King's Treasure (Oil Kings Book 3) by Marie Johnston (great novels .TXT) 📗

we’d worked cattle. For Savvy, I’d made a cucumber and avocado wrap. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Dawson knew what avocados were, let alone how to use them. Maybe I should’ve asked if he had plans for it before I cut it up.

Savvy gathered up all our items and stuffed them into the tote bag. “I can’t believe how nice out it is. Is this what the weather is usually like this time of year?”

“Sometimes. Some years, there’s snow, but it doesn’t stick around long. Most years, it’s like this though, and the bluff blocks the wind.”

She looked around. We weren’t far from the ravine that Dawson and I had ridden out to earlier in the week. It was a high point in this area and rugged enough that the cows didn’t like to come out this far. The butte jutted nearly vertical from this patch of level ground, leaving what was like a large landing.

“Mama used to bring us out here for picnics.”

Savvy pointed to the ravine that dropped off to the left and the rolling hills that rose from the river valley in front of us. “I thought I recognized this area. This picture is in your room.”

“It’s one of hers, yes. She taught me how to use her camera here.” I ran my fingers along the outer edge of my camera bag. On a whim, I’d actually packed it.

The fact that it was on a whim showed how long it’d been since photography had been the center of my life.

“I can see why you always came here when you were upset. I feel like my mind is a thousand times clearer, and talk about inspiring. It’s gorgeous.”

The breathlessness of her voice and the way her gaze soaked in the grassy terrain and touched on the glittering blue peeking between the trees were just as she’d said—inspiring. I unzipped the bag and withdrew my camera.

Savvy glanced over, her small smile encouraging. She framed her hands like a photograph. “That’d be a perfect shot, right?”

I had the perfect shot all lined up, but it wasn’t a landscape. She looked over at me and I hit the button. The series of clicks didn’t bother the horses or their grazing.

Savvy’s cheeks flushed and she glanced away. I took another shot.

“I have plenty of the land,” I said and lined up another shot. The sun glowing behind us made her hair several shades lighter and once we’d sat down, she’d let it out of its top bun. She looked relaxed, happy, and free. This was the Savvy that I’d fallen in love with.

“That’s the first picture you’ve taken of me.”

I lowered the camera. “I know. Does that bother you?”

“Seems odd. We don’t even have a selfie together.”

“I’m not a selfie guy. And photography has been . . .” I set the camera aside. “Taking pictures got me through a lot, and then it wasn’t enough.” I wasn’t enough. “I didn’t want to take random photos of you and have them feel . . . insignificant. Because you’re the most important person in my life and I had to be sure I didn’t fuck those shots up too.” The words I’d been thinking fell out of my mouth. “I love you, Savvy.”

We’d been together for most of the year, we’d been through a lot, especially her, and neither of us had said those words.

She sat up, like a prairie mermaid, dressed in an old flannel of mine that Dawson had saved for when I visited. Her jeans had once been pristine, but now they had rips that showed tantalizing, creamy bits of skin.

“Xander . . .” She crept closer until she was kneeling in front of me. Cupping my face, she looked deep into my eyes. “I love you too, and I’m really excited about this life we get to live together.”

Our life together. I hadn’t thought much beyond what we were doing in King’s Creek. Had she?

I gripped her hands in mine. So many questions. So many plans we could talk about, but that would wait. We were alone and while we might be exposed to the big wide world, we had more privacy than we’d had in weeks—months.

Pulling her onto my lap, I claimed her mouth and took my time kissing her, tasting the sweet remnants of the grapes we’d had with lunch.

I rolled her onto her back and stretched over her. She arched into me as I kissed my way down her neck. “Can anyone see us?”

“No.” The Cartwrights were more militant about trespassers on their property than we were. Dawson’s two hired guys were off after a long day yesterday and my family was lounging around the cabin or in town running errands. “No one will see what’s mine.”

“You get home and turn possessive?”

“When it comes to you? Yes.” I tugged up her shirt and she twined her hands through my hair. I’d never given my hair much thought. It wasn’t as close cut as most of my family’s. Dawson might not be as strict with his trimmed sides, but it wasn’t nearly as messy as mine.

The way Savvy liked to feel it up, I was never going to cut it shorter than it was now.

I unbuttoned her pants and worked my way down. I’d love to strip her down, but we were out in the middle of nowhere. The temperature was fine—with clothing on. So I’d keep her warm instead.

Tugging her pants down her legs, I was reminded of our time behind the camper’s cabin in Kosovo. We’d had less privacy and I’d managed to take her without removing a stitch of fabric from either of us. While I didn’t want to bare her to the wild, I needed more than a quick fuck in the woods.

I tossed the pants aside and looked my fill of my gorgeous wife. It was a futile attempt. I’d never have enough of this woman. She’d followed me across the world, circumnavigating the globe to land at the base of this butte with me. She’d led strangers through the mountains