Sacred Ground Read Online Free PDF Page B

had the urge to return to vet work. The sense of satisfaction and power he felt when helping a hurt animal made his heart pound and life seem exciting . . . like Willow Howling Moon.
    She nestled against him, and Brett guided her head into the crook of his arm. Content, he closed his eyes and drew in the scent of her, savoring it, yet unsure what it was. He'd smelled it before. It was the grass the old man burned over Thunder while she labored. He'd have laughed in disbelief had someone earlier today told him he'd have called a wild buffalo cow by name.
     
    * * *
     
    Brett woke to clanging cymbals and deep beating drums. He sat erect, glancing around uneasily. The mother buffalo nursed her calves, one white, and one black. The hollow sound of wind whirled around him, and then became a hazy mist.
    He rose, confused and leery. The drumming increased, beating hard and steady. His heart pounded as though anxious to catch up to the beating drums. He felt light and free. Through the mist a figure on a horseback rode toward him. As horse and rider loomed closer, he recognized Whirlwind, then Willow .
    Her hair flowed behind her, wild and free. She wore a white leather tunic and matching knee-length moccasins, heavily beaded with designs of the moon and a howling wolf. A fluffy white feather tied to one side of her head moved with the wind, its soft down enticing his attention.
    She brought her horse to a slow stop and he found himself rushing to her, arms lifted, to help her down. She swung her right leg over the head of Whirlwind. Brett captured her around the waist and she slowly slid down the front of him.
    Her smile warmed his heart. Her womanly softness pressed against him, and he found it hard to breathe. She clung to him, bringing her face close, staring into his eyes, baring her soul. The drumming continued, lively, happy, and demanding. Floating figures of young Indian women and warriors smiled, kissed, and touched while dancing around them.
    Like the others, Willow danced seductively. He slid his palms over her shoulders. The drumming increased, urging him on. With a sense of immediacy, he swayed rhythmically, dancing circles around her. He halted in front of her to steal a kiss. What he expected to be quick and teasing became lingering and soul-searching.
    The deep, bounding beats came faster. He performed several steps to show her he, too, could dance as well as the other warriors, and then smiled at her.
    He pulled her against his aroused, heated body. The drums pounded, echoing back in a deafening fury, matching the rhythm of his heart and gradually slowed.
    The pungent scent of sweetgrass filled the air. It filtered into his hair, her hair, whirling around him like a drug. He held her against him, and they swayed with the rhythm. Her hip intimately touched his hip. Her stomach brushed across his. Her breasts pressed into his chest. The haunting, soft cry of a howling wolf replaced the drums. The dancers had vanished.
    On a bed of soft white wolf skins lay Willow , naked and more beautiful than he ever imagined. She raised her arms to welcome him to her. Breathless, he stripped off his boots, socks, and Levis . God, he wanted her.
    The sad song of the wolf gave him pause. A startled scream filled his senses, and he jumped.
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
    What the hell do you think you're doing?" a shrill voice broke through his trance-like state.
    Brett blinked away the drowsiness that claimed him and looked into the startled, dark eyes of Willow Howling Moon. She backed away from him, clutching her towel. He glanced down at his swollen erection and dropped his hands to cover himself. He sank to the straw and snatched his jeans, yanking them on with a vengeance. "I don't know how to explain this. I was dreaming. I'm embarrassed―"
    "You're embarrassed! What were you planning? After what happened to your mother, I wouldn't have guessed you the rape type."
    "I'm not. God, Willow, I can't explain this. I don't know