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“But?” Borgaz prompted.
“But I do not wish her to feel obligated to take care of me, of us.” The thought had bothered him all night. “Nor do I want her to stay because she feels she has no other choice.”
“I see.”
When his friend didn’t add anything else, he gave him an irritated look.
“That’s it? No other words of wisdom?”
“That’s your area, not mine, but I’ll repeat your words back to you—why not just ask her? Don’t assume it won’t work and make both of you unhappy.”
“It’s unfair to expect me to follow my own advice,” he muttered, but he smiled as he concentrated on his horse.
After they finished taking care of the horses, they talked a little about the plans for the other farms in the cluster—farms that had been purchased by the previous owner in his desire to expand and then left abandoned. Borgaz had surveyed all but the two most distant ones.
“I would have to leave Mary for two full days, and I am unwilling to do that.”
He could understand the heat of newly mated bliss and had no intention of insisting. If their positions had been reversed, he would not have left Ida. He already disliked the thought of being separated from her.
“I don’t suppose it’s that important. I think we can safely assume they are in the same condition as the other farms—abandoned but reclaimable.”
“They would only be suitable for someone who wished to remain at a distance. None of us would want to be that far away from our matma.”
Borgaz grinned at him and he shook his head, but neither the comment nor the nickname displeased him. It was his duty to look out for his males, but it was also his honor and his pleasure. Would his… attraction to Ida interfere with that duty?
No, he decided, but he couldn’t quite escape a faint feeling of guilt.
Conversation finished, they went to join their females. Ida was laughing when he entered and she gave him a quick, guilty look, her cheeks turning a betraying pink.Hmm. He wondered what she’d been saying but he found the idea that she’d been talking about him more satisfying than distressing. An unexpected reaction considering his usual preference for privacy.
They talked for a while longer and he found himself envying the casually possessive way Borgaz’s tail curved around Mary’s waist or his hand rested on her shoulder. He would have been happy to have indicated his claim on Ida in such a way, but given her embarrassment on the road—a not unjustified embarrassment—he kept his hands strictly to himself. An unnecessary restraint as it turned out.
When they left to return to the main house so that Ida could prepare lunch, he was aware that she kept stealing glances at him from under her lashes and he finally brought both horses to a halt again.
“Is something troubling you, my sweet?”
“Do you think I behaved too wantonly before? When you… touched me?” she burst out.
“Gods, no. I would have been delighted to give you more pleasure, but I thought you wished to stop.”
“I did. Mostly.” She bit her lip before she rushed on. “But if it wasn’t that, then why were you treating me like a stranger at Mary’s house?”
He started to object that he’d done no such thing, then realized what she meant and reached for her hand.
“You mean because I was not touching you?”
“Well, yes. I thought maybe you didn’t want them to know that we were… involved, but I already told Mary?—”
Her words cut off as her cheeks flamed again.
“Told her everything?” he asked, once more amused rather than annoyed.
“Not exactly, but I don’t have many friends who would understand.”
She wasn’t looking at him, and he reached over and gently lifted her chin so he could see her eyes.
“Understand what?”
“The way you make me feel. So… excited.”
