She emerged from the blanket and hurried to the fire to warm her damp skin. The night air feathered over the droplets that clung to her body, causing her to shiver uncontrollably. As she huddled near the fire, caught up in her own thoughts, she stared into the flames that licked at the cold night air. When the glow of the fire fell upon Travis, who had moved closer to the light, Savannah darted a glance at him.
He was holding a mirror to his back, his shirt wadded to the opposite side of his body while he dug at his skin with a wide, glistening knife. She gasped, worried that he would stab himself as he hurried to his side and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Ease up, woman,” he said, shifting the knife so that she could not take it from him as she tried to do just that. “I’m not gonna kill myself. I just have a thorn or something back there that I can’t seem to get at.”
“Let me see,” she offered as she leaned closer to him and urged him to turn his back toward the light. She pinched the patch of skin between her fingers and examined the swollen mark on his back. “Looks like a thorn all right.”
She took the knife from him and held the blade between her forefinger and thumb as she held it next to the thorn, then she paused to ask, “Did you sterilize it first?”
“Yep,” he said with a nod. “Just get it out. It feels like it’s on fire!”
“It must. It’s swollen and feverish,” she noted as she picked at the protruding end of the thorn.
“Don’t slit my throat,” he joked nervously.
“Don’t worry,” she said as she eased the blade into his skin. “I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do that.”
“How could you? I sleep with one eye open and the other watching for predators,” he argued while wincing against the pain of the knife poking into the fiery mound of flesh on his back.
“Watching through your eyelids?” she asked, leaning around to see his reaction to her question. “You even sleep while you’re riding. Some protector you are.”
“Who killed that rattler for you?”
“You were wide awake when that snake made its appearance,” she reminded him, then continued to poke at his back. “Now hold still while I do this or the knife could slip and we’ll have a bigger problem to fix.”
Travis settled himself in a position that brought enough firelight for her to work and as she did so, he felt the softness of her touch. He saw the care and concern that showed on her smooth brow and the concentration that glowed in her sparkling violet eyes.
He felt the warmth of her body as it traveled the small distance between them, sending flashes of heat though his body and an uncontrollable shiver enveloped him.
“Hold still,” she scolded gently. “I’m almost finished.”
An instant after he had squared his shoulders and relaxed his muscles, she raised her head and announced triumphantly, “I got it!”
Travis touched his wound with his opposing hand and marveled, “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Good,” she said as she handed the butt end of the knife back to him. “You should be good as new by morning.”
“You know a lot about doctoring,” he said as she scooted away from him but still sat on the rock next to him.
“Yes. When my father was sick, before he died, I took care of him. The doctor came to check him but there was really nothing he could do. He showed me what I needed to do to make him comfortable and left me to do it.”
“It must have been very painful to watch him die,” he mused, thinking of how Melody had died. “I guess I was lucky in a way. I didn’t have to see my wife suffer…”
“That doesn’t make it any less painful,” Savannah said in an apologetic tone.
“Nope. It just eats away at me that I wasn't there to save her,” Travis admitted, his voice trembling.
Savannah searched his face. It was a face that reflected the pain that he must have been feeling years ago and what must be assailing him now as the memories came rushing back. His brows furrowed above misty brown eyes as he stared into the fire with his private misery. She placed a hand softly on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly and was rewarded with a vague smile and a melancholy sigh before he stood up and sauntered past the fire to the edge of the light and fixed his eyes on the blackness beyond.
Savannah was in awe of the tenderness and sensitivity that this man who could be so hard and cold to her and she wondered why she sometimes brought that out of him. She wondered if it was because her husband had murdered his wife or if it was just because she grated on his nerves that he treated her with such contempt. But then, at other times, he could not keep his hands—or his lips—off her. The reason for that also eluded her.
The only way for her to find out was to ask him. He certainly was not going to volunteer any information or rationale for his actions toward her. That determined, she walked to his side and stood next to him. Her violet eyes showed black in the night as she studied his hardened face and asked, “Do you hate me?”
The question took him by surprise. He snapped his head toward her and asked unbelievingly, “What?”
She crossed her arms in front of her and repeated, “Do you hate me?”
“Hate you?” he asked questioningly, and then answered, “No.”
“Then why do you act like you’d rather be somewhere else, with someone else? Why do you ignore me most of the time—when you’re not being cross with me? And when you kiss me, why do you do it as if you are punishing me?”
“Punishing you?” he asked, turning to face her and seeing the hurt look on her face, he realized that except for when he thought he’d lost her to that snake, he had abused her quite a bit. With true remorse in his heart and in his voice, he said, “I didn’t mean to. Well, maybe I did. Hell, I don’t know.”
He pulled off his Stetson and swiped a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say to her—how to say what was in his heart and not what his pride told him to say. Right then and there, he decided to stop torturing himself and her. It was time that she knew his true feelings. After all, she’d asked for it. If it brought them together or tore them apart, the truth is what needed to be told and the sooner, the better.
He drew in a long, contemplating breath before he started, “Well, first off, I don’t hate you. The fact is I like you—a little bit too much for my own good.”
