Autumn Wind Read online

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  New Concepts Publishing

  www.newconceptspublishing.com

  Copyright ©2006 by Charlotte Boyett-Compo

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  NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.

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  AUTUMN WIND

  By

  Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  © copyright September 2006 Charlotte Boyett-Compo

  Cover art by Jenny Dixon, © copyright September 2006

  New Concepts Publishing

  Lake Park, GA 31636

  www.newconceptspublishing.com

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  Chapter One

  With her long, black unbound hair whipping behind her, Mina Windwalker bent forward as she raced her chestnut pony across the rolling hills. The horse's hooves pounded the ground as it thundered over the short grass plain. Riding bareback, her fringed buckskin dress tucked up around her tanned thighs, she drummed her feet against the horse's sides to make it go faster.

  Tears shimmered in Mina's black eyes. Her heart had been broken that morning and she doubted it would ever mend. The man to whom she had been betrothed since she was a little girl had betrayed her. His treachery had wounded her deeper than any knife and she was shamed.

  Crashing over a small stream bed, the horse stumbled on the other side but kept its footing as it plunged up a small hill. Mina's hands were clutching its thick mane. There were no reins to guide the beast, no bit in its mouth to hamper it. It picked up more speed as it took to the flat, open prairie.

  The sun had set by the time the horse began to tire. Its sides were heaving. Concerned for the animal, Mina unhooked the fingers of her cramped right hand and reached out to pat the horse's neck. Almost instantly it seemed to know she was giving it permission to slow down and the great beast did, its stride shortening until it was doing a slow trot.

  "I am a selfish woman,” she said, leaning over to lay her cheek against the horse's neck. “I ask your pardon, Red Hawk."

  The pony stopped moving and lowered its head to sniff at the grass. It made a chuffing sound as though it forgave her for her lack of consideration.

  Mina felt guilty for her thoughtlessness in pushing her mount so hard and swung a leg over its head, sliding to the ground so it could rest without her weight—slight though it was. She looked around and knew precisely where she was. She hissed with irritation for she was many miles from her tribe's encampment. She had let her wounded heart blind her to all but the need to exorcise the demon of her intended's unfaithfulness.

  "Mother will skin me alive,” she said with a sigh.

  Spying a copse of trees, she started toward it, knowing Red Hawk would follow. The pony was well-trained and after allowing her senses to test the air, she found nothing about it to make her skittish. Walking slowly, fanning her hand on the tall grass that grew in spots as high as her knees, she felt keenly the pain of finding the man to whom she would soon be Joined in the arms of another. Seeing him covering the whore with his body, pumping between her legs, made Mina's soul ache. Not even the soft breeze of the night wind could cool the heat that still clung to her cheeks as she thought again of what she'd seen.

  "Why, Chaska?” she whispered.

  She had gone to the settlement to surprise her betrothed but the surprise had been hers. The door to Chaska Dark Wolf's room in the scout barracks had not been locked and she had slipped inside to wait for him, hiding in the closet from which she intended to jump out and scare him. She had not expected him to return from his day, spent as a scout for the Capitol Army, with a white woman in tow nor to find his brother, Takoda, close behind.

  "Chaska, listen.... “Takoda had begun.

  "I will have her first,” Chaska had pronounced and made quick work of ridding the blonde-haired tart of her clothing.

  With the closet door cracked open, Mina had slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out, shocked to the very roots of her hair at the things her intended was doing with the woman.

  The woman had a lush figure with pendulous breasts, crowned with dark nipples that stood out in sharp contrast to her white skin. She was bare from the belly down, obviously having shaved away all pubic hair from her mons. The sight shocked Mina so badly she could not properly draw breath

  "Nice,” Chaska stated as he rubbed his hand over the bare area. “I like this. It feels lusty."

  Takoda stood with his back to the closet, watching his older brother push the whore onto the bed. She flopped backwards across the mattress with her arms flung wide, her legs dangling off the side, fleshy thighs parted obscenely. When Chaska knelt down to place his mouth on the woman's sex, his brother turned away, going to the other side of the room to take a seat.

  "You should not do this, ciye,” Takoda said.

  Mina was stunned as she watched the man to whom she was betrothed as he licked the slut between her legs, dragging his tongue between her folds. It was a disgusting thing he was doing and it made her sick to her stomach. She swiveled her gaze to Takoda and saw that he had put his head back and was staring up at the ceiling, one leg crossed at the ankle over the other, his fingers threaded together at his belly.

  "This is not right,” Takoda said, his voice tight.

  "Shut the fuck up or get the hell out,” was the reply.

  The sickening sound of Chaska slurping between the woman's thighs, her legs now draped over his shoulders must have bothered Takoda as much as it did Mina for the younger man uncrossed his legs and shot up from the chair, exiting the room as though the hounds of hell were after him. As he passed in front of the closet, Mina looked up to see anger and disgust stamped on his dark visage. The door slammed shut behind him as he left.

