Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Piper let out a soft bark, and I swore it looked like she rolled her eyes at me.
“Off, Piper.”
The dog stood, stretched, then took her sweet time getting off and lying on the floor at the foot of the bed.
When I looked back to Mallory, her eyes danced with excitement. I made my way to her, kissing her softly before whispering, “May I take this stunning piece of lingerie off you?”
Her cheeks blushed. “Whatever for?”
With a wicked grin, I replied, “So that I can explore every inch of your body with my eyes and mouth.”
Mallory sat up some and I pulled the shirt off, tossing it over my shoulder.
Her eyes turned darker, and she slid down on the bed. I followed and lay next to her. My hand moved lightly over her bare skin, and I smiled as I watched her breathing increase.
“Liam,” she whispered as her fingers ran through my hair. “I want to forget everything but us.”
Moving over her, I met her gaze. I wanted to tell her I was falling in love with her—or maybe I’d already fallen—but I knew it wasn’t the right time, with everything going on.
Her finger moved along my jaw as she asked, “What are you thinking?”
I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about my thoughts, but I needed to share them. “That you’re mine, Mallory. And I will never let anyone take you away, ever again.”
Her eyes filled with tears before she moved her hand around to my neck and brought my mouth down to hers.
The rest of the evening was spent making love to each other, eating late-night snacks, and holding Mallory as she drifted off to sleep in my arms.
Listening to her soft breaths, I closed my eyes and whispered before exhaustion took me, “I love you, Mallory.”
##
The next morning found Mallory and me in the main barn, saddling up two horses. I hadn’t heard from Randy or Jonathon yet on what the next thing was we needed to do. Chad was still in Chicago. The plan had been for us to go shopping, but in the end, Mallory had decided it was too soon to venture out, even to Billings. So I came up with another idea. Riding.
“Are you sure I can do this?” Mallory asked as I adjusted the stirrups for her.
“I’m positive you can. Goldie is one of our best mares, and she’s the perfect horse for a beginner to ride.”
Chewing on her lip, Mallory surveyed the horse. “She’s beautiful.”
I wanted to do something today to help get Mallory’s mind off things. I knew she was wondering, like I was, where in the hell we went from here. We also hadn’t talked about her past, though she’d regained all of her memories, and I wasn’t about to push her into sharing anything. She would when she was ready.
“Stop worrying. Just remember everything I told you about the reins and follow my lead.”
“You’ll be fine,” Bubba said as he walked out of the barn, leading West Wind. He and Howdy were about to go move some cattle to a different pasture, and I should have been helping, but I needed to spend time with Mallory.
Bubba pointed to Mallory. “Pretty soon you’ll be one of us, riding along the fence line and fixing broken fences.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes. Since Randy filed her report with the Lewistown Police, and her existence wasn’t a secret anymore, I’d introduced Mallory to Howdy, Jimmy, and Larson this morning. After their initial, and very understandable, shock over everything she’d been through, they all quickly became fast friends.
Each one of them offered to teach her all the ways of the ranch. It only took me wrapping my arm around her, drawing her close to my side, and my friends instantly knew…she was taken.
I helped Mallory up onto the mare, and a wide smile spread over her face. I could already tell she was going to fall in love with riding.
“Ready?” I asked, swinging up onto Moonshine.
With an excited nod, she replied, “I’m ready!”
Moonshine started to walk toward a trail, and Goldie followed.
“I don’t even have to steer her. She’s following you!”
Laughing, I glanced over my shoulder. “You might want to practice, though.”
Mallory shook her head. “Maybe in a bit. Right now, I think I’ll let her do her thing while I adjust to just being on top of her.”
The trail widened, so I told Mallory what to do to get Goldie to come up beside me and Moonshine. She was a natural when it came to riding. Her seat was perfect; she took to the instructions like a pro, and when I asked if she wanted to trot, she replied she was ready to run.
“How often do you have to check the fence line?”
“Once a month, sometimes more if we’ve had a storm with high winds.”