Who I Am With You

Chapter 14

"Shit. Should I go get her and bring her back?" I call to him. 

He pushes himself up off the ground, trying to mask how sore his leg is from just being crushed by the weight of a horse. 

"No, come here. I'll ride with you. She's too far gone." 

I nudge Jasper forward and kick my boot out of the stirrup, so he can use it to climb on. 

"Jesus Christ, could your stirrups be any shorter?" He complains, pulling himself up with one hand on the horn in front of me and one on the cantle behind me. I lean away, putting my weight in the off stirrup to keep the saddle balanced and give E some space to get up here. He eases his hurt leg over Jasper's back and sits behind the saddle. 

We stand for a moment to allow Jasper to acclimate to being ridden double. He doesn't seem to mind E sitting behind me. He's more concerned about where the other horse ran off to without him. 

E holds onto the cantle and we strike off at a much slower pace behind his horse. I can feel E's chest against my back with each stride and his nearness stirs up butterflies in my stomach. I forget which way we came. His loose horse has long been out of sight to try and follow and I can't think clearly with E so close to figure out which direction we should be going now. 

"Wrong way." He reaches for the reins and turns Jasper the right way. He doesn't give me the reins back. He just winds his other arm around my waist pulling me closer to his chest, while he steers Jasper. It's totally unnecessary, but I love the way it feels to be held by him. I rest my hands on the horn and try to loosen my tense muscles. 

"Would have been better if you were in back. Your sense of direction sucks." He remarks. 

"Do you want to trade places?" I ask, trying to keep my voice normal.  

"It'll be alright." He says, tightening his arm around me, his chin resting close to my temple. I relax against him and feel him breathe in the scent of my hair. 

What the fuck? Is all my brain can manage. I am thoroughly shocked and enjoying this way too much. I tell myself it's just because he's more comfortable riding like this, it means nothing. But damn, if it doesn't feel good as hell to be between his arms. 

We make it back to the cabin where we find his runaway steed eating grass by the pasture gate. Ian lets me go and swings down to go catch her, looking her over to make sure she did not injure herself in her flight of terror. We unsaddle the horses, brushing them off as best we can before sending them out to pasture with the others who have taken shelter under the trees in the back. I try to shake the feeling of E's arms around me, but I can't seem to clear my head. 

I follow him to the front of the cabin and stand under the porch cover. I am looking forward to getting out of my wet clothes and the privacy of my room to organize my jumbled thoughts. I kick my boots off and tiptoe to the mat that lay in front of the door. 

"No. You aren't going in there like that." E shakes his head shrugging out of his slicker, as I lay my hand on the doorknob.  

"What?"   "You heard me. You're soaking wet."  

 "What do you expect me to do?" I ask, letting my voice show my irritation. At least he's back to being himself again and I can forget about the way he kept his arm wrapped around me the whole ride back. 

"Take your damn clothes off out here."   

Is he serious?   

"Fine. But after you leave."   

"Fine."   

He pushes past me and goes inside, closing the door behind him. I remove my raincoat, then my jeans. They are weighted down by the water they have absorbed, and it takes some doing to peel them off my legs. My shirt is still mostly dry, but I take it off too. The door opens.