  "Where's he going?” the woman complained. “I wanted him to fuck me, too!"

  "I'll do enough fucking for the two of us,” Chaska said and got to his feet. His hands went to his belt.

  For the next hour Mina huddled in the overheated closet and listened to the vile sounds coming from the bed. Maybe she was a virgin, but she was aware of what men and women did together. She had heard the late night sounds coming from the other side of the blanket wall as her father took her mother. She had listened to the older girls telling tales of their inductions into womanhood, had listened to brides regaling their friends about wedding nights, and she had seen animals mating about the camp. Yet nothing could have prepared her for the things Chaska was doing. He was worse than the dogs that rutted after the bitches in heat. His hands were all over the white slut and he was rubbing himself against her as though he were a cat, wallowing upon her like a dog on something dead.

  Mina's education advanced that afternoon as she watched her betrothed mount the woman from the rear like an animal, pushing and withdrawing himself into and out of both her holes. She viewed the woman suckling his shaft and sweeping her pink tongue over his sac and along the crease of his rump, probing into his puckered hole. His delight at lapping between the woman's legs and hers at spreading his butt cheeks apart to tongue him brought the bile rushing up Mina's throat and she had nearly given herself away as she gagged.

  It wasn't just the slapping of flesh against flesh or the smacking, licking sounds that shocked Mina. It was the noises Chaska made as he rode the woman, the cruel way he twisted her nipples and the w
ords he spoke as he took her that humiliated Mina. At the height of his grunting and groaning, she had finally found the courage to slip out of the closet.

  The woman saw her and for a moment the look of pleasure froze on her face, but then a wicked, hateful smile stretched the red painted lips and the whore's eyes had crinkled with laughter. She actually winked at Mina and made a kissing motion. Mina did not see Takoda turn and watch her flee.

  Mortified to the depths of her being, Mina fled the room, ran outside, and swung up on her pony to race away. Vaguely she heard her name called but she ignored it, kicking the pony into a faster gallop.

  And now here she sat with the night sounds settling around her as she leaned against the tree trunk and stared off across the wide vista of darkened prairie. She knew her parents would be worried about her and that a caning awaited her when she returned to camp, but not even the thought of her mother's heavy hand or scathing tongue mattered at that moment. She needed this time alone to come to grips with the ruination of her life and to decide how best to handle what she had observed.

  She did not know how long she sat there before she realized she was no longer alone. The hairs stirred on her arms and she turned her head from side to side, sweeping the area in front of her. Someone was watching her. The knowledge was terrifying, for she was unarmed and alone and no one knew where she was. She could hear her heart pounding with fear.

  With calmness she did not feel, she sat up and turned her head to look behind her.

  He was hunkered down not ten feet away, his steady brown eyes locked on her, his elbows on his knees and arms dangling between his spread knees. She let out a long wavering breath.

  "How long have you been there, Takoda?” she asked, relieved it was her intended's brother and not a renegade white man intent on raping her or worse.

  "Long enough,” he responded in that deep, husky voice she found so pleasant to listen to. “Be glad I was not an enemy. Your mind had flown this world, arechi hyegahaota."

  She smiled at him calling her little whirlwind. That had been his nickname for her since they were children. Takoda was only a year older than her while Chaska was three years older than Takoda. “How did you know where I was?"

  He stayed where he was, his face hidden in the shadows, his bare chest gleaming in the moonlight. “I followed you from the settlement,” he stated.

  Mina nodded. “That was you who called to me,” she said. “I was too upset to notice."

  "How much did you see?” he asked, no doubt thinking she had come upon his brother and the white whore after he left the room.

  "I saw it all. I was in the closet when you and your brother came in,” she said and saw him flinch.

  Takoda got to his feet and came over to her. He dropped gracefully to the ground and sat there cross-legged as he looked at her. “I hesitate to make excuses for him but he was drunk,” he told her.

  "At that time of the afternoon?"

  He shrugged. “It is not the first time, Mina. The Capitol Army did not need us today so he spent the day in the saloon drinking with the whore. I thought to get him back to his room before he passed out, but I did not know he would bring the woman with him."

  "He did not seem as though he were about to pass out,” she said with a snort.

  "The thought of rutting stimulates a man."

  "I can not marry him, now, Takoda,” she said, lowering her head.

  "The tribal council will think differently,” he reminded her.

  "Let me be clear. I will not marry him, now,” she corrected.

  "You will not have a say in it,” he said quietly.

  She raised her head, her chin jutting forward, eyes narrowed. “Then I will kill myself,” she said. “Rather than allow your brute of a brother to do to me what he was doing to the white slut. Such things are disgusting."

  "You say that even before you know if you might enjoy what he was doing to her?” Takoda countered, his lips twitching with amusement.

  "No, I would not enjoy it and this is not funny, Takoda Dark Wolf!” she threw at him and jumped to her feet. She started off only to find him at her side, having moved so quickly she hadn't seen him act. Such was the way of the men of his clan. He snaked out a hand to take her arm, his thumb rubbing along her upper arm.

