Page 40 of Red Hawk's Woman

Ten

“What?” She backed away from him.

He knew he had surprised her. Yet it was the only action they could take that made sense, the only thing they could do if they were to be in each other’s constant company. Otherwise, how could they keep a firm hold on their integrity?

He tried to explain further. “I want more than a kiss or a hug from you. I am not permitted more than this unless we marry. Please, marry me, spend your life with me.”

She moved even farther away. “I…I…am flabbergasted.”

“I do not know this word.”

“It means that you have taken me off my guard. We have only kissed.”

“So far,” he elaborated. “But I know if I am around you—and I will be in the near future—I will find reasons to be with you, hold you, and before long, I will try to make you mine. I know that I will. You know that I will.”

“Mr. Hawk, I do believe I might have something to say about whether or not I will respond to you.”

“Aa, I am sure you would. But look at us, here, now. You know it would take little on my part to convince you to lay with me.”

“Whoa. You go too far.”

“It is this I fear, and so I think we must do the honorable thing. We must marry.”

“I…I…”

He knew there were many reasons why what he proposed was not wise. Possibly, it was the most impossible deed he had ever considered—for himself, for her. Yet, he would not take it back. He meant it.

“No one else need ever know,” he said, as though to solve a problem as yet unspoken, “unless you wish to tell. For, as I understand it, the white world might frown upon such a union. Even my people would do so. You and I already have many secrets from one another, but let us now share one between us instead.”

She backed away still farther. “You move too fast, Mr. Hawk.”

“But I must. Soon we will be spending a good deal of time with one another. Let us look to that time now, and do what we can to make it honorable. For I believe we will be together, married or not.”

“You don’t understand. I cannot marry you. I have come into this country for one reason alone, and that is to excavate the site of this dig, and I—” All at once, she broke off. Her eyes opened wide, and as he stared at her, there came a tormented look about her.

And he knew: What she had voiced wasn’t true…not entirely.

He said, as though to ease her situation, “I will help you to accomplish that which you are here to do.”

“No, you can’t. It is something I have to do on my own.”

He nodded gently. “I, too, have a great task set before me, and it is one I cannot share with you. But we should take action now so that we might keep the honor between us. As I have already said, we are soon to be in one another’s company, and if your feelings are similar to mine, there could be a problem.”

She didn’t answer.

“My heart tells me that you might care for me. Do you?”

She remained mute, and her gaze fell to the ground.

He continued speaking as though she had answered him, and in the positive. “Knowing you are not immune to me, I can only foresee that I will press it, even if I try not to.”

“But…marriage?” She glanced up at him, her eyes still wide. “What do we really know of each other?”

His fingers grazed down her cheek, trailing over her neck. “That we share a passion. Many who have married on short acquaintance have married for less.”

“Well, that’s not me.” She looked away from him. “If I do find that which I seek, I will need to return to the East, for I have obligations there. I doubt if you would like to go there.”

He nodded. “Perhaps, then, we could marry, but make it easy for you to leave, if you chose to go.”