Chapter 30
She was swayed in her suppleness to and fro
By each gust of passion.
âDesprez
Â
Â
Â
Several Days Later
Â
Her cloak around her shoulders, Mariah went to the entrance flap and smoothed it aside, anxious to go and visit with Nee-kah and Strong Branch while Echohawk was hunting, not only to see her best friend and her godson but also to try to lift Nee-kah's spirits since the death of her husband. Nee-kah knew of Mariah's anxiousness to become Echohawk's wife. But she did not know that Mariah was most definitely with child. Mariah was going to share two secrets with her best friend today.
Everything wonderful would happen tonight, Mariah marveled to herself, feeling giddy. She would finally be Echohawk's wife, and she was going to reveal to him that their lives were going to be blessed with a child.
Just as she stepped out into the snow. Mariah found a large buckskin bag lying close to the entrance flap, bulging with something inside it.
She lifted an eyebrow as she looked questioningly down at the bag, wondering why it was there, and what was in it.
“Take it inside,” Echohawk said, suddenly there on his horse. He swung himself out of his saddle and went to Mariah. “This is yours. Take it inside and see what the women of the village have given you.”
Mariah's lips parted in a surprised gasp. “But why?” she then said, looking with wonder up at Echohawk.
A young brave came and got Echohawk's horse and led him away to the others inside the fence at the far end of the village. Echohawk lifted the heavy bag and placed his free hand on Mariah's elbow, ushering her back inside the wigwam as she lifted the flap for their entrance.
“Remove your cloak,” Echohawk said, setting the bundle on the mat flooring. “Sit by the fire and see what gifts the women of our village have given you.”
Mariah slipped her cloak off, still marveling over the surprise. After Echohawk had his cloak off, she went and sat beside him close to the buckskin bag. Her fingers trembled as she opened the bag, sucking in a breath of delight when she caught sight of the lovely beaded necklaces, moccasins, and dresses.
“I still don't understand,” she murmured, taking the items from the bag one by one, loving them all.
“These are yours today because I have given the women permission now to give you wedding gifts,” Echohawk said, lifting one of the beaded necklaces, running his fingers admiringly over its intricate design.
Mariah's heart thrilled not only over the loveliness of her gifts and the generosity of the women but also over knowing that finally the time had arrived for their marriage ceremony.
Until now so many things had gotten in the way.
Mariah laid aside the blanket with beautifully colorful designs sewn on it and lunged into Echohawk's arms, causing him to drop the necklace he had been admiring. “Darling,” she whispered, brushing his lips with a kiss, “I am so happy. We soon will be married! I had begun to . . . to feel like a loose woman, perhaps my mother's true daughter. I don't want to be like her, Echohawk. Please tell me that I'm not.”
Echohawk held her away from him and looked intensely into her eyes. “Your heart belongs to only one man, now and forevermore,” he said, his voice low. “I am not like the man you thought was your father for so long. I am a man of compassion. A man whose love is infinitely deep for you. I am a man who wishes to share your deepest thoughts. Your deepest longings. I will never give you cause to look elsewhere for these things that your mother did not get from her husband.”
“As I will never give you cause to go seek from another woman what you wish from me,” Mariah said, reaching a hand to his face, running her fingers over his handsome features. “I will be here for you, Echohawk. Always.”
Echohawk framed her face between his hands and drew her lips to his mouth. He kissed her softly, then slipped his hands down and cupped her breasts through her soft buckskin dress.
Surges of ecstasy began washing through Mariah, flooding her whole body, the spinning sensations delicious as Echohawk eased her down to the mats, quickly undressing her.
His clothes removed, he rose over her. She lifted her hips as she felt his satin hardness seeking entrance inside her. And when he filled her, pressing endlessly deeper, she gave herself over to the wild ecstasy.
Echohawk's lips slid down, across her neck, and locked on one of her breasts, flicking a tongue across the nipple. Mariah closed her eyes, and when soft whimpers filled the wigwam, she knew they were her own.
