"Perhaps." He smiled. "In time… with me."
Chapter Five
The next morning, Hannah woke with a start. She smelled bacon and coffee. She looked around, she had one blanket around her and a saddle for a pillow. She glanced at Lone Wolf's bed, where he had slept on the other side of the fire, there was a blanket, nothing else.
She stared as he had his back to her. She knew it was impolite to stare, but she couldn't stop herself. She'd never been this close to an Indian and she was curious. His skin was tan from working in the sun, and he was built so well, with a wide chest and arms that bulged with muscles. His backside was well formed and tapered, his legs were long but muscular too. Despite being an Indian, he was the most magnificent man she'd ever looked upon.
"And do you find me suitable?" He asked without turning around.
She been caught gawking. "I-I've never really looked at an Indian before. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stared. It was rude. Forgive me."
"It is natural. To be curious of one another. Are we so different?" He glanced over his shoulder at her. "Do you not look at white men?"
"I suppose, when Lima isn't looking." She quirked a slight smile.
"Is there such a difference?"
"I'm not sure. You skin is tanner than most white men, but … you're better looking than most Indians' I've seen."
Now he looked at her.
"Thank you for the compliment. "
"You're not that different, I suppose." She blushed.
"A man is a man, no matter what color his skin."
His mouth quirked, but he turned away and continued to turn the bacon.
"That smells good," she managed to say as she got up and watched him stir the bacon in the pan.
"It is a weakness of mine, I like bacon." He smiled. "It is hard to find wild hogs, but when I do, I like to eat the bacon and hams. We have a smokehouse and cure our meat."
"It smells wonderful," she told him. "Two of the best smells in a kitchen are bacon and coffee." She rattled on.
"Bring your blanket and sit down, we will eat now." He told her.
She did as he instructed, instinctively.
He glanced from his task to look at her. What manner of woman would obey him at the slightest instructions?
He stared.
"Is something wrong?" she asked a bit self-consciously.
"You are beautiful so early in the morning, even with your hair tousled. It would seem there is no time you are not so."
She raked a hand through her hair. "Do you always compliment women so."
"Yes, when they are beautiful, and when they are not. Even an ugly woman can be beautiful if she's told so enough."
"I never thought of it like that, but I suppose you are right. Most of us respond to how we are treated."
"Part of the trick is to believe you are." He answered evenly, not looking at her now. "You see I find beauty in all women, just differently. Some are beautiful without a good heart, that kind of beauty does not last and is col
d in the heat of the night. Others are beautiful from within, and it shines outward, from the heart. Others have beauty in both the heart and the body."
She blushed. "And where do I fit in?"