Page 48 of The Enchanted Land

Morgan felt Seth’s warm breath in her ear. What she had just experienced was so different from what she had imagined. It made her feel good to give pleasure to Seth, the man she loved. He hadn’t hurt her, but neither had she felt the mounting excitement that he had, and then the quick relief.

“Did I hurt you,mi querida?” he whispered.

She hugged him closer, her arms not reaching across the broad expanse of his back. “No.” She didn’t want to tell him that she didn’t find making love the joyous experience she had expected it to be.

Seth rolled off her, and rested his head on his elbow. He smiled at her. “Don’t worry, little bride—it will get better.”

She was startled by his understanding.

“What’s there to eat around here? When a man changes from a gelding to a stallion in one day, it makes for hunger.”

He laughed at Morgan’s blush. Quickly she stood up and began to look for her clothes. “Here!” He tossed her his shirt. “I’m not ready to cover all that up, yet.”

In minutes she returned from the cliff dwelling with Seth’s saddlebags of food. He had started a fire in a sheltered copse of the canyon. Together they heated beans, and Morgan made baking-powder biscuits.

“If only Jean-Paul could see me now,” she laughed. “We spent a week on white sauces, and now I am making crude biscuits over an open fire.”

After the meal, Seth spread blankets. And as he held her close, she could feel his desire rising. As he kissed her and touched her body, she began to lose herself and feel a new urgency. Seth spent a long time with his love play, before he heard her soft moans and felt the movement of her body with his own.

When they made love the second time, she felt no pain. Her body felt good. She wanted this new feeling to go on forever. She was surprised at Seth’s mounting passion, and was disappointed when he rolled to her side, spent.

He held her close, and was soon asleep. Morgan stayed awake for a few minutes. For some reason, she felt like running until she dropped from exhaustion. But the soft call of an owl finally lulled her to sleep.

They awoke together in the dawn. “Seth,” she whispered.

Seth was smiling. She held out her arms to him, and he came to her quickly, his needs meeting her own. He held back, until she clawed at his back and held his buttocks, pulling him deeper into her. Her desires met his, and they collapsed together in one another’s arms, sated.

Morgan slowly recalled her abandonment of the moments before. She was embarrassed, and turned her head away from Seth. She had acted like an animal.

“What’s this? Morgan, what’s wrong?” He looked into her tear-filled eyes. “Tears, from my little wildcat?”

She began to cry more. “I’m not a wildcat. I’m awoman,” she sobbed.

He laughed. “So that’s it. It’s that damned mother of yours. Sometimes I wish I could have met her. But I’d probably regret what I would say to her.” He kissed Morgan’s damp cheeks. “Your mother had some wrong ideas about what makes a lady. I love you, and you love me. What we do between us isn’t wrong.” His eyes twinkled. “Didn’t you enjoy this morning?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all that matters.” He stood up, took her hand, and pulled her up to him. “Come on.”

“Where?”

“We’re taking a bath. I’ve smelled buffalo more pleasant than the two of us.”

She looked at his hair and noticed it was wet with sweat, as was her own. Seth was right. She had enjoyed their lovemaking … more than enjoyed it. She needed it. And she wasn’t going to let anyone interfere.

“Race you,” she called as she ran to the pool.

Chapter Nine

THEYspent four days in the canyon of the ancient ruins. Seth introduced Morgan to the joys of lovemaking, and after her initial fears were over, she learned to return his love with an abandonment that surprised them both.

“Morgan, sweet, it’s time to go.” Seth’s voice was a whisper in the early-morning stillness.

“Go where?” She snuggled closer to him, still groggy with sleep.

“Today we have to start for home. We’ve been here long enough. I want to take my little bride back to my ranch.”

It was a minute before Morgan reacted, and then she sat up, throwing the blanket from her body. The sight of her golden skin with the full curves of her breasts and hips always made Seth’s body react. He reached out one large hand to caress her and pull her back to him, but with lightning quickness, she was already standing out of his reach.

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