"The last thing I want is privacy."

"You want me to holler for company? There's a hundred and fifty people out there. Probably a fair half would come."

That was so preposterous, Laura ignored it. "II was thinking of sleeping in my clothes," she put in quickly. "In case I need to take a walk in the middle of the night."

The button midway down her blouse gave way beneath his fingers. "I'll throw a fur around you."

"I could take a chill."

Two more buttons popped free. "I'll make sure that don't happen."

Laura felt her blouse fall open to the waist and closed her eyes. His hand went to the waistband of her skirt, and that, too, fell free. Catching her at the bend of each knee, he drew up her legs to unlace her shoes, then peeled her bloomers, garters, and hose off of her. Her shoes made muffled plops on the dirt as he tossed them away. Next he tugged on her skirt and petticoats. Before Laura could open her eyes and protest, off those came, too.

"Sit up, darlin'." To assist her, he slid a hand under her shoulder blades. "There's a girl."

Laura doubled her hands into tight fists to keep herself from clinging to her blouse. Resistance from her had always made Tristan turn mean, and she had learned the hard way that trying to salvage a bit of her pride at times like this wasn't worth what it had always ended up costing her later in soreness and bruises.

With an incredibly light touch, Deke slid the muslin sleeves down her arms and tugged them off over her hands. A little cry of protest caught in her throat, and she swallowed it down.

"Easy," he whispered. "I ain't gonna hurt you, honey. I swear it."

In Laura's experience, men could forget promises as quickly as they changed moods. Her breath caught when he framed her face between his hands and carefully tipped her back onto the furs. Laura was aware of him in every pore of her skinof his size, his heat, even that earthen blend of scents that always teased her nostrils when he was near. For hands that were as thick and hard as boards, his rested as lightly against her skin as moth wings. His fingertips feathered lightly over her hair. He bent to touch warm, satiny lips to her forehead. Then he carefully kissed her eyes closed.

Holding her arms rigidly at her sides, Laura waited, fully expecting him to attack the laces on her chemise as he lay down beside her. His chest, bared by his open shirt, pressed hotly against her upper arm, and she felt the coarse, curly triangle of hair on his flat belly tickling the side of her forearm. She didn't move because she was afraid to, didn't speak because she knew pleading was useless, and didn't open her eyes because she was terrified of what she might read in his.

He settled a hand on her tummy, and she gulped. With one upward tug on her chemise, he could strip her bare from the waist down, making her vulnerable to him as no woman ever wants to be with a man she doesn't know well enough to trust. A big man. A man with reserves of strength she probably couldn't imagine.

Laura clenched her teeth, trying not to remember those times when Tristan had come to her, angry, determined to punish her, to make her pay. Nearly a half million dollars, he had always whispered. That was how much she had cheated him of, and he meant to take every cent of it out of her hide. Laura had always felt that her debt to him was paid in full on their wedding night.

Tugging a layer of fur aside, Deke covered them both. As he settled back, he fixed his gaze on Laura's profile. In the feeble firelight, he could see her pulse beat in her throat, see the sheen of cold sweat on her forehead, feel the vibrations of her small body through the fur beneath him.

"G'night, Laura," he whispered, and then tweaked the tip of her small nose.

He watched the expressions that flitted across her face, first stunned amazement, then disbelief, then relief. Beneath his hand, he felt the muscles in her belly knot and then spasm. Her breath caught on a sob that never erupted. With an audible swallow, she opened her eyes, sought his gaze, and whispered, "Good night."

Laura awoke the next morning to find herself alone in the bed of furs. She blinked, momentarily uncertain where she was. Then her vision cleared and her surroundings came into focus. Relieved to see only Chief inside the lodge with her, and he asleep, she sat up and scrambled for her clothes.

No sooner had she finished dressing than the lodge flap opened. Adjusting her cuffs, Laura turned, fully expecting to see Deke. The dark masculine face and obsidian black eyes that stared back at her nearly made her heart stop beating. She retreated a step as the Cheyenne warrior entered.

He was tall, nearly as tall as Deke, and every bit as broad at the shoulder. The fact that he was fully dressed in a buckskin shirt and pants did little to ease her mind. The man was obviously a murderous savage, through and through. He moved toward her with a pantherlike grace, his long, ebony hair shifting like silk around his shoulders.

