Autumn Wind Read online

  "As we will castrate any man who might have done harm to her,” Chaska stated. He settled his blade in a sheath at his waist then sat down on the edge of the bed to pick up his footwear.

  "Hurry up,” Kohana said. “We must find your brother and be about locating your intended."

  "Takoda does not stay in the barracks,” Chaska stated as he pulled on his moccasins. “He disdains the white man's buildings."

  "As a good warrior should,” Kohana said, flicking his eyes with irritation over his future son-in-law.

  Clenching his fists, Chaska drove his nails into his palms, striving to quash the urge to pummel the old man to the floor. He liked his white man's comforts and would not trade the soft mattress for a hard pallet on a cold floor.

  Walking out of the barracks, Chaska led Kohana around the back to a row of tipis where lived several of the scouts who felt uncomfortable with the white man's ways. Calling out to Takoda, Chaska frowned when there was no answer. He flung aside the flap and ducked inside, surprised to find the fire pit was cold and his brother's pallet untouched. He felt a strange emotion tickling down his spine and, when he turned around to find the old man right behind him, he knew full well what the old man was thinking even before he spoke.

  "She is with him,” Kohana stated, his face going stony.

  "We do not know that, neshoko."

  "If your brother has laid his hands upon my child.... “Kohana lifted his chin. “You will be the last of your line, Chaska. I will skin that wolf and tack his hide to my tent pole!"

  "He would not betray me in such a way,” Chaska said but wasn't so sure. He had known how Takoda felt about Mina for many years now though he never would have imagined his brother would act upon those feelings. Knowing his younger brother had been ashamed of him for bringing the whore to his room and then taking her as he had, worry began to crowd into Chaska's brain. Surely the young whelp would have sense enough not to take Mina's maidenhead.

  "There will be a reckoning if Takoda Dark Wolf has compromised my daughter,” Kohana said. “This I promise you!"

  * * * *

  As the early morning rays of the sun spread over his face, Takoda slowly opened his eyes. For a moment he was at a loss to know where he was but then the weight upon his shoulder and the soft silk of Mina's hair touching his cheek brought full awareness back to him. He squeezed his eyes shut. How could he have allowed her to spend the entire night away from her family? They would be frantic by now and thinking the worse.

  Mina moaned and put a hand to her eyes. She, too, was disoriented and wondering why there was a slight pain between her legs. With that internal question came the answer at lightning speed and she sat up as though jerked by the strings of a puppeteer. Her head snapped around and she stared wide eyed at her lover. “What have we done?” she asked with a gasp.

  Takoda sat up, as well, and reached for her, taking her into his arms. “We obeyed the dictates of our hearts, hishnae, and are one, now,” he answered. He dropped his chin to the top of her head. “Have you regrets?"

  She thought of his brawny body on top of hers, his hard cock inside her and thought of having that all the days of her life. The images that went through her mind made her blush. “Nei, Takoda,” she said. “I have no regrets."

  He put a hand to her breast and frowned. Her flesh was chilled for it was late in the month of September and although the night had been warmer than it should have been, they had slept in the open without clothing.

  "I did not think, hishnae,” he said. He reached for her dress but she shot out a hand to grab his wrist. He looked down quizzically at her.

  "I ache for you,” she said, her love shining in her eyes.

  Takoda glanced down at her and winced as he saw the virginal blood smearing her thighs. He prayed he had not hurt her in his lust. “We will have many times to enjoy one another after the Joining,” he said, trying to be practical and good but the moment he looked back up into her dark, dream-inspiring eyes, he was lost. He bent his head and fastened his mouth to hers.

  Their bodies fit like two halves of a whole and as she stroked his cock for a moment before he thrust it inside her, he felt such happiness he thought he might well die from it. His heart was filled with love for this woman—as it had been since they were children. To know she belonged to him, to glory in the fact that he had been her first—and he hoped would be her only—and to realize she held affection for him made him giddy with delight.

