Montana Sky

into her, and the pleasure of knowing she possessed whatever it was he searched for.
    The violence was spent. Now there were only sighs and murmurs, the whisper of flesh sliding over flesh, the quick moans of surprised delight.
    The moon rose, unnoticed, and the night birds sang to the light. Wind, gentle with full spring, teased the curtains and wafted like water over their heated skin.
    There was the long, long groan of that first lazy climax, one that shimmered through her as silver as the moonlight and left her glowing. He drew her up so they were torso to torso, so that he could lose his hands in her hair, sweep the weight of it back from her face. When her lips curved, so did his.
    He held her like that, just held her, with their hearts pounding together, her head on his shoulder, his hands in her hair. And still holding her, he laid her back and slipped inside her.
    Slow and deep, so that each thrust was like a velvet slap. He watched her come, watched it happen, the darkening eyes, the trembling lips, the sudden racking shudder. The silky movements quickened, driving them both toward the brink.
    This time when she fell, he let her drag him with her.
     
    I T WAS A PERFECT DAY FOR A WEDDING , LACED WITH WARM breezes that teased the scent of pine down to the valley,stirred the perfume of the potted flowers Tess had ordered arranged in banks around the porches and terraces of the main house, Adam and Lily’s house, even the outbuildings.
    There wasn’t a hint of rain, or the hail that had come so fiercely forty-eight hours before and sent Tess and Lily into a tailspin of worry. The willow tree by the pond that Jack Mercy had ordered built, stocked with Japanese carp, then forgotten, was delicately green.
    There were tables with striped umbrellas, a snowy white canopy to shade the wedding feast, and a wooden platform that the men had cheerfully constructed to stand as a dance floor.
    It was a perfect day, Willa mused, if she ignored the fact that cops would be sprinkled among the guests.
    “Gosh, look at you.” Misty-eyed, Willa reached up to adjust the tie of Adam’s tux. “You look like a picture out of a magazine.” Unable to keep her hands off him, she brushed at his shirtfront. “Big day, huh?”
    “The biggest.” He caught a tear off her lashes, pretended to put it in his pocket. “I’ll save it. You hardly ever let them fall.”
    “The way they keep backing up on me, I have a feeling plenty are going to fall today.” She took the tiny lily of the valley boutonniere—his own request—and carefully pinned it on for him. “I know I’m supposed to let your best man do all this, but Ben’s got those big hands.”
    “Yours are shaking.”
    “I know.” She laughed a little. “You’d think I was getting married. This whole thing didn’t make me nervous until this morning when I had to put this getup on.”
    “You look beautiful.” He took her hand, laid it on his cheek. “You’ve been in my heart, Willa, since before you were born. You’ll always be there.”
    “Oh, God.” Her eyes welled again. She gave him a hasty kiss, then whirled. “I’ve got to go.” In her blind rush out the door, she barreled into Ben. “Move.”
    “Just hold on, let me look.” Ignoring the teary eyes, he turned her in a circle, admiring the flow and fit of the slim blue gown. “Well, well, well. Pretty as a bluebell in ameadow.” He brushed a tear from her cheek. “With dew still on it.”
    “Oh, save your fancy talk and go do what you’re supposed to do with Adam. Make man noises and tell bad jokes or something.”
    “That’s what I’m here for.” He kissed her before she could wriggle free. “The first dance is mine. And the last,” he added, as she dashed away.
    It wasn’t fair, Willa told herself as she hurried toward the main house. It wasn’t fair that he had her stirred up this way. She had too much on her mind, too much to do. She damn well didn’t want to be in love with Ben McKinnon.
    Probably wasn’t, she thought, and swiped a hand under her nose.
    It was just so embarrassingly female, this reaction of hers. Imagining herself in love with him just because they went to bed together, because he said those fancy words now and again or looked at her in a certain way.
    She’d have to get over it, that was all. Get herself back in gear before she made herself the biggest joke in the county. Or crowded her mind with it so she started doing something stupid like pining away, or