When he came within three feet of her, he raised his arms as if to address the heavens and said in a booming voice, "This woman my sister! I have said it!"

Surprised that he knew English, Laura took a moment to assimilate the meaning of what he had said. "Excuse me?"

Lowering his open arms, he bent slightly at the knees and came toward her, his posture indicating that he intended to grab her around her hips and pick her up. Laura inched away from him. "Shoo! You go away! Mr. Sheridan! Chief!"

The dog raised his head, fixed a disinterested gaze on the warrior, and yawned.

"Deke!" Laura screamed. "Help me!"

The warrior kept coming. Laura screeched again when he snaked an arm around her thighs. The next thing she knew, she was suspended head down over his shoulder, her posterior pointing skyward. She pummeled his back with her fists.

"Put me down! Oh, my God!"

Across the lodge and out the door he went, Laura bouncing atop his well-muscled shoulder with his every step.

"Mr. Sheridan!" she shrieked. "Mr. Sheridan!"

In her peripheral vision, Laura saw all manner of legs gathering around and following them. Short legs, thin legs, fat legs, long legs, some naked, some covered with buckskin. The man yelled, "Equiwa neeshematha! Was he kee, she, ke!"

Voices rose in response, jabbering words she couldn't understand. There was some laughter and a few catcalls. Then, to her vast relief, Laura heard a deep baritone she felt certain belonged to Deke. She couldn't understand a word he said, but he sounded furious. The warrior who carried her yelled the same words he had before and just kept walking. "Equiwa neeshematha! Was he kee, she, ke!"

Deke's voice called after them, this time in English, "Laura, it's all right, honey! He won't hurt you."

Twisting at the waist to look frantically around, she tried to find Deke in the crowd of swarming bodies. She couldn't see him. "You make him turn loose of me this instant!" she cried. "You brought me here, blast you! It's your duty"umph went her lungs"to protect me!"

Suddenly the warrior stopped walking and spun about, the motion setting Laura's stomach into a similar revolution. He yelled more gibberish, spun about again, and ducked inside a lodge door. As he bent to set Laura on her feet, he said, "Star, come! Make welcome your sister-in-law."

Staggering to get her balance, her head swimming with dizziness, Laura blinked. Before her vision cleared, the warrior ducked back outside.

"Welcome!" a female voice called out.

Laura turned dumbly to see Star coming toward her, arms spread wide to hug her. While suffering her affectionate embrace, Laura cried, "Who is that awful man?"

Star giggled. "Ah, he Black Stone, you brother, me husband."

"My what? He isn't my brother!"

"He say, and it so."

Star seemed to think this was delightful news indeed. She moved quickly around Laura, patting her arms, squeezing her hands, clearly so excited, she could scarcely contain herself.

"Me be sister-in-law, yep?" She grabbed Laura's hand and led her to a pallet of furs. "Me baby, you baby?" She dropped to her knees by the cradleboard and spread her arms. "We be big happy, yep?"

One look at the cradleboard, and Laura forgot about everything else, including how she had come to be there. Her baby. She sank onto the furs beside Star, gathered her son into her arms, and cried, "Oh, yes, we be big happy."

Arms folded, legs spread, Deke gazed out across the meadow full of milling horses. "Newabetueke, forty," he said angrily in Cheyenne.

"Negotewashe, sixty, no less," Black Stone shot back. "I will not have my beautiful sister ashamed."

Because there were no swear words in the Cheyenne language, Deke cursed under his breath in English, still scarcely able to believe his brother had pulled such a rotten trick. True, Black Stone had finally relented to accept Laura, and with a grand gesture, just as Deke had suspected he would, but to adopt her and demand Deke marry her according to Cheyenne custom? He was pushing Deke's temper to the very limit.

"A few days ago, my woman was dirt under your feet. Now you start out asking for a hundred head of cattle as a bride price, and you won't come down below sixty?"

"I do not remember the man who said those terrible things about your woman," Black Stone said solemnly. "That man turned my brother's face from me, and I scorn him."

