Dal bore down on the man, then reined hard. Leaning, he gripped the drover by the arm and pulled him up. As the drover grabbed him from behind, he had a second to realize it was Freddy, then he urged the horse through the darkness, flying out onto the range, away from the swing of charging animals.
He didn’t stop until he was positive they were beyond the herd’s drift. Then he sat for a minute letting his heart settle back in his chest. Now he became aware of Freddy’s arms wrapped around his waist like a vise, felt her shaking along his back. Away from the din of hooves and horns, he could hear her quietly sobbing. Gently, he pried her fingers open and her arms fell away as if her bones had turned to sawdust. She slipped off his horse and collapsed to the ground, giving in to a storm of weeping.
Swinging to the ground, he muttered a curse, then staggered backward a step when she sprang up and threw herself against him. “My horse went down and ran off and I, oh God, I was so frightened, so terrified, I thought sure I would be killed and the ground was shaking so badly I could hardly stand, let alone run, and they were coming and I couldn’t get out of their way and—”
Her arms went around his waist again, hanging on like she wanted to melt into his bones and hide there. She had lost her hat, and the twine tying her hair had broken, releasing wild silky curls down her back and over her shoulders. He hesitated, then wrapped his arms around her trembling body and murmured next to her temple.
“It’s over now, and you aren’t hurt or injured. Freddy, it’s all right.” The words came automatically, without thought, because the instant his arms went around her everything became physical. She was electric, vibrating against him, the heat and scent of her searing all thought from his mind. His hands moved on her back, rubbing the taut muscles rising along the valley of her spine, and his chest tightened beneath the crush of her breasts. When her hips moved against his, his body responded with an instant, powerful arousal.
She raised her head, bringing her lips an inch from his. “I’m sorry I lost my horse, he—”
“It happens,” he said gruffly. In the moonlight, her damp eyes were dark and bottomless, a mystery as ancient as the earth. Her chest still heaved, each gasping breath thrusting her breasts against him. He slid his fingers to her slender waist, letting his hands rest briefly on the swell of her hips, his breath quickening. And he knew the exact moment when she became aware that she was in his arms, locked against him, knew the moment she felt his hard urgent arousal and understood that he wanted her. Her eyes flared and she gasped softly, her gaze dropped to his lips.
If she had stepped away, the incident would have ended right there. But she was as paralyzed as he was, as ready for this inevitable moment as he had been. She stood motionless, breathing hard as he slid the warmth of his hands up her rib cage, letting his thumbs come to rest beneath her breasts, feeling the weight of soft flesh on the backs of his hands. A low groan scraped the back of his throat as her breath hitched, then flowed over his lips, and her hips returned the pressure of his. His mind exploded.
Instinct overwhelmed him and he dropped his hands to cup the sweet curve of her buttocks and he molded her tightly against his erection. When she felt him rock against her, her eyelids fluttered, a soft moan came from her throat, and her body sagged. Together they sank to their knees, then she opened her eyes and her lips parted. “Dal…”
He kissed her then, not gently, not tenderly. He didn’t kiss her to comfort her. He took her mouth hungrily, almost savagely, wanting to punish her for having a body that tormented him, for telling him that his last kiss had meant nothing, needed to punish her for letting scum like Jack Caldwell call her honey, and for ever thinking about a man who wasn’t him.
This time she wasn’t motionless in his arms. Her hands flew to the sides of his face and she kissed him back, suddenly as wild and hungry and crazy as he was. As if she had awakened in the moonlight to find herself alive and needing to feel, she threw her arms around his neck and lunged forward, knocking him flat on the ground. Mouth locked to hers, he caught her by the waist, rolled her over and kissed her deeply, wildly, exploring her lips and mouth with his tongue, catching fire when he felt her pliant body wiggling beneath him. Wrapped together, they rolled on the ground, legs tangling, hands clutching and grabbing, rubbing against each other, driving each other wild and half-mad with desire and touching and moonlit craziness.