The more time I spent here, the more gorgeous it grew.

Or maybe I simply noticed more details. The way the sun shone through the Spanish moss, more enchanting than any stained glass window in a cathedral. The brightly colored lizards that scampered up the trunks of oaks that had been saplings when Columbus first landed on American shores. The way the moss-covered rocks at the edge of the forest stream glistened like emeralds.

For the first hour that we rode through the forest, we had been competitive, each trying to ride faster, to jump higher, to make our way through thinner openings and trickier landscapes. But we had slowed down now, taking mercy on our mounts and relaxing in each other’s presence. We rode together in companionable silence, moseying along and taking our time to digest all the beauty around us.

Or in my case, the beauty next to me.

I snuck another glance at Hunter. His shirt stuck to his skin with sweat, and it made my mouth water as I imagined peeling that thin cloth away.

We were, in unspoken agreement, riding our horses as close together as we could without spooking them. I was close enough to hear each breath Hunter took, to hear each shift of his body in the fine leather saddle, to almost imagine I could hear each beat of his heart.

And I could smell him, too—that sweet clean sweat scent, and the faint lingering honey of his cologne, and the slight vanilla scent of his shampoo, and oh, the scent of him was driving me mad, the humid air bringing it to life even stronger until I could smell nothing else, until desire hummed like a song between my legs and I rocked myself unconsciously against my saddle.

I imagined riding along on the same horse with him, his firm body pressed against my back. His strong arms would encircle me, holding me safe. His warm breath would ghost along my ear, and then his soft lips would caress my neck, and I would feel his cock harden against me, and I would lean back into him and moan—

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Hunter’s voice broke me from my reverie, and I blushed, quickly looking away at the landscape to try to hide it.

“Yes, it is.” We had come to the edge of a sloping hill that gave a long view of nearly all of Hunter’s land, just in time to see the last bit of the sun slip below the lake, a faint memory of a glow still lighting that sapphire strip. “This place…every time I think I know it, it surprises me.”

Without looking away from the sunset, Hunter reached out and took my hand.

“This was my whole world when I was a child,” he said softly. “I thought Heaven itself could be no more beautiful than the land we had here, my family and I. Before they died, my grandfather used to take me fishing down by the stream, taught me how to watch for catfish and tickle their stomachs. My mother taught me to sail on that lake, how to taste the breeze and catch it, riding the power but not letting it overpower you. My father—” his voice caught slightly. “He liked to sit in the shade of the trees, and read Flannery O’Connor. Sometimes I walk by and I remember that so strong, it’s like I can still hear his voice.”

“You’ll always have those memories,” I said. I didn’t know if it was the right thing to say. I wanted it to be the right thing to say, wanted to comfort him, but there was so much I still didn’t know about Hunter, so much still to learn.

And I wanted to learn. I wanted to learn everything about him.

I wanted to give him the comfort he had lost, so long ago.

“But will I?” Hunter asked. “Oh, I know I can’t lose the land, and even if Chuck takes over the company he’ll have to lease the factory from me—but will the memories stay unsullied? Will I even deserve them if I let the company go?” His face twisted in what was almost agony before he twitched, shaking his melancholy off with visible effort. He turned to me, with a smile that was only a little strained. “But look at me, hogging all the good brooding for myself. Any dark secrets you want to get off your chest?”

It just popped out: “Well, I’ve secretly got the self-esteem of a red-headed stepchild from growing up in Paige’s shadow.”

I felt incredibly vulnerable as soon as I said it. I’d never stated it so baldly before.

But Hunter’s hand was warm in mine, and he didn’t pull away. He was there for me.

His brow furrowed. “I know your mother can be a trial. Has it been that bad?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. After awhile, anything can seem normal. It wasn’t ‘til I was in college that I realized that not every mother played favorites that way.” Now it was my turn to look off into the distance. “After that little taste of freedom, I couldn’t go back to the way things were before, all the little comparisons and slights and put-downs, never any praise no matter how hard I tried to be her. I had to be me. So I moved out of the house, and then I moved out of town.”

Hunter squeezed my hand. “That was very brave.”

