M att knew the moment she woke. She was almost like a little cat, stretching and snuggling. He stroked a hand down her spine and tried to ignore the feel of small breasts pressing into his ribs, of soft red hair brushing against his cheek. Of the thin leg thrown over his and her warmth pressed against him, almost right where a man wanted it .

He wanted this woman. Wanted her badly. He lay there for the longest time while watching the horse labor, just thinking about what he wanted from the woman he held .

A man getting involved with Pip would have to be in it for the long haul .

But would that be so bad? She was beautiful, smart, talented, kind, loving, and gentle. Loyal and brave. When she smiled at him he felt like a damned hero. Like he could slay her dragons and be her prince. Fanciful of him, and made him feel like a damned idiot. But it was the truth .

Was this how Joel had felt with Pip’s older sister? It explained a lot. How his brother had met her and practically fell for her right then and there. Joel had taken one look at her and was a goner .

Much like Matt had with his Pip .

Her small hand pressed against his chest, right over his heart, as those blue, blue eyes of hers popped open when the sun first shone through the open barn door. He saw the immediate fear and felt like a monster. “Shhh. It’s ok. We just fell asleep. Nothing wrong with that. You’re safe. We still don’t have a foal yet, though .”

The fear slipped away as clarity settled in. It had Matt wondering. What had happened to her to make her so frightened? And it had. There was a reason. “Why are you so afraid of me, honey? I’m never going to hurt you .”

* * *

P ip was silent for a long moment. Was she afraid of Matt? To be honest, that was exactly what she was. Afraid. Of him, of Joel, and Nate, and every man that didn’t share a blood relation with her--and half that did. She didn’t want to be. Not any longer. That wasn’t fair to her or to him. Matt had been nothing but kind to her from the moment they had met. “I’m not afraid. I’m not going to be any more .”

“Because of Gunderson. He did something to you, didn’t he ?”

She nodded. Sometimes it felt like her entire adulthood had been shaped by Jay Gunderson. She hadn’t always been quite this afraid, though she’d always been reserved and shy and a bit anxious over things. Her anxiety had just gotten worse after Jay’s attack, and after the night his father had shown up on their doorstep and threatened them all to just keep them quiet about what Jay had tried to do. After the night her mother had first been injured and she’d known before Gunderson had shown up again that Perci was in serious trouble .

Gunderson hadn’t broken the news of the wreck kindly .

“Because of him. And what he tried to do. And because after...his father didn’t want me saying anything about it. He showed up one day when it was just my sisters and me at home. We were nineteen, Pan was seventeen, and Phoebe twenty-one. When our mother died, it was Sheriff Gunderson again. And he blamed Phoenix because of me. To show he still had all the power, even though Jay was in jail before then .”

Before she could say anything else, strong male hands wrapped around her waist. She was pulled over that ridiculously strong chest until her nose was practically touching his. “You did not cause Gunderson’s actions, sweetheart. I don’t want you thinking that. Clive Gunderson has been an asshole since egg met sperm. His boy has been just like him from the time he was created. He targeted your family because he was a bully. Period. If it hadn’t been you he focused on, it would have been some other vulnerable young girl. Some other family his father could terrorize. Not you. No one could possibly blame you for anything that happened. Anything .”

His hand buried itself in her hair and he guided her head to rest on his shoulder. Pip just let him. What else could she do? A part of her was saying run. Another part was urging her to cuddle up closer to the first man to touch her since she’d been nineteen .

Matt would never hurt her. She knew that. Deep inside where it really mattered she knew that. Pip let him hold her for a really long time .

Until her eyes drifted closed once again .