Read Sweet Savage Surrender for Free Online Page A

hundred tepees shining white and clean in the sun. Skyraven could see  lightly blanketed women  out gathering firewood,  while others  were working at their looms or meat drying racks.  Children ran about.  Although most of the men seemed to be away from camp , there were a few sitting near their lodges or restringing bows.  One was fashioning some sort of weapon from a bison bone. On the flat land near the river , the ho rses were grazing indolently.  From her vantage point, t he people and horses of her camp looked like miniatures , s mall enough to put  in her pouch and carry  away. That thought made her smile.  When she was a child her grandfather had fashioned just such a tiny village for her play.  Whispering Wind had maliciously trampled Skyrave n's most precious possession, b ut that she-wolf would not have the chance to practice her malice on the yellow-haired whiteman.  He would be Skyraven's secret.  Just the th ought gave her an inner glow.
    From this position on the ridge, she could observe all the activities in the camp. She felt safe here and knew that the golden haired soldier was safe , too.  But I must be careful lest my absence be noted , she thought.  She could not stay with the white soldier too long.  She would  be missed  and searched for if she failed to get the sage to her grandfather in time for the evenings dancing and thanksgiving ceremony.  Nor could she ever shirk her duties to her grandfather for any reason, even one as important as this white man who the great spirits had sent into her care.  By the position of the sun, however, she knew she still had a long time before nightfall.  Rising from her  crouching position on the ridge , she returned to the white soldier's side to keep watch until it was time to go.
    Sitting on a rock by the fire , Skyraven let her eyes touch on the whiteman, caressing him visually.  It was really the first time she had  studied him in detail and she found him  most definitely pleasing.  She had seen whitemen before at the trading posts , but none had such pale hair. He was handsome in an unusual kind of way, different from Lone Wolf's sullen dark comeliness but just as muscular.  Whereas Lone Wolf's hair was dark and long , the whiteman's wavy golden hair was cut just below his ears.  His eyes were closed now but Skyraven remembered that when they were open his eyes were the color of the sky, like hers.  Lone wolf’s brows went from eye to eye without end, the whiteman's were not as bushy.  Both men had high cheekbones but Lone Wolf's nose jutted out like a stone while the soldier's nose was carefully chiseled.  It was what grew beneath the whiteman's nose that fascinated her, however.  Yellow-colored hair as thick as that on his head grew on his upper lip.  None of the b raves grew such facial hair.
    "How strange!" she said aloud.
    Skyraven could not help reaching out to stroke the golden hair to see if it was soft or scratchy.  It was smooth and pleasing to her fingers .  Cautiously she ran her fingertips over the entire length of the mustache , then just as quickly pulled her hand away as if she had been scorched by the contact. .  What was this feeling in the pit of her stomach?  Just touching this man caused her to tremble.  With sudden fear she drew away  and walked to the mouth of the cave.  This whiteman must have potent magic to so affect her, she mused, folding her arms across her chest as she frowned.  The feelings his magic stirred within her breast made her wary.  She should flee, return to her people.  He didn't need her anymore.  She had done all she could do for him.  All he really needed now was rest , she decided, rising to tak e her leave.
    Hurrying to Running Antelope , she un tethered the mare and started to mount yet something caused her to pause.  He might be dangerous , she thought, but she was not afraid of the whiteman's potent magic.  She was the medicine man's granddaughter.  She could