And then his hand returned to cup her between her legs as she rode him hard and fast.
This time when she came, he joined her.
Sated and exhausted, Maggie stretched out on his chest and simply enjoyed the feel of his arms around her as his breath stirred her hair.
Braden leaned his head back, shaken by what had occurred between them. He had known she would be a firebrand, but never had he guessed the full depth of her passion.
Worse, he was far from sated.
If anything, he wanted her more than ever before. Because now that he’d experienced her love, he knew she truly had no equal.
And that scared the devil out of him.
Maggie lifted her head up to look down at him.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, her brows drawn together into a deep V.
“Nay,” he whispered as he ran his hands over her back. It wasn’t really a lie.
In truth, things had never been more right.
Likewise, they had never been more wrong.
Fifteen
As they dressed, Maggie could feel Braden’s tenseness, it seeped into her very bones and made her ache. She didn’t want to leave it at this.
“Braden,” she said, drawing his attention, “I want you to know that I have no regrets.”
His face was even more grim than before. And she could read the “I do” in his eyes.
Her heart heavy, she turned away from him.
So, that was it. He truly had no feelings for her, and now he wished he could forget her.
At that moment, Maggie wished she had stayed at the camp. She should...
“Maggie…” Braden pulled her into his arms. “I’m not upset at you. I’m upset at myself. I should never have taken you. It was wrong of me.”
He tilted her chin to where he could search her eyes. “Why did you come to me?”
“Because I wanted you.” She reached up and touched his whiskered cheek. “I’m not asking anything from you, Braden. I don’t expect you to treat me any differently than you did before. I was curious, and now I know.”
Braden clenched his teeth at her words. The problem was now he knew, too. Already, his body stirred from her casual touch, from the scent of her freshly washed body.
He still wanted her.
In fact, he could take her again this instant.
And it scared him. Scared him more than anything else ever had. He would sooner walk naked into battle against a full English garrison than face her like this.
If only he knew he could trust her.
You could try.
How easy that sounded. But the consequences were too dire.
No woman was worth his life. It was the conviction he lived by, and it was the one truth he would never forsake.
