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She showed up at the barn half an hour later wearing jeans, boots and one of his denim workshirts with the sleeves rolled up and the tails tied in a knot at her waist. Her hair was French-braided in one long braid down the center of her back, she wore a new pair of wrist-length gloves, and she looked as chic as if she were modeling clothes rather than heading out for a day of herding cattle. She carried a western straw hat and settled it on her head before she approached the horse Reese had saddled for her.
He watched as she gave the animal time to get acquainted with her, letting it snuffle at her arms, scratching it behind its ears. She wasn’t afraid of horses, at least. April had never been around them, and as a result had been jumpy in their vicinity, which in turn made the horses skittish. Madelyn petted the horse and crooned to it, then untied the reins, put her boot in the stirrup and competently swung into the saddle. Reese eyed the stirrups and decided he had judged the length correctly, then mounted his own horse.
He watched her carefully as they cantered across a field. She had a good seat and nice steady hands, though she lacked the easy posture he possessed, but he’d been riding since he was a toddler. The smile she gave him was so full of pleasure he felt guilty at not taking her with him before.
He set an easy pace, not wanting to push her too hard. When they reached the herd he explained how he worked. The herd was already divided into three smaller groups grazing different sections; the entire herd was too big for him to move by himself. He spent a lot of time moving them to fresh grazing and making certain they didn’t destroy the plant cycle by overgrazing. He pointed out the bunch they would be moving and gave her a coiled section of rope. “Just wave it alongside the horse’s shoulder in a shooing motion, and let the horse do the work if a cow decides to go in a different direction. All you have to do is sit deep in the saddle and hang on.”
Sitting deep in the saddle was no problem; the big western rig felt like a cradle after the small eastern saddle she was familiar with. She took
the coil of rope and practiced a few waves with it, just to be certain it didn’t startle the horse. He treated it as commonplace, which, of course, to him it was.
She enjoyed the work. She liked being outside, and there was a sort of peace to riding alongside the cattle and waving a coil of rope at them occasionally, listening to the deep-throated bawls and learning the joy of riding a well-trained cutting horse. She liked watching Reese most of all. He had been born to do this, and it was obvious in every movement and sound he made. He rode as if he were a part of the horse, anticipating every change of direction, encouraging the cattle with whistles and calls that seemed to reassure them at the same time.
She felt almost dazed with pleasure, her senses overloaded. She had felt that way since the afternoon before, when his self-control had broken and he had taken her like a man possessed. Her body was sated, her emotions freed to reach out to him and shower him with the love that had been dammed up inside her. She had no illusions that the battle was won, but the first skirmish was hers; until yesterday, he would never have allowed her to pet him as she had been doing, nor would he have lingered in bed that morning to make love again. His face was still set in those stern, unsmiling lines, but he was subtly more relaxed. Judging from the past twenty-four hours, he must have had a difficult time controlling his sex drive. The thought made her smile.
They stopped for lunch and to let the cattle and horses drink from a small natural pond. When the horses had been seen to, Reese tethered them nearby and sat down next to her on the small rise she’d chosen for the site of their meal. He took off his hat and put it on the grass beside him. “How do you like it so far?”
“A lot.” Her lips curved softly as she handed him a sandwich. “It’s so peaceful out here, no cars, no telephones, no smog. You may have to help me out of bed in the morning, but it’ll be worth it.”
“I’ll rub you down with liniment tonight.” His eyes glinted at her. “Afterward.”
That statement earned him a kiss. Then she straightened and unwrapped her own sandwich. “How am I doing? Have I done anything totally amateurish?”
“You’re doing fine. The only problem is that I keep worrying you’re going to get tossed and stepped on. You’re the first female cowhand I’ve ever had.”
He was very western in his attitude toward women, but she didn’t mind him coddling her as long as he didn’t also try to stop her from doing what she wanted. Since he was bound to do that, their lives together should never become too complacent.
He propped himself on one elbow and stretched his long legs out as he ate his second sandwich. She began to feel warm as she watched him; though he was simply dressed in brown jeans, a white shirt and those disreputably scuffed boots, he outshone male models she’d seen in tuxedos. His first wife had to be president of a Stupid Club somewhere, but the wretched woman shouldn’t be allowed to get away with what she’d done to him. Madelyn had never before thought of herself as vindictive, but she felt that way about anyone who had ever harmed Reese. If she ever met April, she would snatch her bald-headed.
He found the cookies she’d packed and washed them down with the last of the tea. Feeding this man could be a full-time job, she thought fondly. If his children inherited his appetite, she’d never get out of the kitchen.
Thinking of having his children made her feel even warmer, but reminded her of something she’d meant to discuss with him. She turned to face him, sitting with her legs folded in front of her.
“There’s something we have to talk about.”
“What’s that?” he asked, stretching out on his back and settling his hat over his eyes.
“Children.”
One eye opened and peered at her; then he removed the hat and gave her his full attention. “Ye gods, are you already pregnant?”
“No, and even if I were, I wouldn’t know yet, because it isn’t time for my period. We didn’t talk about it before we got married, so I didn’t know if you wanted to wait before we had children or if you wanted to have them right away. When you called, it was almost time for my period, so when I went to the doctor for the physical I got a prescription for birth control pills.”
He sat up, his face darkening. “You’re on the Pill?”
“Yes. I’ve only taken it for this month. If you want to start trying to have children right away, I can stop.”
“You should have discussed it with me before, or was that another one of those subjects, like your virginity, that you didn’t think were any of my business?”
She gave him one of those sidelong glances. “Something like that. I didn’t know you, and I didn’t feel very comfortable with you.”
He watched her for a minute, then reached out to take her hand, rubbing his rough thumb over her soft palm. “How do you feel about getting pregnant right away?”
“I wouldn’t mind. I want your children. If you want to wait, that’s okay with me, too, but I don’t want to wait more than a year. I’m twenty-eight. I don’t want to be in my mid-thirties when we get started.”
He thought about it while he studied the contrast of her delicate hand in his big, rough one. Now that he’d given in to the powerful physical attraction between them, he didn’t want to give it up too soon. He wanted to fully enjoy her for a while before pregnancy put necessary limits on the wildness of their lovemaking. He carried her hand to his mouth and licked her palm. “Take the Pill for a few months,” he said. “We’ll talk about it again in the fall.”
She shivered, a dazed expression coming into her eyes at the stroke of his tongue on her palm. As he pulled her down on the grass she asked, “Do you think you’ll get your boots off this time?”
