Page 63 of Destined for the Cowboy

But the pain of it shattered the protective shell he’d built over the years, and he’d run. Just as he’d done as that scared kid, he’d run. And she’d known it, been certain enough that it was the first thing she’d said.Why did you run?

“Is it really so hard for you to believe?” she asked softly, snapping him off of the old, worn track.

“Yes,” he admitted, with a wry, self-directed chuckle.

“Well, get over it, Fox. Because I don’t give up easily.”

He looked at her then. Because he had to. “I kind of figured that out.”

The smile she gave him then was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen. She reached out and laid a gentle hand over his, rubbing slightly with her fingers, looking oddly as if she enjoyed the roughened texture of the skin there.

“Good,” she whispered. “Because I didn’t get the chance to tell you how much I love the feel, even the very thought of these wonderful, powerful hands, hands that do so much, touching me the way you do.”

He nearly shuddered under the impact of those words. And in that moment he wanted nothing more than to kiss her, a good, long kiss that would bring back every moment of that spectacular night. And she was looking at him as if she wanted the same thing.

And so he did it.

Chapter Thirty-One

Tris was alreadysmiling when she opened her eyes. It began because she didn’t think she’d ever felt so comfortable as she did this morning. It was enough to turn her into a morning person. The peace, the quiet, the fresh air from the open window, were the perfect ambiance, as far as she was concerned. And this simple, secluded house in the Texas hills might just be the perfect place.

But the most perfect thing of all, of course, was the feel of Logan’s arms around her, of his long, strong body pressed against her, of the luscious warmth of him. Not that it was cold, even at this early hour—this was Texas in June after all. But it was cool enough that she could savor that warmth…and everything else he’d given her last night. Lying naked under the sweep of stars, while his hands and mouth and body made her feel as if she were soaring among them.

Face it, he drove you starkly, utterly, completely mad last night.

That was another thing the seclusion of this place offered—there was no need to be…quiet.

She felt a different kind of heat rising, a self-conscious sort of flush as she remembered her own cries last night. And how every time one broke from her it seemed to make him wilder, which drove her further, until they were both on the edge of being out of control.

Or maybe over that edge.

She felt Logan’s arms tighten around her, just slightly, as a sleepy sort of murmur came from him. “Mmm.”

And then he went suddenly very still. Almost rigid.

Not as rigid as one part of him last night, though.

She nearly laughed embarrassedly at herself; she wasn’t used to having thoughts like that. But after last night, everything had changed.

She had changed.

“I thought I’d dreamed it.” The words he whispered in her ear took her breath away.

She shifted so that she could reach up to touch his face. “If this is a dream, I don’t ever want to wake up.”

He kissed her then, long and deep, a prelude to revisiting that wildness in each other they’d discovered last night.

It was much later, when a different kind of hunger drove them to scavenge what they could in his kitchen, that she paused and looked out the wide bank of windows that looked out over the Hill Country. The expanse was beautiful, and to her the peace and solitude of it soothed her soul.

“This place is…perfect,” she whispered to herself. “Just perfect.”

“You mean that?”

She’d sensed him coming up behind her, but didn’t care if he heard her words. “I mean it completely. It’s as close to my idea of paradise as anyplace I’ve ever been.”

There was a second of silence, as if he were gathering himself. When he spoke she understood why, because he said, “Then stay.”

She went very still. Then, slowly, she turned to look up at him. All beautiful six feet of him. “Are you asking me to…move in?”

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