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“I forgot the bed was so rickety.”
Ben moved to lie beside her, tucking her into the curve of his arm. “Well, we won’t have to worry about breaking it now.” He placed a kiss on her nose. “Because as soon as we eat that rabbit, I plan on having you again for dessert.”
She hummed and snuggled against him. “I can hardly wait.”
He was still watching her. Every time she looked over at Ben, his eyes were on her.
Morning Dove felt her face heat as she slipped her dress on, remembering everything they had done the night before and her limbs ached with every move because of it.
She lost count of how many times Ben had loved her during the night. He had taken her in every way possible, kissed and licked her flesh, and her skin still tingled with memories of his head between her legs. She had felt nothing like it and this morning, his constant staring was making butterflies dance in her stomach and made her want him all over again.
They talked nothing about what would happen once they made it back to Willow Creek, but their relationship was different now. They were no longer acquaintances or friends, but did their intimacy change anything? To her it did. She wanted more than these handfuls of days. She wanted what Aaron and Betsey had. She wanted a home of her own and a man who she knew loved her.
Ben rolled up the last of their bedrolls. After breaking the bed the night before, they had spread them out over the thin mattress and she was once again held within the shelter of his arms. She never wanted to be anywhere else. She had slept peacefully, without fear. With no worries and no concerns for what tomorrow might bring.
Now that the sun was up, those things weighing on her could not be ignored.
She could see the horses from the open door. Ben already saddled them both and seeing them out there ready to go made her want to ask him to stay one more night. Here in this little cabin, she could pretend he was hers and she was his. That nothing else mattered in the world. It was just the two of them, happy and free of any worries and she could spend the day in the broken down bed with him and let all her problems vanish.
“If you don’t stop looking at me like that, we’ll never make it over the mountain.”
She smiled and smoothed her dress down over her hips. “And how am I looking at you?”
“Like you’re thinking of things that require us to both be naked.”
Her face heated. “And if I am?”
The smile he gave her was wicked and made her heart race.
“If those rain clouds I saw in the distance were moving this way, I’d be inclined to stay but they’re not so there’s no excuse other than wanting to get you naked again.”
She blushed. “And would that be so bad?”
“No. But if that dress comes off again, I’m not going to be able to do anything else but…”
He stilled, his head cocking to one side.
“What is it?”
He held up a hand and looked outside toward the horses.
Morning Dove’s pulse leaped when he headed to the door. She hurried after him, stepping out onto the small porch when the blast from a gun startled the birds in the forest into flight. She yelped and ducked when Ben did, listening to him curse as he turned and grabbed her arm.
“Get inside,” he yelled, pushing her toward the doorway as men on horseback came around the side of the cabin. Her heart sank when she saw Walter.
“Not so fast,” Walter said, pointing his revolver at them both.
Morning Dove fell back against the doorframe and blew out the breath she had been holding. These were the men they had seen down the river. It had to be. And Walter was with them as Ben suspected, but how did they find them? They were nowhere near the river.
One man with Walter leaned to the side and spit a stream of black tobacco juice to the ground. “You ortta learn to cover your tracks better.” He grinned, his blackened teeth making her stomach roll. “You ran those horses so hard you left a trail big enough for a blind man to see.”
Ben stiffened at her side, his hand still on her elbow. His jaw was clenched and the fingers of his free hand were twitching. She knew without asking he wanted to pull his gun, but doing so would probably get them both killed. They were outnumbered.
She recognized the men with Walter. It was the same ones who had been with him in Willow Creek, and she wondered what they were being paid. They were not here out of the goodness of their hearts, and Walter had no friends. They were hired guns and nothing more, which made them unpredictable.
She stepped forward, trying to pull her arm free of Ben's grasp as he tugged on it, pulling her back to him.
“Don’t do it, Morning Dove.” His voice was pitched low. He pulled her back and stepped in front of her, giving her a look that said she was not to move.
