"If it comes to that—" He looked down into her face, memorizing her expression, loving her all over again, his own heart shattering at the look she wore. "If it comes to that, remember, it's my gift, Allie. Mine to give."
He lowered himself to her again, covering her mouth with his as much to stop the protest he saw in her eyes as to show her again just how much he cared.
Love thundered through him like the steady pounding of the ocean, his hands locking in her hair as he rose above her and plunged into her, again and again.
Sensing the primal cry hovering on her lips, he put his mouth over hers, breathing the same breath at that very instant, until, when he lifted his lips from hers, she only whispered, "Brandon."
But the way she said it couldn't have meant more to him than the sweetest I love you ever voiced.
He filled her, pulling back, his own fingers tracing the lines of her fine bone structure – her cheeks, her chin, around her neck to where her pulse beat just under her ear.
Then, she said the words to him, and he felt the wound inside him close, and knit completely.
"I love you, too, Allison," he murmured. She was all he would ever need. All he ever wanted. And he was whole again in her love.
Chapter 26
They lay together in the stifling stillness of the summer night, neither one sleeping. Allie knew Brandon was awake, though he tried to lie still, not bother her. As tired as they were, she doubted either of them would be able to sleep with the heat.
She turned, seeking a cool spot in the sheets, and Brandon gave a low sigh.
"I'm never going to get to sleep," she murmured.
Brandon moved slowly to sit up, not answering.
"Where are you going?"
"Not 'me' – 'we'. We're going swimming."
"At night?"
"Yep." He stood up and pulled on his jeans, then turned to look at her expectantly.
The moonlight filtered through the window, providing Allie enough brightness to see his grin. He put out his left hand, and she reached to take it. "I've never done this before, either," she confessed, feeling just as shy as when she'd said those words to him that first time.
He gave a short laugh. "With all these boys around, night is likely to be the only time you'll ever get to go swimming. Or, have any privacy." He reached for his boots, and Allie turned away to put on her own clothes – the skirt and blouse she'd worn into town earlier.
Brandon took her hand and led her through the front room, where some of the boys slept on the floor. They picked their way carefully across the front porch where yet more of the boys lay sleeping, spilling over onto the steps and the ground.
Once they'd cleared the front yard, they passed the low-burning campfire the drovers kept, a pot of coffee warming on a metal rack near the flames. Two of the drovers sat away from the heat at the edge of the ring of light, drinking from their enamel cups.
They both nodded in wordless acknowledgement as Brandon and Allie passed by them.
As they reached the end of the clearing and started into the woods, Brandon finally broke the silence. "Found this place earlier when I brought the boys down here to wash up the plates."
Allie suspected she knew the place he was referring to. There was a small waterfall where the creek widened out not too far from here. She hoped that was the place he had in mind, because she was not comfortable walking these woods in the pitch black of night. There was moonlight, but not enough for her liking, filtering through the thick overhead canopy of trees.
Brandon chuckled as if sensing her unease. "You can relax, Allie. You're with me. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you, I promise."
She squeezed his hand. "I know. I just – I've never liked the night – the darkness."
"Why not?"
"It's…uncertain. I can't see where I'm going, or what's around me." She sounded stupid.
"You need that assurance, don't you?" The understanding way he voiced what she'd been trying to say made it seem all right. The kindness in his tone brought tears to her eyes, and she stumbled, but he turned quickly and caught her to him. He pulled her close, steadying her as she leaned into him. Behind where they stood, she could hear the low gurgle of the stream. "I'm 'around you,' Allison."
After a moment, she nodded against him. "Life's been uncertain ever since I lost my family. For the past fourteen years or so. I'm tired of not knowing, not being able to control how things are—" She wasn't talking about the darkness of night anymore. Somehow, Brandon always knew how to see into her soul.
"You can't control everything," he said quietly. "Some things just…happen."
"Are you talking about killing Carver and Johnson?"
He stiffened, and didn't answer. After a moment, he turned away and took her hand in his once more, leading her toward the sound of the water.
In a few seconds, they came to the edge of the trees. It was the place Allie had thought, with the small waterfall tripping over a short rock wall.
"You know this place, I'm sure," Brandon murmured.