Leaning his head back on the chair, he relaxed, letting the quiet overtake him.
Chapter Ten
Elizabeth cast a harried glance at the sun streaming through the window. If she didn’t hurry, she was never going to get Asa’s lunch to him. He wouldn’t wait before heading into town either, because he wasn’t expecting her. He’d grabbed some cheese and biscuits and told her not to worry, but, well, darn it! She hadn’t cooked herself into the ground the last two weeks, filling out his lean frame, just to see the man drop back to scrawny from eating hard tack and cheese.
She put the last of the fried chicken in the basket. She wrapped two fresh loaves of potato bread in a towel, packed four ears of corn over it and carefully balanced an apple pie on top. She was halfway to the door before she remembered silverware. Muttering under her breath, she tucked some in the side. At the door, she grabbed her shawl. It would heat up as the day wore on, but right now there was a nip in the air. Before she fastened it, she took a moment to finger the pin. A feather could have knocked her over when Asa had brought it home from town the other day. It was a simple rendering of a bunch of wildflowers tied with a bow. It was silly and impractical, and she couldn’t stop touching it. He hadn’t said anything beyond it had made him think of her.
She’d spent hours pondering about that, but she hadn’t asked. No doubt to him, it had been an impulse. The thought forgotten as soon as he’d made the purchase, but to her, it was the first present anyone had gotten her since she was eight, and it had meaning. She just couldn’t figure out what.
As soon as she stepped onto the porch, the breeze tugged at her shawl. She tucked the loose ends under her arms, held the basket tightly, and dashed to the barn. It was warm in there, humid and thick with the lingering odor of the animals that’d spent the night here. As she passed Shameless’ stall, she blushed as she had every day for the last week. She couldn’t think of the horse without remembering her husband and the license he’d taken.
Or her response whenever he was near.
She’d been worried that he’d think less of her, but it didn’t seem to matter to him that she’d enjoyed his touch. Fortunately or unfortunately. She sighed. That was another thing she hadn’t decided upon since he hadn’t touched her like that again.
She shook her head at her silliness. She should be grateful she had a husband who was capable and respectful, who didn’t make demands and gave her little presents. Even though she didn’t understand the man, these last weeks had been the most peaceful she’d had in her entire life. She tied the basket to the saddle horn. Part of her didn’t want it to change. Another part of her wanted her husband to do something besides kiss her gently on her forehead and fall asleep on his side of the bed.
If she were brutally honest, she wanted more. Of it and him. She wanted to be the wild woman again who’d taken his hard cock in her mouth and sucked him to mindlessness. Only this time, she didn’t want him to pull out at the last moment. She wanted to taste him, to feel him come over her tongue. To swallow his seed. To own him in that intensely intimate manner. She just wasn’t sure about how to get back to that moment. Then she’d been out of her head with need, her body on fire from repeated orgasms. It had seemed right and natural at the time to beg him to fuck her face. However, she couldn’t imagine just sidling up to him and asking for a repeat performance out of the blue.
The way he cuddled her was nice, though. She bit her lip as she untied Willoughby’s reins. She flat out didn’t understand the man. Asa’d been eager enough before. Maybe his needs weren’t that frequent. Willoughby shifted to the right as she slid under his neck, knocking her bonnet to the barn floor.
“Darn it.”
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
She looked up to find a brown-haired, brown-eyed ranch hand standing respectfully with his hat in his hand. She scooped up the bonnet, self-conscious that he’d know from her ease of movement that she wasn’t wearing a corset. “I’m fine.”
His hat lazily spun in his hand. Without missing a beat, he tossed it in the direction of the horse. “Going somewhere?”
She expected to see the hat hit the floor. At the last possible second, he caught it in his hand. There wasn’t even a break in rhythm. While his expression didn’t change, she swore she saw a smile in his eyes. “I was just riding out to bring Asa his lunch.”