Page 40 of Camilla & Dallas
“You’re right.”
He snapped his mouth shut. “What?”
She nodded. “This… whatever it is… whatever it will become… it’s for us. You and me. No one else. Cheyenne doesn’t need to be involved in our decisions any more than a stranger off the street. She’s my friend. If she cares about me, she’ll support my decision. But you’re probably right. With her halfway across the world, there’s nothing she’d be able to do anyway. There’sno reason to tell her until she gets back. And who knows?” She shrugged. “We might not make it that long.”
Dallas let out what could only be described as a growl as he jumped to his feet. She would have stumbled back a step if he hadn’t kept his hold on her waist. “This isn’t some fling, Camilla. These feelings… they’re not going to go away.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “I want you to be mine.”
Flutters erupted in her chest.
His.
She liked the sound of that.
Before she could say as much, Dallas pressed his mouth over hers and hungrily kissed her as if he’d been starving for half of his life. She leaned into his embrace, opening herself up, body and soul to him.
Again.
17
Dallas
“Look at this.” Dallas looked over his shoulder to where Camilla stood. She had a camera in front of her face and snapped a picture of him. He rolled his eyes with a chuckle and waved her over.
She grinned at him and wandered closer. They’d passed her property line to go for a walk and follow some of the signs of the wolves in the area. While he hadn’t seen another sign of the wolves at her ranch, they were still present.
He had more than enough evidence to bring to his supervisors to recommend a more intense watch of the animals. The numbers might not be growing, and the attack on livestock wasn’t significant enough to demand that the pack be relocated, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t change.
Pointing to the print he’d found in the mud, he glanced up at Camilla again. Her eyes widened and she hunched down with her camera ready. “Is that a wolf print?”
Nodding, Dallas waved a finger over the print. “While you occasionally get coyotes out here, these prints are too big. They’re twice the size of a coyote and more symmetrical. See here? Even the toes are symmetrical, and you can see the evidence of their claws. If this was a coyote print, it would have been about this big.” He used his finger and thumb to indicate the size. “The toes would have been more spread out, too. Dog prints are bigger than a coyote’s but smaller than a wolf’s. And I don’t think there would be many domesticated dogs out this far.”
“You’re probably right.” Camilla nodded thoughtfully. “And the only dogs out here would be ours. They’re trained too well to go wandering by the time they get that big.” She was still staring at the print for a moment, lost in thought. Before he could ask her what she was thinking, she let him know. “Do you think we’ll be okay out this far?”
“Of course.” He slipped his hand onto her knee and squeezed. “I have my shotgun and rifle. Besides, wolves usually hunt early in the morning or just before dusk. They’re not out here looking for much right now. Wolves are generally skittish unless pushed to a breaking point for their own survival.”
Dallas continued to watch her, loving this curious side of the woman he’d grown to love all those years ago. In another life, he might have asked her to come with him when he’d left. It would have been easy to make the request, and he had little doubt that Camilla would have followed him.
But that was the point of his leaving, wasn’t it? He’d wanted her to carve her own path in this life and make decisions that she could be proud of. He would never have forgiven himself if Camilla had come with him and grown to resent him for it.
“Why are we out here again?” she asked, standing to her full height.
He rose, too, taking the opportunity to put his hands on her shoulders before kissing her deeply. Here with her in his arms,he felt whole. If today was his last day on earth, he would die happy knowing she was here beside him, kissing him. Loving him?
She let out a soft laugh and pushed him away playfully. “Why are we hiking out here looking for clues?”
Dallas smirked as he picked up the notebook he’d left abandoned on the ground. He dusted it off before pulling his satchel open and placing it inside. “I’m tracking the movements, trying to gauge where they’re headed and how many there are. They were introduced to this area as a way to conserve their species, but it doesn’t look like that was the best idea.”
“Because they’re moving in on civilization and killing livestock.” It wasn’t a question.
Dallas nodded. “That’s right. So, for now, I’m just gathering data. If my supervisors take a look at what I’ve found and they think it’s in the wolves’ best interest, they may relocate them altogether.” He slung an arm around her shoulders. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
“Almost there?”
He grinned. “You didn’t think I dragged you all the way out here just so you could take pictures of paw prints and interesting plants, did you?”
“Well, I’ve taken pictures of you,” she offered.
Chuckling, he dropped his hand to his side only to slip his fingers between hers and bring her hand to his lips for a kiss. “I have you to myself for the next several hours. I’m definitely going to take advantage of it.”
