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He grinned and raised an eyebrow when she just stood there. “Well?”
She startled, as if she’d been in a trance. “Well, what?”
“Are you going to join me?” He walked backwards, wading deeper into the water before turning and diving under. The river was wide here, with a large sunken hole big enough to swim in. The water was almost calm compared to further down where the rocks caused small rapids.
Surfacing, he swung his head, forcing his hair out of his eyes, and turned back to the bank…and froze as Morning Dove’s dress hit her feet.
She locked eyes with him as she walked into the water. He lowered his gaze, taking in the gentle slope of her lush breasts, her brown nipples peeked. He bit back a groan at the sight of them. They weren’t large but plenty big enough to fill his hands, and his fingers twitched to do just that.
Her flat stomach and flared hips drew his attention to the dark curls at the apex of her thighs, and his cock ached while looking at her. “Beautiful.” He didn’t realize he’d said the word out loud until she smiled.
Morning Dove met him in the center of the river, then ducked down under the water. He lowered himself to submerge his lower half, hoping she couldn’t see how hard he suddenly was, before swimming backwards to give her room. When she surfaced, he watched water droplets slide across her skin.
She unbraided her hair, the long silky strands falling over her chest. Neither said a word as they stood there staring at one another. He was afraid to move, truth be known and try as he might, he couldn’t stop looking at her breasts which were barely covered by the water.
Since the day they’d accidentally kissed in Aaron’s barn, he’d imagined all sorts of scenarios between him and Morning Dove, most of which included them both being naked, but in all those fantasy’s he’d known all the right words to say. Now, he was so tongue-tied he just stood there like an idiot and stared at her.
She swam closer to him and stopped within arm's reach. “Do you have soap?”
He blinked and nodded, lifting his arm to hand her the soap still clutched in his fingers.
She took it with a quiet thank you and watching her wash all that lovely hair made something in his chest clench. He’d never had a thing for women’s hair but hers, he wanted to run his fingers through.
He cleared his throat when he realized he was still staring and looked back toward their camp and the rabbit still slow cooking on the spit. He should have had her turn it before inviting her into the river. Wasn’t anything worse than eating a burnt rabbit. He could smell it now, and his stomach growled in response.
“How far are we from Willow Creek?”
Her question startled him and drew his attention. “If we ride hard, we should make it in a couple of days.”
Morning Dove continued to soap her hair and looked toward the mountains. “We can not get there soon enough for me.” Her gaze fell to his neck, her eyes going glassy. He knew what she’d seen. The rope burn had been bad the night he’d woken up under that tree. He could only imagine what it looked like now.
He reached up and ran his hand over it, feeling the tenderness there. It felt bruised and raw, and it probably was.
“How did you survive them hanging you?”
Dumb luck. “Well, fortunately for me, that old tree was as rotten as Walter’s black soul.” He laughed when she smiled, that haunted look in her eyes vanishing at his attempt at a joke. “The limb broke,” he told her. “I don’t know how long I laid there. The sun was going down when I came to. I managed to get back to Aaron and Betsey’s place and found Wind Chaser out by the barn. She’d made her way home, but Aaron hadn’t seen her. Neither him nor Betsey knew what had happened.”
“I’m sorry.” Her words were barely audible over the rush of water. “I never meant…”
“It’s not your fault, Morning Dove.” She didn’t look as if she believed that.
“If Walter—”
“—Bad things happen to people all the time, Morning Dove, and I’m not the first man hung for no good reason. Those drifters with Walter...I’d met them in the saloon and they’d been looking for a fight and found one in me. I don’t regret a second of that day.” He waded closer to her. “That kiss I stole underneath that tree was one I won’t soon forget. The only regret I have is not being able to keep them from taking you.”
“Maybe but…” She blew out a breath before frowning, her lips clamped into a harsh line across her face. She sank beneath the water, rinsing the soap from her hair before surfacing. She wiped her face and gave him a sad smile. “I spent months looking over my shoulder, expecting Walter to step around the corner at any minute. After a while, I thought maybe he was not searching for me at all. Seeing him ride down the hill…” A shudder made her body shake. “I should have known better. I should not have been out there alone. If I had been at Aaron and Betsey's when you came searching for me, none of it would have happened. We would not be in this mess now.”
Ben closed the distance between them, lifting his hand to brush her wet hair back. “It’s not all bad.”
“How can you say that? You look—”
She bit her lip but said nothing else, her gaze locked on his neck.
“Awful?” He laughed. “Well, I feel pretty awful, too. My throat is sore and I haven’t had a drop to drink in close to two weeks but, I am standing in the river with you, alone, and very naked.” He grinned. “Trust me when I say it's no hardship.”
She laughed softly and shook her head before turning to stare toward Silver Falls. Her eyes lost the light shining in them. Now they were filled with such a haunted look, he knew without asking how afraid she was of Walter.
“I doubt you will be so lucky next time he finds us, Ben.” Tears clung to her lashes when she turned back to face him. “Hanging you did not work. I am sure Walter only did it so he would not draw attention to what they were doing. Out here…there is no one to hear a gunshot. No one to…”
