Page 66 of Red Hawk's Woman

“Of course it is. However, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t wear it.”

He shook his head at her. “White women dress strangely. How does it come off?”

“And why should it come off?”

“Do you not wish to feel the pleasure of swimming without the burden of clothing? To experience the cool water running over every part of your skin?”

When he practically purred the suggestion, it did sound wonderful. With a teasing note, she said, “Is this the only reason you wish to remove my clothes?”

“I do have another kind of activity in mind, but only if you agree it is something you might like. In the meanwhile, why do we not undress and swim, like we have done in the past?”

“You mean like we did about seventeen years ago? But we were fully clothed then.”

“Not fully,” he said. “If I remember correctly, you were covered from the waist down only.”

“But I was also eight years old at the time.”

“Aa. We were, the two of us, much too young to understand what was happening between us. We are not so very young now. But come, if it bothers you, leave your clothing on. I do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable. Do you object to taking off the leggings you wear?”

“Not at all.”

“Then let us do so now. Come here.”

She did as instructed, uncertain why she was so easily going along with his suggestions. True, she wasn’t nude, but standing before him in nothing more than her corset was producing an effect similar to that of a fire being lit beneath her. It occurred to her it was strange that she should be standing in waist-deep cold water with her temperature rising.

He pulled on the strings that kept up the leggings she wore and then undid the belt holding the breechcloth in place, and they both fell off into his hands. With a quick flick of his arm and wrist, he sent these, too, flying toward the shoreline.

This time, he didn’t seem as surprised to see that she wore her own leggings beneath his leather ones, her pantalettes. He said, “You are beautiful,” and with a finger, he tipped her face up to his. Gently, he brought his lips to hers, and her body responded to him as though she had lived all her life for this single moment.

As a steady rush of elation filled her, she pressed her body against his. He seemed only too willing to welcome her.

“Poohsapoot,” he said, “come. Let us swim.” Shifting her in his grasp, he propelled himself through the water sideways, his arm still firmly wrapped around her, his feet paddling. “If we…marry…perhaps we will swim like this often.”

It would be heaven, she thought, as she did nothing but relax and let herself be led through the water.

He executed a smooth turn in the water, taking her with him and pulling her on top of him, until he was holding her from his other side. Still paddling in the water, he brought her up closer and stole a wet, lingering kiss.

He spun over in the water again, calmly, naturally, bringing her back to his original side. It was like being caught up in a dance, as they slid through a liquid paradise. Kissing her once more, he repeated the process.

At last he stopped, and standing, he brought her in close in his arms. “Kitsikakomimmo. I have dreamed of this. I have waited for this. Since the first time we met, I have wished for you to be in my arms, like this. There is no one else like you, there will never be anyone else like you.”

“You turn my head,” she said. “But tell me, in all this time, there has been no one else?”

“None like you.”

“I find this hard to believe, especially because you are a handsome man. Surely there has been a girl here or there who has caught your eye.”

“Saa. It is not so. Of course, a young boy in a village like ours does not go without experience, for there are widows who are more than anxious to show a youngster what to do. Often a girl is thought of as a conquest, much like one might conquer an enemy. But boys who take advantage of a girl are not well thought of, for it is known they rarely make good husbands. But if you ask if I have ever loved another as I love you, then you have my answer. I have never considered marrying another, nor have I longed for another. I think, Miss Effie, that I have waited for you since the first day we met.”

“In truth, Mr. Hawk, I, too, believe I have been waiting for you.” In a voice barely over a whisper, she said, “The corset comes off here in the front.” Briefly, she showed him. “There are hooks and eyes. Do you see them?”

He moaned and swayed back and forth with her still in his arms. It was some moments before he reached up a hand to begin the lengthy process of removing her corset.

Such was an impossible task, even at the best times. He was using both his hands, but his fingers were also unsteady. Watching him struggle with the project, she moved his hands out of the way and slowly undid each and every hook herself.

When it was done, he carefully peeled the thing away from her, and as he had done with their other clothing, he threw it to the shore.

“Are your leggings also difficult to remove?” he asked.