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Even I wondered what was the point of leaving Cassidy behind. Were they trying to be considerate since he had a concussion? But then why would they ask him to go do chores? Couldn’t one of the hands handle all of that? I mean, there wasn’t much to do other than feed the horses and the cattle that remained down here for now.
Which brought my thoughts back to the fact that Cassidy should have returned from those chores a while ago. Glancing at the clock by his nightstand, I shook my head. It was nearing midnight, what in the world could he possibly be doing?
Slipping out of the bed, I quickly jogged to the mud room and stuffed my feet into my boots.
Exiting into the cool, night air, it didn’t take me long to find him as I rounded the corner on the road. There he was, slumped against the railing of the round pen Sundance was in. Cassidy wasn’t moving except for the steady rise and fall of his arms from his breathing, as they were crossed over his chest. The faint light from the nearest barn settled a gentle yellow glow on him, with his hat tucked low over his face. I couldn’t tell if he was awake or asleep.
Movement near him pulled my attention away from his lounging steel frame. The stallion shifted his weight, and my mouth fell open as he tucked his knees and laid down right next to Cassidy. The cowboy still didn’t move as Sundance plopped his head across the man’s legs, jostling him lightly.
The horse exhaled deeply and then fell still.
Did that just happen? I mean, it wasn’t like Cassidy was trying to break this horse—Sundance already knew the basics, but he feared humans in a way I didn’t quite understand myself. The entire purpose of Cassidy’s training was to make him safe and to create trust with Sundance. And if I hadn’t seen that with my own two eyes, I wouldn’t have believed that was Sundance’s own choice. Clearly, Cassidy had succeeded in a mere week of working with him.
“You’re a good man, Cassidy Duke,” I whispered, wishing he could hear me. I so desired that he could see how incredible he was, instead of hiding behind the façade that was his charming smile. Despite the insecurities that seemed to swirl deep within Cassidy, he couldn’t fake what just happened nor the responses of those around him.
As quietly as possible, I crunched the rest of the way over to the round pen, hoping not to startle Sundance. His ears pricked upright and swiveled toward me upon approach, but the horse did not rise from Cassidy’s lap. I paused beside the fencing and leaned an arm against the crisp metal.
“You should be asleep,” Cassidy’s gravelly voice lowly danced across the still night. So, he’d been awake this entire time.
“And you shouldn’t still be out here,” I snarkily responded.
He slowly tipped his hat up off his face and raised a brow toward me. “If I recall correctly, you still don’t like me, so I don’t think you get a say in where I should or shouldn’t be.”
Rolling my eyes defiantly, I pursed my lips. “I want snuggles, so I most definitely get a say even if I said that.”
Cassidy’s chuckle vibrated gently through the air, and he placed a gentle hand on Sundance’s neck. “I was thinkin’ of settin’ up a temporary round pen near my house. That way he’s away from the main entrance, and if Wayde does happen to find this place, he will have to come lookin’ for the horse.”
I furrowed my brows, watching the rather delicious but also disheveled cowboy. “That’s what you want to say? Nothing about me wanting to cuddle you?”
His fingers trailed up and down the horse’s mane. “And risk scaring you off? I may be concussed, but I ain’t stupid.”
“‘Stupid’ is not a word I would use to describe you, Cassidy Duke,” I teased.
“Nah, just ‘dummy.’”
Clicking my tongue, I waved at him in dismissal as he gently slid his legs out from beneath Sundance’s head. “Hush,” I answered with a wink.
The horse shifted his weight and stood up as Cassidy rose from the sand. His hands brushed loose dirt from a backside that I hated to admit I’d admired on more than one occasion. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to his as he gingerly swayed over toward me.
Pain and disappointment roared behind his irises of mossy green and brown swirls that mingled with turquoise flashes. Long, thick, curly lashes slid down, hiding the colors as he ducked his head and passed through the rails beside me.
The moment he was clear of the pen, I reached a hand out and latched onto his forearm. “Cassidy,” I whispered, and he paused.
Turning his gaze to meet mine, his jaw knotted as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. I wanted to take away his pain. I wanted to be whatever support he needed and seemed to lack right now. I wanted to be the reason that he finally found whatever strength he needed to step out and become his own man, because he already was so much more of a man than most others I’d ever met.
It seemed that he himself was the only thing holding him back from reaching the potential that I knew he had. Whatever this debt was that he had was surely already repaid. But it didn’t seem like he believed that. And I wanted nothing more than to make him forget everything that held him so tightly bound in the darkness that he was drowning in.
Trailing my hand down his arm, I slipped my fingers into his and stepped into his body. His brows twitched, but he didn’t move, and not a word escaped his mouth. My heart pumped like pistons firing with heat through an engine rolling hot coals. My gaze locked onto his lips; I tipped my chin upwards as his gaze danced briefly to my own.
The air around us, as still as the pine sleeping through the winter, whispered against my skin. Tingles rippled down my spine. He didn’t move away, didn’t shirk as my free hand fisted his shirt and gently tugged him toward me.
And my lips pressed against his.
His velvet kiss finally met mine again after all this time. My mouth remembered exactly what he’d tasted like before, his wet breath mixing with mine as he placed a calloused hand against my cheek and tightened the kiss.
As sweet as the first time, as desperate as it had been before, his other fingers left my hand. Wrapping them around the base of my neck, he deepened his hold even more. Everything in me roared with warmth as I arched my back, pressing my body flush against his. His heart raced as heavily as mine, beating in tune with every swirling desire that unleashed between us.
A low hum left his chest, vibrating against my figure and stoking that low fire. Flames erupted like an explosion colliding within my belly, and I threw my arms around his waist. Wrapping tightly within his kiss, I pulled him as close as I could, even though I knew it would never be close enough. There would forever be too much space between us.
