Free Rustled by Natasha Stories

other hand stroked my hair lazily. A lethargy
stole over me that had nothing to do with my weakened condition and everything
to do with the feeling that I could be happy to lie here like this with Russ
forever. As sleep overtook me, I was so far gone that I didn’t notice whether
he had used a condom.
    Later,
suddenly awake for no reason that I could determine, I was entranced to find
that I was still enfolded in his arms, still naked beside him, skin to skin,
warmed by more than his warm body. The warmth came from inside, where I still
tingled from the sex we’d shared, and even deeper. This, I thought, was simple,
genuine happiness. I lay in the glow of it, his quiet breathing steady unless I
shifted, and then he’d give a little gasp and clutch me closer. What did this
mean? Did he feel the same way I did? Or was that just crazy? As my thoughts
drifted lazily, I slowly realized that the howling outside had stopped.
    “Russ? What
happened to the wind?”
    “Hmm?” I
realized then that he had been nearly asleep. Russ got up, wrapped the quilt
around me and tucked it in, then went naked to one of the quilt-covered windows
to look outside.
    “I’ll be
damned, the sun’s trying to come out.”
    “Does that
mean it’s over?” I asked eagerly.
    “Could be. We
should get ready to make a run for it while it’s stopped. Hang on, I’ll get you
some warm water to clean up.”
    My excitement
over being able to get out of this claustrophobic cabin was matched only by my
disappointment that my sexual interlude with Russ was about to come to an end.
I wanted to explore the many facets of his personality, and I couldn’t imagine
any man being able to satisfy me like he did, fill me like he did, ever again.
The thought devastated me.
    Suddenly, I
couldn’t imagine my life without him. It’s just post-traumatic stress, I told myself,
using the phrase I’d read somewhere. But, being pathologically truthful, even
with myself, I knew that was a lie. Impossibly, in the past couple of days, I
had fallen for this stranger. Was it just because the sex was amazing? I didn’t
think so, but what did I know, a girl whose life’s richest experiences had been
those of the heroines of books from the bookmobile’s monthly visits? Nor did
the books that were approved for my reading have any sex in them, not since I
sneaked my mother’s trashy novels when I had been with her. This was truly new
ground I was breaking.
    Russ brought
the basin of warm water over, and gently cleaned me, then helped me dress.
Doing the same for himself, he put on his coat and gloves and told me to stay
under the quilt while he cleaned the snow off the pickup. As I huddled there,
my thoughts circled between my fear of the Prophet’s pursuers, the arrest
warrant for auto theft that I was sure awaited me in Arizona, and a piercing
grief that I would soon have to leave Russ and face my future, whatever it
held. By the time he came back into the cabin, I had dissolved into tears and
was sobbing into the blanket.
    “Here, what’s
this, Kitten? What’s wrong?” His face held nothing but tender concern, and his
voice was soft, but I only cried harder, until he climbed into the bed with me
and gathered me into his lap. Rocking me gently, he dried my tears on a corner
of the quilt and held me until I could stop crying. Then he asked again, this
time with a voice of command, though it was kind.
    “Kitten, tell
me why you were crying.”
    I felt so
foolish! What would he say to me if I told him I’d fallen in love with him?
He’d think I was ridiculous. Even I thought I was ridiculous. So, instead I
told him I was afraid of being arrested, or being captured by a posse from the RALDS.
I ventured a look at his face to see if he’d bought my partial truth, only to
be confused once again by his stormy eyes and angry expression. Then he pressed
me even closer to me and said words that flooded me with relief and hope.
    “I won’t let
them take you. We’ll figure