did as he was told. The trunk was too high to be a chair, but made a good bench and put her a head above him.
She walked over to stand directly in front of him. “You’ll never take anything from me, Wynn McCord. Not one thing,” she said. “Get that clear. You’ll never take me. I think you’ll have to learn to come toward me some other way than at full charge. If there is to be anything between us, there will be no orders.” She’d give him everything, if he asked, but nothing if he demanded.
She sensed he was in uncharted territory, but he was a strong man and his face showed nothing of how he felt. His glare was so strong she swore she could feel it on her skin.
Slowly, she lowered her crossed arms and her gown slipped back to where it had been, barely covering the peaks of her breasts.
He glanced from her chest to her face, trying to read what she was offering. “I know no words, Anna. I’ll never come a’courting. I’ll never know what to say or how to tell you the things women want to hear.”
“I don’t expect such things,” she said. “But I do expect honesty.”
“You’ve told me that before, Anna.”
She smiled. “And next time taking it a little slower wouldn’t hurt.”
Carefully, he raised his hands to her waist and tugged her toward him. Then he lowered his mouth and planted a feather kiss on the top of each breast before he looked directly into her eyes and said, “I’ll work on it if you’re willing to put up with me.” He lowered his head and she felt his smile against her skin.
Anna began to shiver as he moved over her flesh. Her hands rested on his shoulders as he drew her to him and nuzzled between her breasts, then turned slowly from one to the other, breathing her in as if she were a flower.
When he straightened, he grinned at her as his hand moved up her ribs and tugged her gown down.
For a while he just looked and moved the tips of his fingers over her gift to him. “You are so beautiful,” he said again as he lifted the weight of one breast and brushed his finger over her skin.
She would have fallen with pleasure if his arm hadn’t held her up.
He stood and carried her to her cot. When he lay her atop the quilt, he knelt beside her. “Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I don’t want to frighten you.”
“I know,” she whispered.
Part of her wanted to fight, to break away and run, not from him, but from herself. From feelings so long denied she’d forgotten how to live.
His big hand stroked over her bare body, pushing the gown lower until it barely covered her hips. She closed her eyes and moaned softly as he kissed her. Again and again, he moved up to her lips, his kiss deep with need as his hands branded her.
She relaxed, giving over to the pleasure of his touch. When he stopped, she opened her eyes, wondering how this man could have gotten so close, not with tender words and soft touches, but with honesty in his longing for her.
His hand spread out across her abdomen. “I have to go.” He said the words slowly, as if forcing them out. “But I’ll have your word you’ll stay in camp before I go. Nowhere is totally safe, but you’ll be surrounded here.”
She didn’t trust her voice. She simply nodded. He’d just shown her how much he wanted her. With his words he was telling her how much he cared for her.
She’d thought he would continue touching her, but he stepped away and picked up her robe. Silently she stood, barely aware of the gown falling away as she stepped into the robe he offered.
He tied it above her waist and took one of her hands, kissed it, and then pulled her to the door.
“Hell’s fires won’t keep me from coming back,” he whispered as he pulled her to him one last time.
They held each other tightly for a minute, then he patted her on the bottom and pushed away from her.
A moment later, he was gone. Anna shoved the bolt closed and went back to the cot where she cried herself to sleep, knowing when he came back she would let him in . . . whether he stayed a night, or forever.
Chapter 6
McCord rode for half the night before he stopped to