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lingered on the fact that Taya was right. She did need someone to be gentle with her, considering what her experience had been. One thing Cash wasn’t was a careful lover. He liked it hard, dirty and intense. His only hope was that he would control himself once he got her naked. “The cabin then?”
    “That is your home,” Blaine replied, and he didn’t bother to hide the fact it thrilled him to say it.
    Cash sighed, gave his sister a hug good-bye and left the grinning Blaine behind him. Rylie stood quietly in the midst of a hoard of women as they chatted their lives away. He smiled to himself, pleased to see she wasn’t a gabber. Suddenly, it dawned on him there was nothing about her he didn’t like. He hadn’t seen a single flaw in her character. As he drew closer, she raised her head and connected with his gaze.
    A sweet smile spread across her face, and his groin grew at the sight of it. It hadn’t been long since he’d taken a woman, but the truth was, he had been more intereste d in their bodies than anything else¯only slept with them when the need overtook him. With Rylie, there was a connection there, partly due to the mate bond they now shared, but more than that. Something he had yet to figure out.
    When he reached the women, they all hushed. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” he told the group. “But Rylie and I must be off.” The women all giggled around him and Rylie blushed. A trait he thought endearing.
    When he reached his hand out, Rylie took it with no uncertainty and laced her fingers within his. She kept her gaze to the ground as he pulled her away and began to walk down toward the cabin. When the crowd behind him erupted into loud hoots and hollers, Cash couldn’t withhold his smile and joined the amusement by letting out a loud shout of laughter.
    The walk toward the cabin was met with silence. The night air was crisp and the mountains stood like dark shadows around them. Rylie still had yet to look up, and even though Cash continued to look at her, demanding she acknowledge him, she never did.
    Just past the lone standing maple tree, the small cabin¯half wood, half stone¯appeared. Warmth touched him to be back here. Never had he thought he’d return. Once at the door, he opened it and Rylie quickly stepped in. He followed in behind her and closed the door. His hand nearly trembled on the handle. In response, he gripped it tightly, demanding that he get a hold of himself. With a deep breath, he turned around to find Rylie sitting on the bed, still not looking at him.
    Blaine hadn’t changed a thing about the cabin. The king-sized bed rested against the back wall with a thick patterned quilt resting atop, the kitchen off to the right, which held a simple oak table and crisp, white cabinets, and the living room sat to the left wit h the big screen TV angled in the corner surrounded by sage cotton couches. Jaclyn had decorated the space here¯her touches in every piece of it. It had been cleaned recently, which also told him Blaine had been waiting for his return.
    His first reaction startled him. He expected to feel misery seeing a part of Jaclyn again, but none of that swept through him. All that lived in him was happiness that he was home. He glanced back to Rylie, who still had yet to meet his eyes. “Get comfortable,” he told her. “I’ll be back.” Then, he headed in lengthy strides toward the bathroom.
    Once there, the door slammed behind him, he walked to the white antique sink and grasped the sides with his hands. Slowly, he raised his head to the mirror. It’d been a long time since this image had stared back at him in this mirror. He noticed he’d changed, aged slightly. Lines surrounded his eyes that hadn’t been there the last time he’d looked at himself from here. Without looking away, he turned the faucet on, then cupped the cold water in his hands. Lowering his head, he splashed the water against his skin.
    He repeated the gesture a few times just to settle himself.