Chapter 14

He loved Hazel so much it hurt.

As much as he'd tried not to love her over the past week, the feelings had only grown instead of diminishing. And being with her at another foaling made it all the harder to do what he knew he needed to—keep his distance.

He'd told Sterling he'd stay away from Hazel, that he wouldn't go near her, that he'd sacrifice his own selfish needs.

But as she knelt at Candy's head and stroked her forelock, Maverick couldn't keep from hungrily taking her in—every gentle movement, every comb of her fingers, every bend of her supple body.

"You're doing great, sweet love," Hazel said softly, trying to comfort Candy, now trembling with both fear and pain. "Almost done."

The horse whinnied, as if telling Hazel something in return.

Hazel bent in and pressed a kiss to the creature's cheek.

Maverick homed in on Hazel's lips, the hunger only pulsing deeper inside, awakening the need to kiss her—which he was finding was all too easy to awaken.

This woman was amazing. She was more than amazing. She was everything to him.

He pressed a hand over his heart. He'd never believed a heart could feel so much joy and pain or love and sorrow at the same time. But here he was, battling more emotion than he knew what to do with.

As Candy strained one last time, the foal finally slipped into the grass. Though it had dark hair, Maverick guessed it would gradually lighten and spots would develop just like the other Oakleys.

Giving the mare a final stroke, Hazel rose. She'd tossed aside her hat, or perhaps the branches of the tree had knocked it loose. Whatever the case, he loved seeing her fair hair and her pretty face more clearly.

She checked the foal, but with everything progressing now as it should, she glanced around as though looking for him, clearly having blocked him out while working—which was as it should be.

Now her gaze landed on him where he was leaning against a boulder in the shade. Her smile widened, and she started to cross to him, her bronze eyes so light they were almost gold. "She just needed encouragement. That's all."

"Reckoned she needed your soothing presence too."

Hazel didn't stop when she reached him. Instead she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him tightly with her excitement.

Excitement. That's all it was. She was happy at the outcome of another foaling. She was relieved she'd made it in time to help Candy. And she was trying to share this moment with him... as friends.

Somehow, even though he gave himself the mental rebuke, his body didn't get the message. It reacted with a surge of desire all its own. His arms came right up to surround her. One hand slipped to the small of her back and flattened there. The other rose to the back of her neck, to the messy knot of her hair.

As he let the loose strands slip through his fingers, he almost groaned. Instead, he bent and kissed her hair, feeling the silk against his lips and drawing in a floral scent. Hopefully, the kiss would distract him from his longing for more.

But as his lips lingered, desire only swelled all the more.

His arms tightened around her, and he pressed another kiss to her head, this one harder and longer.

Her breathing stilled as though she sensed the change in him.

How could she not? Not when he radiated such intensity for her.

He shifted and kissed her temple. But the moment he tasted of her skin, he was suddenly famished and needed more of her. He kissed her forehead. Then he dropped to her cheek.

Every tiny kiss was like getting a little bit of heaven itself.

As his lips brushed at the spot beside her mouth, near her chin, he could hear her drag in a choppy breath, as if she was trying to breathe but couldn't.

The plain truth was, he'd stopped breathing the moment she'd leaned in and wrapped her arms around him.

Heaven almighty. He desperately wanted to kiss her lips again, wanted to show her how much he adored her. But with bent head, he forced himself to hold still, his cheek against hers.

"Maverick?" Her whisper near his ear was filled with a hundred questions. Questions about his reaction to her, about them, about what his intentions were, about how he felt, about how she should proceed...

Even though she didn't ask a single one, he could sense her confusion, especially after the past week, and he didn't want to make her more confused. But he couldn't stop himself from giving her another kiss, this one against her ear.

All of the emotion swirling through his chest swelled with such force he couldn't hold back. "I love you." The words tumbled out in a whisper so soft he wasn't sure he'd even said them.

But at her rapid intake of breath, he guessed he had.

He closed his eyes. Blast it all. What was he doing?

He was overstepping the line Sterling had drawn, that's what. Not only was he overstepping it, he'd leaped right over it and was strolling around in forbidden territory like he planned to stay and live there.

Even without his vow to Sterling to consider, he couldn't just go around telling Hazel he loved her when he'd only recently figured out his feelings. It didn't matter that he'd probably loved her for years. He was moving too fast for himself, not to mention he'd probably scared her.

He released her and took a rapid step away.

She didn't move—was frozen to the spot.

He couldn't look at her, didn't want to see her reaction to his declaration. What was she thinking? Was she afraid? More confused? Maybe she didn't return his love and didn't know how to let him down nicely.

And what would happen when Sterling learned about the declaration of love to Hazel? Because somehow Sterling seemed to find out everything.

Maverick pinched the back of his neck. He was the worst kind of friend. And he was no good for Hazel.

He should've waited to say something to her. Instead, he'd pushed ahead like he always did, without thinking through the ramifications of his actions.

He could feel her eyes upon him, watching, waiting for him to explain himself. But what could he say that wouldn't make the situation worse?

With a frustrated exhale, he stalked off. He had to get away from her for just a few minutes—needed a moment of privacy where he could attempt to think clearly without the sight of her distracting him.

He stumbled on the rocky terrain but quick-like righted himself. A step later, he found his feet slipping. Before he knew what was happening, the layer of rocks and soil beneath him crumbled.

The haze in his mind fell away, and he realized too late that he'd wandered to the river's edge—a steep embankment of rocks with the river rushing twenty-five feet or more at the bottom of the slope.

He tried to scramble backward, his fingers grasping at tree roots, grass, brush—anything he could find. But his boots were already sliding down the slope.

He attempted to sit in order to halt the downward momentum, but the loose stones acted like saddle grease, and he found himself slipping and sliding with no way to stop the descent.

Several large boulders loomed ahead at the river's edge. If he didn't slow down or find a way to avoid them, he was gonna slam into them, and the impact—especially to his head—would probably kill him.

Frantically, he scanned the embankment for a way to save himself. His gaze snagged on a scraggly sage brush to one side of the boulders. Could he shift his position so that he ended up there instead?

Twisting as best he could, he threw his body in the direction of the brush. With every second, the speed of the descent increased, until at last he lost his footing altogether. His body flipped end over end, pain shooting through him.

A second later, he made impact and braced himself. Though his boots hit the boulder, his body landed against the sage brush. As his head slammed into the harsh cushion, his last conscious thought was of Hazel and how he hoped she wouldn't try to come down after him.