He settled for opening a saddlebag and taking out a bundle wrapped in rabbit hide. Opening it, he handed a piece of pemmican to Birds Landing. âI have plenty so eat as much as you want.â He untied his bedroll, spread out his blankets with his saddle for a pillow, and sank down.
âWe are safe here,â Birds Landing said.
Fargo helped himself to pemmican. The ground buffalo meat had been mixed with fat and blackberries, and was downright delicious.
Birds Landing accepted another piece and eased down next to him. âDid you make this yourself?â
âI bought it from a Cheyenne woman at a trading post,â Fargo revealed. It was rare to find pemmican made with blackberries. Usually chokecherries or other berries were used.
Birds Landing smacked her lips. âYou did say I could have as much as I wanted.â
âHere.â Fargo gave her a handful. As she took them, her fingers lightly brushed his palm in what might be construed as a caress. Again, Fargo wondered.
Her expression, though, gave no hint of her intentions.
Birds Landing chewed lustily. âFor a white man you have been awful nice to me.â
âWith the body you have, who wouldnât be?â Fargo tested the waters.
Birds Landing blinked, then laughed. âYou do notâwhat is the white saying? Oh, yes. You do not beat around the bush.â
âLife is too short for bush-beating,â Fargo said, and reaching behind her, pulled her face to his and kissed her full on the lips.
âOh,â Birds Landing said.
Fargo entwined his fingers in her hair and waited for her to make the next move.
âA white woman would slap you now.â
âSome would,â Fargo agreed. âSome are as miserly with their kisses as they are with their money. Some give their bodies as rewards when their men please them. Some wonât ever part their legs because they think it goes against Scripture.â Fargo paused. âThen there are those who like to lie with a man as much as they like breathing.â
Birds Landing grinned. âThat is the most you have said to me since we met. You must like it a lot.â
âI am not skittish when it comes to the female body,â Fargo teased, and kissed her again, harder, and longer. When he drew back she had a dreamy look about her.
âYou kiss as good as you ride.â Birds Landing put a hand on his chest and bent to lightly run her tongue along his neck. âAnd you taste as good as you kiss,â she said with a grin.
âHow do you taste?â Fargo asked, and molded his mouth to her throat. He nibbled and licked a path to her ear. She squirmed, breathing heavier, and digging her nails into his forearm.
They separated, and Birds Landing rimmed her mouth with the tip of her tongue. âIt is not food I am hungry for now.â
âI was hoping you would say that.â Fargo moved the bundle of pemmican out of their way and eased her down onto her side, facing him. As he reached for her, she clasped his hand.
âI should stop you. Father DeSmet would say this is wrong.â
âI wonât tell if you donât,â Fargo said, hoping she was not about to change her mind.
âHow do they do it?â Birds Landing asked.
âDo what?â
âThe priests and the nuns. How do they go their whole lives without? Are they not like the rest of us?â
âYouâre asking the wrong person,â Fargo informed her. âI canât go a week without getting the itch.â
Birds Landing laughed merrily. âWe are alike, you and I. But for the sake of the priests, while I was at the mission school I did not lift my dress for men, even those from my own tribe.â
Fargo playfully hiked at the hem of her doeskin. âHow about now? Any lifting allowed?â
âWere it any other white man, I would make Father DeSmet proud and refuse,â Birds Landing said. âBut I am no longer at the mission,