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I put my hand to her muzzle.
“What are you doing here all alone?” I whispered.
“She looks in good health to me,” Wolfe said behind me, leaning against the opposite wall of the barn.
I could feel him staring at me even with my back to him.
I nodded.
“That may be, but we need to figure out who this barn belongs to.”
“Do you like her?” he asked.
“Like her? I love her. She’s sweet and tender. Not to mention gorgeous.” I moved my hand to her forehead, dragging it to her ears and poll.
She let me as if she’d known me her whole lifetime.
“Reminds me of someone.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re comparing me to livestock now.” I laughed, surprised to find out that I had mist in my eyes.
I imagined she belonged to a young girl. She looked young herself. Maybe they’d grow up together.
“What should I compare you to, then?” He pushed off the wall, striding to me, my back still to him.
I heard the hay crunching under his feet. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and savoring his touch as his arms wrapped around my midriff from behind.
“People,” I whispered.
“I can’t compare you to people. There aren’t any people like you,” he said simply, his mouth on my neck now.
Heat gathered in my belly, and I felt myself shuddering with pleasure that broke on my skull and rushed all the way down to my toes.
“It’s yours,” he snarled in my ear, his teeth grazing my lobe.
“What?”
“The horse. It’s yours. This barn is mine. All this land, three miles each way from the cabin, belongs to us. The previous owner had a barn. Took his horses with him when he sold it to my parents.” His dead parents. There was so much I didn’t know about him yet. So much he kept from me. “Before I married you, I didn’t want to give you a wedding gift. But after I married you, I realized you deserve much more than diamonds.”
I turned around, blinking at him. I knew I should thank him. Hug him. Kiss him. Love him even harder for his effort, which, I knew by now, did not come naturally to him.
The idea of loving him so openly was startling. He held all the knowledge about every piece of my life, yet I knew nothing about him.
Perhaps you don’t need to know a person in order to love them. You only need to know their heart, and Wolfe’s heart was far bigger than I’d previously imagined.
He stared at me, waiting for a response. When I opened my mouth, the most unexpected words came out.
“We can’t keep her here. She’ll be lonely.”
For a moment, he didn’t say anything, before closing his eyes and plastering his forehead to mine, his lips locking on my own. He sighed, warm breath skating between my lips.
“How are you so compassionate?” He mumbled into my mouth.
I clutched the collar of his jacket and drew him to me, kissing the corner of his lips.
“We’ll take her somewhere on the outskirts of Chicago where you can visit her weekly. Somewhere with lots of horses. And hay. And ranchers who’ll take care of her. And stay firmly away from you. Ugly ranchers,” he added. “With no teeth.”
I laughed. “Thank you.”