  With her lover sliding vigorously in and out of her sheath, Mina was overflowing with love for the warrior. Her hands were on his broad back, her heels hooked around his thighs, and her nipples being abraded by the friction of his chest against her. His weight upon her sent spirals of sheer enchantment coursing through her body. He was big and he was heavy and the way he pressed her to the ground made her feel like a real woman. She was like a moth flitting around the flame of his brightness and if she became singed by the heat of their passion, so be it. If she died from the forceful pleasure he was giving her, she would go to her scaffold a content woman.

  Takoda flipped over to his back, drawing her over him so she was sitting astride his hips.

  "What are you doing?” she asked, shocked to be in such a position upon him.

  He gave her a wicked look then with his hands clamped firmly to her hips guiding her began to teach her the rhythm and the movement that would bring about their mutual pleasures.

  "Slow and easy,” he said, setting the pace for her.

  At first she was a bit clumsy but then she fell into the rocking motion, learned quickly the art of sliding up and down the pole of his sex, and when she threw her head back, he reached up to cover her sweet, up thrust breasts with his palms. He kneaded her, rubbed the flat of his palms around her nipples, his fingertips barely grazing the lush mounds.

  "Umm,” she moaned.

  "You like that?” he asked.

  "Ayai,” she whispered.

  "I enjoy pleasing you."

  Her long hair fell onto his wrists like a waterfall of black silk. It slid along his arms and where it touched him, his flesh tingled. He was disappointed when she flicked it behind her back carelessly, yet the moment its length touched his thighs, he groaned with pleasure.

  Despite her moan of protest, he moved one hand then the other to his mouth and drew his thumbs into his mouth, wetting them then he moved them to her nipples to fan across them from side to side.

  "That feels so good,” she told him and as he felt the first tightening of her vaginal muscles, he took her nipples between his fingers and squeezed, twisting them lightly, plucking firmly at them.

  "Takoda!” she shouted and began bouncing on his belly, her long hair flicking around her shoulders.

  Takoda grunted each time she came down hard on him but his own enjoyment was rapidly swirling toward him. He could feel the itch beginning, the burning, and the need. His hands slid down her sides and locked onto her hips and with every contact their lower bodies made, the deeper the ache bloomed in his cock.

  The waves of release came upon them at the same moment and as her sheath tightened around his rigid staff, his rod pulsed within her, and they both cried out, the mutual enjoyment vibrating through them at such a high level, it made them dizzy.

  * * * *

  The two ponies were paused atop the hill as the riders looked down on the encampment. Campfires were spiraling into the air, womenfolk were about drawing water from the stream, cooking, going about their everyday business. A few children were scampering around in the early morning light from the rising sun but there was no loud laughter from the children out of respect for the old ones still in their pallets.

  "I am afraid hishno,” Mina said, overjoyed at giving him at the title of her heart of hers. Her own heart was hammering in her chest for she knew what her mother and—more importantly and frightening—her grandmother would say about her having been out all night.

  Takoda reached over to take her hand. “I will go before the tribal co
uncil and explain, hishnae,” he said. “I will take the blame for this."

  She shook her head. “I am more at fault than you. Had I returned home...."

  "They've seen us,” he said quietly. “Isn't that your lohnei nesheka?"

  Mina recognized her grandmother pointing at up at them and winced. Her lohnei nesheka had a viper's tongue and used it with deadly skill. Not even her husband, Mina's lohnei neshoko, could stand up under the barrage once lohnei nesheka built up steam. “She will flay me to the bone for this,” she said with a groan.

  "Have heart, hishnae,” he said and drummed his heel against his pony's flanks to set it into motion.

  It seemed all the tribe had come out to stare at them as Mina and Takoda entered the camp. The only ones missing were Mina's father, their chieftain, and Takoda's eldest brother, Chaska. There was stark disapproval on the faces of those they passed and not one word, not one sound to accompany the slow clip-clop of their pony's hooves. Mina felt as though she were naked under the scrutiny of her people.

  Halting his pony before the tipi of Kohana Windwalker and his wife, Wasula, Takoda threw his leg of the animal's head and slid to the ground. He held his hands up for Mina, his face stern when she would have balked at him helping her down. Putting her hands over his arm bands she braced herself as he swung her from her pony.