He paused to garner her reaction to his confession before he continued, “You see, normally, I’m not like this. Me, I’m usually laid back, easy-going and cool-headed. You have to be, in the line of work that I am in. To have been a ranger before and now, to have nothing left in my life but to kill the man who murdered my wife, I have to keep myself composed and levelheaded. But, when I ran into you, I did a complete turnaround. I can’t explain why I’ve been acting like I have. I guess you could call it confusion and difficulty with the complications that having you around has caused me.”
“Complications?” she asked, bemused and befuddled.
“Hell, I can’t think right. That’s not what I mean,” he said becoming bewildered with the task of explaining to her what he really wanted to say. “What I mean is for some reason, you bring out a whole different person in me. I can’t explain it but I’m all mixed up with turmoil and anger at myself for letting it beat the Hell out of me. And the more I think about it and try to sort it out, the more confused and confounded I get. And the more messed up I get the angrier I get.”
He sighed again and looked at her with emotion shining in his troubled eyes as he confessed, “I don’t mean to take it out on you. But I take it out on myself so damn much that it just boils over and you get what’s left of it. I’m sorry for that, I really am.”
He turned toward the dying flame and thrust a stick into the embers, his profile showing the confusion and agitation on his face. Savannah’s heart leapt at first, then fell with concern for him, and then skipped a beat that he had told her his innermost feelings, even if it was all a jumble of aggravated observations while evading the words that
she knew that were on the tip of his tongue, on the verge of spilling out from his heart, yet words that he held back either in fear of reprisal from her or apprehension that he would really believe them to be true. And finally, her elation that she had discovered that the emotions that she was battling were somewhat similar to those that assailed him.
She followed him to the fire and touched his arm timidly with her fingertips to get his utmost attention and when he turned toward her and looked into her eyes, she smiled and admitted, “I understand what you are saying because I am going through the very same thing. I mean, one minute, I despise you and your insolate attitude, yet I respect your intelligence and self-assuredness. One day, I want to please you, to glean as much praise from you that I can and the next day, you make me want to slap you happy. But, all the while, I have this place inside me that hurts so badly when I’m angry at you and when you’re angry at me. And when I stop being angry, the pain goes away. Somehow, I wish it would never hurt again, that we could finally get along without arguing all the time. I want us to be friends, to respect each other’s feelings and to trust each other no matter what the circumstance.”
She paused to let her words sink in as she searched his face for some hint that he understood what she was trying to impart to him and she smiled when he nodded slowly, his mind organizing and connecting the things she said into a logical explanation for what they both were experiencing.
Finally, he said after a deep breath and while stabbing the fire one last time before he admitted, “Life would be a lot more livable if we didn’t argue all the time.” He threw the stick into the fire and turned to her, taking her shoulders into his hands and said decisively, “Let’s make a pact. No more bickering. No more tension and no more holding in what we’re thinking, unless we think it might hurt the other party.”
Savannah smiled brightly, relieved that they had finally worked out their problems and would come to an agreement. She stuck out her hand to shake with him on it and said, “It’s a deal.”
Travis took her hand slowly and squeezed it gently within his large palm. He stared into her eyes for long moments, silently conveying to her the feelings that were finding their way through the surface of his softening heart. With his endearing touch, he wordlessly transmitted the long-forgotten sentiments that he had buried many years ago. He brought her hand up to his lips and seared her palm with a devotional kiss that sent a wave of heat traveling from the sparking spot of impact and up her arm to warm her very core.
Savannah shivered with the tingling that shot through her spine and sent butterflies fluttering inside her stomach. Instinctively, Travis took her beneath his arm to press her against the warmth of his body.
He touched his lips to the top of her head and whispered, “You cold?”
Savannah sighed and snuggled closer to him, burrowing her shoulder into the pit beneath his arm as she replied happily, “Not anymore.”
Long, breathless moments passed before Travis asked with a tiny bit of sadness in his voice, “Savannah?”
“Hmmm?” she purred and waited for him to continue.
“Do you really despise me sometimes?”
She pulled away and turned to look up at him. She searched his face for signs that he was joking but found that there was a hidden, almost disguised indication of trepidation that her answer would be in the affirmative. She lowered her eyes again and stared at her hands, one of which still burned from his kiss and she finally admitted apologetically, “I did.”
She shook her head when his expression turned puppy-dog sad and she corrected, “But I didn’t really.”
Her head angled toward her toes, she silently admonished herself for letting her anger control her emotions. Then, she drew in a breath and admitted, “I just didn’t understand you. I didn’t understand myself I…”
A curled finger made its way to her chin and turned it upward to face him. Then that same finger traced a path from her chin to the angle of her jaw. A trickle of excitement mingled with her awakening desire as that hand cupped and encircled her face. A second later, his other hand cupped the other side of her face and his lips found their way to hers.
