Traitorous Hearts by Susan Kay Law

Author:Susan Kay Law
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-03T23:59:59+00:00

CHAPTER 15

He lay on his back on the woolen blanket, Beth sprawled across him. Her cheek rested against his chest; her wild curls tickled his nose. Idly, he stroked her back, his fingers drifting over her fine, soft skin.

As much as he knew what he'd just done was wrong, he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not yet. Not when her legs still tangled with his and her breasts were crushed against him. Not when the scent of lavender and lovemaking clung to his nostrils. Most of all, not when he was still joined with her.

"Have to go," he said reluctantly.

"I know." She pressed a kiss on him just above his right nipple.

An incredible languor had seeped through her. Moving didn't sound terribly appealing. Returning to reality sounded even worse. When he slipped out of the part of her that still tingled from their pleasure, she groaned in protest.

"Have to go," he repeated.

Reality came whether she wanted it to or not. She felt him move beside her, pushing himself to his feet. He was leaving—really leaving, not just returning to the fort. He was going away to shoot at people, and have them shoot back.

And she didn't know if she would ever see him again.

It shouldn't be so easy to get dressed again. All she had to do was slip her blouse back up over her shoulders and pull her skirts back down over her hips. All he had to do was button up his breeches and tuck in his shirt.

It made it seem as if it all had been so furtive, a quick, stolen fumbling in the dark. It had been nothing like that; it had been the most brilliantly beautiful thing that had ever happened to her.

Because it had made her feel beautiful. She'd felt like the woman she knew she wasn't: feminine, seductive, her emotions close to the surface. If nothing else, she was glad that just once in her life she'd felt like that.

"I can't fasten my buttons. Could you help me?"

He groped for her in the darkness, his hands grazing private places until he found the buttons he sought. He moved slowly, reluctant to close her blouse, the final symbol that the interlude was over. He couldn't resist trailing his lips up her spine as he slipped the smooth disks through their holes.

"Sorry, Beth. Some... gone. Tore off."

"That's all right."

He turned her around, wrapped his arms around her, settled her close, and held her. fust held her. Outside, the thunder and lightning had ended, leaving the steady rain that poured rhythmically from the dark skies.

"Didn't want to hurt you, Beth."

"You didn't hurt me." She clutched at his back, holding him closer. "You could never hurt me."

Finally, they could hold back the world no longer. He let her go and rose, stepping carefully to the corner where the ladder descended back to reality. She followed.

"Don't have to come. Can stay here," he said when she started down after him.

"I'll see you out."

Horses snuffled quietly in their stalls, oblivious to the storm without and the tension vibrating between the two people who passed.

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