5. Aspen
Aspen
“Ican’t believe you talked me into this,” he grumbles behind me and I turn back to watch him sitting stiff as a board in Nutmeg’s saddle. Nutmeg is ignoring him completely as she reaches out her dappled roan neck and takes a long drink from the little stream we’re crossing.
I giggle and his head comes up, his eyes narrowing. “You’re gonna pay for this later.”
“You’re gonna pay for this later, trust me. Saddle sores are real,” I giggle again.
“I should paddle your ass for this.”
I shrug my shoulders and hold Titan’s reins loosely. He guzzles some water too and I let him have his head for a minute. “Don’t let them drink too much. They’ll get sick.” I watch him as he shifts in the saddle. “I can’t believe you’ve never ridden a horse.”
“I’ve ridden a horse,” he grumps, a sullen look on his face.
“I can tell,” I giggle again.
I pull Titan’s head up and kick his sides lightly. He shuffles out of the water and the sound settles something inside me.
I glance back and Hunter’s managed to get Nutmeg’s head up and she’s following Titan, her neck stretched out to stay as close to him as possible.
He whinnies and huffs at her and she trumpets back at him.
We follow along the rippling stream and the sound of the horses splashing through the cool water settles something in my soul. The sun shimmers on the surface and the occasional splash of fish darting under our feet makes me smile.
“Why don’t you go out more if you love this so much?” he asks me, his voice soft, gentle.
“It’s no fun on your own. And my cousins are wrapped up in the men in their lives.
Not that I begrudge them what they found with Monroe and Darius.
I just feel like I’ve just come home and everything’s so different.
Fiona never wants to leave the shop unless Monroe drags her out.
And Harper…well, you heard. She’s having a rough time of it right now and she hasn’t announced yet that she’s pregnant but we all know.
You can’t hide stuff like that from your family for very long. ”
“Sounds like you guys are really close.”
I nod my head. “Yeah. We’ve always been close. Since we were kids. We grew up together. Which is great and all but sometimes I wish we didn’t know each other quite so well. I think Fiona’s starting to guess that I’m not telling her something.”
“What are you hiding?” he asks me. I glance back and his head is cocked, his eyes narrowed from the sun. I can see little lines bracketing his gorgeous blue eyes. They glow like the summer sky around us, bottomless and never-ending, dragging me into their shimmering depths.
I shrug my shoulders, turning back. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does.”
“It really doesn’t. I can’t do anything about it. I’m needed here.” My chest tightens and I tug at Titan’s reins, turning him towards the shallow bank. He climbs out and then trots along, his head high and his eyes locked on the trail.
I hear the gentle clop of Nutmeg’s feet behind me and then he’s beside me, his blue eyes searching mine like he can see into my soul. I almost feel like he can.
He tugs at my reins and pulls Titan to a stop. “What do you want to do with your life, Aspen?” he asks me quietly. His eyes search my face.
“I told you it doesn’t matter.” I don’t look at him until he reaches out and his hand catches my chin, lifting it so I can’t look away.
His skin is warm and softer than I thought it would be. But I feel the little callouses that he has scraping my soft skin lightly. I shiver and close my eyes.
“Tell me,” he whispers, his breath closer, brushing over my skin leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“I want to see things. Experience things. Leave here and explore the world.”
I shiver when his hand tightens. He pushes himself and I hear the leather of his saddle creaking as Nutmeg shifts. But his breath dances along my cheek and then his lips caress my jaw before his mouth moves up to the side of mine.
I shiver and my eyes close. “Hunter?” I whisper, a broken sigh that rasps out of my throat. My suddenly dry throat.
“Fuck, you’re so beautifully breathtaking. It almost hurts to look at you.” His voice is low, raspy, agonized.
I have to drag my eyes open. His eyes are so close that I can see the deeper blue scattered like little bursts of midnight sky buried in the lighter orbs.
His eyes search mine and he groans. “I swear if you keep looking at me like that, I’m gonna pull your pretty ass off this horse and have my damn way with you.”
I smirk. “I’m not making love for the first time on the hard ground.” Then I stop, my heart hammering and my whole body going rigid. Titan feels it and shifts, huffing.
His grip tightens on my chin and he refuses to let me look away. “You’re a virgin?”
I jerk my chin away. “None of your business.”
“Oh, it’s definitely my business, sparkles. As soon as I saw you I knew there was something special about you.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve waited for too long and I scare men off.”
He eyes me, his gaze focused, never even blinking. “I’m not scared.”
“Great. Doesn’t matter though. You’re leaving soon and I’m not throwing something that I’ve saved this long away on a one-night stand with someone passing through.”
“We’ll see. I’m flexible, sparkles. And I don’t know how this is all going to work out but I know I don’t want to go without you.”
Titan whinnies loudly and I jerk in the saddle. “Do you smell that?”
Hunter glances around and sniffs. “What is it?”
But I’ve already seen it.
Smoke.
“Oh shit,” I breathe. “We’ve got to get back and warn the town.”
His eyes narrow and then widen. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Fire,” I snap and then turn Titan on a dime and kick his sides. He breaks into a trot and I glance back at Nutmeg who’s following along. “Just hold on. Nutmeg will follow Titan.”
He nods sharply and leans over Nutmeg’s dark neck. I lean over Titan and mutter. “Come on, Titan. Let’s go home.”
His dark ears prick and he charges forward like he knows. I hang on for dear life and pray that it’s not as bad as that smoke looked.
And that I let them know in time.