Jessie’s eyes blazed. “Why didn’t you make yourself known? You had no right to... to stand there and watch me!”
“You let White Thunder watch you.” He made the observation calmly.
“He didn’t watch me,” she insisted. “He wouldn’t do that. He’s my friend. I trust him.”
Little Hawk grinned. “You will learn to trust me.”
“How can I when you sneak up on me?”
“Hold, Looks Like Woman.” He cut her off and in two steps he was beside her, forcing her to look into his eyes. “Why are you angry? Do you begrudge me the sight of you when I have made my intentions clear? Is it not reasonable for a man to seek out the woman he has asked to marry? I did not know I would find you as I did, but I am not sorry. The sight of you gave me much pleasure.”
He went on to say something more, but he had switched to his own language, and while Jessie was confused at the change, he kissed her.
It was a shock. She felt it right down to her toes. It frightened her, and she was powerless to resist.
When he finally let her go, he stood looking at her intently, passionately. He smiled, thinking he had won that round. “You have the sky and the forest both in your eyes, and when you are angry, they light up like the stars. But you must learn to curb your temper, Looks Like Woman. My first wife is a gentle woman
—she would not understand these emotions of yours that rage like storms.”
“You needn’t worry!” she said hotly. “I won’t be meeting your wife—ever. And I can walk back to camp myself, thank you.”
She tried to pass him, but he caught her arms. “Does it bother you this much that I have a first wife?” he asked softly.
“Of course it does.”
“But I can love you both.”
“I know your customs,” she said defensively. “But I am from a different culture, and I couldn’t be happy sharing a husband.”
“Then I will give up my wife.”
“Don’t you dare!” Jessie gasped. “I couldn’t bear that. I couldn’t live with myself if you did that. You must care for her.”
“Yes, but I want you, Looks Like Woman.”
Jessie wanted to scream. “Look, I’m not even a virgin,” she said quietly, her cheeks turning rosy. “So forget about me and—”
“That does not matter.”
“It doesn’t?” she asked, disbelieving.
“No.”
Having nothing further to say to him, she pushed away and ran up the path.
He let her go but called after her, “A Sioux does not give up easily, Looks Like Woman.”
“You’d better learn to!” she shouted back at him just before she broke through the bushes and saw the camp.
She heard him laugh and ran faster, running all the way to Runs with the Wolf’s tepee.
Chapter 16
CHASE woke slowly, the pain in his head making him groggy and disoriented. His shoulders hurt and his hands were numb. What the hell?
His eyes flew open. There were tepees around him, and a group of Indians sitting about a fire, not far away from him. He tried to move his arms, and rawhide cut into his wrists. The pain cleared his senses. Chase moaned, wishing he hadn’t awakened.
One of the Indians heard Chase and motioned to the others. Two rose and approached him, looking down at him. He was sitting on the ground, his hands tied to a pole behind his back. As he looked at them, he tried not to look afraid. Both Indians were young, probably younger than he was, but that didn’t make him feel any better.
“You have broken our treaty, white eyes,” the taller man said. “You will suffer the penalty for that. But first you will tell us who sent you here to spy on us.”
Chase didn’t recognize the man who spoke to him as the one he had seen by the creek with Jessie. But he noted the blue eyes, the difference in his facial structure, and he took heart.
“You’re half white, aren’t you?”
“You will answer questions, not ask them,” was the harsh reply.
“This is ridiculous,” Chase said impatiently. “I don’t know who attacked me, but he’s made a mistake. I’m not from around here, and I know nothing about your treaty. And I’m not a spy.”
Chase waited while the two men conferred in their own language. Then the taller man faced him angrily.
“Black Bear Hunter says you lie. It was he who captured you. He found you concealed on the creek bank, watching our village. He thinks the Army sent you here, and he will know the truth of it even if he must force it from you.”
Chase felt his insides tighten. “This is all pointless. I came here to find Jessica Blair. And I know she’s here. Ask her about me.”
The two Indians spoke again, and this time the shorter one stalked off angrily. Chase dared to take hope when the other one turned to him, his features relaxed, beginning a slow smile.
“You should have said that much sooner,” the brave scolded.
“I can see that,” Chase replied. “But your friend wasn’t too happy about it, was he?”
“No. He would have preferred to kill you.”
Chase paled. “Is that the penalty for breaking a treaty? But the Army wouldn’t stand for that.”
“The Army left this area at our demand. We destroyed their forts, we drove them back. They would not break the treaty for one man, even if they had sent the man themselves. This region belongs to the Cheyenne and the Sioux, and the Army agreed that no whites should trespass.”
“Yet you allow Jessica Blair to break the treaty?”
The Indian frowned. “She is a friend to us. And just who are you?” he demanded, his expression solemn.
“Jessie knows me. If you’ll just tell her Chase Summers—”
“Chase!” the Indian echoed. His eyes narrowed. “I think Looks Like Woman would prefer to let my brother have you.”
With that, he walked away. Chase tried to call him back, but he wouldn’t stop.
What the hell had made him so angry all of a sudden? All he had said was his name. Chase grew very uneasy. Jessie must have said something about him, and whatever she had said, it couldn’t have been good.
The sun set. No one came. The Indians at the fire drifted off, and still no one came. Chase tried working on his bonds, but they were firm. He began to feel desperate. Where was Jessie?
When Jessie did come, she came with the blue-eyed Indian, and Chase didn’t recognize her at first. She looked like an Indian, wearing the Indian dress and knee-high moccasins, her hair fastened in two braids. Her expression was impossible to read. Was she there to help him or to gloat over his predicament?
“You could have come a little sooner,” Chase said, trying to make his tone light.
Jessie’s expression didn’t change. “I was sleeping. White Thunder saw no reason to wake me just to tell me you were here. You weren’t going anywhere.”
“Thanks.”
Jessie’s eyes narrowed. “Keep your sarcasm to yourself, Summers. No one got you into this mess except you.”
“Damn it, all I did was come here to get you!” Chase snapped.
White Thunder took a step closer to Chase, and Jessie grabbed his arm. She pulled him away, and Chase watched them arguing. Then Jessie came back alone.
Chase was amazed. “You speak their language.”
“Yes.”
“What was that about?”
“He didn’t like your shouting at me. Now look, I can understand your being upset, but I suggest you keep a civil tone. There’s no point in angering him, when he already wants to just leave you here.”
“Why?” Chase demanded. “What the hell did you tell him about me?”
“Just the truth. That you used me. You had your fun and then were terrified that I might want to marry you because of it. Do you deny it?”