Free Only You by Elizabeth Lowell Page B

I came back and found her three months married and four months pregnant by a man twice her age.”
    At Eve’s shocked sound, Reno turned and gave her an odd smile.
    “Shocked me, too,” he drawled. “I was plumb flummoxed. I couldn’t figure out how old man Murphy had gotten under Savannah’s skirts in a matter of months when I had been courting her for years. So I asked her.”
    “What did she say?”
    “That a woman wants comfort and security from a man, and a man wants sex and children from a woman,” Reno said succinctly. “Old man Murphy was well fixed. When she got him hot enough to take her maidenhead, he agreed to marry her, because a decent man marries the girl he ruins.”
    “Sounds like she had all the passion of a merchant’s scales.”
    “That about covers it,” Reno said dryly. “But it’s a good thing for a man to learn.”
    “All women aren’t like that.”
    “I’ve known only one girl in my whole life who gave herself for love rather than a wedding ring,” Reno said flatly.
    “Jessi of the fiery hair and gemstone eyes?” Eve guessed.
    He shook his head. “Jessi trapped Wolfe into marriage rather than be forced into a marriage with some drunken English lord.”
    “Perdition,” Eve muttered.
    “Wolfe felt the same way at first,” Reno said, smiling. “He came around.”
    “But you forgave Jessi for caring more for her own comfort than for Wolfe’s,” Eve pointed out.
    “Wasn’t my place to forgive or not. Wolfe did. That’s all that matters.”
    “But you like Jessi.”
    Anger swept through Reno at Eve’s persistence. He didn’t like thinking about Jessi and Wolfe, Willow and Caleb. Their happiness kept making Reno wonder if he wasn’t missing something, if he shouldn’t find a woman and take a chance on getting burned twice by the same fire.
    Once burned, twice shy, he told himself.
    And forever cold.
    Abruptly Reno reined his mare around so that Darlin’ stood head to tail with Eve’s horse. The horses were so close together that his leg brushed against Eve’s. Before she could move away, his hand shot out, pushing her hat aside until it hung down her back, suspended by the leather chin thong. His gloved hand slid between her bright braids and wrapped around her nape.
    “I understand that women have to make up in cunning what they lack in strength,” Reno said angrily. “But understanding isn’t the same as liking.”
    His glance went from Eve’s unusual eyes to her full lower lip.
    “On the other hand,” he said deeply, “there are some really fine uses for women. Especially a girl with golden eyes and a mouth that trembles with fear or passion, inviting a man to protect and ravish her.”
    “I’m not,” she said quickly.
    “I tasted you. You were sweet and hot. And you tasted me.”
    Eve’s breath stopped at the look in Reno’s eyes.
    He smiled, reading her response in the rapid beating of the pulse in her neck.
    “Think about it, gata. I sure as hell have.”
    Reno released Eve and nudged the blue roan with his heels.
    “Shake a leg, Darlin’. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover before we get to Cal’s ranch.”
    T HOUGH small, the campfire’s gently dancing flames fascinated Eve. Like her thoughts, the flames were both intangible and very real.
    She hadn’t meant to take Reno’s advice and think about her unexpected sensuality. But she had thought about it, and about him. That could be dangerous.
    An owl called from the dark wall of fir trees that rose beyond the campfire.
    Eve started.
    “Just an owl,” Reno said from behind her.
    Eve jumped again and whirled around.
    “Would you mind not sneaking up on me?” she snapped.
    “Anyone who sits and stares at fire the way you do has to expect to be taken by surprise from time to time.”
    “I was thinking,” she said stiffly.
    Reno bent over the campfire, picked up the small, battered coffeepot, and poured a bit more in the mug he was holding. When he finished, he sat on his heels beside