A Promise of Thunder

her scowl was nearly as ferocious as his.
    “Why did you bring her?” Storm asked, still in a state of shock over Grady’s arrival with another woman in tow.
    “I had no choice,” Grady said. “Little Buffalo resisted leaving the reservation and I thought it would make his leaving less painful if I brought along Laughing Brook. She is like a mother to the boy and separating them would have been cruel. When he is fully adjusted to his new home and to you I will send Laughing Brook back to her people.”
    “How long do you suppose that will be?” Her sarcasm was not lost on Grady.
    Grady shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Weeks? Months? Years? My God, Grady, can’t you see Laughing Brook doesn’t like me? She’ll poison your son against me if she remains. He already resents me.”
    “How can you say that?” Grady challenged. “You just met her. And Little Buffalo will come around. He just turned six years old and is still a child in mind and body.”
    “Little Buffalo will do as Laughing Brook says. He obviously loves her.”
    “Perhaps,” Grady said cryptically, “but I have every confidence you will win him over. Meanwhile, separating him from Laughing Brook now will only confuse and upset him. Besides, I’ve always found Laughing Brook a warmand generous woman. First meetings are often deceptive. Given time she’ll adjust to the fact that you’re my wife.”
    “There isn’t enough time in the world for that,” Storm muttered sourly.
Lord help us all
, she thought as she turned away.
    “Storm.” He touched her shoulder and she swung around to face him, her eyebrows raised. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”
    “I hated you after you left me the way you did.”
    The harsh planes of his face softened and his blue eyes grew luminous. “I had to. I thought you understood. It was the only way I could retain my honor. If I remained in that cabin with you the entire winter, not even my solemn vow could have kept me from loving you as my body demanded.”
    Storm flushed and looked away, unable to face the stark reality of his words. “What—what now? You’ve come back. Does that mean you no longer want me in that way? Has Laughing Brook given you what you want? I don’t understand why you didn’t marry Laughing Brook. Obviously your son loves her, and it was more or less expected of you.”
    “If I wanted Laughing Brook, I would have taken her long ago,” Grady said with quiet emphasis. “Dammit, Storm, didn’t you miss me at all?”
    “Did you miss me?” Storm shot back.
    If she could have looked into his heart, she would have heard his silent cry.
I missed you
like the morning misses the sunrise and the night misses the dawn
. But he was a Lakota warrior and flowery phrases did not come easily to his lips. “You are my wife.”
    “I’m surprised you remembered it.”
    “Oh, lady, I remember. I remember more, much more. Like how wonderful you feel in my arms and how hotly you burn when my hands and mouth release the fire in you.”
    “Grady …”
    Suddenly she was in his arms, crushed tightly against the hard wall of his chest, crying out with the wonder of having every inch of his magnificent body pressed intimately against hers. It had been so long … so damn long.
    Then he was claiming her mouth, shattering her thoughts with the hunger of his kisses, oblivious to the world around them. She savored the taste of him, of his tongue as it thrust into her mouth, and with sudden, painful insight she realized she would always want this man.
    “Thunder, Little Buffalo is hungry. Shouldn’t your wife be fixing a meal for us?”
    Grady’s frustrated groan brought Storm abruptly to her senses as she shot out of his arms. Laughing Brook had definitely picked the wrong time to intrude upon their privacy. Or had it been the right time? Obviously the Indian maiden knew exactly what she was doing.
    “Laughing Brook is right,” Storm said, flushing. “You must all be hungry as well as tired. I’ll clean up at the river and be right in to fixyou a meal.” She turned and hurried off before Grady could stop her.
    “I don’t think your white wife likes me,” Laughing Brook said, bringing her full lips together in a sensual pout. “Obviously you didn’t learn your lesson after what the White Eyes did to my sister.”
    “Storm had nothing to do with Summer Sky’s death.”
    “She’s white.”
    “I brought you here for Little Buffalo’s sake,” Grady said sternly, “and I