Chapter 10
CASSIDY
That had not just happened. And this early into the season? Those shady varmints.
Brushing a hand lightly over a cut, I involuntarily winced. A bullet had just grazed me.
OW.
Inhaling deeply, I pressed my palm tighter against the blood that dripped from the edge of my shoulder. Sweat mixed with the open wound, stinging like the dickens, and a hiss escaped through my teeth.
But I couldn’t stop moving, not just yet. If I dawdled too long, Briar’s hoofprints and her obvious trail she’d left behind would quickly vanish. The longer the sun blazed high above, drying out the terrain around us, the more likely it would be that I’d lose her.
I wanted to swear, use every curse word in the book, but Weston and I had made a deal, and we were going on two and a half years without slipping. Well, until just barely. I owed him a danged five bucks.
A coyote.
“Are you that dumb, Cassidy? When’s the last time you’ve seen coyotes in these parts? How about seeing a coyote challenge a cow?” I growled at myself.
“Or better yet, prints that distinct from any animal, almost ever?” I added.
Man what an idiot I had been to think that it was just a coyote that tore up that poor mama cow and her calf.
Then I furrowed my brows, leading my horse around a bend. “And since when do poachers chase after us instead of just running away when we show up?” I voiced out loud.
This wasn’t our first run in with drifters trying to steal our cattle. We had a huge herd, and it wasn’t like Duke Ranch was unknown to the community. But getting up here unnoticed was not a usual thing. How had I heard nothing in town about any strangers? Did they not go through town? Had they been riding for days through the mountains to stay hidden, just to steal our cattle? Or were they doing more than trying to poach a few that wandered off?
Illegal hunting, maybe?
Guiding the horse over some logs, I sighed. Or there was another option that I hadn’t wanted to consider and one I’d been trying to deny.
Was Briar running from something dangerous enough that this entire ranch was now at risk? Was that the reason that Rooney had told me to have my buddies on standby? Once I made it down the mountain, they were definitely going to receive a call from me. But I wasn’t sure if I should mention Briar’s situation yet or not.
Another girl might be causing potential death at this ranch, because of me, again.
Good job, Cassidy. Apparently being abstinent wasn’t enough to steer clear of troubles because of women.
One specific woman. Again. Also, a blonde. Again. Though this blonde was entirely different than the last one. Entirely different than really any woman I’d ever come across before.
And she hated me. Sighing, a frown deepened upon my face as I rounded a grove of trees and stopped my horse dead in his tracks.
“Briar?!” I gasped, crashing off my horse as any agitation fled my body at the sight of her, crumpled on the ground. Her frenzied eyes whipped up to mine as her bottom lip began to tremble.
Dropping the reins, I darted over toward her and fell to my knees. “Are you hurt?” I grabbed her arm and lifted it, turning her around to scan her body.
She violently shook her head. “No,” her voice cracked, and the flood gates opened. Tears immediately streamed down her cheeks, leaving a stained path against the dust that coated her typically dewy skin.
“Everything’s okay,” I whispered, reaching toward her.
She stared at me, almost incognizant of what was going on, and then fell forward, slumping into my arms.
“You found me,” she muttered, her words muted against my chest.
“I told you,” I quietly said, pulling her tightly onto my lap. “Even with my eyes closed, I know this place.” Placing a gentle hand against the back of her unruly braid, I pressed her tighter into my frame. The amount of fear she must have experienced was not lost on me. Combine this hopefully unrelated incident with whatever she was already running from, and what happened yesterday, her crying was a good thing. She needed it, and honestly, I was not upset that I got to hold her again.
I couldn’t believe she was letting me do this. Cuddling with her during the night had left me aching for the possibility to touch her again. Yeah, I knew it was fast. Everything had been a whirlwind since she’d shown up, but I was not complaining. My heart raced, no longer from the adrenaline of being chased by a group of poachers, possible illegal hunters, maybe worse, but from the woman who felt so small in my arms.
Hold on, why was she okay with me doing this? Better question, why was I doing this? Wait, why did it matter?
It didn’t. Her life was my responsibility regardless of anything else going on. Regardless of the fact that I was way too attached to her. Despite her secrets, I craved being around her. Even with that snarky attitude she gave me.
Her trembling increased, and I threaded my fingers through hair that had loosened but still remained in the braid. “I’ve got you, Goldie,” I whispered above her head.
A chuckle vibrated against my chest. “I hate when you call me that.”
“It’s been a week, how can you hate something so quickly?”
“I hate you, and it’s been a week,” she responded with speed.
A smile drifted over my lips. “Fair enough.”
There wasn’t another word exchanged, not for a while. Not until her breathing slowed and her crying stopped. Not until she slowly backed away from me and finally lifted her eyes to mine.
I studied her briefly, wishing that she was back against my chest. The lack of warmth from her touch brought in a wave of exhaustion that coated my body.
Suddenly, her brows stitched together, and she raised a slender hand. “DID YOU GET SHOT?” she shouted, her eyes locked onto my shoulder.
“Oh.” I glanced at the wound I’d briefly forgotten about. “It’s nothing. Just grazed me a bit.”
