Despite having made a decision or maybe because of it, a dull ache formed behind her eyes. She massaged her temples.
“Headache?” Owen asked as he drew her against him and slipped his arm around her shoulder.
She nodded. “Too much stress and thinking, I guess.”
His hands replaced hers, easing her tension as she forced her concerns into a back corner of her mind. She turned in his arms until she faced him. She wanted, no needed, to lose herself in him, if only for tonight. No matter what the repercussions and knowing neither of them intended to stay in Service, being with Owen would be worth the cost. She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. All her suppressed desire poured from her as she clung to him.
When she pulled away, she grasped his hand. “Make me forget the rest of the world exists, Owen.”
At least for now.
His clear green eyes widened in surprise for a second before darkening with passion. As his lips covered hers, she suspected she’d found Mr. Right, but unfortunately, the timing was all wrong.
Chapter Fourteen
Carly’s quiet pleadisintegrated Owen’s self-control and common sense. For a while all he wanted to do was hold her and forget—about their problems, their differences, their futures. Most of all her leaving.
He wanted to love her.
Love her?The thought bolted through him. Lord help him, because he was already half in love with her. Maybe more.
Knowing that, how would he ever let her go?
He pulled her against him. Her soft curves fit perfectly against his hard angles as they always had, as if they’d never been apart. When her hands splayed across his chest, she nearly burned a hole through his shirt. Blood pounded in his ears, drowning out everything but Carly, and his need.
His mouth covered hers as the hunger drove him. Her lips parted under his and he reveled in her passion. His lips moved over hers, strong and insistent, as she clung to him, but it wasn’t enough. Needing to be closer, he cupped her bottom and slid her onto his lap. His erection pressed against her. She moved against him, creating a tormenting friction, while he tugged her blouse from her jeans and his hand slipped underneath to caress her. His hands slid over her silky skin until he reached her breast. Through her lacey bra, he rolled her sensitive nipple between his thumb and index finger. Her delighted moan echoed around him.
“I want you. More than I thought possible.”
She nodded, her eyes glazed with desire for him. “I need you. Now.”
He paused. “Making love has a way of changing things between people.”
“I don’t care.”
Reality crashed in on him. “But I do.”
*
The next dayOwen stopped at his parents’ place to work on his mini equestrian therapy course, hoping to work off the stress plaguing him from the bombshells Carly had hit him with last night. Despite being somewhat prepared by Ryder’s admission, hearing her plans for leaving Service had thrown him hard. But he’d held it together.
He’d been darn proud of himself right up until she’d asked him to make the world go away and told him she wanted him. After that, he’d been lost, and he didn’t give a damn if he ever found his way out.
But then reality hit. If he made love to Carly, he worried he couldn’t let her go this time. Nor would he keep from begging her not to leave and how could he ask Carly to share his life when he’d be gone for months at a time? Would she even consider it?
Needing to burn off his tension, he guided Major to the course. As they worked, Owen noticed how much his balance and physical control had improved since returning to Service. As for his cognitive issues, the progress proved slower, but he’d learned to compensate by writing notes to jog his memory and working through cognitive decisions on paper as well. Now if he had to fight his discharge, he stood a good chance of winning an appeal.
When his phone chimed he halted Major, transferred the reins to his left hand, and pulled his phone from his shirt pocket with his right. He smiled at how he’d pulled off the move. When he’d first arrived, he’d have fallen on his ass trying the maneuvers.
His excitement died the minute he saw Addie’s name on his phone. “Have something of Landon’s 2 give u. Where r u?”
He flinched and Major, sensing his anxiety, shifted under him. When his vision blurred, Owen closed his eyes and worked to calm his nerves. He didn’t need something of Landon’s to remember him. Every day he carried the weight of his friend’s sacrifice, it drove him. How would he ever redeem himself for failing Addie? Addie and Landon. They’d been in love since their first date at sixteen. They should be here together, starting the family they both wanted so badly. He wanted to make up an excuse to avoid Addie, but he refused to add to his sins by lying to her, by brushing her off. He owed it to her to cowboy up.
“At my folks. Come on over.”
Nervous energy eating at his gut, he and Major returned to the obstacle course. They maneuvered around a hay bale, and he dug his heels into the horse’s ebony flanks urging him on. If they ran fast enough, could he outrun his guilt?
“What would Carly say about you racing all hell for leather out here?” Addie’s concerned, verging on panicked, voice reached him over Major’s thunderous hooves.
