to love a woman again. And if I do, she won’t be able to love me, or be happy with what I have to offer.”
She swallowed, unable to speak as his breath touched her face. Without noticing, he’d brought his head closer to hers, and before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers.
Even as her mind was yelling for her to stop, knowing this wasn’t appropriate behavior for a single schoolteacher, her body rebelled and moved closer. When his hand gently reached up and cupped her cheek, while his other arm wound behind her back and pulled her against him, she knew nothing her mind said would convince her to pull away.
His lips moved while his fingers moved up into her hair at the base of her neck, slowly caressing the skin and leaving a trail of heat everywhere he touched.
He groaned low in his throat, while he kissed her with an urgency that left her breathless. Just when she thought her legs were about to give out, he pulled his head back and looked down at her. Her lips were still parted, and it took her a moment to get her senses back.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
His voice sounded hoarse as he struggled against the emotions of what had just happened.
Suddenly, he turned his head and his eyebrows pulled together. “Can you smell smoke?”
She shook her head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs as she struggled to comprehend what he was saying.
He stepped back, and walked down the step, sniffing in the air loudly.
“Something’s burning.”
The scent of smoke finally reached her, and she stepped down beside him. “I can smell it. Where is it coming from?”
He turned and scanned the area, stopping as he faced the trees separating the property in the distance from Constantine and Mercy Brown’s.
The sky just above the tree line was orange, and with a sudden realization of what was happening, Colt took off running.
Kathryn didn’t know if she could keep up, but she wasn’t going to be left behind.
As they raced through the long grass toward the smoke she could now make out billowing high in the air, she sent up a prayer for her friend and her unborn child.
“Please, let Mercy be all right.”
Chapter 20
As soon as he made it across the field separating his property from Brown’s, Colt knew from the location of the flames that it was the barn on fire. With the lack of rain they’d had, he also knew that everything around the area was now at risk too.
He ran straight toward the fire, not even sure what he was going to do, but the sound of Mercy’s screams coming from just outside the doorway terrified him.
When he got closer, he could see her trying to get inside, screaming her husband’s name.
“Mercy, get back! Go up to the house.” He turned and saw Kathryn not too far behind him, so he pushed Mercy toward her. “Take her to the house.”
“Constantine is inside. I tried to get in, but the flames are so high…”
“Come on, Mercy. Colt will take care of everything here. Let’s go.”
Colt knew Kathryn would look after Mercy, so he turned his attention to the barn. He knew there was no way he could get this under control on his own, but he had to try.
And as much as he hated Constantine Brown, if the man was inside the burning barn, Colt had to try and save him. He looked around and saw a large pail by the pump, so he raced over and started filling it with water. Even knowing it wasn’t going to make much difference, he hoped it would at least give him something to use as he made his way inside.
Pounding hoofbeats came from the other side of the house and another neighbor hollered to him.
“I’m going to go in and get some men from town.”
“Constantine is inside.”
The other man cursed as he tried to keep his horse under control. “Wait until I get back with some help. Don’t be going in on your own.”
As the neighbor raced off toward town, Colt ran back to the barn with the full pail of water, almost running straight into Kathryn who was heading the other way with an empty pail.
“What are you doing out here? I told you to take Mercy to the house and look after her.”
“She’s inside, but I need to help you. She promised to stay in the house.”
Colt didn’t have time to argue with the