I shrugged again, my eyes misting. “Didn’t feel very brave. Just like I needed to breathe.”

“I’m sorry it’s been so hard for you.”

“I’m probably exaggerating,” I said automatically. “I mean, it’s not so bad. Other people have it worse. Paige has always been great, she never got spoiled like some people who get that kind of treatment. And my parents do love me, I know they do. It’s just…Paige is the daughter my mom always wanted, and I was the extra. And then I didn’t even do her the courtesy of being a back-up in case they lost the first one, I had to be my own person. All full of unsightly ambition and bad pop culture references and profanity and shit.”

He laughed softly and nudged his horse closer. He let go of my hand, but only to wrap his arm around my shoulder.

He didn’t say a word, and neither did I, and we didn’t have to. I had never felt such unspoken closeness, such intimacy before. In that moment, it didn’t matter that because of my work and my principles, we couldn’t really be together. In that moment, we were more together than I had ever been with another human being.

It was probably the most perfect moment of my life, which meant Hunter should have, by all established patterns, ruined it. But he didn’t.

My horse did instead.

Or rather the rabbit that darted out from between the bushes and spooked my horse did.

“Shit!” I shrieked as my mount unexpectedly bolted. “Ah fuck fuck shit!”

We’d been having a capital M Moment, dammit!

But as is probably already clear, my horse had absolutely no respect for emotional turnaround points, and kept running like a demon. I gave up trying to make it understand that the rabbit was not going to kill it, in favor of holding on for my life and making sure the mare didn’t run into a tree.

“Ally!”

It was Hunter, catching up to us as we came along the river, where my terrified, whinnying horse reared away from the water and began to run parallel to it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she hadn’t completely forgotten the rabbit by now; she was so scared that it didn’t matter what had caused it, every new sight was a thing to be frightened of.

Hunter extended his hand, gripping his reins tightly with the other. “Jump to me!”

I took a few seconds out of my busy schedule of holding on for dear life to gape at him in disbelief. I shouted back, “Are you shitting me?”

“Trust me, Ally!”

And somehow, looking into those golden brown eyes, even across that yawning gap, even above those thundering hooves—

I did.

“Okay!” I scrambled onto my feet in an awkward crouch and braced myself, getting ready to jump.

And I think that, in a perfect world, I really might have actually made the leap right into Hunter’s arms.

But then my horse bucked.

I sailed through the air, everything seeming to slow down as though we were passing through water, a random thought seeming to take forever to reach completion: The stablehand had said this was the jewel of the crown, was that a secret horse whisperer phrase for oh God, oh God, bunnies, the scourge of the world?

And then, splash!

I sank beneath the water like a stone, automatically sucking in a breath that turned out to be completely water, before bobbing up again midcurrent, coughing muddy liquid and gasping at the cold. I was completely drenched. I didn’t seem to be hurt, but all my limbs felt like they’d been turned into rubber. I spat something out that I had accidentally swallowed—a tadpole.

At that point it was laugh or cry, so I laughed until the tears ran down my face.

“Ally!” Hunter’s panicked voice came from up and to the left. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, unable to stop laughing long enough to choke out more than: “Fine! Only bruised my dignity!”

Actually, I’d probably done more than that to it, but some people—I was thinking most prominently of my mother here—would claim that I murdered my dignity years ago, so I wasn’t too fussed about inflicting any post-mortem injuries.

Hunter slid from his horse’s back in one fluid motion, quickly tying the reins to the trees before sidling up to my own mount—now placidly chomping watercress in the shallows like the traitor she was— I was going to have words with Homer about his recommendation—and tied her up nearby as well.

The whole process didn’t take very long, but I savored every second of it. You see, a branch must have torn his shirt as he went barreling after me like a knight in shining armor, because a considerable swath of it was torn away. And as he leapt around so urgently, lots of very interesting…scenery…was on view.

Scenery that gave me certain…ideas.

While he still wasn’t looking, I pulled my soaked blouse and bra over my head, tossing them onto a nearby tree trunk. My jeans and panties were the next to go, my cold fingers trembling on the metal button, the waterlogged denim protesting as I tried to peel it away before giving up. I let the current carry away my socks.

