Book: Comanche Moon
Quotes of Book: Comanche Moon
It seemed to Hunter that every time he turned around, Bright Star hovered nearby, fluttering her lashes and blushing, making such an obvious play for Hunter's affections that he knew it couldn't escape his wife's notice for long. Hunter didn't want to shame Bright Star by scorning her. At the same time, he didn't want Loretta to believe he was encouraging the girl. He already had enough problems.While he mulled the situation over, trying to think of a kind way to discourage Bright Star, the young maiden intensified her campaign, and, as Hunter had feared, Loretta at last realized what was going on. When she did, Hunter took the brunt."Who is that girl?" Loretta demanded one evening."What girl?" Hunter felt heat rising up his neck and avoided meeting his wife's flashing blue gaze." girl, the one who seems to have something in her eye."Hunter obliged Loretta by giving Bright Star a bored glance. "She is sister to my woman who is dead." He bent back over the arrowhead he was sharpening. "She is called Bright Star.""She doesn't very bright. Is that a tic, or does she always blink that way?"Hunter smothered a snort of laughter. "She makes eyes, yes?""At you?"He straightened and lifted a dark brow. "You think she makes eyes for you?"Loretta's spine stiffened. "You think this is funny? Doesn't she realize that you're a married--" The flash in her eyes grew more fiery. "Oh, yes, how remiss of me. I forgot that you can have an entire of wives."Hunter sighed and set aside the arrowhead. "This Comanche has no wish for a of wives. One is sure enough plenty trouble.""Are you saying I make your life miserable? If that's the case, why did you marry me? Why didn't you marry ?"Hunter knew jealousy when he saw it. Everything else had failed. New tactics were called for. "I could have. Bright Star thinks I would be a fine husband, yes?""She can have you."That wasn't exactly the response Hunter had been hoping for. book-quoteAnother uplifting development was Amy's recovery from her ordeal. Loretta could scarcely believe how quickly the child was regaining her former gaiety, and she soon realized Swift Antelope was the cause. The young warrior clearly adored Amy and spent hours roaming the river with her, forging a friendship that set Amy's cheeks aglow.Hunter, quite the opposite of Loretta, found this same period of time a trial. While Swift Antelope made steady progress with Amy, he couldn't see himself making any headway with Loretta. She still went to great lengths to avoid sleeping beside him, choosing instead to share Amy's far less comfortable pallet. To complicate matters further there was Bright Star's campaign to make Hunter take notice of her.It seemed to Hunter that every time he turned around, Bright Star hovered nearby, fluttering her lashes and blushing, making such an obvious play for Hunter's affections that he knew it couldn't escape his wife's notice for long. Hunter didn't want to shame Bright Star by scorning her. At the same time, he didn't want Loretta to believe he was encouraging the girl. He already had enough problems.While he mulled the situation over, trying to think of a kind way to discourage Bright Star, the young maiden intensified her campaign, and, as Hunter had feared, Loretta at last realized what was going on. When she did, Hunter took the brunt."Who is that girl?" Loretta demanded one evening."What girl?" Hunter felt heat rising up his neck and avoided meeting his wife's flashing blue gaze." girl, the one who seems to have something in her eye."Hunter obliged Loretta by giving Bright Star a bored glance. "She is sister to my woman who is dead." He bent back over the arrowhead he was sharpening. "She is called Bright Star.""She doesn't very bright. Is that a tic, or does she always blink that way?"Hunter smothered a snort of laughter. "She makes eyes, yes?""At you?"He straightened and lifted a dark brow. "You think she makes eyes for you? book-quoteSurely you don't mean right " Her startled gaze focused on the lodge door. "It's not even dark yet. People are still awake. You haven't eaten. There's no fire built. We can't just--"
He lifted the door flap and drew her into the dark lodge. "Blue Eyes, I have no hunger for food," he said huskily. "But I will make a fire if you wish for one."
Any delay, no matter how short, appealed to Loretta. "Oh, yes, it's sort of chilly, don't you think?" It was a particularly muggy evening, the kind that made clothing stick to the skin, but that hardly seemed important. "Yes, a fire would be lovely."