“You still got shot! And it’s my fault,” she gasped, reaching forward. Her fault? But that thought was immediately lost as my eyes slid down her arm and rested at her fingers that hovered a centimeter away from my surface wound. My stomach churned and a fire began roaring low in the pit. Everything around me blurred, dancing just out of reach from the world that suddenly only included Briar and me.
“It’s okay, Goldie,” I gently whispered.
She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears again as her hand plunked mindlessly against my thigh. “If I’d already been saddled and riding down the mountain like you said…”
“That was dumb of me to tell you to do. You don’t know the way, so where would you have gone?” I mindlessly answered as her fingers began to quake.
“I’d probably have ended up lost,” she muttered, her voice sounding miles away yet right next to my own ears.
Glancing away from her hand, I locked onto her eyes. The mist in her irises swirled like moonlight blending with the stars on a perfectly clear summer night. Her plump, heart-shaped lips were parted slightly, innocence coating her doe-like gaze.
And she inched closer toward me.
My stomach lurched.
My chest heaved.
It’d been so long since I’d felt the kiss of a woman. And the idea of it being hers roared hot unlike anything I’d ever experienced before.
I leaned forward.
“I still don’t like you,” she whispered, her hand dropping to my forearm. A shiver danced beneath her fingers.
“That’s fine with me,” I mumbled as her breath brushed against my skin like the gentle wisps of a breeze during a lope through the fresh morning air.
“This never happened,” she added.
“What never happened?” I replied, grabbed her cheeks, and crashed my lips against hers.
Her chest rose, a gasp slipped between her teeth, and she melted against my kiss. Fervency filled the space between us as I pressed deeper against her mouth. My body roared hot; a buzzing quieted the back of my mind as her velvet taste intensified with mine.
Not a thing mattered outside of the fact that I was kissing her. That she was kissing me back. That we were tangled in an embrace that would never be forgotten.
The tips of her fingers dug into my forearm, and she leaned against me, wrapping her free hand behind my neck. My lips moved with aggression and desperation that was mirrored with her own passionate response. She shifted beneath my touch, and her legs suddenly wrapped around my waist. Driving harder, tighter against her mouth, I ran the tip of my tongue over her swollen lips.
She gasped, opening her mouth, and I shoved my tongue between her teeth. Closer, there was a neediness that drove me to be closer to her. Each hot swipe of her honey-like lick against mine powered the heightened vibrations humming deep within my core. As I explored her mouth, she fought with my tongue, and the wet barrier that danced between us crumbled upon contact. Her fingers tugged at the ends of the hair peeking out beneath my hat.
I slid my hands down from her cheeks, grabbing her hips and rocking her into my body. She shuddered, breaking the kiss just long enough to gasp for air, and then dove in again. My heart pounded into my ribs, begging to burst free as the gap between us was swallowed by whatever spell she had put on me.
“Cassidy,” she breathlessly moaned against my lips.
“Hmmm?” I replied, diving back in for more. A fever roared in my body, driving me insane by the sweetness of her taste.
She spoke against my mouth. “I hate how much I like this.” Grabbing the end of her braid, I tugged, and her tongue slid out from between my teeth.
A gasp escaped her lips as I pressed my other hand hard against her lower back, pulling harder on her hair to expose her neck. A beautiful, untouched collarbone awaited my kiss, and I leaned forward, sliding my tongue against her salty skin.
I welcomed the taste of her sweat, my heart racing faster and faster with each pass of my mouth over her skin. My body ran hot, whether from the heat of the sun or from the fire that roared around us, threatening to have me losing all of my self-control, I wasn’t sure.
Bucking against me, she dug her fingers into my arms as I nipped at her neck, just below her ear. “Cassidy,” she shakily groaned.
I didn’t answer, couldn’t answer. My mind cared about nothing but the fact that I was here with this beautiful woman.
“We should…” Her voice trailed off as I lifted my lips to hover over her mouth and opened my eyes.
“Yes, Goldie?” I whispered, skimming my kiss against the velvet that waited.
“Never mind,” she gushed and slammed her lips back against mine. Tipping up, her entire body trying to close the gap that didn’t exist between us, she pushed my hat off my head and weaved her fingers through my hair.
Slamming my eyelids closed as she grabbed some of my hair and leaned my head back, her tongue shoved between my teeth once more, and my soul ached. I’d never been kissed like this; there wasn’t a moment before that compared to the innocent passion that roared raw between us.
A hot summer day turned to a hot summer kiss that had me moaning against her mouth. Lips, fiery and swollen, left mine and trailed over to my ear; she bit lightly down on my earlobe and then brushed a wet trail down my neck.
Stars spun in my blackened vision, and my eyes opened to the blue sky above. Golden rays danced across the canvas, the light breath of wind reminding me that there was nothing out here but the two of us.
It was too soon, I knew that, but I didn’t care. All thought left my mind as I tugged her mouth away from me and met her gaze. Her brows twitched, briefly, and then a smile filled her lips. Bedroom eyes were my answer, and I dove back against her mouth as she ripped my shirt open.
And the booming squeal of a horse snapped my gaze away from Briar.