Free Savage Tempest by Cassie Edwards

hand to her hair and ran his fingers through it.
    â€œI have never seen anyone so beautiful,” he whispered to himself. He smiled. “Or so feisty.”
    He liked both things about this woman. For now, she was his captive. But soon he hoped to change her status among his people!

C HAPTER E IGHT
    Light spiraling down through the smoke hole above her awakened Joylynn. She realized that she had slept the entire night, and this time without nightmares.
    She would have thought that her nightmares would have doubled as her mind replayed not only images of the highwayman and the rape, but also her abduction by the Pawnee. But in any case, she was glad that she had had a good night’s sleep.
    She turned slightly to the right, finding a blanket hanging on a rope strung from one side of the tepee to the other. High Hawk must have placed it there last night while Joylynn slept.
    She was surprised that he had recognized her need for privacy. She was touched by his thoughtfulness.
    Her pulse raced and she tried not to make a sound as she slowly lifted the blanket so she could look beneath it.
    Her eyes went instantly to High Hawk, who sat before a newly built fire, his back to her.
    He had no idea that she was awake as she slyly watched him while he prepared his hair for the day ahead of him. He was already dressed in a shirt and leggings of fringed buckskin that set off his splendid physique to advantage.
    To Joylynn’s eyes, he was uniquely handsome, and she had to fight the feelings that were growing within her.
    She felt something for him that she had thought she would never feel for a man, especially since the horrible rape.
    But she had never met anyone like him before . . . noble, gentle, and thus far, a gentleman as far as she was concerned. The blanket he had hung between their sleeping quarters proved just how gentlemanly he was toward her, making her almost forget that she was his captive.
    She continued to watch him as he smoothed his thick, raven-black hair back from his face with deer marrow, then slid a beaded headband in place.
    She drew in a quick breath, giving herself away. Her eyes met and held High Hawk’s as he turned and found her there, obviously watching him.
    But he didn’t have a chance to say anything, for a woman’s voice outside the tepee distracted him. “I have brought food for you and your captive.”
    He opened the entrance flap and thanked the woman as he took the platter of food from her.Bringing it inside, he set it down on blankets spread out before the fire.
    High Hawk turned toward Joylynn, who was still watching him. He smiled and beckoned with a hand. “Come. Sit and eat with me,” he invited.
    Dressed in the same clothes she had put on immediately after her bath in the river, and very aware of the wrinkles in her dress, Joylynn rose and sat down beside the platter of food, while High Hawk sat on the other side.
    She eyed it all hungrily, seeing an assortment of vegetables, small flat cakes and fruit.
    As High Hawk dished out the food on separate wooden plates, Joylynn hurriedly ran her long, slender fingers through her hair in an effort to remove the tangles from it.
    High Hawk glanced quickly at her as he prepared their plates, wishing it were his fingers moving through her hair. He recalled how soft it was last night when he had taken the liberty to touch it while she slept.
    He had ached to do more than that. He had wanted to kiss her!
    But he was an honorable man and he would not take advantage of a woman as she slept, even if she
was
his captive. He knew most of his warriors would feel they could do as they pleased with a captive. But he wasn’t just anyone. He was a man who would one day be a proud Pawnee chief. And he wanted the respect that was due an honorable, proud chief.
    He wanted
her
respect!
    Joylynn had not noticed High Hawk’s longing glances. She was oblivious to everything but getting food into her stomach.
    She took a plate