The Outlaw by Lily Graison

verbal sparring matches gave him a bit
of humor in his otherwise boring existence.
     
    He’d never had thoughts of settling down. Oh,
he had them when he was shot last year but even that wasn’t enough
to cure his wanderlust but looking at Sarah, he imagined it.
Visions of going to bed every night for the rest of his life with
that luscious body snuggled in close to his. To waking up every
morning and seeing her face. To finding her in the kitchen, baking,
with a couple of his babies by her feet.
     
    “Colt? Are you all right?”
     
    She said his name and he blinked, the images
fading away. He smiled and nodded his head, reluctantly letting go
of her hand. “Never better, why?”
     
    “Because you had a funny look on your
face.”
     
    He reached down to unwind the reins to her
horse from the saddle horn, handing them back to her. “Let’s go. We
need to put some distance between us and that town back there.” He
didn’t wait to see if she’d follow. He’d chase her down if she
didn’t but it only took her a minute or two to get the horse
moving. He smiled to himself when he saw her out of the corner of
his eye. She was following him.
     
     
    * * * *
     
     
    It was a little past noon when they stopped.
Sarah slid from the horses back and had to grab the saddle to keep
from falling. Her knees were wobbly from riding all morning.
     
    She watched Colt walk his horse to the
shelter of the trees and grabbed the reins to Virgil’s horse and
did the same. When Colt entered the thicket, she halted her steps.
“Where are you going?”
     
    “There’s a good size creek back here. We can
water the horses and cool off a bit.”
     
    Washing the sweat and dust off her face would
be heaven and caused her heart to leap for joy. Sarah was nearly
running by the time she reached the trees. She followed Colt,
stumbling on a tree root before righting herself and guiding the
horse. The sound of running water reached her moments before the
scent of wet earth did.
     
    The air was cool under the canopy of trees
and she sighed at how refreshing it felt. Although she didn’t have
on the mounds of silk and petticoats she normally wore, the calico
dress was tight fitting and left little room to breathe.
     
    Sunlight sparkled off the water and threw a
kaleidoscope of color onto the foliage above and Sarah hurried her
steps. When they reached the clearing, she smiled.
     
    The area was small, with a few large rocks
lining the creek bed. The ground around the creek looked washed out
as if the creek had been larger at one time but the small grassy
area surrounding it looked like heaven to her. Shrouded in shade,
small flowers dotted the creek bank and lent an added array of
scents to the entire area. It was as close to paradise as she’d
ever seen.
     
    Colt led his horse straight to the water’s
edge before letting go of the reins and turning toward her. He took
the reins from her hand, guiding the horse to the waters edge.
Sarah followed, eager to kick her boots off and dip her toes into
the water. It didn’t look very deep, maybe knee high, but that was
enough. If she’d had the privacy, she’d be willing to bet she could
sit on the bottom and be cooled cleaned to her neck.
     
    Sitting on one of the rocks, she unhooked her
boots and kicked them off. She reached under her skirt and
discreetly tugged at her stockings. A flash of light out of the
corner of her eye caught her attention and she looked up. She
blinked when she saw Cole standing a few feet away. He was removing
his shirt. The holster of guns normally around his lean hips, his
coat, hat and boots were already lying on the ground.
     
    She’d seen him shirtless twice and had nearly
swallowed her tongue at the fleeting glance, now, as the shirt
fluttered to the ground, she was able to look her fill.
     
    The same muscles she’d admired then were
presented for her gleaming with moisture. Every move he made caused
them to ripple and slide under his skin. His chest