He was breathing hard when the words finished. As they settled there between them. But it was true. The absolute truth, and he meant it with his whole heart. He couldn’t promise anything else. Hell, he couldn’t understand much right now. But he knew that to be true. That whatever they were, he was committed to her. In a way that he had never felt committed to another human being in his life.
“You won’t?”
It was that question that undid him. The vulnerability of it.
“No,” he said. “You can trust me.”
And he knew that he hadn’t done a damned thing to earn that trust, not really. Not when anyone took into account his track record with women. Or the models he had in his life for parents. For loyalty.
Except...he never tried before. That was the thing.
She made him want to try. Except, with her he couldn’t afford to fail, so it was going to have to be more than a try. And he was up for that.
And then, she was kissing him. She flung herself into his arms, like she had dropped all of her concerns and it made her weightless.
“Come with me,” he said against her mouth.
“Okay,” she said.
He took her hand and led her out of the barn, walked her down a side trail that led to a place he’d never taken anyone to before. Not anyone other than his brothers.
“Where are we going?”
“The Lost Boys’ hideout,” he said.
“The Lost Boys?”
“That’s us, Elsie,” he said.
“You’re the Lost Boys,” she said.
“Yeah. Because the grown-ups were pirates,” he said. “And this was where we used to hide out.”
In reality, it was just a shady spot in the meadow, surrounded by trees, which made it feel carved out. The place that they went when their dad was being an ogre. Because they knew he wouldn’t follow. It was near the river, and there was still a hammock that Gus had strung there between two trees.
He wondered if they ever came down here anymore.
He hadn’t walked down this way in years. It was cool and secluded, and he felt a little bit like he was showing her the inside of him. But he wasn’t sure he minded.
Because he wanted her to see. That she mattered. And that he meant everything he’d said.
“You can see the old fire ring,” he said. “But this is the best part.”
Holding on to her hand, he led her through the shady patch and up a hill, following the narrow trail until the trees broke. Until they were standing on top of a round, grassy hill covered entirely in wildflowers. Purple, yellow and dark red, waving in the wind along with the slim blades of grass. The sun filtering through like magic.
“This is the Enchanted Hill,” he said. “There’s magic here. And nothing bad can touch you.” He smiled down at her. “Gus told me that.”
Elsie’s eyes were suddenly shiny, and he realized how sad this was. It was just something he had accepted. Part of his life. But looking at it through Elsie’s eyes, he saw it. The vision of the little boys they’d been, hiding out, with their oldest brother constructing fantasy worlds to keep them from feeling hopeless.
And he thought he probably didn’t give Gus enough praise for all that he’d done. That he didn’t even really understand the weight that his brother had carried all of his life.
More than the scars. He had tried. All those years he had tried. With no role model, no nothing. He had just done it because he knew it was right.
And that realization flipped some of the sadness in him.
Yeah, he had it tough. But he’d had it good too.
His brothers, the Garretts...
And Elsie all on her own.
There was a lot of tough at Four Corners. But there was a whole lot of good along with it.
“We are extraordinary,” she said. She nodded decisively. “All of us. You know how Alaina’s parents just... They’re always playing these games, calling in, making her feel bad for not keeping in touch with them when they’re the ones who left. And the Kings... Who even knows. But I doubt their father was any better than yours. Not that they would ever tell anybody.”
“Never,” Hunter agreed.
“But we have this. We have this magic.” She looked at him, pressed her hand flat to his chest and let her fingers slide up to his shoulder, around to the back of his neck. “We have this magic,” she whispered.
He kissed her lips, and he understood: this was the place he’d imagined laying her down. This was the place he’d fantasized about having her.
This meadow, where he had memories of childhood. Memories of himself. Memories of things that were much more real than he’d ever shared with another person. And he wanted to see her lie down in it, surrounded by these flowers.
When he’d been a boy he thought they were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. But it was Elsie Garrett now.
“It’s a hell of a punch of magic,” he said, kissing her deep and long and gripping the bottom of her tank top and pulling it up over her head. He admired her body, the way the sun fell across her skin, the way it gleamed golden in the light.
She looked shy for a moment. “Nobody’s gonna see,” he said. “Don’t worry. Trust me. I told you I would protect you.”
“Yeah,” she breathed.
He took her bra off, and the vision of her bare breasts in the sunlight about killed him dead.
He opened the snap on her jeans and pushed them down, taking her boots and underwear with them. And then she was gloriously naked in the sunshine, and all he wanted to do was join her.
There was something so erotic about it all, but something free. Childlike all at the same time. To be naked outside like you didn’t believe anything could ever hurt or embarrass you.
Like you were bulletproof.
He pulled her up against him, luxuriating in the feel of her soft body against his.
And she clung to him, and it was the clinging that undid him.
He brought her down to the soft grass, and kissed her. Fiercely. As if everything in him was dependent on a taste of her lips. And she was different than she’d been the first time. Different than the girl he’d had that night in a fancy hotel. Because this was Elsie in her element. Elsie brought back to nature.
She was his cowgirl.
And he wanted to give her a chance to ride.
He reversed their positions, her legs draped on either side of him. He reached behind her, and pulled the rubber band off her braid, sliding his fingers through it slowly and letting her dark hair fly free.