A Promise of Thunder

chosen a different path from Thunder.
    “I have been too lenient,” Soars-Like-An-Eagle said as he planted his feet solidly before Laughing Brook. Grasping her arms, he pulled her roughly to her feet. “You are mine,” he said fiercely. “If I didn’t know Thunder was an honorable man, I would never have allowed you to accompany him to his homestead.”
    His black eyes glittered as he lowered his head and with slow relish placed his lips on the exact spot where her shoulder met her neck.
    She tried to pull away. Soars-Like-An-Eagle could feel her tension, the flutter of her pulse beneath his lips, the feverish warmth of her skin, and his heart soared. It pleased him to know that Laughing Brook wasn’t as immune to him as she’d like him to believe.
    “Do you like that, little one?”
    “No! Not from you,” Laughing Brook denied in a voice not quite believable.
    Soars-Like-An-Eagle laughed. “What about this?” His lips roamed upward, dancing across her throat, her cheek, before pressing against her mouth with firm insistence.
    It was Laughing Brook’s first real kiss, and she groaned in response to the magic touch of his warm lips against hers. Liquid fire surged through her veins, and Laughing Brook forgot for a moment that it was Soars-Like-An-Eagle and not Thunder who was kissing her. The kiss seemed to go on forever, until Laughing Brookfelt dizzy and her head began to whirl. When he released her she fell back against him, staring up at him with an arrested look on her face, making no effort to move away.
    “Laughing Brook,” Soars-Like-An-Eagle groaned, “you don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment. I have loved you for many years. It’s been agony waiting for you to grow up.”
    Laughing Brook swallowed convulsively as she felt his hands on her breasts, touching her where no man had touched her before, and when they slid down to cup her buttocks and pull her close, she felt the hard thrust of his manhood nudge the soft roundness of her stomach.
    “You belong to me, little one. From now on you will leave Thunder alone. If you make a fool of yourself over another man again I will beat you. Do you hear me!”
    Mutely, Laughing Brook nodded, shocked and enthralled by the change in Soars-Like-An-Eagle. Her eyes grew round as saucers as he swept her up in his arms and carried her to an empty stall, where they would be hidden from view. She gasped aloud when he lowered her to the mound of sweet-smelling hay he had placed there just this morning and dropped to his knees beside her.

Chapter Nineteen
     
    Grady left the stable in a rage, his expression thunderous. How dare Storm keep something as important as having a child from him! he fumed angrily. She’d had plenty of time to tell him he was going to be a father since his arrival. What made his anger even more profound was the fact that she had said nothing when he asked her pointedly if she wanted children. Her silence had led him to believe she didn’t want his children. He tried to bring his temper under control before he entered the house, but his jerky steps and murderous expression gave him away.
    Shannon took one look at him as he strode through the parlor and felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. She hurried after him.
    “Grady, wait! Has something upset you?”
    “Where’s Storm, Mother?”
    “I sent her upstairs to rest a few minutes ago. Can’t it wait?”
    “I think not.” His face was set in grim lines, his mouth taut.
    “Has Storm done something to displease you?”
    “You could say that, Mother. Why am I the last to know my wife is carrying my child? You did know, did you not? And I imagine Father knows too.”
    Shannon blanched. She knew it was wrong of Storm to keep her state of impending motherhood from Grady, but she had expected Storm to inform Grady in her own good time. Obviously Grady had stumbled across the information on his own and was in a rage over being kept deliberately uninformed.
    “We knew, son, and Storm would have told you very soon, I’m sure of it. Don’t go to her now. Give yourself time to calm down before confronting her.”
    “I’m sorry, Mother. This can’t wait.” Turning on his heel, he mounted the stairs.
    “If you hurt Storm, I’ll never forgive you,” Shannon called after him.
    Suddenly Grady went still. He turned slowly and faced his mother. “I’ve given you little reason to be proud of me these last few years, Mother, but I would never stoop to