I shall engage myself in scouting duties so I will not be tempted to see what you look like without clothing."

"And, the buffalo robe? Will you give me yours to place around us for privacy…in case your duties cause you to be situated within looking distance of where we must bathe?"

He sighed. "I will. But, I will also ask you women to attend to your bathing quickly. We must be on our way."

"And so, we will do it as quickly as possible. Do you think we will reach the fort today?"

"Not today," he said. "Maybe one, maybe two suns. Come, we have spent a pleasant morning, but we must now hurry. We will only be able to travel upon the open plains until the sun rises. So, we will break camp quickly and travel as far as we can while it is still dark and the war parties have made or are making their day camps."

"Day camps?"

"This is Pikuni territory. Enemy war parties do not dare to appear on the open prairie during the hours of Sun's light."

"But," she said, "if this be true and they make camp during the day, why can we only travel during the darkness of early morning?"

"Because some young warriors are anxious to prove themselves and do not care for the safety of the war party. Your wagon, being only one, tempts such men. We will not provide the temptation so long as there is only me and your brother to defend us."

"And me, too. I could help in our defense."

He grinned at her. "And you, too. Come, you must hurry." With this said, he turned and stepped away from her, his back to her, allowing him to hide the evidence of his sturdy response to her, which was still in evidence. He only wondered how long it might take her to recognize the urgency of his body to make love to her.

At least he could control it…for now.