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…
Doc and Preacher smuggled them to Nora’s place in the back of the wagon. No one wanted to take the chance that Spurlock would spot them riding home. They drove the wagon right into the barn, and Nora and Adam didn’t get out until the doors had closed behind them.
Doc and Preacher helped unhitch the horses and then left.
Nora hadn’t said a word since they’d left the others. Probably for the best. Because he could feel everything she wanted to say seething from her. He wished he could say something that would make it all better. Wished more than anything he could accept her offer, let her come with him. But he couldn’t,wouldn’tlet her sacrifice everything she’d worked so hard for just because the consequences of his poor choices had finally caught up to him. This was his burden. He would not let her carry it.
He followed her into the house, his eyes darting all over the property, making sure everything looked as it should. Nothing appeared wrong. But everythingfeltwrong. He tried to shake the feeling. The last thing he wanted to do was go shooting at shadows.
The darkness of the house when he entered fit his mood, but it made him even edgier. Until his eyes met Nora’s where she stood waiting for him in the middle of the kitchen. She didn’t say anything, instead taking his hand and leading him up the stairs to her room, closing the door behind them.
She placed her hands on his chest, staring into his eyes. And he broke. He cupped her face, his thumb tracing the contours of her cheeks, her lips. She closed the short distance between them, brushing her mouth across his in a kiss so sweet, it cracked his heart wide open.
His fingers delved into her hair, and he kissed her, slow and deep, showing her without words everything that she meant to him. She drew him toward the bed, never breaking the kiss while they shed their clothes. He sank to the bed, and she straddled him, sinking down onto him while he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her neck. She held him close while she moved, her breath hitching. Though he didn’t know if it was from pleasure or heartache.
Every movement was exquisite torture, wringing every last drop of ecstasy from his body while his heart screamed in agony.
How could he walk away from this woman? How could he stay?
All he could do was hold on to her while she loved him. Hold on tight while he showed her with every brush of his lips, every caress of his hand, every thrust of his body how much she meant to him. He memorized every shudder, every breath, every touch. Burned every second onto his soul so that later, when he was miserable and alone, he could think back and remember how he’d been happy once.
This…thismoment was what he’d see when he closed his eyes for the last time. Her face as her climax overcame her. Her eyes, drowsy with sated bliss and love, though she’d never said the words. This. This was all he’d ever searched for in life. To realize it so late, to find it when he must lose it, was surely the cruelest punishment the universe could have dealt him.
Afterward, he held her close, his body wrapped around hers, their breath mingling, until she fell into an exhausted sleep. He held her for as long as he could, for as long as he dared.
And then he pulled the blankets around her and slid from the bed. He dressed hastily, gathered his things. Pausing, he stood over the bed, watching her sleep. He needed to leave, now, before she woke. But he couldn’t make himself move.
Adam didn’t know if he’d be able to find Spurlock, but he’d been riding south the last time they’d seen him. If Adam traveled that direction, doing what he could to make himself as visible as possible, hopefully Spurlock would find him. And this would all be over. And Nora would be safe.
Walking away from her would be the hardest thing he ever did. Compared to that, prison, or even execution, would be easy. And he would die a happy man, knowing his love lived.
And love her he did. Good God, he loved her so much it hurt. It startled him a little to realize it. Not just that he loved her but that he trusted her. Enough to want to risk being with her. Hell, if he had his choice, he’d sign that damn paper right then. Happily. Dive headlong into matrimony and wallow in it. With pleasure.
There were still no guarantees. But she was worth the risk.
He’d made a lot of truly horrible decisions in his life. Maybe he was getting ready to make another. But of one thing he was entirely sure—she was the onegooddecision he’d ever made. The best decision. And if he had the choice, he’d choose her all over again. Choose her sooner. Choose her forever.
Choose to keep her alive, safe.
He took a deep breath and then a step backward. And another. He gritted his teeth, a sudden fury flooding his system so thoroughly, he shook. The cruelty of losing her just as he’d found her ate at him.
Enough. He’d made his decision, and he’d stand by it.
He spun on his heel and walked out the door just as she began to stir.
…
Nora took a deep breath, a small smile touching her lips at that faint woodsy scent that was uniquely Adam’s. She stretched, her hand reaching for him.
But his side of the bed was empty, his pillow cold.
Her eyes flew open, and she jerked upright, frantically looking about the room.
He was gone.
She cursed under her breath, throwing off the blankets so she could yank her clothes on, shoving her legs into her pants so hard, she thought they’d rip.
Of all the stubborn, foolish, reckless decisions—what thehellwas she going to do with that man?
