Page 69 of Montana Freedom

I tossed the keys and pills on the entry table and turned, pinning Emma against the door with my body and my good arm. “I mean I wish I had something nicer than a bachelor’s shack to bring you to. But this will have to do, because I can’t keep my hands off you.”

“Daniel—” Emma gasped before I kissed her. “You’re hurt.”

“Not badly enough to make me stop.”

Her small moan drove every thought from my head aside from the ones of her skin and the other sounds I already knew she could make.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” The word was muffled since my lips were already pressed to her neck. “I am sure. I need to feel you and tell my subconscious we’re both still here and still safe.”

“Are we?”

I pulled back, and her big, beautiful eyes repeated the question. One blue eye and one brown. So unique, and yet they fit her perfectly.

“What if they followed the ambulance? What if they followed us here and shoot through the windows?”

“Every building on the ranch is built with bulletproof glass. And given what happened not only with Evelyn, but with Simon and the fire, no one is getting on this property without us knowing. I promise.”

“Okay.” She melted against my body as I walked us to the bedroom. It was a clumsy walk, bumping into walls because neither of us was willing to come apart enough to walk in a straight line.

My shoulder ached, and every time it got bumped, the pain was sharp, but I’d had worse, and I didn’t care. I needed my hands on this woman more than I needed to be without pain. The pain reminded me he’d missed.

What if I’d turned the other direction? The shot might have been far closer to my heart and all this might have been different.

Getting out of my clothes was the easy part. I dropped the sling to the floor, and Emma opened her mouth in protest. “I’m not taking the sling to bed,” I said with a laugh. “Don’t worry, I won’t lift you. Come here.”

She did. I pushed the one shoulder her dress had off and watched the fabric fall in a wave, pooling around her feet, still in the heels she’d worn for the wedding. And the underwear.

It had been long enough since I’d done this with anyone that I’d forgotten the way underwear could send heat swirling through your mind and your body all at once.

“Fuck.”

The word slipped out, and immediately, she was looking at me. “Do you need the pills?”

Tilting her face to mine, I kissed her.Consumedher. “I only need you, sweetheart. That was because you’re so fucking beautiful, I can’t breathe.”

“Daniel.”

I wrapped my one good arm around her and held her tight. “You can let it go now, Emma. I’m sorry I scared you.”

Her eyes were glassy. “I knew you were okay.”

“Knowing it and feeling it aren’t the same. We both know that.”

Up on her tiptoes, she put her arms around my neck. “I’m just glad we’re both here.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

With my good arm, I gripped her waist and reversed our positions, bringing her down onto the bed with me. Sprawled over me, her cheeks suddenly pink, she was looking at the center of my chest like she was embarrassed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing at all. But I’d like to try—” She pulled away from me until she was on her knees on the floor. Her flush was even more intense. “I’ve never done it.”

“Nor do you have to,” I told her.

“But I want to. I just don’t want you to be disappointed.”

I reached out and touched her cheek. “Emma, nothing you could ever do would disappoint me.”

---