“It’s okay.” I said it over and over again as I worked my way to my feet. My shoulder wasn’t the only part of my body protesting the move as one side of my hip throbbed and my head started to pound in a rapid beat. I ran my hand down Boss’s neck and gave him a quick once over to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself ripping through the flora and fauna like a bat out of hell. I cooed over his scraped fetlock and worried over an ugly looking gash that was slashed across his cannon. Last time a horse had injured me I’d refused to so much as look at another one for years and years. This time, I was more worried about the damage the animal had done to himself than I was the bumps and bruises I knew I would bounce back from.

“Poor baby. Those guys really worked you up, didn’t they?” Boss titled his head in my direction and I rubbed my uninjured cheek against his. “They were jerks and they sure as hell didn’t belong out here.”

He huffed out of his nose and then nickered loudly and tossed his head in warning. I stiffened next to him as I heard the sound of branches breaking and the pounding of heavy hooves as another horse and rider broke into the unexpected clearing. I knew I shouldn’t be surprised that Cy came after me, but I was. I was also touched and slightly overwhelmed by the look of concern on his face. I knew he had to be worried about his horse and how my wild ride would affect his business, but I also knew, without a doubt, that some of his anxiety and fret was for me, as well.

He swung out of his saddle before his horse came to a full stop. His arms were around me and pulling me to his chest before I could get out any words to tell him that both Boss and I were banged up, but fine. His hands were tangled in my hair before I could get my breath back from the force of being yanked around by hard hands and his voracious mouth was all over mine before I could register that his heart was racing and that there seemed to be a fine tremor working its way through his entire body. The hands in my hair were desperate and shaking. The lips against mine were demanding and brutal.

He kissed me to reassure himself I was in one piece and unharmed.

He kissed me because he was worried about me.

He kissed me because that was the easiest way for a man like him to communicate his way through all the complicated emotions and feelings that surged and pulsed between the two of us.

He kissed me because I let him and wouldn’t let him stop, even when he tried to pull away.

I wrapped my good arm around his neck, lifted myself up on the tips of my now worn-in boots, and sealed my lips to his as I inhaled the affirmation that I was okay and had a whole lot left to experience before my time on this planet was done.

I twisted my tongue with his and let my teeth graze across that damp curve of his lower lip. I could taste the tang of his fear there and it was sweet because it was fear for me. He breathed life and passion into me as I absorbed it all and tried to give back reassurance and comfort. I never wanted anyone to leave me but I’d never really let anyone show up for me when I needed them either. I was always pushing away but as his mouth punished and praised mine, there was no way I wasn’t pulling Cy closer. I sighed against his lowly muttered “thank fuck” as he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine.

One of his hands escaped the disorderly mess my hair was in and slowly skimmed over my torn cheek and across my jaw. His touch was feather light and barely there, but I felt it like a ton of bricks. When all his hardness faded to soft, it was enough to make me explode. His gentleness was a spark that made the things that were hot and heavy smolder deep inside of me. His hand curled around the side of my neck and his thumb swept back and forth over my pulse, like he was counting the times my heart beat and making sure it was enough.

“Scared the shit out of me when Boss broke free. That nervous bastard has you about five miles away from where you’re supposed to be. He looks like a badass but inside he’s a big ol’ baby. I thought I was going to find you wrapped around a tree or on the ground with your head split open. I should’ve known you could take care of yourself.” His words whispered across my lips and the vibration of them made me slip my tongue out so I could try and catch the sweetness of them before they faded away.

“I didn’t do anything other than hold on.” My voice was as shaky as his hands were, but I sounded turned on, not afraid, and that fact had me feeling oddly proud of myself.

Cy pulled back and the hand at my throat slid down the center of my chest. The buttons on my shirt popped and snapped out of his way as his palm settled over where my heart was racing and silently pleading for more of his touch. His hands weren’t soft or smooth. The fact that he worked with them for a living was evident against my skin, but the roughness made my breath catch and my knees quiver. The look in his eyes as he watched me while he tried to touch my heart through the delicate cage it was trapped in had my nipples pulling into hard peaks and desire tugging at that now damp and achy place between my legs. All the man had to do was look at me with those cloud colored eyes and I ended up wet with want and weak-kneed with neediness.

“Sometimes that’s all you have to do to make the best out of a bad situation. You hold on when letting go is so much easier.” His words rumbled out of his chest and I felt them work their way through me.

I wanted to hold on—to him and to this woman I was while I was out here with him—but now wasn’t the time or the place. In fact, I was still confused about where exactly we were in the seemingly endless woods.

“Why is this clearing here? I saw it from the top of the rocks when we were climbing the other day and I thought it was weird, and now that I’m in the middle of it, I know it’s extra weird. It doesn’t belong here.”