Nora Roberts - Black Hills

This, too, was familiar, he thought. Riding with her, listening to her point out the tracks, the wildlife, the signs. He’d missed that.

“What else do you see?”

“Marmot tracks, and mule deer. There’s a red squirrel up in that tree. You’ve got eyes.”

“Not like yours.”

“Cat’s been through here, but not recently.”

He watched her, only her. He couldn’t seem to do otherwise, not when the sunlight dappled on her face, and those dark eyes were so alive, so intent. “Okay, how do you know?”

“Those scrape marks? That’s cougar, but they’re old, probably from a male marking his territory last mating season. He’s moved on, at least for now. They don’t stay with the female or the family. Screw and hit the road. That’s a guy for you.”

“About this informal poll.”

She laughed, and clucked to the mare.

It was easy to fall into a routine, into the comfortable zone of it. Hot days, hard work, and sudden storms. Lil spent nearly every free moment with Coop, on horseback or hiking, batting balls, or on fast rides on his bike. She lay in the grass with him and counted stars, sat on the banks of a stream and shared picnics.

And he never made a move.

She didn’t understand it. She’d barely looked cross-eyed at Jesse and he’d been all over her. Dirk Pleasant, too, when all she’d done was take a couple of spins on the Ferris wheel with him at the carnival last summer.

She knew the look a boy got in his eye now when he thought about a girl that way. She’d swear she’d seen that look in Coop’s aimed in her direction.

So why wasn’t he all over her?

Obviously it was time to take the bull by the horns.

She drove the bike, carefully, nearly to the end of the farm road. Concentrated, muttering instructions to herself on the turn, then drove it back to where Coop stood, watching her.

She kept the speed dignified, only because the couple of times she’d burned it, he’d gotten really mad.

“Okay, I’ve driven back and forth six times today.” Though her hand twitched, she resisted gunning the engine. “You’ve got to let me take it out on the road, Coop. Get on, let’s take a ride.”

“You almost ditched it on the turn.”

“Almost doesn’t count.”

“It does on my bike. I’m still paying for it. You want a ride, I’ll drive.”

“Come on.” She got off, took off her helmet. Deliberately shook back her hair before taking the Coke bottle from him to drink. She tried on the sultry look she’d practiced in the mirror. “One mile up, one mile back.” Smiling, she traced a finger down his throat, moved in a little closer. “It’s a straight shot, and… I’ll make it worth your while.”

His eyes narrowed. “What’re you doing?”

She cocked her head. “If you have to ask, I must not be doing it right.”

He didn’t step back; she didn’t move the hand that rested lightly on his chest. His heartbeat speeded up a little. Surely that was a good sign.

“You need to be careful how you come on to guys, Lil. They’re not all me.”

“You’re the only one I’m coming on to.”

Temper-hardly the reaction she’d been after-lit in his eyes. “I’m not your practice dummy.”

“I wasn’t practicing. But I guess you’re not interested.” With a shrug, she set the Coke on the seat of the bike. “Thanks for the lesson.” Insulted, embarrassed, she started for the first cattle gate.

She supposed he just went for city girls, with their city ways. Mr. New York City. Well, that was fine, that was just fine, she didn’t need him to-

His hand gripped her arm, and he spun her around so fast her body plowed into his. Temper sparked off him just as it did her.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” he demanded.

“What the hell’s wrong with you ? You don’t trust me to drive your stupid bike for a couple of miles, you don’t want to kiss me. You act like I’m still nine years old. If you’re not interested that way, then you should just say so instead of-”

He yanked her up to her toes, and his mouth was on hers. So hard, so fast. Nothing like the others, she thought, dizzy. Nothing like the other boys.

His lips were hot, his tongue quick. Something inside her went loose, as if a knot gave way, and every inch of her-inside and out-flashed with light, with heat.

It felt as if her heart would beat its way right out of her chest.

She shoved him back, trying to catch her breath. “Wait a minute, wait a minute.”

Everything went bright and sharp. Dazzling. Who needed to breathe, she thought, and leaped back into his arms with a force that knocked them both to the ground.

She stopped his heart. He’d have sworn it stopped beating when he’d gone crazy and kissed her. For that instant, it had been like death-and then everything blasted back to life.

Now, somehow, he was rolling with her on the dirt road, over the prickly grass on its edge. He was hard, brutally hard, so when she pressed her hips up, pressed against him, he groaned in pleasure and torment.

“Does it hurt? What does it feel like?” Her words tore on ragged breaths. “Let me feel-”

“Jesus. Don’t.” He gripped her hand and pulled it back from its sudden and fierce exploration. Another minute of that and he knew he’d go off, and embarrass them both.

He pushed back to sit on the old road with his heart knocking between his ears. “What are we doing?”

“You wanted to kiss me.” She sat up with him. Her eyes were huge, deep and dark. “You want more.”

“Look, Lil-”

“So do I. You’re going to be my first.” She smiled as he stared at her. “It’ll be right with you. I’ve been waiting until I knew it’d be right.”

Something, she thought it might be panic, streaked across his face. “That’s not something you can take back once it’s done.”

“You want me. I want you back. We’ll figure it out.” She leaned forward, laid her lips gently, experimentally on his. “I liked the way you kissed me, so we’ll figure it out.”

He shook his head, and the panic turned into a kind of baffled amusement. “I’m supposed to be the one talking you into having sex.”

“You couldn’t talk me into anything if I didn’t want it.”

“That’s for damn sure.”

She smiled again, started to lean her head on his shoulder. And was on her feet in a flash. “Oh, God, look at the sky. Look north.”

It boiled. Coop pushed to his feet to grab her hand. “Let’s get inside.”

“It’s miles off. Miles. It’s going to spawn though. It’s-There!”

The funnel whirled out of the churning mass, twisting its way to the ground like a deadly black finger. “My grandparents.”

“No, it’s miles off, and it’s heading west, heading to Wyoming. We’ve barely even got wind here.”

“They can turn.” As he spoke he saw it simply eat through a line of trees.

“Yeah, but it’s not. It won’t. Look, look, Coop, can you see the rain wall? There’s a rainbow.”

She saw the rainbow, he thought, and he saw the black funnel storming its way across the plains.

He supposed that said something about both of them.

OUTSIDE LIL’S BEDROOM, Jenna took several bracing breaths. The light under the door told her Lil was still up. She’d half hoped that by the time she’d finished stalling, the light would be off.

She knocked, opened the door when Lil called out to come in.

Her daughter sat up in bed, her hair spilling around her shoulders, her face scrubbed for the night, and a thick book in her hands.

“Studying already?”

“It’s on wildlife ecology and management. I want to be ready when I start classes. No, I want to be ahead,” Lil admitted. “A freshman has to be really good to have a chance at any serious fieldwork. So I’m going to be really good. I’m already feeling competitive.”