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sudden she understood what that curious hardness against her hip must have been. She flushed hot.
    Dear Lord, she had to get off of this horse and away from this man.
    “Stop,” she commanded, tugging on the blanket in an effort to pull it from beneath her. If she could kick her legs free, she could vault from the horse.
    Derick’s arms moved back up around her waist. “Emma. Cease. Moving.”
    “But we’ve arrived.” She pointed to the fallen oak several feet ahead that marked the boundary of her assigned section. “Let me down,” she ordered, grateful she had reason now to put some much-needed distance between herself and Derick. She should be putting all of her energy into finding Molly, not spiraling into a tizzy over her own confused feelings. “I suggest we split up, to cover more ground. I’ll take the right side.”
    But he didn’t release her. If anything, his arms tensed, pulling her closer. Why would he do that?
    She wrenched around in his lap to look at his face, placing her hands squarely on his chest to support her twisted position.
    Derick’s jaw had clenched tight, his eyes showed lines of strain, almost as if her movements…pained him?
    “We stay together,” he said, implacable.
    “That’s ridiculous,” she argued, all concern for him dissipating in the face of his illogical dictate. “How else am I to take advantage of your warm body?”
    Derick’s head pulled back, and his eyes scrunched together. “What?”
    Had she said something wrong? She did sometimes. It was the literal way her mind worked. She tended to take things differently than most people. “You arguedthat I should let you come along because ‘a fast steed and another warm body wouldn’t be amiss.’ I agree. Two will search faster than one.”
    “Ah.” He drew the word out, eyeing her in a way that made her certain she’d made a fool of herself somehow. “Well, it’s not a good idea. If we separate, chances are I’ll end up searching for
two
missing women rather than one.”
    Emma choked. Of all of the conceited—“What makes you think—”
    “I don’t doubt your intelligence, Pygmy,” Derick interrupted. “Nor your capabilities. But can you admit that forest rescues may not be your forte?”
    She pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth. He had a point. “Oh, but I suppose they are yours?”
    A sound very much like a long-suffering sigh escaped him. “Look behind us. What do you see?”
    She tried, but she was too short to lever herself up enough to see over his shoulder, what with her legs still trapped within the blanket.
    He seemed to sense her problem and with a tap of his heel, turned the horse.
    “I see trampled grass and snapped twigs,” she said, describing the clear markings of their passing.
    “Exactly.” Derick brought them around. “Whereas ahead of us, the ground cover is pristine. The girl has not come this way. No one has, not for some time.”
    Shame heated her cheeks. He was right. She would have wasted valuable time in her ignorance. “So there is no point in searching by foot here,” she concluded.
    “And our search will go faster if we remain together on horseback until there is evidence to do otherwise.”
    She nodded. Still, she had to do something to regain a sense of control. She unwrapped the blanket, shimmying and kicking her feet until she was able to pull it from beneath her. She did her best to ignore the way Derick tensed against her. Once the blanket was rolled, she settledherself as far away as possible. Yes, she still sat on his lap, but as respectably as she could manage.
    “I concede,” she said, indicating she was ready to set off again. “But
stop
calling me Pygmy.”
    Derick released a long breath, but it did little to relieve the arousal humming through him. How long had it been since a woman,
any
woman, affected him so? Maybe such a reaction was to be expected, given this was the closest he’d come to touching a woman in two years. But this was