Judith Stacy - Stetsons, Spring and Wedding Rings - Rocky Mountain Courtship / Courting Miss Perfect / Courted by the Cowboy

“Will you come with me?” He held out his hand, palm up, waiting. His question rang low with a deeper meaning. A meaning that made her soul shiver and private places within her come alive. His baritone dipped, unfailingly intimate. “The night is waiting.”

This is not love, she repeated, caught between wanting to stay safe alone in her cabin and needing to find out what awaited her on the starlit snow and in the chambers of Joseph’s heart. How did she choose? Both were perilous. Both would end in heartache. She bit her bottom lip, aware that it drew his gaze there. Was he thinking to kiss her? Her stomach dropped at the notion of kissing him back. Her lips tingled, craving something she did not know.

Did she stay here and always wonder what if? To spend her days never sure what would have happened it she had accepted his offer? Or did she go with him, fearing it could not last? Did she seize what time she could, stealing happiness beneath the light of the moon?

She didn’t know what came over her. “Let’s not keep the night waiting,” she said, and took his hand.

Joseph steadied the sled at the crest of the slope, quaking in a way he never had before. Clara noted his every move. He could sense her gaze on him like a touch to his shoulders, to his back and to the side of his face. That she agreed to come was a hopeful sign. Kneeling down, he held the sled steady. “All aboard.”

“The hill looks steeper than I remember.” Her skirts swished against his knee. “And far too rugged. Are you sure we won’t crash like a runaway train?”

“No, I’m not sure at all. Crashing is a risk we are both going to have to take.” He took her hand, savoring the smile curving her mouth. “Sit right here. Feet forward, and hold on to the side here.”

“This can’t be comfortable. I’ll fall off.”

“I’ll hold you so you won’t.” He eased behind her, doing his best to keep the sled steady. “Are you starting to see how this goes?”

“You’re going to put your arms around me, aren’t you?”

“As long as you don’t object.” Sure, he could have let her slide down the hill all by herself, but how was he going to get closer to her that way? His legs embraced hers as he cradled her between his thighs. More intimate than on their horse ride the first evening they had met, and he couldn’t complain about that. No, not one bit. Her rosewater-and-soft-woman scent tantalized him as he wrapped one arm around her waist. The underside of her breasts rested against his forearm.

You’re a gentleman, Joseph, he reminded himself, but his blood heated anyway. He might be refusing to imagine having the right to unbutton her dress and worship her breasts, but his body responded anyway with a desire so strong, his vision blurred. All common sense fled.

“Are you ready?” he murmured against her ear. The silk of her hair and the satin of her skin captured him like a spell, binding him to her with a tie so fierce it could never be broken.

“You’ll hold on tight to me?”

“I won’t let go.” He pushed off with his free hand, and the sled bumped over sharp rises and dips before hovering on the brink of the hill’s edge.

“Maybe I’m thinking to change my mind about this.” She gripped the worn wooden sides tighter. “Could you stop?”

“I could, but then you would miss this.” His words puffed against the side of her face, intimate and tantalizing. “Look up.”

Silvered light drew a path down the hillside, making the snow gleam like a dark opal. Shades of navy blue and purple made the shadows mysterious and beautiful, transforming the landscape. Joseph’s arms around her could not be the reason she felt as if she’d walked into a fairy tale. Her world had never been so beautiful. Dark stands of snow-capped trees towered like watchful sentries as the sled dipped downward, gathering speed. Time paused right along with her heartbeat as the sled bumped upward and took flight.

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