Chris stretched out on the hard plank floor, chewing on the meat while trying to get comfortable, but not succeeding. The blanket was small and her
legs remained uncovered from the knee down. She tried to put them under her but had no success. If she covered her legs, her shoulders were exposed to the cold, and if she covered her shoulders, her legs got cold.
“Will you hold still!” Tynan suddenly shouted.
She looked up at him in surprise. He was sitting on the saddle, chewing on a piece of rabbit and looking into the fire. “Well, Tynan, I’m just trying to get comfortable and not freeze to death.”
“It was your idea to come to this cabin so make the best of it and stop complaining—and go to sleep.”
“How am I supposed to sleep when I’m freezing to death? And why are you still wearing your wet clothes?” She sat up. “Look at your skin! It’s turning blue with cold. Is there anything that we can use for a coffee pot? I’ll make you something to warm you up.”
He didn’t bother to answer her or even acknowledge her presence, but just sat there glaring into the fire and chewing.
Chris moved to sit in front of him, and when he continued to look over her head, she took his hands in hers. “Is something wrong? Does this cabin remind you of something bad that happened to you? Maybe one of the outlaw gangs you’ve ridden with? Or the man who was your friend who was hanged?”
Ty looked down at her with an expression that asked if she’d completely lost her mind.
His hands were as cold as a piece of metal left in snow. She began to rub them between her own blowing on them, trying to warm him.
“Chris,” he said in a husky whisper. “I don’t think I can take too much more. Please go over there and leave me alone.”
“You’ll never get warm if you sit there in your wet clothes. You’d better take them off.” She looked up at him and she knew that what she felt for him was in her eyes, yet he didn’t seem to react at all. He just sat there looking at her, and if there was anything in his eyes, it was sadness.
She was about to say something else when suddenly he reacted. He grabbed her in his arms and pulled her up to put his lips on hers. If Tynan was good with buttons, he was even better with blankets. Before his face was touching hers, the blanket was off, flung somewhere across the room. Chris gasped when Ty’s cold clothes touched her warm, bare skin, but her arms went around his neck and pulled him closer.
“Tynan,” she whispered as he began to hungrily kiss her neck, his hands running up and down her back, his fingers curving over her buttocks.
He took her head in his hands and looked at her. “Chris,” he murmured, “I’ve never wanted anything as badly as I want you at this moment. This is your last chance to say no because from now on I won’t be able to help myself.”
Their noses were touching so she turned slightly so she could give him a quick kiss. “Yes,” she said joyously. “Yes and yes and yes.” She punctuated each word with a kiss.
He began to smile then, a warm, seductive smile that made Chris’s skin tingle. So, she thought, this was the face of Tynan the lover.
With a broader grin, he ruffled her damp hair, leaned forward and began to use his teeth to nibble at her bottom lip. Chris was taken by surprise. She knew the basics of how humans mate, but this had nothing to do with what she’d heard.
“Come here, you tempting little imp,” he said, pulling her up higher. She was between his legs, his wet trousers pressed against her ribs, holding her in place while he kissed and nibbled on her ears, her neck, across her shoulder, down her arm.
Chris’s neck began to weaken. “Oh, my, but I do like that,” she murmured, eyes closed. Tynan’s hands began to rub on her body, warming her. He seemed to be able to reach all of her, from the soles of her feet, up her calves, lingering on her buttocks and then his fingertips massaging up her spine.
After a moment, she no longer felt his cold clothes, felt, instead, only his hot hands on her skin, felt only his lips moving over her body—a body which had never known a man’s lips before.
He was as smooth at moving her about as he was at unbuttoning her dresses. She had no idea when he changed her to a prone position—but she was aware when his lips first touched her breasts. Her eyes flew open, startled, and she looked at him.
The dark room with only the firelight from behind Tynan made him better-looking than usual and Chris suddenly thought that perhaps Apollo, the god of the sun, was making love to her. She put her hand in his dark hair, pulling his head up to hers so she could kiss him. “I love you, Tynan,” she said, putting her arms around him and kissing him. She wasn’t even surprised to find that his shirt was gone. No doubt he was as skillful at removing his own clothing as he was with women’s.
His hands kept moving up and down her body in a sensual, caressing way, roaming over her stomach, down her thighs, up to her breasts. He felt so good to her, his big, wide shoulders, the way his muscles moved under her hands as he moved, the way his hips were gently undulating against the side of her hips.
Chris’s heart was rising in her throat, pounding, as his hands began to caress the soft inner flesh of her thigh, kneading on the skin, touching soft, quiescent muscle. Of her own accord, her legs began to open.
“Ty,” she whispered. “My lovely Tynan.”
He didn’t say a word, but began to move his lips downward as Chris arched her neck back in anticipation of what was to come. His hot, wet mouth closed on her breast, causing a groan to escape her lips. He continued to make love to her breast as his hands roamed over her legs.
When he moved on top of her, she clutched him to her, wrapping her legs about him instinctively. Gently, he disengaged her legs and moved them so they were bent, knees up, by his side.
When he entered her, Chris gasped, opening her eyes to look at him. He lay still on top of her, smiling at her, seeming to be at ease, but there were great drops of sweat on his forehead.
She had expected pain but there was none, only surprise at how lovemaking actually felt. Blinking a few times, she moved her hips slightly upward, toward his and she saw Ty’s eyes close, his head lean back and he entered her fully.