His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as his head falls back, revealing it beneath his beard. “Me, too. And I have condoms, if you prefer?”
He lifts his head. One eye opens, pupils blown wide.
“Not tonight. Not after everything… lover.”
“Lover,” he growls, gathering me in his arms. “I like that.”
“But I’m too heavy,” I protest.
“To hell you are,” he gasps, lifting my hips again, settling me down over him. “Need a girl who’s strong and untamable.”
I whimper, gripping his neck as he slides me up and down. Taking his time, giving me more with each pass. Taking more, too.
“Oh, Arlo,” I gasp, our eyes meeting as he finds rhythm, muscles flexing and straining, body unraveling mine all over again.
I pulse and shake, holding back, then losing control, giving myself so completely that I no longer know where he ends and I begin. And only then, when my fingernails dig into his back and I spasm around him, does he release with a few more deep, deliberate strokes.
Heat fills me in waves, his head dipping to rest in the nape of my neck. I pull him closer, holding him as if my life depends on it. “I’m so sorry about everything you lost today,” he whispers. “I should’ve told you sooner.”
“No,” I say, stroking his bearded cheek and making him look at me. “This is the beginning. Not the end.”
The fire crackles. His hand comes up, picking something out of my hair. “Ash.”
Ash. It all washes over me again, and I gasp.
“What?”
“The animals. I have to make sure everyone’s okay.”
“Leonora—”
“No, seriously, Arlo. A ranch doesn’t run itself, and the last thing I need is?—”
“The last thing you need is riding into the middle of the night up to the winter pasture. I handled everything. The herd. The stables. Even the chickens and rabbits.”
I press my lips into a firm line, forehead knitting.
“What? You don’t trust me?”
“Not that,” I say, shaking my head. “I have to see them with my own eyes.”
“Everybody’s fine,” he murmurs. “I promise.”
My eyes drop to his too-kissable lips, hands stroking over his gorgeous red beard. “I need to see the calf. Feel like a rancher again… despite everything.”
The stable feelswarm and cozy after so much chaos. Scented with clean straw and the nutty molasses sweetness of feed. Warmed by thick walls and happy livestock. Tails swish softly, breathing low and relaxed. Smells and sounds I’ve loved since childhood.
A single lamp illuminates the stall overhead, giving off warm light as Arlo and I sit in the hay, calf between us. “You hold that bottle like a pro now. A true adopted cow mama.”
“Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” he says, cocking his head with a boyish grin.
I grab his cheek, leaning across the calf for a kiss. “It’s a very good thing.”
“So, I passed the test… though you still don’t care for my saddle skills?”
“They could use some work. But the mucking? You’ve got that down.”
“Glad to know I’m good at shoveling shit.”