  Wasula Windwalker said nothing to her daughter, merely pointed to their tipi and Mina ducked her head, casting Takoda one last look before ducking under the flap.

  Takoda held his head high before the Windwalker women—mother and grandmother—as they glared at him with steely eyes that made him acutely uncomfortable. It was known all across the plains that the women of the Kochodol tribe were far more unforgiving and vindictive than their men. Generations before, it was into the hands of the women that prisoners were handed for torture for it was said the women were more sadistic and cruel than their male counterparts.

  "It is a good morning,” Takoda said, giving the women the traditional greeting.

  Neither spoke to him—no one did—and when Mina's mother folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes, he felt the hairs on his arms stir.

  All around him, the people were giving him looks that were meant to quell, to cause unease, and it was working. He felt as though a heavy, wet blanket had been thrown over his shoulders.

  "I will go before the tribal council when all the elders have arisen,” he told Wasula. “I will ask for a pashoni between us, Chaska and I."

  At a mention of the pashoni, a contest of honor, there were mumbles from those gathered. A pashoni was only requested when there was a matter of principle involved.

  Wasula lifted her chin. “By what right do you seek the pashoni?” she asked, her tone hard and unforgiving.

  "I should not speak of it in public,” Takoda said and the mumbling grew louder.

  Zuzela Windwalker, Mina's grandmother, also stood with her arms crossed. She was giving the young man a steady stare that made his flesh crawl. When she spoke, he swallowed hard.

  "The council is convening in the montaikanee,” Zuzela said. “Go before I take your manhood from you myself!"

  Takoda glanced at the ceremonial lodge and saw the elders entering. He nodded to the women with respect then squared his shoulders, taking a deep breath as he headed toward the montaikanee.

  Wasula and her mother-in-law exchanged a long look and only a handful of the people who were not watching Takoda Dark Wolf, saw them smile. The smiles lasted only a few seconds and the twitching of their lips a few seconds more before the women ducked down and went into the tipi to confront Mina.

  Almost immediately, a messenger came from the montaikane and the Windwalker women—grandmother, mother, and daughter—left the tipi for the lodge. When they left half an hour later, Mina was in tears, her arms held firmly by her mother and grandmother as they escorted her back to the tipi of her father.

  When Kohana Windwalker and Chaska Dark Wolf rode up an hour later, it was to the sight of the entire tribe except for Kohana's womenfolk hovering outside the montaikane.

  "The tribal council is meeting,” Chaska said unnecessarily. He flicked a nervous look to the man riding beside him.

  "Ayai,” Kohana agreed as though he expected as much. “Is that not your brother's pony before my tipi?"

  Chaska looked that way and when he saw the big black stallion, he winced. “Ayai, neshoko."

  Wasula Windwalker emerged from the tipi she shared with her husband and two daughters and came toward her husband. Her face was without expression although her eyes glowed with a light that set off an alarm in Kohana. He reined in his pony and dismounted, handing the reins to a young boy who had come running at his approach.

  "I must speak with you before you go in to the montaikane, husband,” Wasula stated. She swept her eyes over Chaska without greeting.

  Kohana flinched. When his woman used the white man's word instead of tutishno for his relation to her, it did not bode well. “Can it not wait?” he asked impatiently.

  "Nei, husband, it can not,” she replied.

  Sighing, Kohana inclined his head. When his wife, his tutishno-a, bid him walk with her, he sighed again. He felt the weight of the eyes staring after him and it made him tense. “Is he before the tribal council?” he asked.

  "He is,” Wasula replied. “Awaiting your judgment."

  Kohana clenched his fists. “What was he thinking?"

  "I warned you,” she told her husband. “You and Ohanzee Dark Wolf would not listen when I told you of the otahee both Peri Dark Wolf and I had when Mina was born. The father of Takoda is as much to blame for this as you."

  "Women's dreams,” he scoffed. “Such do not have meaning for warriors!"

