“As you wish.”
Sitting up, she reached for her discarded clothes and began to dress again, before she told him that she loved the horse but she loved him more. Before she did something really crazy like beg him to stay.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I imagine Tess is wondering where we are.”
“I imagine she has already retired to bed, considering the late hour.”
Andi slipped on her panties and shorts then stood. Seeing Sam stretched out on his back still gloriously naked, his dark skin contrasting with the pale-blue blanket, made Andi almost reconsider her departure. But she had to regain her emotional bearings.
Bending down, she retrieved his shorts and tossed them at him. “Put these on, Your Highness. Tess doesn’t take too kindly to naked men in her kitchen.”
His grin lit up the night. “How do we know that she has not had a naked man in her kitchen?”
Andi groaned. “I don’t even want to go there.” She thought about what Tess had told her the day before. “I guess you probably know that she and Riley are finally getting married.”
“Actually, no.”
That surprised Andi. Tess had been an open book since Sam’s reappearance. “Well, they are in a few weeks.” She sighed. “I can’t even imagine Tess being away from the farm.”
“They will not live here?” Sam asked.
“They plan on traveling the country.”
“You will miss her terribly,” he said, a simple statement of fact.
“Of course I will. So will Chance. But we’ll manage,” she said, although she wasn’t sure how. Yet somehow she had always managed the losses in her life, only this time she would feel truly abandoned, especially after Sam left.
“Perhaps you would like me to turn your thoughts to more pleasant things,” he said, as if he had somehow tuned in to her mind. Before she could prepare, he tugged her back down against him, amazed to find he was already aroused. And she was more than willing to forget all the sadness, all the tough times to come, in his welcoming arms.
“You’re not going to tickle me, are you?” she asked with mock exasperation.
“Not in the way you might imagine, but I’m certain I will find some means to make you feel better.”
When he nuzzled her neck, she said, “A good prince is hard to find,” feeling lightheaded and lighthearted in his arms. “Or maybe it is the other way around.”
“Perhaps we should find out.”
Once again Andi’s clothes ended up on the nearby grass. And in very little time, Sam had her clinging and gasping and praising his skill.
Too much, she thought as he guided her back to a paradise of his own making. Too little.
Never enough.
Sam stood over Andrea and watched her while she continued to sleep completely unaware he was keeping vigil. He’d been up for hours, had already tended to the horses since he had decided to allow her the luxury of spending extra time in bed. After last night she deserved the added rest.
Silently he admonished himself for his weakness. Scolded himself for not feeling as guilty as he should after making love to her well into the early hours of the morning. Yet he had no regrets except one—their time together was limited.
Seating himself on the edge of the bed, he continued to observe Andrea lying on her belly, still beautifully naked and his to behold a few moments longer. He recalled each and every detail of the night before, unearthed all the feelings for her that should be buried with the past. Yet they were not, nor would they ever be even if miles once again separated him from her.
He glanced at his watch and noted the time. Now nearing 10:00 a.m., he thought it best to wake her or, no doubt, suffer her wrath. Moving closer, he traced his finger down the curve of her spine and onto her buttock. She stirred a little and a sleepy sigh escaped her lips. But he couldn’t discern if her eyes had opened, since her hair covered her face in a tangled disarray to match the twisted sheets.
She finally lifted her head, pushed her hair back and regarded him over one shoulder. “What time is it?”
“Time for you to be up and about, I’m afraid.”
She rolled onto her back without concern for her nudity. Sam, on the other hand, was very concerned, considering what she was doing to him at that moment. What she had been doing to him since the day of his return.
After glancing at the clock, she sat up with a start. “My gosh, I’ve wasted most of the day.”
“You needed your sleep.”
Blessedly she smiled. “I guess so, considering I was up most of the night, thanks to you.”
He leaned and kissed her softly on the lips. “No. Many thanks to you.”
She stretched and draped her arms around his neck. “I think I used parts of my body that I haven’t used in years.”
“Then you are in pain?”
“Nice pain. Very nice.”
Unable to help himself, he kissed her throat and couldn’t resist kissing her breasts. “Perhaps I should do something to alleviate that pain.”
“Sorry. We don’t have time for that now,” she said, then bolted out of the bed, leaving Sam alone to deal with his own discomfort and the emotional wall she had seemed to raise.
After slipping on her robe, she faced him. “I have to put Sunny through some more ground work if I’m going to have her saddled by the end of the month.”
Just as well, he decided. If he had his way, they would stay in bed all day without regard for their responsibilities. How easy that would be, now that he had rediscovered the pleasure of making love with Andrea. But he could not disregard what he had to do, not only today but also in a matter of weeks, as much as he would like to forget what awaited him at home. “Riley is in the barn. He’s agreed to assist me in making it more serviceable.”
She grabbed a brush from the dresser and ran it through her hair with a vengeance. “I can’t afford to pay Riley.”
“I will see to that.”
Tossing the brush aside, she simply said, “Fine, I’m heading to the shower,” then left through the door.
Sam was shocked she had not protested his financial offer. Perhaps she was finally beginning to see that his money could only aid in her future and that of their son’s.
When he again returned to the stable a few moments later, he discovered that Riley had almost finished removing the old bedding from the first stall in preparation to replace the rubber matting beneath.
Riley looked up and leaned against his shovel, then stroked his too-long