The cool water felt deliciously naughty on my bare skin, lapping against my breasts and swirling around my thighs. I dove beneath it again, the cold shocking and then fading away, and then surfaced, laughing out loud in delight.

Hunter turned and saw me. For a second, his jaw dropped so low a gator could’ve crawled inside.

Then that shocked look melted slowly into a wicked grin, wide and languorous and feral, like a jungle cat. He sauntered down to the riverside, a sway in his hips as he pulled his shirt up over his head, abs and pecs and biceps rippling in a mouth-watering display.

I would have given him a wolf whistle, but my mouth had just gone terribly dry.

His pants followed, sliding off those well-formed hips and down his muscular legs, pulling his socks and shoes with them.

I licked my lips.

He ran his fingers around the hem of his black boxers, and I glared at him for being a tease.

He just grinned back, insouciant and devil-may-care, before stripping away that last garment and sauntering into the water with me.

The look on his face when he felt the cold was priceless, and I burst into giggles.

He frowned with all the offended dignity of a lion. “Come on! It’s cold!”

“It’s hilarious,” I informed him between chortles.

He raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s asking for a punishment.”

“Oh yeah?” I could feel my nipples hardening, and not just from the water’s temperature. “And who’s going to punish me?”

He growled and dove toward me, but when I feinted away he gave pursuit, and soon we were gamboling in the dancing shadows of an overhanging willow. He grabbed for me but our slick skin was slippery and I twisted in his grip, rubbing myself against him before I slipped away. Our arms and legs intertwined, slid apart, the heat of our bodies like a heady elixir, intoxicating, leaving us both hungry for more.

Finally he ran me aground in the shallows and pinned me against the red clay bank, his thick cock hard against my stomach as I wrapped my legs around him. I wanted to wrap my arms around those powerful shoulders as well, but he took my wrists in his left hand, trapping them above my head, holding me fast underneath his weight, helpless beneath him, open to him, spread and wet and ready to be taken hard and fast. I was keening against the slick skin of his shoulder, arching my back as I ground my pussy against his leg, needing him to slide lower, to thrust his long thick cock into me.

“Hunter,” I panted, desperate.

But he only teased, his firm thigh pressing between my legs with sweet insistency, the pressure just right but not enough, it would never be enough until he was inside me, claiming me, taking me…

“Hunter…” And now it was a moan.

I rocked desperately against him, and he slid just a little lower, not low enough, until I thought I would explode, that wicked grin on his face as his lips found my neck, as his teeth sank possessively into my shoulder—

“Hunter!”

He swept me up in his arms then, carried me up to the bank and laid me down on a soft bed of grass. I whimpered in protest at the momentary separation of my skin from his, and then in delight as his body covered mine once more.

His hot, avid mouth found mine, licking at my lips until I opened them and let him in. His hands stroked, cupped, and squeezed my breasts until I was writhing beneath him once more. One hand began to trace spirals around the dip just above my hip as his teeth and tongue found my nipples, licking and laving and laying down a path, lower and lower, down between my thighs…

There were reasons we shouldn’t be doing this. Reasons, at least, we should be taking this slow. I knew there were reasons.

I just couldn’t for the life of me recall what they were.

“Oh, oh, yes, yes, please…” I whispered.

By the time his mouth made its way below my stomach, I was done with teasing and so was Hunter. I arched upward and he complied with my demand, burying his face in me with a moan of delight. His talented tongue—oh, how could I ever have fooled myself into thinking I could forget that tongue—delved deep inside me, stroking all my secret places as his nose nudged against me, as I clenched around him, as his fingers joined his tongue, one, and then two, crooking, searching for that spot—

He touched it, and I groaned, seeing stars.

I collapsed against the riverbank, expecting him to raise himself back up and finally fuck me senseless.

What he did instead was stand.

I looked up, confused. We weren’t done yet; he was still hard, as ready as I was.

He offered me his hand, and a saucy grin. “Come on. I know a much better place to finish this up.”