AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where are you going?” she asked, fear gripping her again. She didn’t want to be left alone. Well, Eleanor didn’t want to be left alone and her fear was enough to unsettle Lara, too.
“To take care of the horse.” He brushed a thumb over her cheek. “I’ll hurry.”
She nodded, feeling ridiculous for being so afraid. She was safe here. Reginald would protect her from Abbot. He wouldn’t let him hurt her again. “I’ll have something for you to eat when you get back. I won’t promise that it will be good.”
He dropped a kiss on her cheek before turning to leave the cabin. “I could really go for one of your Denver omelets right about now.”
How did he know that was her specialty? Oh yeah. She kept forgetting that he knew her. “I’ll do my best,” she promised.
He winked at her and left her rummaging around in the pantry.
By the time he’d returned, she’d warmed some slices of ham on a skillet over the cook stove and was frying some runty potatoes she’d sliced in a bit of lard. Eggs, unfortunately, were not part of their provisions.
“Smells good,” he said. He removed his armor pads to reveal a loose linen shirt and black trousers beneath. He left his boots by the door and sat down at the small table. “I think the horse was happy to have all that metal taken off him. Poor thing. I know I was glad to get out of it.”
“I think the real trick will be getting all that stuff back on later.”
“Shouldn’t I have a squire to help me with that sort of thing?”
“Unless he’s hiding under the bed, I think you’re out of luck.”
They both glanced at the single bed along one wall. Blushing, Lara set a plate of food in front of him.
He smiled at her warmly. “Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate you cooking.”
“No problem. You get to do the dishes.”
“That’s only fair.” He took a bite. “This is good. Much better than that Viking stuff.”
“That isn’t saying much,” she said, sitting down across from him with her own plate.
He smiled, watching her as he took another bite. His direct stare was starting to unnerve her again.
“What are you looking at?” she asked finally. “Do I have grease dripping off my chin or something?”
“Nope.”
“Then what?”
“I’m looking at you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why?”
“Because you’re here, and I can.” He was grinning at her like an idiot.
“Are you always this happy?” she asked, trying to be annoyed, but failing.
“Just when I’m with you.”
Her heart twanged. She focused her attention on her half eaten food. “You’re a sap, do you know that?”
“I have been accused of sappiness many times in the past.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“Every single time by you,” he added, pointing at her with his fork.
She grinned, glancing up at him again. “And you never figured out that it wasn’t a compliment?”
He stole a potato off her plate. “You see, I choose to take it as a compliment. It means my feelings for you are apparent. I don’t even have to say them. Makes things a whole lot easier, in case I forget to tell you regularly.”
“And future me was okay with this?” she asked, shielding her plate from further thievery.
“She was. Are there any more of those potatoes?” he asked, fork poised as he waited for her to let her guard down.
“On the stove.”
He stood up with his plate and she relaxed her guard. He stole another of her potatoes with his fingers and put it in his mouth before he went to the stove for seconds.
“Keep your hands out of my food, Jericho,” she warned.
“Why? You’ll never finish it all anyway. You never do.”
It was true, but she wasn’t going to admit it to him. “You could at least ask me.”
“I could,” he agreed, sitting across from her again with a huge heap of fried potatoes on his plate. He stole another one of hers and munched it with a teasing grin. “But what’s the fun in that?”
She wondered if he’d always treated her like this. Wondered why she liked it, but pretended to be annoyed.
“What do you say, after dinner we play a game of spin the bottle?” he said and winked at her.
“There are only two of us here.”
“Exactly.”
“And we don’t have a bottle.”
“We’ll improvise.”
She chuckled. “Do you have to resort to middle school games to get me to kiss you?”
“Well, I don’t think I can wait a whole two weeks for Thursday after next.”
“You are looking pretty cute right now.” She stood up from the table to take her plate to a wash basin. He grabbed her around the waist and tumbled her onto his lap before she could move away. She laughed, struggling to return to her feet, plate in one hand, fork in the other.
“Cute enough to kiss?” he asked.
“Well, I don’t know about that.”
He lowered his head, his mouth covering hers, tongue gently teasing her upper lip. She started when a crash alerted her to the tin plate she’d dropped. He drew away, chuckling until their eyes met. Something sizzled between them and awareness smoldered in his intense stare. Her fingers found their way to his silky, brown hair as she strained to meet his lips for another kiss. She opened her mouth to him, anxiously stroking his lips with hers. When she tentatively touched her tongue to his, he tore away from her, gasping slightly.
He grinned. “I must be looking pretty damn cute at the moment.”
“Must be those lovebirds Eleanor and Reg having an influence over us,” she said, knowing full well she had wanted to kiss Reece and it had nothing to do with Eleanor or Reg.
“Remind me to send them a Christmas card.” He kissed her again, drawing her closer as he feasted on her mouth without restraint. An ache built at the juncture of her thighs. She pulled away, her body a swirling cacophony of desire and emotion. She’d come to terms with the desire. It was the emotions she was struggling to understand.
“You’re not that cute,” she said breathlessly.
She struggled as she tried to get to her feet and he tipped her upright.
“Sweetheart?” he murmured.
She bent to pick up the plate she’d dropped and looked around for the fork. She spotted it under his chair. Once she retrieved it, she headed to the wash basin.
“What?”
He stood and moved to stand behind her. “The way I’m carrying on, you probably think all we had together was passion and amazing sex.”
“Is that bad?”
He laid a gentle hand on her upper arms and leaned against her. “I really do love you.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about you, Reece. I need to slow down a little and sort through these feelings I have.”
He was suddenly hugging her from behind. “You have feelings?”
“I’m not even sure what they mean. Might be friendship. Might be lust. Something in between. A combination of the two. I don’t know. I need some time to think.”
“I understand,” he whispered. “I don’t want you to feel guilty for putting up boundaries. I’ll try to respect your wishes and slow down.” He made a wounded sound.
She grinned and shook her head. “You have no intention of slowing down, do you?”
“I said I’ll try. I will. I just...” He squeezed her.
She tossed her dishes in the sink and turned around in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him close. A wonderful feeling of being protected and cherished filled her as he held her. This feeling was not at all confusing. She wouldn’t mind holding on to it forever.
The longer Reece held her, the more Lara slipped away from herself. Eleanor’s thoughts began to swarm through Lara’s mind. When she glanced up, it was Reg she saw, not Reece. Eleanor’s belly fluttered with nerves. She loved Reg
with every fiber of her being. They’d been planning to run away together for a while and she knew now that they were alone together, he expected her to submit to his passions willingly. She wasn’t sure she had it in her. For one thing, sex was painful and terrifying and humiliating. For another, she wasn’t pure for the man she loved. Abbot had stolen her innocence weeks ago and knowing she couldn’t give her virginity to Reg ate her up inside.
