Free Heart of Mine (Bandit Creek) by Michelle Beattie

"Jake, I can't accept this."
    Was that all? She was upset about his gift? He grinned as the tension left his shoulders. "Laura, the clothes you needed. And while I have other horses you're welcome to ride anytime you'd like, this one is yours. Only yours. I thought, since you clearly liked him, he'd make the perfect wedding gift."
    "You've already spent a fortune on me today. And, and…" She waved her hand toward the Paint that watched them with big, brown eyes. "Nobody gives an animal like that for a gift."
    Jake stepped to the stall, curled his fingers around the animal's halter. "His name is Ben. I asked after him, since he seemed to be in the stable every time I was. Ends up his owners were looking to sell him, that's why he was there. They thought the more people who saw him, the more interest he would draw. Laura," Jake took her hand and pulled her gently toward the stall. "Ben needs attention and love and his owners were glad to sell him."
    "I'll never be able to repay you for this."
    "I'm not asking you to." He let go of Ben's halter, but kept his hold on his wife. "If not for me, than accept for Ben's sake. It's clear he likes you."
    Laura rubbed the animal's nose, which was nudging her shoulder, then threw her arms around the horse's neck.
    "Thank you," she said when she finally pulled away from her horse. "Words aren't adequate to express how grateful I am. I'll treasure him, Jake. Always."
    Tears clung to her lashes like dew on grass. Even with the marks of crying on her face, he'd never seen a more beautiful sight than his wife smiling at him. Jake never would have believed that he could gain such satisfaction and joy from sharing his wealth with someone he cared about.
    But it wasn't only happiness Jake was feeling. After spending an entire day sitting next to her, talking to her and watching her, his desires for his wife were becoming impossible to ignore. He'd felt her skin, knew it was as soft as he'd imagined. When he'd kissed her hair, he'd inhaled its clean scent. The slick texture of it had taunted him as he'd gone to the stables to see about the horse. Now, with her looking at him as though he hung the moon, he couldn't resist any longer.
    Closing the distance between them, Jake cupped her face, knew supreme satisfaction when her eyes went wide and her lips parted.
    "I've been dying to do this all day." And before she could respond he pressed his mouth to hers.
    It wasn't their first kiss. Well, he assumed he'd kissed her before, when he'd taken her to his bed, but since he didn't remember that, he wanted to linger over this one. This one, he wouldn’t forget.
    Her lips were as soft as her skin, as sweet as a fresh strawberry in the summer. Jake savored, sipped at her lips. It was a task that tested him to the core when she sighed against him and her arms wrapped around his waist. He sealed his mouth more firmly over hers and took the kiss deeper. Heat, from himself or from her he couldn't be sure, enveloped him as fully as the fleece-lined jacket he wore. He felt everything. From her breath to her fingers, which clung to his back, to each beat of his heart that pumped blood to his loins. He felt everything and yet it wasn't enough.
    Jake put a hand at the small of her back and pressed her closer. Her skirt brushed his pants. His arousal nestled into her softness. He groaned. She clung.
    Ben whinnied.
    Laura jerked from Jake's grasp. Flustered, she fussed with her hair, wouldn't meet his eyes. His gaze cut to Ben. Of all the timing…
    But then he heard his horses whinny outside, heard the telltale sound of footsteps. Jake's frustration toward Ben eased. Far better to be distracted by a horse then to be caught in the throes of passion by whomever was coming toward the barn.
    "Someone's here."
    "Yeah," Jake agreed wishing she'd meet his gaze. "It's likely someone from the mine office. They'd mentioned I might need to sign some papers." Which he'd forgotten all about once he'd finally had his wife in his