Asa swore under his breath as Elizabeth came alive in his arms, “What?” She turned those big green eyes on him. “You told me I looked beautiful!”
“You do.” He refused to feel guilty. Even blood-streaked and dirty, she was gorgeously, beautifully alive.
She twisted, ignoring his efforts to keep her straight, trying to manage a peek in the hall mirror as they passed. She must have caught a glimpse of her reflection because her hiss of pain exploded into a screech of horror. “You carried me through town looking like this?”
“Wasn’t much I could do seeing as how no one stepped forward with a comb.”
The logic of the argument was lost on her. “I asked you if I looked a fright!” She struggled to lift her good arm to straighten her bun. “You said I didn’t.”
“I said you looked beautiful.” He pushed the bedroom door wider with his foot. It was only two steps to the bed. Millicent rushed forward to pull down the covers.
Elizabeth glared at him as he laid her on the smooth white sheets. “You lied to me!”
“No, I didn’t.” He eased her head onto the pillow. Her face was as pale as the sheets. “Could you heat some water so I can clean her up?” he asked Millicent without taking his eyes off Elizabeth, who winced and closed her eyes. No doubt screaming at him wasn’t helping her headache much.
“I’ll do it right away,” Millicent answered, heading for the door. “Give a holler when you get her stripped down and settled. It’ll be ready.”
“Thanks.” He breathed a sigh of relief for her tact. He didn’t need an audience right now, no matter how caring. He needed a moment to get himself together. Maybe then, his hands would stop shaking. Maybe then, he could stop seeing, over and over in his mind, the image of her falling under the roar of gunfire. Maybe then, he could accept she was alive.
He stared at her as she lay, eyes closed, on the bed. The blood on her skin was obscene. He traced the thin path of dark red as it angled behind her ear and down her neck. With his thumb, he rubbed at the smudge. He lingered over the task, not stopping until the smear was gone. He wished he could erase her injuries and all the events preceding them just as easily. Gently nudging her hair away from her wound, he studied it. Nausea churned. One inch lower and she would have been dead.
“I didn’t lie to you, Elizabeth,” he said, knowing she was waiting for him to respond to her accusation. “You looked a fright when Doyle had that gun to your head. You looked a fright when bullets started flying and I couldn’t get to you before his gun went off. You looked damned frightening when you hit the ground and I didn’t know if you were dead or alive.” He rested his forehead against hers and confessed, “But, darlin’, when you were sitting in the dirt, sputtering nonsense about your appearance, you were the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen.”
Her hand slid around the base of his neck and she sighed contentedly against his mouth. “You love me.”
“More than anything,” he admitted, shifting so his mouth could mate with hers.
“More than apple pie?” she asked.
The chuckle came from nowhere, catching him by surprise. “Yeah,” he drawled softly. “More than apple pie.”
She rubbed her nose against his. “I’m glad because I love you so much, I’ve been jealous.”
“Of pies?”
“It’s shameful,” she admitted in a voice that said she couldn’t care less. “But I begrudge them your attention.” She ducked her head, and admitted shyly, “You ogle them with such passion.”
He slid his lips to the side of her neck. The swirls of her ear beckoned. “Next time we make love, keep your eyes open,” he whispered, kissing his way from her ear to her cheek. “You’ll see what I feel for apple pie is nothing compared to what I feel for you.”
She shuddered and then groaned.
“Your head?” he asked.
“I’m sorry. I’m not up to playing right now.”
Guilt hammered him anew. First, he got her shot, and now, he was rutting on her rather than getting her settled to recuperate. “Hell, I’m the one who’s sorry. I’m a little shook up right now and not thinking straight.”
She caught his hand as he pulled back. “I love you.”
If the words hadn’t held him spellbound, the fierceness with which she said them would have. There was no doubt she was serious. When Elizabeth did something, she went whole hog.
“You sure you want to be saying that?” he asked. “As husbands go, I’m not doing much to polish my image. First, I get you shot, and then I can’t even follow Doctor’s orders.”
“You did not get me shot.”
“I should have seen it coming.”