Only 06 - Winter Fire

pulsing, releasing, pulsing again.
    She groaned and moved against him, trying to get even closer, desperate for something she couldn’t name. But like a hooded hawk, she knew it was there, the freedom of the sky calling wildly, just beyond her reach.
    She wept with need of it.
    Case put his hands on her hips, jerked forward and drove into her.
    A wild heat pulsed through Sarah, beating like the wings of a newly freed hawk.
    And then she, too, was free.
    Each broken breath she took was a cry of ecstasy that was also his name.
    He heard her pleasure, probed deeply the pulsing of her body, and felt the hot rush of her release. He could no more resist her flight than he could stop breathing. A shocking pleasure raked through him, cording his body again. He thrust deep and hard and let go of everythingbut Sarah and the shattering, endless pulses of ecstasy she had brought him once again.
    Only when the last drops of passion were utterly spent did Case realize what he had done.
    What if I got her pregnant?
    The thought was like being dumped naked into a snowbank.
    Abruptly he lifted her off his body.
    Talk about locking the barn door after the horse is stolen , he thought savagely, but he set her aside just the same.
    â€œCase?” she asked, startled.
    â€œGet dressed before you catch a chill.”
    She shivered, but not from the wind. His eyes were as cold as the winter moon.

16
    â€œ W onder what changed their minds?” Conner asked. His voice sounded unusually loud in the cabin. Probably because supper had been unusually silent.
    In fact, everything had been real quiet since Case and Sarah had ridden in a few hours ago. Both of them were strained and not at all talkative. Conner assumed it had something to do with the ambush by the raiders.
    â€œSarah?” he pressed.
    â€œI’m sorry. Were you talking to me?”
    â€œHell—er, heck, no, I was talking to the rabbit stew. What do you think changed their minds?”
    She blinked, obviously confused.
    â€œWhy did the raiders go after you?” her brother asked slowly. “They haven’t been bothering us lately.”
    â€œI imagine it’s getting damned cold of a morning in Spring Canyon,” Case said.
    â€œIs that any reason to kill a woman from ambush?” Conner asked in disbelief.
    â€œIt’s a better reason than some I’ve heard of.”
    His voice was cool and clipped. It advised a change of subject. So did the look in his eyes.
    Conner ignored the signals.
    â€œSeems like Ab is having trouble with his kinfolk as well as with Moody,” the boy said.
    Case chewed food and didn’t say a word.
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Sarah asked.
    â€œYou told me you heard Ab telling Moody to raid three days’ ride from Spring Canyon and no closer.”
    She nodded.
    â€œThe canyon you were in isn’t that far away,” her brother said, “and neither is this cabin, yet there was at least one Culpepper along on each of the raids.”
    â€œSo?” she asked.
    Conner gave his sister a disgusted look.
    â€œSo,” he said clearly, “it’s obvious as warts on a pickle that Ab doesn’t have control of his own kin, much less Moody’s bunch.”
    While Conner spoke, he reached past Case for the frying pan full of cornbread. The boy’s chair, recently constructed of cottonwood and buckskin, creaked alarmingly.
    â€œAsk for the bread to be passed,” Sarah said sharply.
    â€œWhy? I didn’t even have to lean very hard.”
    â€œIt’s good manners.”
    â€œSeems like it would be better manners not to bother a man who has eating on his mind,” her brother retorted.
    â€œPass me the cornbread when you’re finished with it,” she said through her teeth.
    â€œPlease?”
    â€œ Please .”
    Case looked at the boy. “Quit baiting your sister. She’s had a hard day already.”
    Sarah hoped her flush would pass unnoticed in the flickering light of the lamp.
    Conner looked contrite.
    â€œSorry, sis,” he said, his voice cracking in mid-word. “It’s no fun spending your afternoon hugging cold stone while—”
    â€œPass the cornbread,” Sarah interrupted. “Please.”
    She didn’t look at Case. She hadn’t looked at him even once after she realized that she had somehow disgusted him that afternoon. She didn’t know what she had done.
    She wasn’t going to ask.
    It was