  "You should have listened, husband,” Wasula said. “This would not have happened had you and Ohanzee paid attention to the dreams his wife and yours experienced."

  Kohana made a rude noise. “Dark Wolf and I did what we thought best for our firstborns. We wanted an alliance between our clans and...."

  "And now you have one,” Wasula said. “Takoda has asked the wamanhano for Mina's hand and the elders have agreed."

  At the mention of the tribal council, the warrior groaned. “Ayai, now that our daughter is spoiled for Chaska!” Kohana snarled. “The wamanhano can do nothing else!” He shook his head then clapped his hands to his temples. “Chaska will be broken hearted. He will have to beat his brother and...."

  Wasula threw back her head and laughed. “Beat his brother!” she repeated and her laughter grew louder. When her husband reached out to grab her arm and shake her, she gave him a pitying look. “Husband, Chaska will not be brokenhearted and he could no more take Takoda in a fight than I can take wings and fly.” As her husband started to protest her words, she held up a hand. “Tutishno, Chaska betrayed our daughter with a white whore. He first opened the door and then Takoda closed it behind him. There is no honor with Chaska and much with his brother. Do you not see?"

  "Ayai, I know Chaska let the white woman draw upon his reed, but...."

  "The white woman did more than draw upon Chaska's reed and he did more than let her,” Wasula stated, all mirth gone.

  Kohana's eyes narrowed. “You know this for truth?"

  Wasula nodded. “Mina saw it with her own eyes.” She reached out to stroke her husband's bare shoulder. “What if the whore had been diseased? Chaska would have brought that evil to our daughter."

  The warrior's shoulders dropped. “This is not good. He did not tell me the entire tale."

  "Did you think he would?” Wasula asked.

  "He did not lie,” Kohana defended Chaska. He hung his head. “Yet he deceived me."

  "Takoda would not have deceived you in such a way,” Wasula said. “He is an honorable man who is willing to take our daughter's punishment upon his own shoulders rather than allow me to cane her for her thoughtlessness."

  Kohana lifted his head and turned to give his wife a hard look. “He said this?"


  "He had the wamanhano send for us and made the offer."

  "Does Mina know what this means?"

  "She does. She begged him to retract the offer but he would not. I say to you again that Takoda Dark Wolf is an honorable man."

  "What am to do, tutishno-a?" he questioned.

  "Go to the wamanhano and declare your judgment,” she replied.

  "Which should be...?"

  "Accept Takoda Dark Wolf as your son-in-law. Have the ceremony to Join them this night and then hope if she has conceived, it will be a boy child."

  Kohana groaned. “She could have his seed even now in her belly."

  "All the more reason to have them Joined before the new day begins,” his wife suggested.

  * * * *

  Takoda looked up as Mina's father came into the montaikane. The chieftain's face was hard and set, his eyes two black marbles devoid of warmth. Getting to his feet, he bowed his head before the anger he felt radiating from Kohana Windwalker.

  "Nashino peha kae, Nehato Kohana,” he told Kohana, admitting to his chieftain that the matter was his fault. “Nashino tovoho hotahee tchuni pesha."

  "Ayai, you will take the punishment for my daughter,” Kohana declared, “and you will Join with her this night!"

  Though intense joy shifted through Takoda's heart and soul, he could not afford to show it before the wamanhano or the irate man facing him. “It will be my honor to Join with your daughter,” he said.

  Chaska was then invited into the montaikane and was given the verdict of the tribal council. He tried not to look relieved that he would not be forced to Join with Mina after all or that he would not be required to fight his brother. After casting Takoda an irritated look, Chaska was told to leave the lodge but not the camp.

  "Your brother must stand his punishment. You will watch,” Kohana said.

  Chaska nodded, gave Takoda one more look—of gloating this time—then exited the lodge.

  When Takoda came out of the lodge ahead of the wamanhano, every member of the tribe stood waiting. He tried not to look about him for Mina for he did not want her present at his punishment though he knew her family would insist upon it. When he saw her standing between her mother and grandmother, he sent a fleeting smile her way.