He left her standing alone in the shadows to haul in some wood, which he quickly arranged in the firepit. Moments later golden flames lit the room, the light dancing and flickering on the tan walls. Remaining crouched by the flames, he tipped his head back and gave her a lazy perusal, his eyes touching on her dress, eyebrows lifting in a silent question.
"Do you hunger for food?" he asked her softly.
Loretta clamped a hand to her waist. "You know, actually I hungry. Famished! Aren't you? What sounds good?" She threw a frantic look at the cooking pots behind him. "I'll bet would strike your fancy, wouldn't it? After traveling so far and eating nothing but jerked meat. Yes, stew would be just the thing."
Hunter's mouth quirked. "Blue Eyes, a stew will take a very time."
All night, if she was lucky. "Oh, not long. It's no trouble, really!" She made a wide circle around him toward the pots. "I make a wonderful stew, really I do. I'm sure Maiden has some roots and onions I can borrow. Just you--"
Loretta leaped at the touch of his hand on her shoulder. She turned to face him, a large pot wedged between them, her hand white-knuckled on the handle.
"Blue Eyes, I do not want stew," Hunter whispered, his voice laced with tenderness. "If you hunger, we will have nuts and fruit, eh?"
Loretta swallowed a lump of air. Fruit and nuts were better than the alternative. Maybe, if she ate one nut at a time…"All right, fruit and nuts."
He spread a buffalo robe beside the fire while she put the pot away and dug up a parfleche of fruit and nuts from his store of preserved edibles. Kneeling beside him, Loretta munched industriously, staring into the leaping flames, aware with every bite she took that Hunter watched her. When she reached for her fourth handful, he clamped his long fingers around her wrist.
"Enough," he said evenly. "You will sicken your gut if you eat more."
Loretta's gut was already in sorry shape. She swallowed, trying to avoid his gaze and failing miserably. When their eyes met, she felt as if the ground fell away. There was no mistaking that look in his eye. The moment of reckoning had come. book-quoteHunter turned toward her and looped an arm around her waist. His eyes were dark splashes in the moonlight. "Blue Eyes, it will be good. Trust this Comanche.""How can it be, Hunter?""I will make it so." He feathered a finger across her bottom lip. His voice, his gentle touch, delved deep, turning her warm and liquid, melting her resistance. She closed her eyes. In four more days, maybe less, she would be back in Hunter's village."Hunter, why did you tie me to stakes again tonight? How long do you plan to do that?""Until my touch is carved in your heart.""Oh, Hunter, it's already carved in my heart. When I ran from you, it wasn't out of fear.""You said with a rifle. You will have no fear again. Anger, maybe much hatred, but no fear." He trailed a knuckle along her cheek. "You made pictures of your remembering. Now I make new rememberings, so they are very much good."Puzzled, Loretta studied his dark face. Then she realized he was referring to her memories of her mother's death--the Comanches, the stakes, her torturous last minutes. He was deliberately evoking those memories, only to expunge them by gently loving her. When she thought of his stakes now, she thought of shivers running down her spine, of sweet kisses in moonlight, of wonderfully strong arms enfolding her with warmth.Tears sprang to her eye. "Thank you for the new memories, Hunter. They very much good."His face drew close. "This Comanche wants to make more new remembering."She took a ragged breath. "I can't. Don't you see? To say yes is surrendering all that I am."He manacled her wrists with his iron grip. "That too is why I tie you." His lips brushed hers, setting her senses afire. "You will make war tomorrow?"He whispered the question into her mouth, his breath warm and sweet. His tongue touched hers. Loretta's heart caught at the careful way he drew her against him. It seemed soon enough for fighting him. For tonight, she couldn't stop herself from loving him--one last time. book-quoteMy heart is filled with great love for you," he whispered.Tears sprang to Loretta's eyes. She couldn't name the emotion that caused them, didn't want to. Then, like