He chuckled softly to himself. “On the other hand, we could drop back to that little spring we passed about a quarter of a mile back and call it a day.”

She couldn’t help it. The rest of her body rebelled against her reckless tongue, and she had such a look of longing, hope, and relief on her face that he laughed out loud. “Maybe you can go on all day,” he said, “but after two months without riding a horse, I’m getting just a mite tender. So unless you feel strongly about it, I vote we stop.”

She nodded, knowing that he had read her precisely, but too sore and tired to care. Tomorrow she could be proud and angry again. Now she just wanted to detach herself from this hated horse and its conspiracy to pound the lower half of her into a shapeless, unrecognizable pulp.

The spring gurgled out of the ground in a small clearing, forming a tiny creek less than a foot wide. The tall pines were so thickly clustered that only a tiny portion of sunlight filtered down to the ground. The sounds of the horses’ hooves, soft and muffled in the thick carpet of forest needles and leaves, barely interrupted the gentle sighing of the wind through the upper branches.

Eric swung down and tethered his horse and the packhorse to a tree branch, then turned and watched as Nicole gingerly dismounted. Reaching up, he fumbled in his saddlebags briefly, then extracted a dark brown bottle. “Here,” he said, tossing it to her.

She grabbed quickly and caught it. “What is it?”

“Some liniment Cliff put in. He knew we’d both be needing it.” He moved to the packhorse and began untying the ropes. “We can’t do anything about the stiffness—that will just have to wear off—but I imagine the skin on the inside of your legs is pretty chafed, right?”

She nodded, keeping her face impassive. Never, to her knowledge, had she heard such an understatement.

“Well, this will help it heal and toughen up more quickly.” He took down the bag she had packed her things in and walked over to her. “Here. I’d suggest you change into something warm. It’ll be very cool tonight.”

Her eyebrows shot up, but before she could speak, he went on. “You and I are going to be living together for the next few days, so we need some ground rules. I have every intention of respecting your privacy.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, as she felt her cheeks color slightly.

“However, I can’t have you slipping away from me either. So whenever you want to be alone, just stay within shouting distance. Call to me every minute or two, and I’ll stay clear of you.”

“I understand.”