Ginny’s breath caught, and she thought then that they had never been so close before, never felt the same emotion at the same time as they were now, this meeting of more than just the flesh, but of the hearts….

Oh God, let it last forever!

17

“Where did you go, Steve? Why did it take you so long to get back to Mexico?” Ginny slanted a glance at him, her body satiated and lethargic, replete.

They lay wrapped in a damp cocoon of tangled sheets and lamplight, still flushed from lovemaking. Her hand lay upon his chest, fingers spread and pale against skin dark as any Comanche warrior.

Arms crossed behind his head, Steve shifted lazily, bringing one leg up and over to lie across her thighs. “Do you ever run out of questions, green-eyes?”

His thick murmur was teasing, but there was a serious tinge to his comment.

“Yes. When I’m asleep.” Her hand curled into a small fist, knuckles grazing the shadowed angle of his jaw in a light, mock blow. “Answer me. Did you talk to Sam Murdock?”

“A lot longer than necessary. He sends his regards.”

“I’m sure he does.” She frowned slightly. “I know he’s your partner and very astute. He also happens to be a friend of my father’s. Does this have anything to do with the new silver mine the senator bought in New Mexico?”

“You talk too much.”

Moving swiftly, he caught her by surprise, pushing her into the mattress and sliding his body over hers to look down at her with a familiar hot gleam in his dark-blue eyes.

“Steve…stop it.”

He bent his head, black hair tickling her bare breasts as he began to kiss her, washing his tongue over quivering flesh in a leisurely torment until she closed her eyes, forgetting Sam Murdock and William Brandon, forgetting everything but the sweet, heady sensations he was provoking with his mouth and hands….

It wasn’t until later the next day, when they rode out well into the morning on the next leg of their journey south to Don Francisco’s, that Ginny remembered their conversation of the night before. She turned to look at him, where he rode his big black gelding next to Paco, both of them deep in a low-toned conversation that she was certain had to do with Steve’s recent trip.

“Well?” she said when he nudged his mount alongside her a little bit later. “Are you going to answer my question?”

“Which one, love? You fire so many at me I feel as if I’ve been ambushed by an Apache war party.”

Though he said it in a teasing tone, his eyes narrowed slightly at her, glinting a dark blue beneath long lashes.