Texas Heroes_ Volume 1(41)

Neither one moved.

The air crackled around them. Boone saw his own raging hunger reflected in Maddie’s eyes.

He clenched his fingers, denying them access to what he craved. He wanted Maddie like he’d never wanted anyone before her.

“Boone…” she began.

He could have her now. She was here, and she was willing. If only…

No.

He laid one finger across her lips, that one simple touch searing his skin, shooting fire through his blood. “Don’t. Don’t say it. Don’t open that door, Maddie.”

“Maybe—”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t settle for less than you deserve.”

Her eyes widened at that. A tiny frown appeared between her brows.

Before his control completely broke, Boone lifted his finger from her soft, tempting lips and rose from Maddie’s bed. Drawing on every ounce of his control, he walked away from a woman who wanted him, too.

Walked away knowing that he had done the right thing.

But when he looked back and saw her curled into a ball on the bed, it was hard to remember why doing the right thing was so damn important.





Chapter Eight





Maddie rocked on the porch swing and drank her coffee, watching the sky lighten from the sunrise on the opposite side of the house. She huddled deeper into her peacock robe and wondered how she’d ever survive the next three weeks.

Her sleep had been restless, though her soreness was much better, thanks to Boone’s care. But another ache replaced the twinge of ill-used muscles.

She had no name for this ache. Part was memory of his touch on her skin, how those hands had felt even better than she’d imagined. Strong, gentle… drawing a different ache from deep down inside her. Maddie shivered at the memory of what Boone’s hands had made her feel. Once the knotted muscles let go, the pain had evaporated in the wake of a desire so powerful it had knocked Maddie for a loop.

She would have welcomed him into her bed at that moment and forsaken every ounce of sense she’d ever possessed. She would have opened her body to him and paid the piper later.

But Boone had turned her down flat. Maddie wasn’t sure how she’d ever face him again. He didn’t know the behavior was unlike her. She had never offered herself to a man before, never come close to pleading, yet twice now she had wanted nothing more. She was still shocked at how easy it would have been to do just that.

Boone had wanted her, too. That much, she knew. Even if she’d been blind and deaf, if she hadn’t seen his eyes go dark and hot or heard his voice turn husky, Maddie would still have felt the air vibrate with electric, roaring hunger.

But Boone had had the control she had lacked, and Maddie was still puzzling over his last words. Don’t settle for less than you deserve.

Now she heard him on the stairs and held her breath, praying he wouldn’t see her out here, wouldn’t come near.

When his steps headed toward the kitchen, Maddie exhaled her relief. Boone could get his own breakfast this morning. She’d been sorely tempted to pack up and leave in the middle of the night.

But if she did, she would never be able to keep the promise she’d made to her father’s memory. She’d never satisfy her own growing yearning to know her roots. And she couldn’t break her promise to Boone, though she no longer kidded herself that she’d be welcome here once her term was up.

Maddie thought about her naiveté in thinking she and Boone could be friends. Right now, she didn’t see how she could even be in the same room with him.

But she would do it, somehow. She wouldn’t tuck tail and run. Her father had found the courage to leave all that he loved and make a new life. Her grandmother had endured dying alone. If Sam was right, her forebears had faced drought and disaster, survived the threat of starvation. Maddie would not be found lacking just because she was embarrassed.

She wanted to give up today’s riding lesson, but she wouldn’t. She would face Boone somehow and keep going. Maddie Rose Collins wasn’t a quitter.

But she would never let such a lapse happen again. She had been right about Boone’s hands. They were dangerous, so strong and skilled. She had been in such misery, and he had soothed her, had used his voice to reassure and his hands to heal. When the pain had let go, his touch had scatter-shot desire throughout her body. The memory of it made her shiver still.

When she heard the back door close and Boone’s steps head down the porch and away, Maddie sighed.

Twenty-three days and counting.



That afternoon, Boone watched Maddie dismount, thankful that those long legs did the trick. He’d stood back and let her mount by herself earlier, not willing to risk touching her unless absolutely necessary. She’d settled into the saddle and pointedly ignored him.