"I am pleased your heart has made room for my woman," Deke replied, striving for patience. "It makes this day one of great gladness for me. But why this game, claiming her as your sister and demanding a bride price? And one so great? Sixty head of prime beef is beyond any woman's worth."

"I would let my sister go into marriage with nothing? Never."

"I'll go fifty," Deke relented. "But no more than that, Black Stone. It's been a bad year."

Black Stone shrugged. "Plenty of warriors will honor her with better offers."

Beside himself, Deke began mixing cusswords with his Cheyenne, Cheyenne with his English, the blend such a confused mess that even he lost track. "You connivin' son of a bitch! I can't believe you've done this. You know damned well I can give her everything she needs. The only reason you've pulled this is to get revenge against me for turning my back on you the other day."

Black Stone's eyes warmed with laughter, but his expression remained stoic. "My sister will be properly married, and the suitor I accept will honor her with many gifts. If you do not wish to offer sixty cows, I will soon have many offers from others. Perhaps as much as a hundred horses for a woman so beautiful as she. Whiskey hair is very rare in Cheyenne women."

"Accept another offer, Black Stone, and blood will flow. She's my woman. I've already taken her to wife, and this stunt you've pulled goes against all tradition, even if she is your sister."

With a lift of his hands, Black Stone shrugged. "You will marry her the Cheyenne way?"

"I don't mind that. But sixty cows? That's a very high price."

"She is a special woman, and she is sister to Black Stone, chief of the horse soldiers. I value her greatly. I will not accept an offer from a stingy man who does not appreciate her."

"I'm in the middle of roundups right now. I may not be able to gather sixty head right away."

"I will give gifts to accompany my sister into marriage in exchange for talking paper. This autumn, all my male relatives and I will come to your grazing land with the talking paper to make our choices from your herd."

Deke laughed in spite of himself. Finally relenting, he clapped a hand on his brother's shoulder. "All right, you miserable ass. We have a bargain."

Black Stone smiled. "You will bring the talking paper to my lodge soon?"

Deke pretended to consider that. "Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps I should let you keep your beloved sister at your lodge for a few days. That way, I won't have to hunt to feed her."

At that, Black Stone threw back his head and barked with laughter. "Careful, my brother. Wait too long, and you may find I have accepted the offer of another. Sugar Girl already eats more than I can supply."

Feeling well rested after a long nap, Laura sat in the rear of Black Stone's lodge, cradling her son in her arms. Star and Sugar Girl sat on the furs on each side of her, their graceful hands engaged in the tedious task of stringing tiny beads. It was late afternoon, and the interior of the lodge was filled with golden luminescence from the sun that beat against its west wall.

Filtered sunshine. Laura smiled to herself, perfectly content to remain where she was and pretend Deke Sheridan didn't exist. Except for those times when Star took Jonathan to feed him, Laura was able to hold him, and she couldn't get enough of it. Her baby. There had been times over this last week when she had feared for his life. To have him in her arms, alive and well, filled her with a peace and joy like none she could recall.

The lodge was wonderfully homey. Now that Laura had grown accustomed to it, she thought the arrangement was even more practical than that of a house, compact and simple, every need had been addressed. Even the walls could be rolled up to allow a breeze to flow through. At the moment, they were battened down because it had rained for about an hour, a daily event in the mountains, according to Star. But the squaw had had the flaps up earlier.

In the center of the lodge a small fire crackled gaily, supplemental to a larger fire pit just outside the door where Star did most of her cooking. Black Stone's weapons and shield were kept neatly on a tripod along one wall, as was the paraphernalia needed to operate a household. The small family's clothing was hung on suspended rods or stowed away in leather cases.

Sugar Girl, Melassa Squithetha in Cheyenne, who sat on Laura's left, set aside her beadwork to lean close and admire the baby. Over the course of the day, Laura had become better acquainted with both young women, and she liked each immensely, but she sensed there was something special about Sugar Girl. A purity and sweetness, maybe? Laura couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but the shy, soft-spoken young woman brought out all her protective instincts. Because Sugar Girl clearly doted on Jonathan and yearned for a baby of her own, Laura couldn't resist asking, "You have no husband, Sugar Girl?"

