Page 89 of Texas Destiny
“I don’t know if he knows about it.” He glanced at her. “I’ll give him directions.”
“How did you manage to find it?”
He shrugged. “Just happened upon it one day.”
“Sometimes, life gives us the most unexpected gifts, doesn’t it?”
Houston wanted to tell her that she had been an unexpected gift, along with her laughter, her smiles, and her courage. He didn’t think he’d ever receive anything finer than the days he’d spent with her as they’d traveled from Fort Worth. “Yeah, it does,” he said quietly.
Inside Dallas’s barn, Houston removed the saddle from Valiant’s back and swung it over the slats of the stall. She was a good horse. She had a good temperament. She’d serve Amelia well.
He smelled Amelia’s sweet scent before he heard her gentle footsteps. He’d put off saying good-bye as long as he could. Words failed him as they always did. He wanted to thank her for the sunshine she’d brought into his life, for the memories that would linger.
And he wished to God that he’d made different choices in his life.
“Take a dare or tell me the truth,” she said softly behind him.
He swallowed hard, knowing he was damned either way. He turned slowly, memorizing the slant of her brow, the tip of her nose, the blush in her cheeks. “Dare,” he rasped.
“Kiss me as though you loved me.”
She stood valiantly … his heart-in-her-eyes woman. He had but to tell her the truth to put out the fire of love, to replace it with the cold ashes of disappointment. It should have been easy, but dear God, he didn’t want her to hate him, to know him for the man he really was.
So he held his silence and played the game with her rules. He framed her face between his large hands, tilted her face slightly, lowered his mouth to hers, and plunged into hell.
She whimpered softly and leaned into him, her arms moving up to snake around his neck. He tried to be gentle, wanted to be tender, but all he could think about was her warm mouth greedily mating with his. His arms moved down until his hands were roaming over her slender back, pressing her closer to him, until her soft curves met the hard planes of his body.
God, he wanted her. He wanted her here in the hay beside the horses. He wanted her beneath the stars on a warm, sultry night, beneath a pile of blankets when the snow was falling. He wanted her sleepy smile in the morning, her contented smile at midnight.
He wanted to see her flesh when she took off her clothes and ran the damp cloth over her body.
He wanted to see everything that existed behind the shadows.
He wanted to make her laugh. He never wanted to make her cry. He never wanted to hurt her.
He drew back, his breathing labored, his heart pounding so hard he thought surely she could feel it. But her breathing matched his and her eyes, her eyes of clover green, were searching his face, searching for what he could never let her see.
“I’ll take a dare,” she whispered hoarsely.
He touched his trembling thumb to her quivering Up. “Find your happiness with Dallas.”
He edged past her, and without looking back, walked out of the barn. He hadn’t given her the farewell she deserved, but then nothing he gave her would ever be what she deserved.
Amelia sat on the back porch and stared at the moon, incredibly large, shimmering in the night sky. Every so often, clouds slowly rolled before it with a touch that she imagined was as light as Houston’s.
She wanted his love, but more she wanted his trust. She had seen the ugliest part of him and accepted it. Why couldn’t he accept it?
“Amelia?”
She glanced up at the shadowed figure. The clouds waltzed past the moon, illuminating Dallas, his hands stuffed into his pockets. He ambled to the porch and leaned against the beam. “I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “Figured I’d better not risk a horse ride tonight.”
Pressing on her skirt, she slipped her hands between her knees. “I couldn’t sleep, either.”
He hunkered down before her and draped his hands over his knees. “Thinking about tomorrow?” he asked.
She laughed self-consciously. “Yes. You?”
“Yep.”