projectiles from a cannon, the words shot from her mouth. "Oh, Hunter, I love you, too."The moment she said it, she knew it was true. She loved him as she had never loved anyone, with an intensity that made her ache. Hunter, the fierce warrior, the culmination of all her nightmares, had become the most important person in her world. book-quoteYou know, I should start thinking on names. I have to be over two months gone. A name is important. Especially for this baby.""Why especially this one?" Rachel asked, looking up from the bread she was kneading. "Names are important for everybody."Loretta sighed. "Well, with Hunter as the father, I have to think of names he'd approve of.""You call that child Running Water and I'll disown you."Loretta giggled. "I don't know. After hemming all those diapers, maybe Running Water wouldn't be so far off mark."Rachel rolled her eyes, then shook her head, her eyes sad. "Unless this baby's papa comes straggling back to collect his baggage, the child's gonna be stuck in white society. Being a breed is bad enough. A nice, name is a must."Amy flipped the page in her spelling book. "What you need is a nice white-folk name with an Indian meaning that'll make Hunter proud."Concerned about her child's future, Loretta forced a smile. "Why, Amy, that's a champion idea!"Rachel paused in her kneading and frowned. "I'm quite a hand on names. Let me think on it.""Something impressive for a boy, Ma." Amy pursed her lips. "You know--like Mighty Fighter. Or Wise King. You gotta remember how Hunter thinks. They give boys grand names.""Swift Antelope, for example?" Loretta grinned."Makes him sound like he oughta have a tail to wag, don't it?" Amy dimpled her cheek. "Of course, he hates the name Amy, so we're even. He says it sounds like a sheep baaing.""The way he says it, it sound like a sheep baaing.""How about naming a boy after his papa and his uncle Warrior?" Rachel asked. "Chase Kelly. Chase means hunter, Kelly means warrior."Loretta lowered her sewing to her lap, her gaze dreamy. "Chase Kelly--Chase Kelly. It has a nice ring, doesn't it?""Be nicer with a proper surname," Rachel commented."Wolf!" Amy cried. "That's as close to a last name for Hunter as you'll get. book-quoteWhat did you say?" Henry grated."I said , Henry." Rachel's voice was still soft, but the glint in her eyes was fighting mean. "I've put up with your cussedness for nigh on nine years. No more. You apologize to Loretta Jane this instant.""Or you'll do what?"Rachel lifted a challenging brow. "Well, I reckon you're too big for me to grab you by the heels and your brains. Guess I'll have to blow them out. Now apologize. I won't have that kind of talk in my house."" house?""That's right." Henry did an admirable job of trying to appear amused. Placing his hands on his hips, he bent one knee and eyed the rifle. "Rachel, darlin', you have a gun right now. Here shortly, you're gonna have to put it down and cook. And when you do, I'm gonna beat the sass plumb out of you. Now I suggest be the one to apologize. If you do it convincin' enough, maybe I'll forgit this ever happened."Loretta figured the bluff would probably work. Aunt Rachel had never been long on guts, and Loretta didn't see her getting a goodly supply in the space of ten minutes. Rachel surprised her, though. Instead of apologizing, she set her jaw and raised her chin."Henry, if you touch me when I'm cookin', I'll rip you from stem to bow with my butcher knife. I've had it up to my gullet with you.""Give me that gun!" Henry stomped toward her.Rachel took quick aim. The explosion of noise nearly scared Loretta out of her skin. Henry jumped straight up, clearing the floor by several inches."Holy Mother, you near shot my foot off, you damned fool woman!""Next time, I won't miss."Henry sputtered, so mad he looked fit to bust. "Rachel, I swear, I'll give you the hidin' of your life for this.""Touch her, Uncle Henry, and I'll knock you senseless with a chunk of firewood," Loretta inserted."And if she don't do a good job of it, I'll finish it for her!" Amy yelled from the loft ladder. "Good for you, Ma! Give the old wart toad what for!"Rachel returned the Spencer to the rack. "Well, Henry? It sounds like three to one. You gonna apologize to Loretta Jane or not? book-quote