  "You may not think so now, but a year down the road, you might look back and laugh at your childishness,” he said.

  "Childishness?” she shrieked, jerking her arm from his light grip. “You think I'm being childish? What if that whore has a vile disease? Our Joining is less than a month away and he would have brought that disease to our pallet and given it to me!"

  "Jasper's whores are not diseased,” Takoda said, folding his arms over his chest. His pectoral muscles jumped, drawing her eyes to his brawny chest. Even in the moonlight, his scars were visible to either side of his long black braids. “He has them checked every week."

  She was staring at the five inch long slits where the medicine man had inserted bone skewers under the muscles of his chest wall. The white ridged scars bore evidence that he had danced the Kachono—danced with the Sun—and pulled himself free of the skewers that had been suspended from ropes attached to the Sun Pole. The men of her tribe were proud of such scarring for it attested to their bravery and endurance in the face of brutal pain.

  "I will not be his wife, Takoda,” she said, forcing her gaze from his scars. Chaska had yet to dance with Sun and it was whispered he might not.

  "And if he insists?"

  "I will run away."

  Takoda snorted. “Then the men of the tribe will come after you, arechi hyegahaota."

  She stared into his eyes. “Would you be among those men?"

  "You know I would,” he stated. “Chaska is my brother and it is his honor at stake."

  "He has no honor,” she declared.

  "My brother will be upset that you caught him behaving in such a manner."

  "He should have thought of that before humping that whore!"

  He laughed at her choice of words. “Men do not think with their brains when they are rutting, Mina,” he said. “They think with something else."

  She was eying her pony, wondering if she could get to it before Takoda caught her and decided it would be nearly impossible. He was the fleetest of foot among the warriors and it was his family's position in the tribe that would not allow her to escape.

  "There is another solution,” he said, his own gaze going to her mount.

  "I do not see one,” she said, her shoulders slumping.

  "I could go before the tribal council and ask that you be given to me instead."

  The very suggestion shocked Mina to her core. Her eyes widened. Takoda had never shown the slightest interest in her except as his brother's intended and that interest had been offhand at best. He had always treated her like a kid sister, ignoring her most of the time though—of late—she had caught him staring at her in ways that made her very uncomfortable.

  "You would take me to wife?” she asked in a near-whisper.

  "It would honor the Agreement of the Gahaota between our fathers. My mother would not object and I doubt yours would. It is time I settled down,” he said. “My job with the Capitol Army will last only another year and then I will be free of them."

  She knew how much the men of her tribe hated having to work alongside the white men who treated them as barbarians, savages of little value. The Dark Wolf clan had been kept longer in the service of the Army than the warriors from among the other tribes.

  "But you do not know that we would be compatible,” she said. “You do not know...."

  He moved again in that lightning quick way he had and hooked his left arm around her waist, jerking her to him in a fierce hold that made her blood sing and a strange moistness flow abruptly between her legs.

  "Tell me my body would not be compatible to yours,” he said, his hard chest pressed tightly to her breasts, his groin prodding her lower belly. His right had cupped the back of her head. “T
ell me you would not rather have me than my slovenly brother.” He was much taller than her—taller even than Chaska—and she had to crane her neck to look up at him standing so close to her.

  "Takoda...."

  He swooped down and slanted his mouth over hers. His kiss was searing and unlike any stolen kiss his brother had ever taken. This kiss sent shivers down her sides and caused a tightening in her womb. He anchored her head so she could not pull away from his lips, but pulling away was the last thing she wanted to do. Her arms moved around his waist and she held him to her as fiercely as he held her.

  It seemed only natural to sink to their knees upon the ground. He lowered her gently, stretching out atop her, his strong, solid body covering hers as he intensified his kiss. His right hand slid down her shoulder and onto her breast.

  Mina jumped as though she'd been prodded with a red-hot brand. Chaska had once touched her there but it had been in passing, almost as an afterthought after a very chaste kiss. Takoda's hand was molding her, kneading her, squeezing her gently and the sensations such an action caused made her squirm beneath him. It pooled the blood between her thighs and made her moan low in her throat.

  He tore his mouth from hers, his dark eyes moving over her face as though trying to memorize every feature. “I have loved you since you tripped me and sent me into that mud puddle when you were four years old."

  "You remember that?” she asked.

  "I remember everything about you from when we were growing up, arechi hyegahaota,” he said. “I remember your awihya ishnaha, your coming of age ceremony. You were so beautiful and I felt such pride. That day our fathers sealed the Gahaota between our families for you to become Chaska's wife and it became the worst day of my life."

  "Takoda,” she said. “You were just a boy. You could not...."

  "I was thirteen winters old, Mina. I was nearly a man and I ached already for the loss of you."

  She smiled at him and reached up to lay her palm against his smooth cheek, stroking her thumb over his chiseled lips. “Why did not you say something to me?"