Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 35908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
She blinked in surprise. “Now?”
Lips flattened. “Yes.”
“All right.”
She finished folding the item in her hand and headed for town with the list in her pocket. It didn’t take too long and she had the items paid for and in her basket. Moving between two buildings, someone grabbed her. A hand stifled her scream, the basket fell to the ground, and she spun into the wall of one of the buildings. Amazing dark hazel eyes snared her.
“Cy?”
He kissed her. Hungry. Totally enveloping and dominating. She pressed closer and gripped his upper arms, returning the fevered kiss. Her burgeoning desire exploded and she opened wider, wanting more.
“Don’t leave me like that again, Rebecca,” he growled. He continued to hold her close, as if she meant so much to him.
“Why are you here?”
He drew back and frowned before tilting his head to the side. “I came for you.”
Her heart skipped a few beats at those four determined words.
* * *
Cy watched the woman between him and the wall. He shifted his weight to block those walking by from seeing whom he had with him.
“Me?” It was a squeak.
“I went to Robert a week after he returned and told him I knew.” He shrugged and reached out to trail two knuckles down her cheek, unable or was that unwilling to keep from touching her. It had been so long. “Then I had to wait for them to send a replacement station manager.” He stared in her eyes and opened up about something he’d once snapped at her about. “I got smashed beneath a falling horse going down a steep ravine during a battle with the Indians. Our medic was a drunk and set my crushed leg wrong. By the time I got to a real one it was too late. My bones had healed awkwardly. All the way here, I cursed this injury that kept me from riding as fast as I wanted, otherwise I would have been here sooner.”
Her hands—small and strong—slid over his chest. He swelled with pride and desire at the possessive touch.
“You came to say what?”
“You’re joking, right?” He glanced over his shoulders and focused back on her once he was sure they were still safe.
“No.” She lowered her hands and wrung them together.
“After all the…”
He took a deep breath suddenly realizing he could lose her. He refused to accept that. There was one person for everyone in the world and this woman, here, before him, was his. He didn’t care one bit about others’ stance on skin color or what some deemed proper order. Rebecca Freeman was his. He wanted to spend the rest of his days with her. Fall asleep with her at night. Make love and watch her belly swell with their child.
He shook his head and tried again. “After all the times we made love over these past months and your statement of love, did you honestly think I would let it go?”
She worried her lower lip and his heart slowed, breathing became difficult.
“The moment…I…” She shrugged.
He shook his head and captured her chin in his hand. “No way, Rebecca. You don’t get to say that then run. Not from me.”
“We can’t…”
He pressed closer. “I forgot to tell you how beautiful you look. I love seeing you in a dress.”
Her eyes widened and he knew he was getting to her. He gentled his touch however, he didn’t release her. Her brown eyes were soft and large, framed by thick lashes. He could stare at them all day.
“This isn’t a good idea.”
He disagreed immensely. “Why? Do you have someone in your life to keep me away?” She frowned and he amended how it sounded. “Someone you are dating?”
“No.”
He breathed easier at her immediate response. “Then there is no problem.”
“How can you say that?”
“Easily.” He brushed his lips across hers. Shifting his leg, he grimaced.
“Is it your leg?”
He kissed her again, harder this time, gentling it when she sank into him. The siren’s call to tempting to ignore and he pulled her flush to him, his erection dug into her belly. She slipped her arms around his neck, giving him more of her weight.
The heat grew and he forgot they stood in an alley. There was no feeling like having her curved against him. Kissing the woman he wanted beyond all else took precedence.
The snort of a horse burst the world they’d created for themselves. He spun, cursing the weakness in his leg, checked both front and back of them. One hand kept Rebecca behind him.
A large bay stood at the end, street side. Seated on his back was an imposing black man in an Army uniform. He had sergeant stripes and a blank look on his face. Disappointment? No. That wasn’t it. Something else. Something that made him suddenly fear for his life.
Despite his attempt, Rebecca moved beside him. “Papa?”