Sunflower (11 page)

“You said you are leaving soon?” She brushed some dust from the toe of her wooden shoe and then, on impulse, slipped the clogs off and set them beside her.

Caleb pushed the brim of his hat back and unfolded his long legs, then lay back in the grass, propping himself up on one elbow.

“Tomorrow.” He lifted a sugar cookie from a round, shallow tin. Taking a bite, he let his eyes roam over Analisa’s trim form. She was leaning against the trunk of a cotton wood, her knees bent, legs pulled up against her. She reminded him of a child, the way she held the hem of her skirt tight against her ankles. The tips of her socks peeked from beneath her dress. She said nothing.

“I’ve been here too long already. I can’t put off leaving another day.”

“Someone’s expecting you?”
A woman?
She left the second question unasked.

“Yes.” He looked away.

Analisa felt her stomach knot. Caleb turned to face her again, and she raised her head off of her arms to look directly into his eyes.

“Analisa, I can’t tell you anything yet about what I’m doing out here. I hope I’ll be able to explain when I get back.”

“Are you out of the law?”

He stared for a moment trying to make sense out of her question. “You mean an outlaw?”

She nodded.

He could see by the fear creeping into her eyes that she was afraid he would admit that he was. “No, Analisa. I’m not an outlaw. I’d tell you all about myself if I could. As it is, though, you’ll just have to trust me. If you were worried, why didn’t you ask me anything before now?”

“It’s for you to tell me. You never asked about Kase. I’ve tried not to ask about you.”

“Today I found out about Kase.”

It was her turn to look away.

“Analisa, listen to me. It doesn’t matter to me what happened to you in the past ... Do you believe that?”

She nodded but refused to look at him.

“I’m surprised you don’t hate all Indians, after what happened to you. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted ...” Caleb found himself backed into a very tight corner. He picked up a blade of grass, twirled it between his fingers, and then tossed it away. “Let’s just say I’ll give you all the time you need. We can talk about it when I get back.”

She looked at him again and, seeing the questions in his eyes, tried to explain. “I can’t blame all for the acts of a few. My son is Indian. I know how deep the white hatred runs.” She was thinking of Kase and they both knew it. “Each man must be judged on his own, if one dares to judge. I can’t even remember what the man looked like. I was spared the memory when I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up, all I saw was his knife. He meant to kill me, but I struggled so hard he only cut me.”

Caleb rose and with two easy strides stood next to her. She lowered her eyes and studied the silver-gray snakeskin of his boots. When he remained silent, standing so near, Analisa looked up along the columns of his long legs, past the broad wall of his chest, to his eyes, burning with crystal intensity. He held out his hand, and placing her fingers in his warm palm, Analisa allowed him to pull her up beside him. They stood toe to toe.

A bird called out its sweet song from somewhere overhead. She was drawn toward Caleb, moving without moving, leaning into him as he leaned toward her, his head lowered to accommodate her height, drawn to her lips as a man who thirsts for water is drawn to a stream.

It was gentle, that first kiss, as gentle as the sound of the water in the creek sliding over the smooth stones. Caleb’s lips touched Analisa’s for a moment and then drew away, only to return a heartbeat later and linger this time. She let his lips capture hers without returning the kiss as yet, merely savoring such close contact with another being. He still held her hand. She could feel his fingers tighten as they laced between hers. As this last sweet kiss ended, his fingers lessened their hold until Caleb released her hand, only to wrap his arms around her, pressing his palms into her shoulderblades, enfolding her against the hard wall of his chest.

This time his lips met hers with little of their former gentleness. Hot, demanding, Caleb’s kiss forced Analisa to realize this was not a dream. As his mouth moved over hers, his tongue seeking entrance, Analisa began to feel an overwhelming need rising within her. A slow heat spread throughout her body, its origin the very core of her womanhood.

He buried his hands in the thickness of her hair and urged her head back, arching her neck as his mouth worked its magic against hers. Analisa’s lips parted, wanting more from Caleb’s kiss, needing to ease the ache that was pulsating through her with the ferocity of a summer storm. She clung to Caleb’s strong form, caught up in the fury of his passion. Feelings she had locked deep inside herself for so many years were bursting through her now, pushing out and overwhelming her from every nerve ending and every pore. The intensity of the wanting overshadowed her fear. She felt a warm moisture between her thighs.

