Chieftain (Historical Romance) by Nan Ryan Read Free Book Online Page A

hesitated. He’d have gone after her. He would have stopped her, made her tell him her name. Made her…
    Shanaconeeded a drink.
    He headed for the civilian village bordering the fort. He had learned that there was whiskey to be had in the back rooms of some of the businesses. Not that the white proprietors liked serving him, but he didn’t give a damn.
    His money was as good as the next man’s.
    The village streets were almost deserted.
    Shanaco was dismounting before the general mercantile store when he heard someone say his name.
    “Shanaco,” Double Jimmy called out.
    Shanaco turned and saw the Indian agent hurrying up the wooden sidewalk.
    “Double Jimmy,” Shanaco acknowledged.
    “Been looking for you, Chief,” Double Jimmy said, and smiled.
    “You have found me.”
    “So I have. So I have. I wanted to tell you that I’ve arranged a meeting. You, me, Colonel Harkins and Major Miles Courteen, the second in command. Tomorrow afternoon. Is that satisfactory?”
    “It is,” Shanaco replied. Then, after only a brief exchange of pleasantries, he said, “I took a ride this afternoon, went down to the south part of the res. A young woman with blazing hair ran barefoot across a meadow with a big wolfhound dog racing after her.” He paused, glanced away, then asked, as casually as possible, “Any idea who she is?”
    DoubleJimmy laughed, knowing immediately who Shanaco was talking about. “Red hair? Barefoot? Silver-furred dog? That could only be Maggie. Pretty Maggie Bankhead and her dog, Pistol.”
    Shanaco kept his voice low, level, when he asked, “She one of the officer’s wives?”
    “Maggie? Lord, no. Maggie Bankhead is a miss. And, she says she fully intends to stay one.” He laughed again before adding, “Maggie is a well-bred but fiercely independent Virginia girl who is like a daughter to me. Been good friends with her parents for years. Why, I’m the one responsible for Maggie coming out West. You met her, did you?”
    “No. I didn’t meet her.” Shanaco shrugged. Then he said, “What’s she doing here at the fort if she’s not married to one of the soldiers?”
    “She’s the reservation teacher. Maggie teaches English to Indian children. Well, not just the children. Anyone who cares to learn.”

Six
    “W ewon’t be seen,” he whispered hoarsely, and deftly flipped open the buttons going down her tight bodice.
    “But it’s a lazy Sunday afternoon,” she protested mildly. “Someone might ride out this way.” She didn’t lift a hand to stop him.
    “They’ll see nothing but a buggy parked beneath a shade tree,” he said.
    “Suppose they get curious?” she asked. “Come out here and look inside?”
    “Since when are you afraid to take a little chance?” teased Captain Daniel Wilde, lowering his head to Lois Harkins’s open bodice and anxiously pressing his hot face against her soft flesh.
    Lois giggled then. She stroked the back of Daniel Wilde’s blond head while he eagerly pressed wet kisses to the swell of her pale breasts.
    “I swear, Danny, you are just too naughty for words.” Lois giggled again.
    “You don’t fool me, Lois Harkins,” Wilde gently accused. “You want it as much as I do. You want it here and now and half the pleasure for you is the danger of getting caught. Isn’t it?” Smiling, Lois nodded in agreement. She pushed his face up, reached between them, yanked at her lace-trimmed chemise. When she’d totally freed a full, soft breast from its satin confines, she drew him back to her and reminisced, “Remember that first time we made love, Danny?”
    “Howcould I forget?” he mumbled, kissing the exposed nipple as he reached down and lifted her billowing skirts.
    “It was my first night at the fort,” Lois whispered. “Father invited you and two other officers—Lieutenant Payne and Lieutenant Vane, I believe—to our residence for dinner.”
    “I remember,” Wilde said with a laugh, raising his head to gaze fondly at her.
    “He told me