Shepherd Moon by Rochelle Alers

Author:Rochelle Alers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

Rhianna stood several feet away from Emery inside a tightly woven fence, watching as he checked the foot of the lone ram. Three border collies stood guard outside the fence. The area where the sheep were turned out to pasture covered almost half an acre.

The first thing Rhianna noticed about the sheep was their fleece. It wasn’t tightly curled as she’d seen in other breeds; it was longer and crinkly like goat hair.

“Do they stay out here overnight?”

Emery straightened from his kneeling position. “No. All but two ewes have come into estrous and have mated with Bully Boy.”

“When do you expect them to lamb?”

“Late April or early May.”

“Why so late?”

“Once I decided to participate in the study I only had enough time to build the barn, but not enough to install a heating system. If I’d bred the ewes in August, then they would’ve lambed in January.”

“Aren’t you afraid of stray dogs or a coyote attacking them?”

Emery opened the gate and whistled sharply between his teeth. On cue three dogs raced in and herded the sheep out of the fenced-in area and over a rise to the small barn where they would spend the night.

“Not at all. The two males would’ve attacked you if you hadn’t been with me, while Lady is a bit more gentle. She’ll probably be the one to protect the lambs.”

“Lady and I have met.”

Cupping her elbow, Emery led her back to the truck. “When?”

“The first night I came to see you.”

Raising his eyebrows, he stared at her delicate profile. “Oh, that was the night you came and cussed me out.”

She stopped and faced him. “I didn’t curse you, Emery Sutherland.”

“It sounded like cussing to me.”

Rhianna rested her hands on her hips. “If I’d really cussed you out, then you never would’ve spoken to me again. Because when I cuss someone they stay cussed.”

Bending slightly, Emery swung her up in his arms and spun her around and around. “If that’s the case, then I hope never to get on the wrong side of you.”

Rhianna wrapped her arms around his neck to keep her balance. “Put me down, Emery.”

He stopped spinning. “Why?’

“Because I’m too big to carry.”

“Too big or too heavy?”

She punched him softly on the shoulder. “You got jokes about my weight.”

“No. When you first came back here I thought you were a little skinny for my taste. I like my woman to have some meat on her bones.”

Rhianna froze as she stared at him. She could barely make out his features in the stream of light coming from the pickup’s headlights.

“Who said I was your woman?”

“I didn’t.”

“Neither did I.”

He kissed the end of her nose. “Would you like to be my woman, Rhia?”

Her whole being seemed to be filled with waiting, a waiting that had eluded her for ten long, lonely years. Every time Emery looked at her she saw a longing in his gaze that echoed her own. Each time he kissed or touched her she wanted to surrender all of the love she’d locked away from every man to him.

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