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She bit her lip and placed a hand on the blankets. “You do not have to sleep in the dirt.” The words were not much more than a whisper and she was not sure he heard her. When she slid back, making room for him on the bedroll, something in his eyes shifted. She saw him inhale a breath before he stilled.
He laid there so long staring at her without moving, heat filled her face, embarrassment making her look away. He stood a moment later, and she lifted her gaze, watching as he crossed the distance between them.
Her heart was pounding as he laid down facing her. They were so close she could feel the heat from his body and when he raised his hand to push a strand of hair from her cheek, she grabbed it, folding it in her own before closing her eyes.
“Did he hurt you?”
Her eyes opened at his words. Everything he felt was displayed in his own and his anger easy to see.
“No. He did not hurt me.”
He paused before saying, “Did he touch you?” That anger in his eyes burned brighter, his fingers clenching in her hands.
Touching her was not how she would describe how Walter took her to his bed, but she knew what he meant. She shook her head and said, “No, he did not touch me.” She kept the fact Walter forced her to touch him to herself. “He drank himself unconscious every evening and slept most of the day, but tonight—” She swallowed the revulsion she felt for Walter away. “He drank the last of his whiskey yesterday. Had you not showed up when you did…”
She left the rest unspoken. He tugged his hand free and pulled her closer to him, their bodies flush before he cupped the back of her neck. “He’ll not take you from me again.”
His breath was warm against her face. “Thank you for coming for me.”
“I would have crossed the entire country to find you.”
His words filled every part of her, the loneliness she had lived with for years replaced with longing and hope and before she could overthink things, she leaned closer and tilted her head, staring into his eyes as she brought her mouth to his and kissed him.
Unlike their previous kisses, the contact was enough to unleash something they had both been holding back, and their teeth clashed in their haste. Ben deepened the kiss, swiping his tongue into her mouth with enough force, there was no denying his hunger for her. She moaned, her pulse leaping as he pushed her to the ground, his knee wedging between her thighs as he laid half on top of her.
He seemed to devour her with that kiss. It was possessive. Claiming. And she could not get close enough to him. Her body burned with a need she had never felt for anyone else, and she moaned again when the weight of his leg settled more heavily between her legs.
Long minutes later, he broke the kiss with a gasp. They laid there, foreheads touching, and breathed each other in. He peppered soft kisses to her lips, his hand clenching at her waist before pulling away to lie back down beside her.
Disappointment he had not taken that kiss further made her heart long for more and she wondered why he had stopped.
“Get some sleep,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. “We have a hard ride tomorrow and any more of that and neither of us would get any.” He smiled, brushing her hair from her face. “We’ve not put enough miles between us and Silver Falls for me to be comfortable yet.”
The words he had not said were in his eyes. Promises of more kisses were easy to see, and she returned the smile before tucking her head underneath his chin. His arms tightened around her and she breathed in his scent while the warmth of his body heated her skin clean to the bone. This is where she wanted to be. Always.
In his arms.
Safe.
Protected.
And she hoped one day—loved.
Morning Dove yawned when he woke her. Ben hated doing it. One look at her told him she was tired. “We have to keep moving.”
She didn’t complain, just nodded her head and rose without a word. He saddled Wind Chaser for her as she shook out the bedroll before rolling it back up. When she’d tied it in place, she headed for the trees.
He helped her onto Wind Chaser when she came back and they headed down the river. He looked into the sky at the position of the sun before glancing back the way they’d come. They weren’t putting enough distance between them and Silver Falls as he wanted them to and the need to do so made him set a grueling pace he hoped the horses could keep up with. He hated running them so hard, but fear kept him going when he knew he should stop.
They’d slept half the morning away. Had the sun not shifted, the bright rays breaking through the trees to land on his back and heat his body enough to wake him up, they might have laid there all day. He woke hot and sweaty and the thought of Walter coming after Morning Dove drove him to his feet despite his desire to lie there with her in his arms.
They rode clean through the rest of the day and into the night with very little stops along the way. When the sun peeked over the mountains the next morning, he slowed their pace, stopping more frequently as he relaxed. All they had to do was cross the river and clear the next two mountains and they’d be home free.
It was late afternoon, the sun low in the sky when he found a wide open spot next to the river. The trees grew in a half circle and he could see the remnants of an old campfire still ringed with rocks.
He slowed Cash to a slow walk and looked over his shoulder at Morning Dove. “We’ll stop here for the night.” The relief on her face made him hate himself for pushing her so hard.
Both of them groaned as they climbed out of their saddles. They’d ridden hard and fast and he could feel every mile they traveled sitting on him in new aches and pains.
