A Promise of Thunder

your mother a captive?”
    “Captive?” Grady’s laughter vibrated the air around them. “Those who know my parentssay my father is the one held captive by my mother.”
    “But how—”
    “You ask too many questions, Storm Kennedy.”
    And look much too lovely in the moonlight
, he thought, but did not say aloud.
    “Thank you for the food, but I think you should leave. Aren’t you afraid of being here alone with me? I’m a renegade. If you aren’t afraid, you should be.”
    “I’m not afraid of you,” Storm retorted, “but I’ll be all too happy to go. If you’d kindly leave me alone for a few moments, I’ll clean up and be on my way.”
    “If I recall, your land does not border on the river.”
    “That’s why I’m asking permission to cross your property to reach the water.” She hated being beholden to the half-breed, but there was no help for it.
    “I’ll have to think about it.”
    “Are you always so disagreeable?” Storm asked, stomping her foot furiously.
    “I am when dealing with White Eyes. For the most part they are untrustworthy, prejudiced, and dishonest.”
    “Your mother is white,” Storm shot back.
    “My mother lives far away on a ranch in Wyoming. Leave her out of this,” Grady said tightly. “Most whites are evil.”
    “And most Indians are dirty savages. You don’t even have a proper Indian name.”
    “I am called Thunder by the People.”
    “Thunder,” Storm repeated softly. The name conjured up visions of violence, mayhem, and destruction—it fit him perfectly.
    “My parents named me Grady. When I left the People to live among the White Eyes I assumed that name.”
    “You left the—I don’t understand.”
    “There is nothing for you to understand,” Grady said tersely. “You may cross my land to the river whenever it pleases you.” He turned to leave with an abruptness that startled Storm, as if he couldn’t wait to be rid of her. The bandage she had tied around his chest shone stark against his bronzed flesh, yet she hadn’t thought to ask him about his wound.
    Let him suffer, she thought; it would serve him right for being so darn ornery. Had he learned no manners at his mother’s knee?
    Kneeling at the river’s edge, Storm plunged her hands into the cool water and proceeded to wash her hands, face, and neck, unaware that Grady had turned to watch her as she unfastened the top buttons of her blouse and dribbled water between her breasts. Moonlight beamed down benevolently upon her, turning her hair into a halo of pure gold as she bent forward. Grady couldn’t recall when he had seen a more entrancing sight or witnessed anything quite as sexually arousing as Storm, raising her face to the stars, splashing water on her face, neck, and breasts. And what made it even more provocative was the fact that she wasn’t evenaware of what it was doing to him.
    Grady smiled in spite of himself, envisioning what it would be like to quench his lust in the cradle of Storm’s loins. He wondered if she would be as tempestuous, wild and untamed, as her name implied. Those forbidden thoughts made his flesh rise and harden with a need he had thought subdued long ago. He had wanted no woman in his heart but Summer Sky; now, suddenly, he was overwhelmed with desire for a white woman named Storm who had whirled into his life with all the fury of a tornado.
    Shaking his dark head in denial of what his flesh was demanding, Grady spun on his heel and stomped away. When Storm passed by his crude tent a short time later, Grady was just finishing the plate of beans and bacon she had left for him.
    “If you’re finished, I’ll take the plate.” Her voice was cool.
    Grady handed her the plate and coffeepot. “Thank you, it was very good.” He hadn’t realized just how hungry he had been until he had picked up the fork. Tomorrow he’d have to see about getting some supplies out there and building some sort of shanty to serve as a dwelling. Getting them out to his claim was going to be a problem unless. …
    Storm took the plate and coffeepot from Grady’s hands and started the trek back to her own claim. “Storm, wait.”
    Storm paused, uncomfortable with the idea of the half-breed using her first name. “Wasthere something you wanted to say to me?”
    “I told you earlier that you could cross my land to use the river whenever you liked. Perhaps in return you could accommodate me?”
    Storm stiffened, her face twisted into a mask of shock and dismay.