His senses dazzled by the fire licking at his loins, his hot pulse racing, Echohawk savored the sweet taste of Mariah's flesh. He moved his body rhythmically within her, the fires of his passion burning brightly.
Again his mouth closed hard upon hers, his hands clasping her buttocks, molding her sweet, slender body against his. How fiercely he always wanted her! While with her, loving her, he was frantic with the need to have more of her.
And how he loved the way she clung and rocked with him, her hips responding in a rhythmic movement all their own.
His fingers moved from her buttocks, up to her hair, and twined through the red tresses, then moved downward again, making a slow, sensuous descent along her spine until again his fingers were locked against her buttocks, squeezing her flesh gently as he felt the heat nearly exploding within himself.
Mariah's body turned to liquid as she was carried deeper and deeper into that sweet delicious state. A tremor went through her as Echohawk bent his head to her lips and gave her a gentle, lingering kiss.
And then, just as she was feeling the euphoria spreading within her, and felt his body stiffen and pause as he buried a groan between her breasts, she knew that they were close to that moment of exquisite bliss.
Their bodies shook and quaked together, exploding in spasms of desire.
Breathing hard, they clung together. Mariah gasped in rapture when Echohawk's lips brushed her throat and reverently breathed her name.
And again he kissed her. One hungry kiss blended into another, and again he buried himself deeply inside her and their bodies tangled.
Mariah felt the drugged passion mounting again. She moaned throatily as once again the incredible sweetness swept through her, but this time leaving her limp and satiated in his arms.
Echohawk lingered awhile longer atop her, then rolled away, lying beside her. The flood of emotions that he always felt while with her, which were doubled after sharing in passionate lovemaking, was there, his whole body strangely at peace with the universe.
He closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the feeling, one which no one could take from him and his No-din.
This love they shared, it was a wondrous thing! No more did he think of the pastâof his losses. His No-din swept away all of his regrets, doubts, and unhappiness.
With her, everything was possible.
Mariah moved into Echohawk's embrace, loving the feel of his powerful body pressed against hers. She sighed, so perfectly content. She had never felt so desired. So at peace.
Then she eased away from him, looking into his eyes as he opened them, smiling at her. “The wedding gifts are truly a surprise,” she said, giggling.
“They are gifts from the heart,” Echohawk said, brushing a loose lock of hair back from her eyes. “As is mine that I now give to you.”
Her eyes wide, Mariah moved to her knees beside him. “A gift?” she said, clasping her hands on her bare lap. “You also have a wedding gift for No-din?”
Echohawk leaned on an elbow and reached a hand to her cheek. “No-din, for so long you have not mentioned marriage to Echohawk,” he said seriously. “I did not mention it to you. Always there were interferences. But today, No-din, I speak of it to you. I now tell you that we have been married since our first sexual night together. It is the Chippewa custom that all that has to be done to seal the bonds of the hearts in marriage is for the woman to accept food offered her by the man she wishes to marry, and also the holding of hands while speaking words of love together.”
Mariah was stunned speechless, torn by mixed feelings. She was glad that she had been married to him all along, let free of her guilt for having given herself to him so brazenly, yet puzzled by his not having told her.
“We are man and wife?” she finally said in a soft murmur. “For so long, we have been man and wife?”
“Ay-uh,”
Echohawk said, moving to a sitting position beside her. He placed his hands to her waist and lifted her onto his lap.
Mariah held back from twining her arms about his neck, feeling hurt for his not having been open with her. Being married was sacred! Not something to be kept a secret from the one you loved.
“Why?” she blurted. “Why did you wait so long to tell me?”
“At first I did not look on it as a marriage,” he said, his eyes wavering as he saw her hurt expression. “As you will recall, I was wrestling with many feelings within my heart. I had experienced many losses. I did not want to allow myself to love you. You were white. Those who had caused my heartaches were white. I feared loving you, a white woman.”
