"Addie-" he started, and she interrupted him gently.

"I'll see all of you tomorrow morning. Good night." As she left the room, she could feel Ben's eyes boring into her back. Pausing at the foot of the stairs, she waited until the sound of conversation resumed. Then she slipped out the front door. It was still too early for Robbie Keir, the boy who had been assigned to patrol around the house, to begin his watch.

Addie looked right and left before sneaking across the shoit distance to Ben's cabin, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. Triumphantly she reached the door and slipped inside, her heart thumping with excitement. She had no idea how she'd get back to her own room before morning without being discovered. Ben would have to figure it out.

Leisurely she moved around the cabin, finding it immaculate and sparsely furnished. The bed was narrow, with a hard, thin mattress, but it was covered with an intricately woven Indian blanket, and the sheets and pillowcase were snowy white. Since Ben did most of his paperwork in Russell's office, the small desk in here was bare except for a few books. She looked through them and discovered a thin volume of Shakespeare, a biography of Thomas Jefferson, a book on stock raising, and a report from a livestock journal about cattle transportation. How very boring, she thought, and smiled, reflecting that he probably didn't have that much time to read anyway. His guitar was propped up in one shadowy comer, a bootjack tucked into another. Wandering over to the bed, Addie settled down on the mattress and keeled over, burying her face in the pillow. It was scented of him, and she rubbed her cheek into it luxuriously, closing her eyes.

In spite of her anticipation, Addie fell into a shallow sleep until she was alerted by the sound of footsteps. The door was opened and she sat up, blinking as Ben entered the room.

To see Addie curled up kittenishly on his bed, sleepy-eyed and tousle-haired, was the last thing he expected. He stopped in his tracks as he looked at her, his green eyes widening as they moved from her tumbling honey-brown hair to her disheveled dress. Stunned, he could do nothing but stand there and stare.

"I don't believe you're here," he said, sounding bemused.

"I wanted you," she said, pushing a lock of hair away from her eyes. "At least say you're glad I'm here."

"Glad?" he repeated thickly. In a fraction of a second he reached the bed and scooped her up, sitting down with her in his lap. He kissed her hungrily, stealing her breath away, and his lips moved down her throat. Clumsily he fumbled with the buttons of her dress. Reaching up to help him, Addie unfastened her bodice, and with each new inch of smooth skin revealed, his greedy kisses ventured lower.

"Was it a good idea for me to sneak over here?" she asked breathlessly, running her fingers through his hair.

His arms wrapped around her, and he engulfed her in a bone-crushing hug. "It was inspired," he said, burying his face in his throat. In a flurry of passion they talked at the same time, not bothering to take turns or even finish sentences.

"I've missed you so much-"

"Not half as much as I-"

"And every time I turn around, you're more beautiful than a minute ago-"

"All I can think about is you-"

"How do you get this off?" he demanded, searching for the hooks of her chemise, and before she could show him, he ripped the thin material straight down the front.

"Ben," she protested, torn between laughter and protest, and gasped as his lips moved over her breasts. His mouth fastened over an aching nipple, tugging gently. Moaning, she tilted her head back and arched up to him, her body on fire. There was a tremor in the arms that held her.

"It's been so long," she whispered.

"Forever."

Feverishly she worked at the buttons on his shirt while he reached under her skirts and stripped off her stockings. His hand ventured up to her knee, but her pantalets prevented him from exploring further.

"I've been going crazy," he muttered in the under-curve of her breast. "Wanting you, and seeing you every day, and not being able to have you-"

"Make love to me," she interrupted. "Quickly." He half-laughed, half-groaned, lowering her to the mattress. In a few violent tugs he removed his boots and stripped off his shirt, then turned to help Addie wriggle out of her dress.

Impatiently he tossed the clothes to the floor and bent over her body. She pulled his head down to her breasts, purring as he kissed her, his tongue stroking lightly, sensitive to her every response. His warm palms brushed over her thighs, starting at the outsides, moving to the inner curves, and then his hand was between her legs. His breathing deepened as the wet sheath of her contracted around his fingers.

"So sweet… ah, I need you," he said against her lips, pushing deeper, and her nails dug into his back.

Brokenly she said his name. Her tongue thrust into his mouth, testing the even edge of his teeth. She writhed against him, her toes curling tightly as she felt the beginnings of a surging climax. Shocked that it was so quick, she reached for the fastenings of his jeans, wanting him inside her before the rising wave of pleasure broke.

Ben unfastened the stubborn buttons, his head spinning with the sound of her faint cry as he slid into the pulsing depths of her body. Addie's hands slipped downward and clenched over his flexing buttocks. Her body tightened around his as she was consumed by the white heat of fulfillment. He only had time for a few hard thrusts before the same ecstasy swept through him. They remained locked together, savoring the contractions of their joined flesh, tense until weakness flooded them both. Tenderly his mouth moved over hers, tasting and exploring. Everything before this moment had been flavored with desperation. Everything afterward was deliciously slow.

"I love you," he whispered, holding her body against his, resting his chin in the curve of her shoulder and neck. Sighing in contentment, Addie wrapped her legs around him possessively. They were both quiet for a long time, until the glow of splendor faded.

Addie was the first to stir, tugging at the waist of Ben's Levi's, and he smiled down at her, his expression lazy and relaxed for the first time in weeks.

"I had planned to take them off," he murmured. "Are you going to?" she asked drowsily.

He was too exhausted to move. "In a minute." She locked her arms around his back, loving the heaviness of his body over hers. "Don't move. Not yet. "

"Don't worry."

His mouth found hers and they kissed languorously. Eventually Ben rolled to his side and stripped his jeans off. As soon as the garment was dropped to the floor, Addie snuggled close again, relishing the feel of his hair-roughened legs against hers. Her small hands wandered over his. ribs and around to his back, and she marveled at how beautiful he was. "You're very strong," she said, walking her fingers up his spine.

"I wasn't always. Texas toughened me up a lot."

"What were you like when you were at Harvard?" she asked, tracing the indentations of his midriff. "All skinny and pale?"

Ben chuckled. "No, but I was in no shape to survive a trail drive, either."

"Texas must have been very different from what you'd been used to."

"I learned quickly." He smiled reminiscently. "At first I didn't even know how to rope a steer. I had to learn a lot of things the hard way."

"It must have been frightening."

"More lonely than anything else. The worst thing was never seeing any women. I ran a couple of long drives, and after several months of celibacy, those cattle towns were a taste of heaven. Whiskey that burned your guts out-they call it Kansas Sheep Dip-and women everywhere. God Almighty, those women… big, gaudy women with names like Hambone Kate and Dancing Annie. When the boys and I got to town, our eyes nearly dropped out of our heads at the sight of all those feathers and red dresses. The first night I spent in Dodge City, I went from saloon to saloon, and-“