Catch Me If You Can by Juliette Cosway

of tenderness and he smoothed his hand across her forehead. The touch of it was soothing and oddly delicious. She sighed. He lifted her legs free of the bracken and branches. The touch of his enquiring fingers sent an awakening shiver through her numb limbs.
    “Does it hurt?”
    She shook her head. “Only a bruise, I think.”
    She stretched her legs out stiffly and sat up on her elbows.
    He arrested her movement with his hands around her waist. “Wait, I’ll carry you.”
    She was unable to respond, for his hands slid higher, beneath her breasts, where their firm grip sent a dizzying charge through her. He stroked her breastbone gently with one thumb, his hands gently squeezing her reassuringly, before he made ready to lift her. Although she was fast recovering from the fall, she was still a touch breathless. It was because he was touching her, she realized.
    He eased one arm beneath her knees and the other around her back, lifting her easily into his arms. Clasping her hands together around his neck she nestled close to his chest, savoring the sensation of his proximity. She laid her cheek against the loose ties at the neck of his shirt, pressing close against him.
    He turned away from the edge over which she’d fallen and found a less steep path out of the ditch. As he carried her, she clung close to him and he pulled her ever tighter against him. Their proximity set fluttering sensations in motion deep inside her, sensations that throbbed in time with his heartbeat against her breast.
    He came to a stop and she realized they were back by his mount. Slowly, he lowered her to the ground. She kept her hands around his neck, staying close against him. He seemed as reluctant to free her as she was to be freed.
    His expression grew dark and he looked down at her with possessive eyes. Her head dipped back as his mouth lowered to hers.
    As their lips met his arms encompassed her.
    The kiss, tentative at first, fast evolved when a more urgent sensation passed between them. Her lips parted, his passionate kiss enmeshing her in an array of exquisite sensations. She yielded and pressed herself full against him – she wanted to feel his every ounce of being against hers. The totality of his strength and maleness enveloped her. A strange new feeling hungered within Eleanor. It was something more real and undeniable than she’d experienced before, and she pressed closer, whimpering with some nameless, innate need. His hands roved her alert body in response. He cursed under his breath, moved to place a kiss against the soft skin of her throat. Then he released her, setting her at arms length, and drew away.
    “Do you feel steady enough for the ride back?”
    “Yes, I think so.”
    He nodded, avoiding eye contact. She allowed him to guide her and help her to mount. He eased himself up behind her and leaned forward to lift the reins, his arms enclosing her in their haven.
    Eleanor couldn’t speak or think clearly, the kiss had affected her in such a strange and powerful way, and now she was in his arms again. She leaned back against his chest, firm and solid at her back. His muscles were well defined, as were those on the mighty arms that enclosed her. With her nerves awry, she could only allow the sensation of complete strength and power to envelop and protect her.
    She thought she felt his lips on her hair when he leaned forward to twitch the reins. She gripped the pommel of the saddle and looked down at his strong hands; she wanted to feel them on her body again. The yearning that had been loosed inside her was hot and heavy. Had she not been so dazed she would have been sorely tempted to stop the horse and drag Rivers down off it, so that she could kiss him again, right there on the mossy ground of the forest.
    All too soon they were back at the house.
    He helped her down from the great black stallion, tenderly, concern spilling from his eyes again. They stood silently for a moment, looking at each other afresh. Something had