“I understand all of that,” Mariah said, her reserves melting, in truth ecstatic to know that without a formal ceremony she was already his wife! The mother of the children they planned to have! “But why did you take so long to tell me? After you realized that your fears were invalid, you could have told me everything. That would have lifted much guilt from my heart, Echohawk. In the white people's eyes, I would be considered a wanton whore for having shared a bed with you before vows were spoken. I fought against such feelings, knowing that you had more than a marriage to me to worry about. Always there were interferences.”
“My woman, that is why I did not take the time to tell you,” Echohawk said glumly. “So many things kept clouding my mind. Yet now I see that I was wrong to place other things before you.” He drew her close, her legs straddling his waist. He kissed her, then embraced her sweetly. “You will never be second in my heart again. Forgiven, No-din?”
“Always, my love,” Mariah said, easing from his arms so that she could brush his lips with a kiss. Then she held away from him and smiled mischievously into his dark eyes. “I, too, have kept a secret from you,” she said.
“But not for as long as you,” she quickly added.
His eyes gleamed into hers. “This secret,” he said, cocking an eyebrow. “Is it the sort that will make my heart soar even more than it already has today?”
“I believe so,” Mariah said, moving closer to him, twining her hands around his neck. “Echohawk, darling, you have spoken often of children. Of sons. Have you not?”
Echohawk's heart began to race, knowing that she would not bring up the subject of children between them unless . . .
“Ay-uh,”
he said, “and you have spoken of having many children, like the Snellings.”
Mariah nodded, her eyes twinkling into his.
“Ay-uh,”
she murmured. She pressed a soft kiss to his lips, then whispered against them, “My darling, handsome Chippewa chief, we are going to have a baby!”
A sudden joy leapt through Echohawk. He lifted Mariah into his arms and rose quickly to his feet. He swung her around as she clung to him, laughing. “A child!” he shouted. “A child!”
“Ay-uh,”
Mariah giggled. “And, like Nee-kah, my firstborn will be a son.”
Echohawk stopped and eased Mariah from his arms, then gazed at her abdomen. Almost reverently he placed a hand there. “A child grows there, yet it is too early to see the growth in your body,” he said, nodding. Then his gaze moved to her breasts. He placed a hand under each, cupping them. A slow smile tugged at his lips.
“I should have known before you even told me that you held this secret,” he said, smiling down at her. “My woman, your breasts lie much heavier within my hands than that first time I touched them. Already, No-din, they are filling with our child's milk.”
Mariah relished his hands on her breasts, and his admiration of them. “In time our child will be suckling from my breasts. Surely nothing can compare with that.” She snuggled into his embrace. “Except, my love, for being with
you
.”
Echohawk held her for a moment, and then she stepped away, looking up at him without a smile. “My breasts have already changed,” she said warily. “Soon my whole body will look different. Will you still be able to look at me with favor, Echohawk?”
“
No-din
, you will look radiant while heavy with child,” he said, flashes of his Fawn there before his mind's eye, unable to cast the thought away as quickly as he wanted. He was recalling how beautiful she had been while carrying their child. He was recalling how he had enjoyed placing his hand to her abdomen, feeling the child kicking against it from deep within her womb. It had been a miracle of miracles, until . . .
Deep shadows fell upon Echohawk's face, the memories so painfulâmemories that he thought he had left behind.
He turned from Mariah, the pain gripping his heart, as though he had only yesterday witnessed Fawn's death, having lost more than her on the day of the raid.
His child.
His unborn child!
Mariah grew numb inside when she saw the sudden change in Echohawk. It did not take much to realize what had come over him at the mention of children. He had come so close to having a child, until Tanner McCloud had devastated Echohawk's village.
Trying to understand Echohawk's grief at this moment, when he should be so happy, Mariah stepped around and looked up at him, his eyes soon locking with hers.