Chapter 28

Cowboy stepped to the side of the path and waited for her. His face was unreadable as he watched her with those dark eyes of his. Amanda hesitated before walking out into the clearing and looked around. The grass was kept neat and well-trimmed around the entire clearing. A long gravel road led up to the adobe house. Two older extended-cab trucks were parked in the gravel parking area. One was white and one was a dark blue with a black top over the truck bed. The area was fairly sparse.

Warmth drifted through her shirt at the base of her spine. She hadn’t heard him move, but she was startled to find him standing right beside her. With a slight pressure where his fingers touched her, he urged her forward and they walked to the front door of the little adobe house. He unlocked the door and reached inside, turning the light on then held the door open for her.

Amanda stared at him for a long moment. Something about him drew her, pulled her in and made her feel safe. All the while he seemed determined to push her away. He both confused and intrigued her with his strange mixed signals. She shook her head and moved inside the little house. 

The inside was much like the outside; quaint and sparse. A cheap welcome mat sat in front of the door to help catch leaves and debris that might be tracked inside. A threadbare brown couch and matching living chair sat in the living room, facing a small television that was a relic from the seventies. A small wooden table with four mismatched chairs to one side of the room served as the dining room.

The kitchen took up one corner of the room with an L shaped counter. The only apparent storage was two bookshelves that were serving as a makeshift pantry at the end of the counter. Two open doors sat side by side, one a bedroom and the other a bathroom which also served as a laundry room.

Amanda walked over and stood awkwardly in the center of the living room. Once again, Cowboy managed to move without making a sound. She could feel the heat rolling off of him as he stepped close behind her. Her nerve endings went into overdrive and she held her breath, curious to see what he would do now.

He leaned down again, just like he had done in the woods. Only this time, one hand shifted her hair back off of her neck and over her other shoulder. His nose brushed her earlobe and a shiver of delight ran through her body. She closed her eyes and her head tilted slightly to give him better access.

His hand touched her hip, then flattened and slid under her shirt and over her stomach. Skin-to-skin, that feeling she’d had for so many months now exploded within her and it spiraled through her body and then arched right out of her and landed directly on him. The sensation was so powerful that it was palpable. She could see it in her mind, a glowing blue-white thing that flowed through her from head to toe and shot right out of the center of her chest and into his, right through her back.

She moaned as the connection was made and her back arched, head tilting further to the side. She vaguely heard an animal growl. Then there was a pain in her neck as his hand on her stomach pressed her back against him. All the while, his other hand slid under her shirt and up over her bra and cupped her breast, giving a squeeze.