His hoarse whisper kindled a spark in places that had gone numb years ago. “Hush up, Ben Collier.”
At the corner of his jaw, salt pricked her tongue. She nibbled a path to his chin. By the time she laid the barest of kisses on his lips, his chest rose and fell in an erratic rhythm. Beneath the hand that sought passage through his shirt, a strong heartbeat raced, vital, alive.
The bottomless gaze that collided with hers smoldered with reckless desire. “I want you.”
The growling groan added crackle to her fire. “Then take me.”
The fierce need in Ben’s kiss beckoned even as it frightened. How could she crave this man like she did? Work-roughened hands smoothed the flimsy calico from her shoulders as firm lips trickled heat across her collarbone to aching breasts. His teeth pinched, his tongued teased, winding her so tight she’d snap in two any second.
“That damn dress has to go.”
His fractured murmur pulsed at the base of her throat, spiraling inward, fanning the blaze. Each grate of his breath echoed loud in the room as he swept her into his arms. Cavalry trousers bracketed her thighs. Her feet touched the floor.
The damn dress went, followed by the damn petticoat, the damn camisole, and finally the damn drawers.
“God, Maggie.”
The breathless prayer for deliverance caressed her naked skin, pleading salvation for them both. She straddled his hips and rose to her knees. His touch, at once tender and demanding, explored every sensitive inch, branding the marrow of her bones.
Her impatient fingers yanked his shirt up and over his head. The cloth fell God knew where, while teeth, tongue, and lips worshipped her ribs, her belly. Calloused hands trailed painful tingles down her back before sliding the length of her legs and urging her ankles around his waist. The proof of his hunger throbbed against hers for only a moment before he crushed her against him and rammed to his feet.
The damn boots and pants went, too.
When he lowered her to the mattress and followed her down, a possessive growl engraved a promise on her heart. A spike in her pulse twined her arms around his neck and tilted her hips to demand more. Gaze boring into hers, he obeyed, silent lips forming the word she could not.
Home.
****
Writhing beneath him, her ardor driving his, Maggie whipped Ben’s hunger into raw, ravenous need. With a firm shove, she rolled him onto his back. His breath and his control clawed for purchase while her burning velvet slowly set fire to the agony in his loins. Hands clutching her slick hips, he clenched his teeth and dragged himself away from the abyss.
The woman made love at a full gallop, offering no quarter, taking no prisoners. She gave him what he begged for, captured what she wanted, demanded every shred of strength he possessed. No Rebel yell had incited his passion like her cries and moans; no mounted assault spurred such urgency and fear. She led the charge, throwing both of them headlong into the breach.
Surrendering to her command made the victory all the sweeter.
Arms shaking, heart thundering between lungs that couldn’t find enough air, he rested his forehead on hers and mingled their breath. The waves in the cognac closed over his head.
Go home, Ben.
No need. In the unlikeliest of places, home had come to him.
****
Her cheek pillowed on warm skin, fingers splayed among the hair on Ben’s chest, Maggie breathed the essence of his strength, holding him close, memorizing the play of muscle over bone. How long had it been since a man had touched her for anyone’s pleasure but his own? For all his feral lust, Ben had satisfied more than her body. His scent, the spicy saltiness of his skin, the gentle encouragement from calloused hands and firm lips, all would remain with her, locked inside a vault in her heart.
She possessed no claim to this man, no reason to tangle his life. No right to hope he’d stay. But if she could capture just one dream, she’d embrace Ben Collier forever, wrap herself in the force of his will, create new memories and bury the old.
If he stayed, she’d have to bury something else—someone else. Someone precious and irreplaceable.
Given her druthers, she’d keep him with her…but to keep him safe, she must find the courage to make him leave.
Chapter Six
The fog would act as a shield, but the dense cloud couldn’t mask hooves and creaking leather. A horse whickered. Another answered. “Keep ’em quiet.” The fog hid the enemy, too.
Already, the air smelled like blood.
Yanks, from nowhere and everywhere. Ghosts in blue, swarming. Outflanked. Outmaneuvered. Outgunned. Powder smoke. Screams.
“Shell!”
Ben’s eyes snapped open on a sharp gasp, the explosion still ringing in his ears. A muggy breeze drifted across a blanket of cold sweat, increasing the chill. He forced himself to breathe, bring the world into focus.