Knowing the mood of the officers who would sit on any such disciplinary board, Mark knew he had no choice but to leave. "We'll be on board," he assured Sibley without argument.
"You will have to report to General Pope in Saint Paul, but I'm certain that will merely be a formality. Since he believes, as I do, that the Sioux should be executed for their crimes rather than provided with excuses for them, I'm certain he will see to it that you are provided with orders for an immediate return to duty with your former unit."
Undoubtedly with the provision he be placed in the front lines, Mark thought to himself. Strangely, that p)ossibility didn't bother him in the least, and with a surprising calm, the still confident captain told Sibley he had enjoyed serving under his command and was instantly dismissed.
Upon his return to their tent. Erica needed only a brief glance at the furious expression on Mark's face to know how Viper's trial had gone. They had both known beforehand what the verdict would be, but still, she was devastated to think Viper would hang, and she clung to
Mark for comfort, thinking him the one true friend she had left in the world. When she had calmed down sufficiently for him to tell her they had to leave for home the very next day, she knew she should never have allowed him to become so deeply involved in her efforts to save her husband's life.
"I never meant to ruin your career, Mark. I never meant to do that," she apologized in a voice hoarse with anguish.
Mark brushed away the last of Erica's tears with his fingertips, then pulled her down beside him on his cot. "I'm an architect, not a soldier, and once the war is over it won't matter what sort of military record I had. I knew speaking up for Viper wouldn't make me popular, but I did it anyway. Besides, it will be much better for you to leave now rather than, well, rather than to wait until—" he faltered then, unable to speak Viper's fate out loud.
"Until they begin the executions, you mean?" Thoroughly sickened by that thought. Erica had to swallow hard before she continued. "How can I go, Mark? I don't want Viper to think I've abandoned him."
Mark pulled her into his arms again, patting her back gently as he tried to think of some way to convince her she had no choice but to leave when he did. Then the jjerfect solution occurred to him. "Viper didn't want you at the trial, sweetheart. He'd never want you standing beside the gallows. I think seeing you there would hurt him worse than having to die. He s too proud. You can't want to make him suffer any more than he already has. You can't do that to him."
Reluctantly admitting he was right. Erica closed her eyes to force back a fresh flood of tears. "I want to tell him good-bye, Mark. Won't they please let me do that?"
Mark took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "There's no point in my going to Sibley with that request, but I know enough of the men on guard duty that I might be able to arrange something. Don't get your hopes up, but let me see what I can do. Now why don't you try and rest? If I can work this out, it will have to be after midnight, and I know you'll want to be wide awake."
Intrigued, Erica quickly agreed. "All right, I'll rest, but the minute you have a plan, please wake me up and tell me about it. Will you promise to do that?"
"Yes," Mark agreed, determined to give the woman he
loved so dearly a few last minutes of happiness with the brave she adored. Hell, he didn't care if they did court-martial him for it, it would be worth it to see Erica smile again, even if it were for another man.
When Mark arrived at the compound where the condemned Sioux were being held. Viper was surprised, for he could not imagine why the officer had come to see him when there could be nothing left for him to say. He supposed he should offer some sort of thanks for the help the officer had tried to give him, but he found words of gratitude impossible to speak.
"Erica and I are leaving tomorrow. We've been ordered to go, actually," Mark admitted with a rueful smile. "Naturally, she wants to see you one last time." When Viper began to shake his head, Mark reached out to take his arm in a friendly grasp, but the brave smacked his hand away. Ignoring that insult, Mark continued, "Can't you do this for her? She's heartbroken. Although I will never understand why, she loves you. Now after the guards change at midnight I think I can sneak her in here for a few minutes and—"
"Nol" Viper insisted dramatically. "This is no place for a woman or good-byes." Scowling deeply, he thought a moment, then offered another plan of his own. "Is the house where they hold the trials empty at night?"
"What?" Mark was simply dumbfounded by that question, but he managed to gather his wits to respond. "There's no way I'll help you escape. I'm sorry for what's happened to you, but I'n be damned if I'll sf)end the next ten years in prison for helping you escape, and believe me, that's exacdy where Sibley would see I went."
