Page 111 of Legacy of Lies
“Oh.”
He helped her down, swung up into the saddle, and kicked his left foot out of the stirrup. In an ungraceful move of impressive proportions, she hiked her aching leg so that her foot could rest in the stirrup, grabbed his hand, and stepped up as he helped her settle behind him.
“You may want to hold on,” he said.
What woman wouldn’t?
Maybe she wouldn’t see him again, but the memory of her time spent with Garrison would keep her warm for many lonely winter nights. She wrapped her arms around him, bringing her chest up flush against his back. His body heat radiated through her skin, even through the coat she wore, and her head swam as she pressed her cheek to his neck.
“You can’t do that,” he murmured.
She started. “What?”
“It makes me crazy.”
Life plans be damned. She wanted to taste his skin, at least once more. “Like this?” She licked an exposed area of his neck, and he shuddered.
“Keep it up, and I’ll get pulled over for drunk riding.”
His chuckle rolled through her in a soothing wave of comfort, settling over her like a warm blanket. Nice feelings while they lasted, but her time with Garrison was drawing to an end. She wouldn’t think about it. Instead, she would rest for a few minutes. She laid her uninjured cheek on his upper back, tightened her grip around his muscled waist, and closed her eyes.
Sometime later, his voice drifted back to her.
“Wake up, Sara.”
Disoriented for a moment, she clutched at the man in front of her as panic shot through her like a bullet.
“Whoa.”
Did he say that for the horse or for her?
“Sara, we’re almost home.”
Damn that word again.Home. Yes, but not for her.
As they approached the main ranch yard, a figure, shadowed in the porch light, limped over to them. Kerr.
Sheriffs’ vehicles were parked in front of the house, and officers wandered out of the front door at Garrison and Sara’s arrival.
Kerr opened the gate from the fields.
The horse walked a few steps, then stopped.
Kerr whistled. “Holy fisticuffs, Batman, what the hell happened? Sara, goddamn it, your face. Shit. Are you all right?”
“Glad to see you, too, man. Can you help her down?”
Sara managed to move her wrecked body enough to hook a toe in the stirrup and swing her other leg over the horse’s rump. Thank God for Garrison’s support and Kerr’s steady hand when she landed on the ground.
Garrison dismounted, also landing heavily. Both men clutched each other around the neck and pounded upper arms.
As Kerr led the horse away, Garrison pulled Sara into a tight embrace.
“Thank you,” she mumbled into his chest.
He kept moving his arms to new holds around her head, neck, and back, like he couldn’t hang on to her enough. Little tremors rippled through his muscles. “Son of a bitch.” His voice cracked. “I thought I’d lost both of you.”
After a moment, they leaned back.
