Alanna could see she had insulted him, and that hadn't been her intention. "Thank you. I'd love for us to own some horses. It's just that there are so many things to consider first. Most couples, or at least the couples I've known, are engaged for several months, often a year before they wed. They have plenty of time not only for parties, but to make plans, and we've had none."
Hunter had finished eating and wiped his hands on the grass. "Is that what you want? Do you really believe if you go home and tell people we are engaged, they'll want to give us parties? Your aunt and uncle's friends won't waste their time on us, because they'll see nothing to celebrate."
His bitter sarcasm made Alanna fear she had only made matters worse. "Please, you mustn't misunderstand me. Parties have never interested me, and I don't need them now. I'll be proud to introduce you as my husband, and if people don't care to congratulate us, I shan't miss their friendship. You are the only one who matters to me, but we can't expect to always agree when we barely know each other."
"You killed two men to save me. That's all I need to know about you."
Not pleased to be reminded of that gruesome deed, Alanna could not suppress a shudder. "I'm not really the bloodthirsty sort, and I hope we'll never find ourselves in such a dangerous situation again."
"So do I, but if it does happen, I'll do a much better job of protecting you."
"You did your best."
Hunter disagreed. "I should have done better."
He looked sincerely distressed, and Alanna feared she was doing a very poor job of showing her love. Having also finished eating, she moved to his side. "It was your example that inspired me. I would never have found the courage to join in the fight, had you not been so brave."
Her smile was entrancing, but Hunter wasn't fooled by her flattery. "You are a very poor liar, Alanna. I think you would have tried to protect me, even if I had been on my knees pleading for my life like a coward."
Alanna sat back slightly. "I'm sure you never behave in a cowardly fashion."
"A Seneca warrior is taught to be brave."
"Can bravery be taught? Isn't courage a part of a man's character?"
"Perhaps." Wanting her more than to win the argument, Hunter slipped his hand into the thick curls at her nape to draw her close. "You are a part of me now, my heart, my soul."
As their lips met, Alanna had only a fleeting sense of the vast distance still separating them, before she was lost in the love Hunter was so anxious to give. His kisses were warm and deep, filled with the devotion he had just described, and Alanna wondered if every couple who fell in love shared the same delight in each other. She hoped they did, but for now, she was content to return Hunter's affection with no thought of others.
Seeking to bind her to him with invisible chains of love, Hunter treated Alanna with the same gentle sweetness he had shown earlier. She was an exquisite beauty, one he sincerely believed deserving of a slow, purposeful seduction. He circled her nipples with a lazy touch, his thumbnail barely brushing the fabric of her gown, until she was the one to reach for the buttons. He continued kissing her while she undid them, and then eased her out of the gray dress he had never considered becoming.
"You're as lovely as a rose," he whispered. "You should wear more colorful clothes. Blue, green, yellow, pink, lavender, colors that are as pretty as you are."
"Thank you." Alanna hesitated a moment, as she attempted to find a similar compliment to pay him. "With your golden skin and black hair, your buckskins are already perfect for you. I can't even imagine your being more handsome."
Hunter reached for the pheasant feathers she had lain aside, and threaded them into his hair. "How do I look now?"
"Like an Indian."
"No, like your Indian." Hunter slipped his hand under her chemise to caress her bare breast, and nuzzled her neck with teasing nibbles. He drew her earlobe into his mouth and traced the delicate perfection of her ear with his tongue.
"You're tickling me," she complained in a throaty giggle, but she leaned closer rather than draw away. She plucked one of the feathers from Hunter's hair, and drew it across his ribs. His deep chuckling protests simply encouraged her playfulness, and soon they were rolling over the grass, laughing, teasing, and tickling each other until the compulsion to turn their erotic game into something deeper overwhelmed them.
They cast their clothes aside, and with urgent kisses and adoring caresses, fanned passion's flames. A tall, muscular man and a lithe, graceful woman, they were a superbly matched pair, who created together a joy neither would ever have found, with another. Heightening the thrill of their loving, Hunter entered Alanna with a forceful lunge that made his possession of her, as well as hers of him, complete. He lay still as he kissed her, waiting for her body's subtle contractions to begin the ancient dance that would rock him clear to his soul.
Alanna bent her knee to caress his thigh, while her fingertips played over his back in an insistent rhythm. Hunter had expected his fair bride to be shy at first, but she had proven to be such an ardent woman, that he unleashed the strength he had held in check, and with a cadence that matched his quickening heartbeat, raced toward the ecstasy he wanted her to share. When he was certain that she had, he sought his own release deep within her.
Sated by pleasure, he believed their first day of marriage had come to a perfect end, until he glanced up and saw more than a dozen Abenaki warriors watching them from the opposite side of the lake.
Chapter 23
Pretending he hadn't seen them, Hunter ducked his head and whispered a hurried command in Alanna's ear. "On the count of three, we're going to get up and run for the trees. One, two, three!"
Although startled by his sudden change in mood, Alanna responded to his urgent tone; the instant he rolled aside and leapt to his feet, she grabbed his hand and joined him in sprinting for cover. It wasn't until they were safely hidden in the pines near their camp, that she dared look toward the lake. The Abenaki braves were now doubled over with laughter, but she doubted they would be amused for long.
"Could they be looking for Blind Snake and his friends?" she asked.
"They're too far from their homeland to be a hunting party, but they could be on their way to the Ohio Valley to fight again for the French. If they are, they would believe Blind Snake to be ahead of them. Let's hope they don't want to cross the lake to fight us."