His and His Alone
By
Moviemom44
Author's note: I know this scene in the movie has probably been written about and expanded upon ad nauseum, but I just had to get my two cents in as well. I'd like to think that Alice and Uncas go on to live long and happy lives, surrounded by their children and grandchildren, but those stories are someone else's to write, as this was really a momentary distraction from another story that I have let languish too long unfinished on the 'Walker, Texas Ranger' page. So, if anyone would like to pick this up where I left off, be my guest…
He heard her with his heart. He must have because the noise of the waterfall was loud enough to make his ears useless. Either way, Uncas could not ignore the sound of a woman crying, so he turned around to see who it was.
For one tiny instant, he froze at the sight of Alice teetering on the edge of the rocky cliff. She was facing the rushing downpour, her long, blond hair spilling down her back. Something in the droop of her shoulders sounded an alarm in his head. She was going to jump! NO!
Uncas ran toward her, too frightened to breathe. The young Mohican watched in horror as Alice stepped out into thin air with one dainty foot. He dove forward grasping for whatever hold he could reach—her hand, her arm, her hair—it didn't matter. He felt his fingers close around her wrist and pulled back with all his might.
Landing hard against the stone wall of the cave, Uncas wrapped his arms around the trembling girl and closed his eyes. As he stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, he whispered a heartfelt plea against her ear.
"Don't leave me, Alice. Please. Don't ever leave me."
He took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. To his amazement, they were dry. She hadn't shed a single tear. How could that be? He had heard her weeping. Or had he?
Her dark blue eyes stared straight ahead, unseeing. Or rather, they were blind to him, but focused sharply on some inner vision, the source of the pain he could feel radiating off of her. He wished with his whole soul that he could take that agony upon himself. He pleaded with the Great Spirit to spare her from the grief tearing at her heart.
He held her to him, gently rocking her, like a wounded child. Slowly, he felt her relax against his chest. He hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her face to his.
Looking into his deep brown eyes, Alice could see the fear that still lingered there and it hurt her to know that she had caused it. He was so kind, so protective, so tender. She had to do something to ease his worry.
She reached up and touched his cheek, first with her fingertips and then with the backs of her fingers. He smiled and the fear disappeared, replaced by something else she didn't quite recognize.
His skin felt so warm and she was shivering inside. Perhaps if she could just touch her lips to his face then she could share his warmth and the terrible trembling would stop.
She leaned up to brush her lips across his jaw and, sure enough, a flash of heat shot through her. But instead of abating, the quaking in her middle intensified. Now, she understood what she had seen in his eyes when she touched him. It was desire and she knew because her whole body suddenly throbbed with it, too.
Uncas paused only long enough to see that Alice's eyes were focused clearly on his face before he lowered his head and captured her lips with his. As their mouths melded together, he was lost to the dizzying effect of her kiss. He knew then what it would have felt like had they both tumbled off the cliff. He was in freefall, his mind careening wildly in anticipation of possessing her as he slid his tongue along her lower lip, seeking access.
Her response was eager, but inexperienced, forcing him to be more tentative than he otherwise might have been. Ever so gently, he nibbled at the corners of her mouth until at last she parted her lips and let him taste her. She gasped at the intimate contact, allowing him to deepen the kiss further as she twined her arms around his neck.
Her innocence was his undoing. Her trust touched him in a way that nothing else could have and in that moment he knew his heart would belong to her as long as they lived. He smiled inwardly as he realized that when he made love to her—something he had wanted to do since the moment he first laid eyes on her—she would be his and his alone, forever.
Alice lost all connection with reality. Nothing existed beyond the sweet cocoon of his embrace, where her alabaster skin was set aflame by his copper-colored hands. His expert mouth burned a path of kisses as fiery as a comet's tail along her throat. She felt like her clothes had been cooked in the ovens of hell. She tore her mouth away from his, her breasts heaving as she gasped for breath.
"Uncas, oh, Uncas, I want—I don't know how—Oh, God, I think I have a fever. I'm burning up!" Alice whispered desperately against his shoulder.
A raw chuckle escaped his throat, followed by a low groan as he let himself fully realize their predicament. They were both all wrought up with no place to go.
The once spacious cave had quickly filled up with friends, family and British soldiers, all seeking to elude Magwa and his warriors. A hollow in the rock wall had afforded the couple a modicum of privacy, but they were still far too exposed to take the exploration of each other's bodies any further. As difficult as it was, Alice and Uncas forced themselves away from one another, but not before Uncas clasped her hand and laid it over his heart.
"Do you feel this?" he asked gruffly.
She took his other hand and placed it between her breasts. "Yes," she answered, "Do you feel mine?"
He smiled and nodded in reply.
"As long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, my heart will beat for you and only you, Alice Munro."
His words pledged his love and her heart soared. His eyes issued promises that made her body sing with joyous anticipation.
"And mine will beat only for you, Uncas, son of Chingachgook, until the rivers all run dry and the mountains crumble into the sea," she replied earnestly.
He sealed their vows with a kiss that made her head spin like a weather vane in a whirlwind.
As Uncas led her away from the wall and back toward Hawkeye and her sister, Alice glanced back over her shoulder at the place where she had stood ready to hurl herself into the churning foam so far below. Was she really the same girl who only a few moments ago longed for death's blessed oblivion to extinguish the grief and pain in her soul? No, the fragile, defeated girl who wanted to fall to a watery grave was gone, transformed by the heat of passion into a woman, strong and whole, the way fire tempers steel.
She would always miss her father; the images of his murder would haunt her until her last breath. But never again would such despair claim her, not so long as her beloved Uncas was by her side.