Toying nervously with the beaded binding on one silken braid, the other young woman blushed and bent her head. "Big years behind me, one almost husband."

Laura deciphered that to mean that several years ago, Sugar Girl had nearly married someone. Since Laura couldn't imagine what might induce a man to call off his wedding to a girl so lovely, her curiosity was stirred. Given the hostilities between whites and Indians, she guessed that a brave's life span might not be very long. "Did your young man die?"

Star, who sat at Laura's right, lowered her beadwork to her lap, her large brown eyes filled with sudden anxiety. She glanced sadly at Sugar Girl, then cupped a hand over her mouth and said in a stage whisper, "Sugar Girl no like almost husband. He terrible mean man to sister, yes? Sugar Girl afraid, no go."

The story struck close to home for Laura. Very close to home. Yet here sat Sugar Girl, unmarried? How on earth had she managed that? That blasted Deke Sheridan! Apparently he had omitted a few very important details about Cheyenne customs.

"What did Sugar Girl do?" Laura asked softly.

Some of the color drained from Star's pretty face. "He make sister free woman. Sugar Girl big afraid, she say no go with him for be wife. Man get big, big angry. Make Sugar Girl free woman, too."

"A free woman?" Oh, Laura would have given her eyeteeth. That man! That impossible man. Why hadn't he told her about this?

"We no say words big years behind us. Make big unhappy." Star placed a hand over her heart. "Big unhappy bad thing, yep? Sugar Girl cry."

"Yes," Laura agreed. Touching Sugar Girl's hand, she softly said, "I'm sorry, Sugar Girl. I didn't mean to say words that would make you sad." With a comforting pat, Laura added conspiratorially, "At least you are a free woman now! Not with that terrible mean man. That should make you very glad."

Sugar Girl gave Laura a horrified look and began to shake her head. "Free woman, bad, bad, bad. Never glad." She gestured with her hands. "No husband want. Free woman big years behind me, free woman big years tomorrow. No babies for Sugar Girl. Never glad. Nope."

Laura could see the girl was becoming very distressed. Evidently, once a free woman, always a free woman, and a girl was no longer eligible for marriage. While that status sounded heavenly to Laura, Sugar Girl and Star clearly didn't share the sentiment.

"Almost husband pass Sugar Girl on prairie, yep?" Star whispered. "Not too good for him no more. Free woman! Spit upon like dirt."

Laura wondered if there was anything she might do that would make Deke so angry, he would pass her by on the prairie, spit upon her, and thereby make a free woman of her. Then she felt bad for making light of something Sugar Girl found so distressing. She looped an arm around the girl's shoulders and gave her a hug. "You're lovely, Sugar Girl. A husband will want you soon. You'll see. And you'll have lots of babies."

Tears swam in the girl's eyes and she shook her head. "Nope. Free woman, no husband want. Never no babies for Sugar Girl."

Laura frowned slightly. Her thoughts drifted to Deke Sheridan and their conversations about marriage. As reluctant as she was to pursue this subject for Sugar Girl's sake, it was far too important to Laura's own future to let it completely drop. "Can anyone be made a free woman?" she asked very gently.

Star blanched and nodded. "Me, you, yep. Husband, almosthusbandhe be big mad?" She whooshed air past her lips and threw up her hands. "Make free woman, me, you, anyone, yep."

She looked decidedly apprehensive at the thought. Laura could understand that. After all, the women in this village were completely dependent upon men, even for the food that went into their mouths. To be considered unmarriageable could prove disastrous under these conditions. For Laura, though... Her thoughts turned to Boston and the life style that would be available to her as a respected widow and heiress to her father's fortune. The world, as Tristan had once been fond of saying, could be her oyster. Yes, this free-woman business was definitely something Laura meant to investigate.

For the moment, however, Star looked nervous, and Sugar Girl distraught. Hoping to change the subject, Laura curled Jonathan's fingers over one of hers to test his grip. "Just look how strong he is!"

Star giggled. "Nah! Scrawny baby. Little, skinny, sick look, like him stupid father."

Laura burst out laughing, Sugar Girl giggled, and the moment of tension was forgotten.

Chapter 19.