The Savage

She hastily clamped a hand over her mouth, but barely had time to turn and lean out over the bed before retching into the chamber pot she’d begun keeping there for just that purpose.

Lance held her head and stroked her damp nape, the gesture tender but awkward in his need to support her.

When she was done, Summer wiped her mouth on a towel and lay back weakly on the pillows, her eyes closed in embarrassment.

“How romantic,” she murmured, and despite their tangled emotions, they both chortled.

In a moment she opened her eyes to gaze at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, Lance, but I don’t think I feel very passionate just now.”

“I’m not sorry.” His own eyes softened as he placed his hand over her still flat stomach. “No woman’s ever wanted to have my baby before. I can put up with a little queasiness if you can.”

“I can, willingly.”

His brows drew together in a thoughtful frown. “Will it hurt the baby if I’m inside you?”

“Maritza said no. We don’t have to

worry for months, at least. And not even then if we’re careful.”

“Well, then,” Lance said with a grin, “I guess we’ll just have to be careful.”

They rose eventually, and lazily took turns bathing each other, then even more lazily dressing one another. Lance did the cooking in honor of their honeymoon. He fixed a huge breakfast of ham and eggs and pan biscuits, which he wolfed down, having eaten hardly a thing the day before because of wedding nerves, while Summer watched him jealously, nibbling on a soda cracker and drinking herbal tea to settle her stomach.

They cleaned up the dishes together, and it was then that Lance noticed Summer kept glancing at her watch.

“Would you like to go for a ride?” she asked when the last skillet was dry.

“A ride? On a horse?”

She flushed and laughed when she realized where Lance’s mind had been. “Yes, on a horse. Not me.”

His mouth curved dryly. “That isn’t exactly how I thought I’d spend today.”

She went to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body suggestively against his, while giving him a smile that could charm a grizzly. “Please, darling? I think the fresh air would do me good.”

He saw through her, even though he hadn’t yet figured out what she wanted from him. Summer was trying to work her wiles on him again—and succeeding all too well. Despite his vow to remain indifferent when she used those female tactics on him, his body had responded instantly to the feel of her rubbing up against him. Still he was content enough to be amused rather than angry.

“Where would we go?”

“It’s a surprise.”

He gave in gracefully, not wanting to disappoint her or see that sparkle in her emerald eyes fade. When he asked her what she was up to, Summer would only smile secretly and say, “I’ll tell you when we get there.”

They took coats, since the weather had turned chilly, but Lance felt warm enough, seeing her eagerness and delight.

The yard seemed deserted, with none of the hands in sight. Lance saddled his sorrel and lifted Summer up onto the horse’s back, then swung up behind her. At her direction, they headed out to the open range.

It was a blustery day, cloudless but with a hint that winter would soon be coming, but his arms kept her warm. Indeed, Lance’s hands wouldn’t leave her body alone. And with all the attention his lips gave her, it was clear he found the left side of her neck and the shell of her ear fascinating.

When they’d ridden half a mile or so from the ranch and were sheltered by the relative privacy of a stand of post oaks, Lance left off nibbling Summer’s skin to murmur huskily in her ear, “You’ve never made love on horseback before.”

Summer turned her head to glance at him with wide eyes. “Can you do it that way?”

His grin was wickedness itself. “A Comanche can do anything on horseback.”

Summer returned a wicked smile of her own, but declined his scandalous invitation. “Someday we should try it—when it’s not so cold, and when we have the time—but not right now. Now, behave yourself, Lance Calder, and stop distracting me.”

Which, of course, he took as a challenge to see just how distracting he could be.