Caleb took a step with Analisa in his arms, and she leaned against the rough bark of the cottonwood for support. His hands stroked her hair, sending the pins flying and letting the golden, sun-streaked mass tumble in disarray around her shoulders. His lips left hers, and he began to nuzzle the sensitive flesh around her ear.

Desperate to taste his lips on hers, Analisa grasped his face between her hands and urged him with her touch to capture her mouth again with his own. Caleb welcomed the invitation, pressing her hard against the rough trunk of the tree. His hands stopped their search while he pressed his length against her. Analisa felt her breasts crushed against his chest and welcomed the sensation, which heightened her pleasure.

Thigh touched thigh. Seeking to ease the thrumming, bursting need that drove her on, Analisa dared to move against Caleb, pressing her hips and groin against his, imitating his movements. She was startled by his response, for he reacted first by meeting her thrusts and then holding himself away. A second later his lips left hers and their eyes met.

She wondered if his fevered look was reflected in her own eyes and watched as emotions moved across Caleb’s face like clouds across the summer sky.

“I want you, Analisa.”

The heat from his eyes scorched her. She turned her face away. “You’ve lost your hat.” Her voice sounded distant to her own ears.

His finger resting lightly beneath her chin pulled her gaze back to his. “I want you.”

“We should clean up the ... the picnic.” Her eyes could not leave his lips.

“You want me, too.”

“Yes.”

The word had barely passed her lips before Analisa realized that she did want what Caleb wanted. She wanted him to make love to her. She longed to experience all that life had cheated her of. She wanted him to let loose in her the emotions she’d kept locked deep inside herself for so long. If he never returned to her, if she could keep only his name for the rest of her life, Analisa knew without a doubt that the coming moments would change her forever, healing the old wounds inflicted by the act of brutality. Besides, she reasoned, he’d unselfishly given her his protection today. She could in turn give him what he craved, and what she, too, craved—the pleasure of her body. Afterward, she would let him go. They would owe each other nothing.

Caleb took her hand and led her closer to the stream. Soft, tall grass grew abundantly near the water’s edge.

“Stay here,” he said unnecessarily. Analisa knew she could not leave now even if she desired to do so.

He tossed the food hastily into the deep basket and shook out the calico cloth. Analisa watched him walk toward her with smooth, sure steps. She opened her arms, and he entered them as if it were an old habit.

“I don’t want you to ruin your best dress,” he explained, spreading the cloth on the soft grass.

“Is it the custom to wear clothes?” A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. Caleb covered it with his lips. His hands slid to the back of her neck and began working open the long row of buttons that ran along her spine.

“Did you pack a button hook in that basket?”

“You promised only a picnic.”

“I didn’t know my new wife was so eager to have me.”

“I didn’t either.”

They spoke over each other’s shoulders as his fingers fought with the buttons, the light banter taking the edge off of their embarrassment. Caleb hoped his delay with the buttons would not give Analisa time to build up a wall of fear. Had he known her true thoughts, he wouldn’t have been so worried. She was as eager to receive pleasure as she was to pleasure him.

Feeling her dress give way at last, Analisa drew the high collar away from her neck and pulled her arms out of the sleeves. The top half of the gown hung around her waist. Caleb let his thirsty eyes drink in the picture of her full breasts beneath the cotton camisole. She wore no stays. Her hardened nipples were outlined vividly through the soft, worn cotton. He lowered his head and covered the peak of one breast with his lips. As she felt the warm wetness of Caleb’s mouth draw upon her, Analisa moaned low in her throat. She could not hold back the explosion inside herself, and the ripples of ecstasy that burst through her caught her unaware. She could only cling to Caleb, her fingernails digging into his shoulders as she pressed herself against him.

He waited until she was still, her ragged breathing slowed, and then drew her down to the cloth. He left her arms while he tugged at the snakeskin boots, tossing them left and right into the grass.

