it gets brutally cold or we get a blizzard. You should see how shaggy his coat gets. I swear he’s half woolly mammoth.”
She finally released the last of the tension, a tension that she had built herself out of pieces of her previous relationship. She needed to be wary of that. She certainly ought to know as well as anyone just how much past experience could color the present.
They made sandwiches again for dinner and sat facing each other at the table.
“We need to go to town early tomorrow,” he said.
“What for?”
“Um, how about food? And ice? And maybe one of Maude’s fantastic breakfasts?”
“And hay,” she reminded him. “But what about Dusty? You don’t want him to stay in the corral another day.”
“He won’t. I’ll either ride him down to HQ or we can lead him with the truck. They have a bigger corral down there and after the fifteen-mile walk it won’t seem so bad to him. He’ll probably even get to see a few of his friends.”
“Do horses have friends?”
“Believe it. They’re herd animals. Every so often they need to socialize with their own kind. God knows what they talk about. How irritating we are in the saddle? Who’s got a better rider? Whether the hay is fresh or the oats good?”
She laughed. “I wish I could listen in.”
“Sometimes I just wish I could read their tail flicks and their ears better. I swear, a horse can express volumes with his ears.”
“And their eyes,” she said, remembering how Dusty had looked at her when he decided she was okay. “Your horse has the most expressive eyes.”
She almost added as do you, but when she met his gaze the fire she saw there rendered her breathless. As if passion had been waiting patiently in the wings, it burst forth onto center stage.
Later she would have only the haziest memory of how they came to be lying naked together on the sleeping bags. She would only vaguely recall them pulling at each other’s clothing, not even remember the moment when they tumbled to the floor.
But she would never, ever forget his weight on her and the powerful way he drove into her, as if he wanted to bury himself completely inside her. She would never forget the spasms of hunger and finally delight that ripped through her. Nor would she ever forget how he managed to bring her to the peak and topple her over the edge repeatedly.
And she would always remember how, later, they slowed down and made love again, taking their time with each touch and caress and kiss, until he lifted her over him. Or how it felt to ride him to the stars.
Those things became branded in her heart.
Chapter 13
Dawn brought a perfectly clear sky with light so breathtaking and crystalline that Sky ached to paint. Craig had managed to distract her for a while—well, it was easy now that she had discovered just how good sex could be—but finally there was no escaping the day’s requirements. He kissed her over and over again, as if he didn’t want to let go, and she pretty much felt the same way.
Except that letting go was inevitable. Impending sorrow lanced her heart but she tried not to let it show. If there was one thing she had learned, life was what it was, and sometimes it hurt like hell.
She reminded herself that he had asked how long she could stay, but he hadn’t even hinted that he didn’t expect this to end. It was just a fling. She needed to keep that in mind and simply enjoy it for what it was. Living in the moment was a skill she had learned in Iraq. Looking forward and looking back changed nothing, enhanced fears and pain, and made you miss the good things right in front of you.
“I’m taking my car,” she said as they left the cabin. She carried her painting kit.
“Why? I can bring you back after the shopping.”
She shook her head. “I’ll meet you here later. This light...I can’t waste this light, Craig.”
He looked up at the sky as if it might reveal the answer to a mystery, but he didn’t see light the way she did. He probably noticed that the rain had left the air so clear that everything seemed sharper and brighter, but he probably couldn’t grasp what that meant to her. Not since she had arrived here had she seen light like this, and at home the higher humidity often affected the