The Rancher Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides Book 1)

the barbs, but her heart was racing from his gentle ministrations. "No—I think they're all gone."
    "Good." He started to smear a smelly salve onto her hands. "This should take out the soreness and help your palm to heal."
    The salve was soothing, and already the stinging had begun to ease. She gazed at Travis Burnett and couldn't believe this was the same man who had carried her out of the roadhouse, ridden across country with her on horseback, and refused to let her go.
    He took strips of clean cloth and covered the welts. "You should get some rest now. Sunrise is only a couple of hours away, and it'll be time to get up soon."
    She felt tired and numb as she watched him pack up the first-aid supplies.
    "How did you know I would try to leave tonight?" she questioned.
    "You don't give up easily. I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't tried something."
    "Oh."
    He'd either just given her a compliment or told her politely that she was stubborn. After everything that had happened tonight, she decided to accept it as a compliment.
    "Come on and I'll help you up the stairs," he said, his voice soothing.
    Picking up the lantern, he walked her through the darkened house and up the series of steps. It was an eerie feeling to be climbing the stairs together. She felt as if the whole world was asleep and only the two of them existed.
    When they reached their respective bedrooms, she felt awkward. There was a new emotion between them, one she didn't recognize, a feeling that left her oddly unsettled.
    She didn't want to fight him any longer. She didn't want to make him mad, but she wasn't exactly sure that he was the man she had thought him to be.
    Tonight she'd seen a different side of Travis Burnett, a side that drew her more to him than ever before. A gentle, kind man she hadn't expected from the rough cowboy exterior.
    And more than ever before she was drawn to him.
    They stood uncomfortable, unsure, outside their bedroom doors. "Do you need the lantern?" he asked, his voice gruff.
    "No. I can find my way from here."
    "All right then. Good night, Desirée."
    It was the first time he had used her stage name, and in the privacy of the moment it all but made her go weak in the knees. Why tonight? Why this moment had he chosen to call her the name that reminded her of just who she really was? Of who she wanted to be?
    "Good night," she called and stepped into the bedroom she had left a little more than an hour before, closing the door firmly behind her.
    As she turned and surveyed the bed, she realized she had no sheets. What was she going to do now? Sleep on the ticking without a covering? Or she could sneak down to the yard below and get them without Travis knowing.
    No, he'd hear her and think she was trying to leave again. Stepping back into the hall, she knocked on his door.
    He opened the door and leaned one arm against the frame, his body silhouetted by the glow of the lantern. His naked chest glistened, smooth and silky, his muscles clearly defined. Rose suddenly felt lightheaded and feverish.
    "What's wrong?"
    She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I ... my bed sheets are outside."
    Even in the dim light, she noticed the pupils of his eyes widen.
    "Guess you'll have to sleep with me then," he whispered in the night.

Chapter Six

    Rose felt her breath catch in her throat. It wasn't quite the response she would have expected from this man who resembled everything precise and correct. In fact, he'd taken her quite off guard.
    Before she could think of a reply, his arms wrapped around her and his lips descended onto hers. Warm as midnight rain, the feel of his mouth on hers all but drained away the last of her strength. If his arms hadn't held her up, she would have fallen, for her knees went weak.
    She leaned into his strength, and a sense of safety and well-being overcame her. Wrapped in the security of his arms, she felt her defenses melting, her body responding to the sweet caress of his kiss. Flashes of fire raced down her limbs, warming her to the very center of her being.
    Tentatively, she ran her bandaged hands down his naked back, her fingertips enjoying the feel of his flesh beneath her hands. The muscled contours of his back rippled at her touch, and Travis moaned deep and low in his throat. She opened her mouth to receive more of him, to let him breathe the very essence of her life's breath as she felt his tongue rake the inside of her lips. A swirling sensation of intense pleasure began deep within her