Viper swept that objection aside with an impatient wave. "I will not try to escape. I want only to see Erica alone. We will not run away. I will not turn her into a fugitive again. She deserves more. Now can you do it? Can you arrange for us to meet at La Bathe's house or not?"
Mark shook his head. "It's too dangerous."
"Not for me," Viper joked with a ready laugh, then thinking of a way to inspire Mark to arrange the meeting, he grew serious once more. "If you do this for me, then I will tell Erica I want her to marry you. I do not want her to grieve for me all the days of her life, but she will if I do not set her free to marry you. I will do that tonight, but only if I
can see her at La Bathe's house, and we must be left alone. I do not want you with us."
Mark was too bright not to immediately understand why. It was one thing to allow Erica and the wily brave to exchange a few fevered farewell kisses, but to arrange the privacy they would need to make love, that was another thing entirely. "You are asking too much of me."
"Why do you always think of yourself first rather than of Erica?" Viper asked perceptively. "Her happiness should mean more to you than your own."
"Don't lecture mel" Mark replied angrily. "I don't have to take that from you."
"No, you want to take only my wife," Viper reminded him sarcastically. "I do not think she will ever marry you without my blessing. Of course, if I do not see her tonight, alone, I cannot give it."
"You're a real bastard, you know that, don't you?" Mark was seething with anger now, for he was sorely afraid what the brave said was true, and that Erica might well remain a grieving widow forever.
"Yes," Viper replied proudly. "You have a choice. Give me Erica tonight, and you may have her for a thousand tomorrows. You would be a fool to refuse such a bargain."
Just as he had been a fool to refuse the last one he had been offered, Mark reminded himself. It was the bitter irony of that thought that helped him make his decision. "All right, I will do it, but I want to hear you tell Erica she is to marry me just as soon as it can be arranged. Is that clear?"
"You do not trust me?" Viper asked with a mocking grin.
"No, I don't."
"Good, because I do not trust you, either. I will be at the guard's tent at midnight. Come for me then."
How the brave could have taken command of the situation Mark didn't know, but as Viper walked away the arrogance he had always displayed tore through the officer's soul like a white-hot blade. "I'm making a bargain with the devil himself," he swore under his breath, but he was convinced that if he wanted to marry Erica anytime soon, he had no choice but to do it.
Erica was already waiting inside Francois La Bathe's house when Mark arrived with Viper. She had not dared to bring a lantern, but she instantly recognized the silhouette of the Indian's powerful physique as he stepF>ed through the door. She had promised herself she wouldn't shed a single tear, and with a small cry of joy she threw herself into his arms and covered his face with enthusiastic kisses.
"I have missed you," the brave whispered between the deeply passionate kisses he gave her in return. She had worn the buckskin dress he had given her, and its softness welcomed his touch, but he wanted much more and hurriedly untied the laces at her shoulders.
"We have until dawn," Erica pointed out sweetly, as though she saw no need for such haste.
"I know, but I do not intend to waste a minute," Viper confessed, and as the buckskin garment slipp^ed to the floor he was delighted to find Erica standing nude in his arms. That she had not bothered to wear any lingerie made him laugh. "I see you did not want to waste any time, either."
"No, I didn't," Erica responded before giving him another warm hug and an ecstatic kiss. She had missed him so terribly, and she was delighted to find him teasing her happily rather than behaving like the hostile stranger who had given her so many black looks on the trail to Camp Release. Nibbling his ear lobe, she whispered a
seductive, "I love you," as she ran her fingers through his long, flowing hair while the tips of her breasts brushed his broad chest lightly. "I will never love anyone but you," she vowed softly. Her lips again found his, while her hands strayed to his belt buckle to free him of his clothes.
Viper sighed deeply, his voice a low moan in the back of his throat as her fingertips moved over him, peeling away his buckskins at the same time she began a smooth erotic massage. He had taught her well. Her touch was knowing, fluid, spreading over him with the warm sweetness of honey. Her hands were at his shoulders one moment, then caressing the flatness of his stomach or the curve of his hips the next. He leaned against her, wrapn ping his arms around her waist and pressing her hips so close to his their bodies seemed to melt together into one.
