He reaches for me then, his hand cupping the back of my neck, pulling me down until our foreheads touch. “I want you,” he breathes against my lips. “I’ve wanted you for so damn long I can’t remember what it felt like before.”
“I want you too,” I whisper back.
And then he’s kissing me, soft and desperate and full of eight years of waiting. His lips are warm and sure against mine, his hand tangling in my hair. The kiss tastes like promises and hope and coming home.
When we break apart, I’m breathless. He’s looking at me like I’m something miraculous, something he can’t quite believe is real.
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell him, my voice stronger now. “Whatever trouble you’re in, whatever’s coming next, we’ll figure it out together.”
He nods, his thumb stroking across my cheek. “Together.”
Truett’s hand finds mine, our fingers interlacing. His grip is strong and sure, an anchor in whatever storm is about to break over us.
“With you? I’m ready for anything.”
TWENTY-TWO
AUBREE
“Areyou taking the cattle to market tomorrow?” I ask Jesse as we sit on the couch in front of the fireplace a few days later.
At some point, it’ll get too warm to have the fire going, but right now it offers me some comfort in these uncertain times.
“Yeah, and I’m sending you to Nora’s. I don’t want you out here while we’re gone.”
I tilt my gaze up to him. “What about Truett?”
“He’ll be well taken care of. You, Atlee, and Nora will be together at Nora’s. The three of you are the ones I’m most concerned about.”
This is different for us. I’ve never known him to worry about anyone other than his brothers or Truett. He’s never been the type of person to show his feelings. The I love you he gave me was a crack in the armor, and I don’t expect it to show up very often. “What do you think’s going to happen?”
“You never know. The men at the Morrison place probably saw that it was us. Do I know that for sure? No. It was dark, and there was a lot going on, but I know that Noah suspects more than he’s letting on. My fear is he’ll catch y’all at a vulnerabletime and someone will slip up.” He frames my face with his hands. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
There he is. The man who’s harder than he needs to be. The one who can strike a tiny sliver of fear into anyone with a few words and a stern look.
“We wouldn’t betray you.”
His palm moves to the back of my head, and he cups it surprisingly softly. “I’m not saying you would, but any of you could be used against us. I’m not willing to put you in that situation.”
Warmth creeps into my chest, whether it should or not. Knowing that he cares enough about me that I could be used against him is flattering. It gives me hope that this isn’t just some fling, and he’s praying I’ll leave again.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” His deep voice is laced with a grin. “I can hear it contemplating.”
I smile at him before rolling us over so that I’m straddling his waist. He slaps his hands onto my hips, holding me close. “Just eighteen-year-old me is really excited she’s in this position.”
He presses up into me. “Well, thirty-something-year-old me is happy about it too.”
The firelight dances across his face, highlighting the sharp angles of his jaw and the intensity in those striking green eyes. My fingers trace the dark beard that frames his mouth, feeling the coarse hair beneath my fingertips. He’s beautiful in that rugged, dangerous way that’s always made my pulse quicken.
“You know what I was thinking about earlier?” I murmur, my hands sliding down to rest on his chest, feeling the steady thrum of his heartbeat beneath my palms.
“Tell me,” he says, his voice rough with desire as his thumbs trace circles on my hip bones.
“I keep thinking about what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten embarrassed and left after I kissed you.” I lean down, myhoney-blonde hair falling like a curtain around us. “What if I would’ve been brave enough to stay?”
His hands slide up my sides, leaving trails of fire in their wake. “Maybe we needed those years apart. Maybe we both had some growing up to do.”
“Maybe,” I whisper against his lips before capturing them in a kiss that starts soft but quickly deepens. He tastes like whiskey and promises, like everything I’ve ever wanted but was too scared to reach for.
