“What changed?”
“On the night after the third day of my third ceremony, I heard laughter coming from just outside the arbor. People are supposed to be respectful of the dancers, so I went to ask them to be quiet. I found my father and one of the holy men smoking weed, eating junk food, and drinking. They were supposed to be fasting. Drugs and alcohol aren’t allowed on the Sun Dance grounds, but there was my father, bringing dishonor to the entire ceremony, disrespecting the sacrifices of the dancers.”
“What did you do?”
He’d been angry, upset. “I woke Old Man, told him what I’d seen. He went and got my father, and they had words in private. Afterward, he wanted to ban my father and that holy man from the ceremony, but people thought he was being too harsh. He stepped down from running the Sun Dance after that year, and I refuse to be a part of it with my father in charge.”
“I’m so sorry.” There was true empathy in her eyes, and he knew she understood. “You must have felt so let down. It hurts to find out that people you love aren’t what you thought they were.”
“Yeah. I haven’t spoken to him since.” But Chaska didn’t want to spend the night talking about his father or Sun Dance or the Red Road. “Come here.”
He made love to Naomi again, this time slowly, the beauty on her face as she came like an arrow through his chest. They held each other afterward, falling asleep in each other’s arms.
Chapter 16
Naomi woketo the sound of Chaska speaking quietly in Lakota. She rolled over, saw him standing near an open window, still naked. He lit a bundle of sage, blew out the flame, then set the bundle in its abalone shell and wafted its smoke over his head with an eagle feather.
So that’s why he always smelled of sage.
She sat up, not wanting to interrupt, but curious. “What are you doing?”
“Smudging. Praying.” He finished his prayer in silence, then set the abalone shell on the table. He lay the eagle feather in its long wooden box, carried the box to his chest of drawers, and put it on top.
“Do you always wake up so early?”
“Most of the time.” He crossed the room and bent down to kiss her. “Did you get enough sleep?”
She couldn’t hold back the smile. “Couldn’t have slept better.”
He picked up his boxer briefs off the floor. “Want to join me in the shower?”
The invitation was irresistible.
Naomi put on her bathrobe and followed him across the hall. He stopped, pressed a finger to his lips, and gave a nod toward Winona’s room.
Her door was still shut. She was still sleeping.
So much for making her shower sex fantasy come true.
She shut the door behind them, took off her robe and hung it from a hook on the door while he stripped off his briefs and started the water. He stepped under the spray, held out his hand for her. “I won’t let you fall.”
They didn’t have a lot of room, so they stood close together, soapy hands sliding over wet skin as they took turns shampooing their hair and washing each other. His hands conjured up the most delicious sensations as they moved over her arms, her breasts, her belly. She returned the favor, enticed by the hard feel of him, her hands moving from his pecs to his belly.
He grew hard in front of her, his cock straining for her.
She couldn’t help herself. She took hold of him, stroked him from base to tip, soap making him slippery. He bit back a moan, splayed one big hand against the tile wall, the other at her waist holding her steady. She tried to remember how he liked it, letting him set the pace as he thrust into her hand.
He held his breath as he came, his eyes squeezed shut, semen shooting over her breasts and his belly. When he opened his eyes again, they held a predatory glint, his lips curving in a slow, sexy smile. “Your turn.”
He took down the handheld shower head, turned her so that she stood with her back to him. He washed the proof of his climax from her skin, taking time to palm her nipples, teasing them until they were hard and puckered. Then both hands moved down her belly—the one that had been tormenting her breasts and the one that held the shower head. “Just lean back against me.”
She did as he asked, gasping as the spray hit herthere. She’d never imagined having an orgasm like this. There’s no way it would be enough to…
Oh, but it was.
He angled the spray just right, his free hand pressing circles against her, moving slowly around and around just above her clit. The pulsing bursts of warm water. Pressure. The hard feel of him behind her.
She came hard and fast, muffling her cry with her hands as pleasure washed through her in a liquid rush. She sagged against him, breathless. “Wow.”