I squeeze her thigh. “Hopefully different is good.”
“Very good,” she says as Honey’s tail swishes back and forth, and Noah barks commands in a low voice as he guides the sleigh through the hills.
“Guess what?”
“What?”
“It’s my first,” I whisper, and that feels fuck-all vulnerable.
“You never went with your sister growing up?”
“I was too busy with hockey. But I liked feeding the horses and taking care of them. Guess it’s a first for both of us.”
She slides her hand under the blanket, finding mine, looping our fingers together. Warmth floods me, even in the cold night with this peacoat on. This woman? She just warms me up with this steady, calm feeling, like I could…depend on her. Rely on her. “Never done something like this before. Never with Regina. Or anyone else,” I say, since it’s important Isla knows this is for her.
“Good. I like that.” She sounds enchanted.
It’s a good sound. I want her to sound like that again and again. Hell, I want to be the one to enchant her.
“Me too,” I say, then drop a kiss to her cheek—and I’m immediately struck by how good she smells. “Have I told you that you smell incredible?”
“Do I?” she asks, flirty.
“Like cherries. Sweet and tart. And like a woman who wants me to fuck her among the trees.”
She wrenches away, her lips parting at first, followed by a flash of nervous laughter. Then her eyes flare with heat, with blue flames. Thank fuck. Was hoping I didn’t push her too far.
I’m not sure where that came from, but sometimes you take your chances.
“Rowan,” she says—half a chide, half an invitation.
“Am I wrong?”
She parts her lips, shiny in the winter air. “How did you know?”
I sweep more of her hair away from her neck and drop a kiss to her skin, murmuring as I go, “The way you looked at me back at the Christmas tree farm in Cozy Valley. Like wild thoughts were racing through your head.”
She bites the corner of her lips. But she’s shuddering, trembling. Then she says, “I do.”
I groan—try to stifle it. “I’m going to make that happen.”
“How?”
“Do you trust me?”
Her eyes flash with vulnerability, then she nods. “You know I do.”
And as the driver maneuvers the sleigh down a snow-covered path, I kiss Isla as stars wink on in the winter sky.
Yeah, it’s ridiculously romantic. But this woman deserves it.
And maybe…I do too.
Where the hell did that thought come from? And why do I like it so much?
When the ride ends, with Honey coming to a gentle stop inside the barn, Noah hops off the driver’s seat and quickly unhitches Honey from the sleigh. He walks her to a trough and offers her some water, while I hold out a hand to Isla, who steps down from our seat.
After Honey drinks ten thousand gallons, Noah takes her to her stall and shuts the stall door, grumbling, “You can stroke her muzzle, but you’d better be gentle.”