All afternoon he had planned to take her swiftly, to bury himself in her velvet heat, to allow his passion for her to rage without constraint until he had not only satisfied himself, but enveloped her in the perfect peace that had eluded him while they had been apart. That had been his plan until he had felt her first breathless kiss brush his cheek, and now he knew he wanted to savor each second of their time together rather than merely consume it in reckless haste.
"You are always so wairm," Erica whispered against the muscular contours of his bare chest. "Your kiss, your touch, your whole body is always filled with so appealing a warmth I can't resist you." She rubbed her cheek against the flat bud of one nipple, then traced it lightly with the tip of her tongue before slowly sinking to her knees before him. Her lips brushed over his belly and her tongue tickled the indentation at his navel while her hands slid down his sides. Finding him fully aroused, she drew the tip of his manhood into her mouth for another, and even more deeply pleasurable, kiss.
Viper's fingertips played across Erica's temples lightly before moving through her cascading curls to press her face close as the gentle motions of her lips and ton^e sent tremors of immense pleasure pulsating through his loins. Bathed in the light of her love, the small, darkened cabin took on the glowing beauty of paradise, but this was not how he wishSl to surrender to the magical spell of her love,
and, exerting the last of his self-control, he gently pushed her away. Calling her name softly, he drew her to her feet.
"Have you a blanket, or something soft to spread upon the floor?" he asked as he again wrapped her m his arms.
"Yes, it is here right beside me." Erica slipped from his embrace to reach for the blanket she had taken from her cot. "The army's blankets are not very soft, but—"
"It is fine." Viper hushed her apology with another lingering kiss. He helped her to spread the coarsely woven blanket at their feet, then pullecl her down ujKjn it. "We have made love many times, but I will remember tonight as being the best of all."
Erica was grateful for the darkness then, for her eyes flooded with tears at the devastating thought that they would soon be parted forever. "We have had so little of love," she sighed regretfully.
"No, we have had it all," Viper argued convincingly. **There is no more than this." As his words were muffled by her kiss, his hands strayed to the lush fullness of her breasts. His thumb circled the petal-soft crests until his hunger for their delectable taste overwhelmed him with desire. His lips left hers then to begin a slow, adoring appraisal of her flavorful curves. When he at last moved away, he continued his glorious quest to explore each delightful nuance of her lissome figure, until he was convinced no man would ever know her divinely shaped body as intimately as he.
That the wooden floor beneath her was far harder than a feather bed escaped Erica's notice entirely, she was so blissfully happy to be with Viper again. His hair fell about her hips like a dark cloud, making her shiver with anticipation as he paused for a moment to bury his face in the soft flesh of her stomach. Savoring their closeness, she felt his fingertips part the golden curls between her thighs, and using her fxxiy's own fragrant essence, he prepared a delicious welcoming path for his eager kiss. It was impossible for Erica to think beyond that point, for his tender affections flooded her senses with an ecstasy so profound that she was lost in the loving he gave with such masterful ease.
Viper created within Erica's slender body a yearning for fulfillment so intense that she soon called his name in a
breathless sob, begging him to take quickly what was rightfully his. "Now, Viper, nowl" she urged, and in a futile attempt to escape the exquisite torture that threatened to consume her soul with desire, her nails drew bloody trails across the bronze skin of his broad shoulders.
Jolted from the pursuit of his own pleasure by that searing pain. Viper positioned himself above Erica, but despite her fevered cries of encouragement, he entered her slowly, using shallow thrusts, delaying their journey to rapture's shore by moving with a gentle rhythm until his own need for release equaled hers. He could not control the impulse to thrust more deeply then, finally infusing both their hearts and bodies with the stunning force of love's most precious gift. His senses flooded with that glorious sensation, he did not withdraw, but continued to hold Erica captive in his embrace until he could at last think clearly enough to say what he knew had to be said.