The Cowboy Who Saved Christmas - Jodi Thomas Page 0,21

forehead, then looked at the sleeping girls. “I’m going to miss them,” he whispered.

“Me too,” she answered.

As the last light faded and the inside of the wagon was black as a mine, she touched his chin and turned his face toward her. This time she kissed him slowly and tenderly for a long while.

He didn’t feel the cold or worry about the darkness. He was floating in heaven. He encircled her waist and pulled Em on his knee so he could feel her heart beating against his. As they kissed, he untied the shawl and pushed it back so he could feel the soft cotton of her nightgown.

She shifted so his blanket covered them from the shoulders down.

He spread his hand over her ribs and felt her breath quicken. When the kiss deepened, he knew she loved his touch as much as he loved the feel of what he’d once seen on a rainy night.

His hand moved up until his fingers passed over her breast and he caught a tiny cry of joy before it could escape.

He moved close to her ear and whispered, “You all right with this?”

She nodded, then turned to whisper back, “I’m loving it. I’ve never felt anything like this.”

He wanted to tell her how soft she was, how perfect, but words would be dangerous. If one of the girls woke, what they were doing would be a lot harder to explain than the pee gun.

He moved to the buttons of her gown and slowly worked one at a time. Then he slid his hand beneath the cotton and felt her skin on skin. His hand was rough on the softest thing he’d ever felt. Her nipple peeked and he laughed in surprise.

They’d had no time to say the words of how they felt about each other. No mention of love or forever but he hoped she felt it in his touch.

Maybe neither believed in forever. But at this one moment in time, he wished he did. He had nothing to give her. She’d lost one man. What if she wasn’t willing to lose another?

What if this one touch was all they’d ever have? It wasn’t enough. He had a feeling that a lifetime wouldn’t be enough.

He kissed her one more time and brushed her breast once more as he tried to memorize the feel. Holding her so close he felt like they were one person with two hearts.

Then, he relaxed. She rested her head on his chest and slowed her breathing.

He held her against him all night. It might be the only night they had. Tomorrow he might have to fight. He swore he’d die before he’d let anyone take Emery or the girls from him.

Chapter 10

The silence woke him at first light. The raging wind that had whistled down the ravine had finally settled. The storm was over.

He stood and gently lowered Emery to the bench. Covering her with his blanket, he kissed her head tenderly. He’d danced with a few women when drunk, and talked to a few when necessary, but holding Emery in his arms was a paradise he’d never expected.

Trapper had no way to put it into words.

Moments like this in his life were tiny stars in a million miles of darkness. They made all the hard times bearable. One night like this would carry him through seasons of loneliness. Strange, he thought, how he hadn’t known how hollow he was until Emery filled his heart.

As he buttoned his coat, he stared at the girls sleeping. Texas princesses born on this land. Number Five, Sophia May, she’d reminded him yesterday of her real name, had wiggled out of her blanket, but One, Catherine Claire, was holding her close and sharing her blanket with her little sister.

Number Four, Helen Wren, had hidden so many rocks beneath the back of the front seat he wouldn’t have been surprised if they weighed more than him. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her she had to toss out even one.

Four might be the next to the youngest, but she could read him. When he had to stop for the third time in one morning for the girls to “take care of private things,” or Trapper was forced into one of their games, Four always came near and patted him on the cheek, like that one thing would calm him.

Strange thing. It usually did.

When he studied Two and Three, he couldn’t believe he’d thought they looked just alike when he met them. They were as different