The kiss was soft, exploring and affectionate. His fervent lips teased and tantalized the quivering eagerness of hers. Cradling her face in his warm palms, he moved his lips slowly, undulating with pure passion, pressing, caressing, departing and then returning to renew the sensual assault all over again. Upon her insistent moan, he deepened the intensity of his kiss, driving his lips into hers until the urgency of her excited pleas compelled him to encircle her in his strong and loving arms.
Instantly, Savannah melted into him, clinging, yearning, searching, and then finding the passion that had lain dormant for so many years. Her heart pounded against her chest, fueling the fire that consumed her self-control. Dizzying, deafening sparks of desire burst like flashes of lightning throughout her body, paralyzing her yet catapulting her upon the rising wings of passion. As if controlled by some unseen force, her limbs responded with mirroring motions, caressing, pressing and yes, teasing in return.
She found herself lying upon a blanket that had appeared from nowhere. She did not object, but eased herself down with his gentle coaxing while still clinging to him as if he was her only salvation. When his lips departed, she whimpered a protest. But her disappointment was rewarded when he lay down beside her, his body bare and scorching with desire.
With his lips, he caressed her arching neck while his deft fingers toyed with the buttons of her blouse. Teasing, he plucked one button from its stays and then cupped a breast, sending hot flashes of passion throughout her body. Dancing back to the buttons, his fingers continued to pluck until the soft linen of her chemise thrust upward with the rise of her eager breasts. A hand moved back to cup the protruding mound, the heat of his palm filling her with a trembling, aching need from deep within her. The hand left her breast to take a searching journey down her stomach to the thickness of her leather belt. A whispered curse from the lips that smelted to the hollow of her neck left a burning brand upon her skin as he fumbled with the buckle below. A clink of metal and the belt was loosened. She heard him breathe a triumphant sigh before the rough denim of her skirt was shifted beneath his fingers until it too was freed.
Savannah moved her hips from side to side as he slowly guided the skirt to her ankles and then to the dirt beside them. With outstretched arms, she anticipated his return with patience evading her, while he eased back down beside her.
Travis leaned upon one elbow and gazed down at her as she laid waiting like a purring kitten begging to be stroked with love’s sweet caress. Then he smiled victoriously at her reaction while he trailed a finger from the inside of her palm up the inner arm to her shoulder, pausing to chuckle delightedly at the trembling that he’d caused upon her delicate flesh. Finally flitting to the tiny buttons that strained diligently against her heaving breasts, his deft digits plucked them one by one.
Savannah’s hand slinked up his bare arm and across his matted chest and she smiled as he groaned and lowered his body to melt with hers. The kiss that followed sent the passion of their bodies into a flame that burned to their very souls. Lips pressing lips, tongue dancing a sensual dance with tongue, ecstatic groans mingling with hungry pleas as the two merged into one.
Savannah squirmed beneath him as he removed the chemise to expose the gleaming twin peaks that quivered with a quake of desire. Travis bent to kiss the deep burrow of her throat then his tender lips traveled up the snow white, velvety mountains that ascended to the pink-brown rosebuds which demanded his attention. He obliged them with a soft nibble on each tip, circling the petals surrounding them with his knowing tongue until she gasped with delight. When he eased upward to weld their lips together once again, she took his head in her hands and weaved her fingers in the ocean of wayward curls. A deep moan welled up in her throat as Travis lowered a hand to remove the last remaining barrier that kept his searching hands from exploring her completely.
The petticoat gave way without objection to his gentle tug against the silky ribbon that willingly surrendered to reveal the soft, creamy-white skin that it had been trusted to protect.
Travis trailed a finger through the valley between her breasts, down her stomach to the furry forest that awaited his caress. Skillful fingertips danced upon delicate flesh, torturing and tantalizing, starving and then feeding the need that he had created with his talented touch. He brought her to the edge of rapture and then paused to triumph over the moan of objection while he covered her mouth with his in order to silence that pleading protest. Finally gratifying her with the release that she so craved, he covered her small body with his sizeable frame and breached the boundary of her inner being, carrying her with his expertise upon wings of passion and together, they flew atop clouds of revelation until they burst through the fiery realm of ecstasy’s sweet reward.
Chapter Seventeen
Savannah wiped a trickle of perspiration from her brow as the undulating motion of her mount reminded her of the jubilation of last night’s passionate encounter with the man who had given her all that she had desired and more. Every muscle in her body ached with the aftermath but she welcomed this little bit of discomfort, for it was her prize, her memento that gave her the aspiration to relive each blissful moment that they had shared. It mattered not that her languid legs refused to hold her in the saddle or that her elbows dangled at her sides in heavenly exhaustion. She was still soaring high on a thermal of contented bliss. Every nerve tingled with excitement and fulfillment, a blessing that only the binding of two preordained bodies could accomplish. Last night when she and Travis had touched spirits, communicating with flesh the significance of God’s ultimate promise to man, they had embarked on a journey that would continue to summon them back to reinforce that blossoming revelation.
Today, she thought as she drifted upon blissful memories, nothing could upset her. But as the day lingered on with every step that the horses took and the idle chatter that wafted between her and Travis, their conversation turned to the mission at hand and sparks of anger began to fly again.
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