Staring wide-eyed at the canopy of leaves high overhead, Analisa lay still, relishing the feel of the final pulsations that had rocked her at Caleb’s touch. They slowly ebbed away. She had thought to give him pleasure, to repay him for his sacrifice to herself and Kase, but instead, she was discovering there was as much to receive from the act of love as to give. If he left her now, at this very moment, she would have memories to last a lifetime.

A touch on her shoulder brought her eyes back to the man beside her. Naked, he stretched his long, lean form out beside her. Analisa felt as if she were a part of the earth with this tall, handsome man so close to her. She could feel the heat of his body where his skin touched hers, feel it even through the thickness of her skirt and the bodice of her dress still bunched at her waist. Raising her hand to his lips, she traced their outline and then ran her thumb back and forth across his full lower lip. She sighed at the wonder of him and watched, breathless, as Caleb lowered his lips to hers.

Lost for a time in his kiss, Analisa felt the fire within her rekindle. His hands were moving slowly, languidly about her body, over her shoulders, through her long hair, along the length of her hip and down her thigh. He pushed the hem of her skirt up to her thigh and moved his hand slowly and sensuously beneath it. His fingers toyed with the waistband of her pantalets. After fumbling with the ties for a moment, he was soon rewarded as the material separated. Caleb pushed the undergarment down toward her knees. Analisa released his lips reluctantly as he bent to push the offending garment down her legs and over one foot. She could feel it still looped around her left ankle.

As he pressed himself against her once more, Analisa closed her eyes, daring to touch him, to run her hands over the smooth skin of his shoulders, down the small of his back, and over his hips. Caleb possessed not an ounce of spare flesh, and yet the muscles bunched tight beneath the bronzed skin kept him from appearing thin. Those muscles were relaxed now, allowing Ahalisa’s trembling fingertips to explore questioningly. Caleb’s hands were anything but still as they caressed Analisa’s body.

When his hand stole between her thighs and he pressed his palm against the soft, warm mound hidden there, Analisa reeled with sensation. She raised herself against his hand, moving gently, aware now of the pleasure his touch could evoke. Would he receive such pleasure if she touched him in the same way? Moving her hand slowly over his hipbone and then along the top of his thigh, she slid it toward his loins and touched the silken length of him.

His movement stilled as Caleb fought to control his response to her feather-light touch. His lips moved down along her throat to the sensitive hollow at its base. With her hand cupped around him gently, she drew him near, urging him to lie across her thighs.

Straddling her, Caleb roused himself long enough to pull away and slip both hands beneath her and untie her sash. Analisa stared up into his eyes, trusting, giving him full command over her. He gathered the rose material in his hands and pushed the gown and camisole up over her breasts, over her head, then flung it free. Kneeling over her, his legs astride her hips, Caleb ran the palms of his hands down the length of her and up again to her breasts. With a slow, determined movement, he traced the crescent scar that ran along her rib cage on the right side. His hands returned to her breasts, gently stroking them before he kissed them, drawing deeply on her erect nipples. Analisa thrashed her head from side to side, lost in this new world of sensations he was arousing in her.

Lowering himself over her, Caleb gently nudged her thighs apart with one knee. Her breath caught in her throat as Analisa felt him move between her legs. The silken tip of his manhood was seeking admittance. Gently, tentatively, he moved against the moist entrance to her body, as if awaiting her permission.

Analisa slid her hands down his rib cage to his hips and pulled him close in silent invitation. His lips covered hers as he began to enter her, sliding into her inch by inch, filling her slowly until he was encased inside. She felt him hold himself rigidly above her, as if he, too, was fighting to capture the moment and savor it for a lifetime. When he began to pull away, as slowly as he had entered her, Analisa tore her lips from his and whispered, “No!”

Caleb moaned low in his throat. She felt his warm breath as his lips moved near her ear.

“I’m not going anywhere. We’re just getting started.”

He let his lips play along her shoulder, toying with her with his teeth, and began his assault inside her once again, moving slowly, filling her to the limit and then drawing away again. Her breath was ragged, every fiber of her beating with the intensity of a savage drum. Analisa began to respond to Caleb’s movements, meeting his forward motion until they lunged and thrust together, blending their souls in a harmony of pulsing movement, sending each other skyward until finally mingled cries of passion were torn from them to blend with the sounds of the surrounding landscape.