Page 29

And she hated me. Sighing, a frown deepened upon my face as I rounded a grove of trees and stopped my horse dead in his tracks.

“Briar?!” I gasped, crashing off my horse as any agitation fled my body at the sight of her, crumpled on the ground. Her frenzied eyes whipped up to mine as her bottom lip began to tremble.

Dropping the reins, I darted over toward her and fell to my knees. “Are you hurt?” I grabbed her arm and lifted it, turning her around to scan her body.

She violently shook her head. “No,” her voice cracked, and the flood gates opened. Tears immediately streamed down her cheeks, leaving a stained path against the dust that coated her typically dewy skin.

“Everything’s okay,” I whispered, reaching toward her.

She stared at me, almost incognizant of what was going on, and then fell forward, slumping into my arms.

“You found me,” she muttered, her words muted against my chest.

“I told you,” I quietly said, pulling her tightly onto my lap. “Even with my eyes closed, I know this place.” Placing a gentle hand against the back of her unruly braid, I pressed her tighter into my frame. The amount of fear she must have experienced was not lost on me. Combine this hopefully unrelated incident with whatever she was already running from, and what happened yesterday, her crying was a good thing. She needed it, and honestly, I was not upset that I got to hold her again.

I couldn’t believe she was letting me do this. Cuddling with her during the night had left me aching for the possibility to touch her again. Yeah, I knew it was fast. Everything had been a whirlwind since she’d shown up, but I was not complaining. My heart raced, no longer from the adrenaline of being chased by a group of poachers, possible illegal hunters, maybe worse, but from the woman who felt so small in my arms.

Hold on, why was she okay with me doing this? Better question, why was I doing this? Wait, why did it matter?

It didn’t. Her life was my responsibility regardless of anything else going on. Regardless of the fact that I was way too attached to her. Despite her secrets, I craved being around her. Even with that snarky attitude she gave me.

Her trembling increased, and I threaded my fingers through hair that had loosened but still remained in the braid. “I’ve got you, Goldie,” I whispered above her head.

A chuckle vibrated against my chest. “I hate when you call me that.”

“It’s been a week, how can you hate something so quickly?”

“I hate you, and it’s been a week,” she responded with speed.

A smile drifted over my lips. “Fair enough.”

There wasn’t another word exchanged, not for a while. Not until her breathing slowed and her crying stopped. Not until she slowly backed away from me and finally lifted her eyes to mine.

I studied her briefly, wishing that she was back against my chest. The lack of warmth from her touch brought in a wave of exhaustion that coated my body.

Suddenly, her brows stitched together, and she raised a slender hand. “DID YOU GET SHOT?” she shouted, her eyes locked onto my shoulder.

“Oh.” I glanced at the wound I’d briefly forgotten about. “It’s nothing. Just grazed me a bit.”

“You still got shot! And it’s my fault,” she gasped, reaching forward. Her fault? But that thought was immediately lost as my eyes slid down her arm and rested at her fingers that hovered a centimeter away from my surface wound. My stomach churned and a fire began roaring low in the pit. Everything around me blurred, dancing just out of reach from the world that suddenly only included Briar and me.

“It’s okay, Goldie,” I gently whispered.

She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears again as her hand plunked mindlessly against my thigh. “If I’d already been saddled and riding down the mountain like you said…”

“That was dumb of me to tell you to do. You don’t know the way, so where would you have gone?” I mindlessly answered as her fingers began to quake.

“I’d probably have ended up lost,” she muttered, her voice sounding miles away yet right next to my own ears.

Glancing away from her hand, I locked onto her eyes. The mist in her irises swirled like moonlight blending with the stars on a perfectly clear summer night. Her plump, heart-shaped lips were parted slightly, innocence coating her doe-like gaze.

And she inched closer toward me.

My stomach lurched.

My chest heaved.

It’d been so long since I’d felt the kiss of a woman. And the idea of it being hers roared hot unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.