Page 28 of Bryson

He felt the spurt of pleasure that she had referred to the ranch as home. It showed progress. "I have some loose ends to tie up and then I'm all yours. Why don't you wait for me to have supper? We could have a meal out on the terrace."

"You mean I'm no longer tied to the bed?"

Her incredulous tone had him chuckling.

"Have you been a good girl?"

"Bite me."

He grinned. "I will keep that in mind. I miss you."

His smile widened and he could just imagine her frowning in confusion. He loved nettling her.

"Whatever. If you're not here in the next hour, I'm eating without you."

Hanging up, he headed for his horse.

He didn't make it back within the hour. In fact, it was almost midnight when he wrapped up and was able to leave. Not only was the cottage broken into, but there were signs of looting and several heads of cattle missing. Someone or more than one person had taken advantage of the bloody storm to help themselves to what was not theirs.

And they had maliciously wrecked the master bedroom of the cottage. The windows were broken and the beautiful quilt had been stripped from the bed. The pantry, which was always stocked with food, was now empty.

He had instructed the men to take off for the night, and tomorrow there would have to be a full inventory.

He expected her to be fast asleep when he dragged himself back to the ranch. Even though he felt a jolt of pleasure that she had obviously waited up for him, his first thought was that she should be resting.

"What the hell are you doing up?"

Her pleasure at finally seeing him faded at the impatient tone to his voice.

"Why don't you take a damn careful look and see who it is you're talking to? I'm not one of your lackeys and I don't appreciate the tone."

Passing a hand at the back of his neck, he closed his eyes wearily. He had taken off his boots and jacket and left them inside the mud room.

"I apologize," he told her quietly. "There was some vandalism, and that has nothing to do with you. Just let me get rid of the dirt and grime and I'll be right back." Stripping where he stood, he kicked the clothes aside and walked naked into the bathroom.

The man had an ass on him, she thought, leaning her head back and enjoying the view. She had heard the strained sound of his voice when he called, telling her to go ahead and eat without him. In the past, she had never really appreciated the enormous amount of responsibilities he had to contend with. She knew that Circle M ranch was not just about cattle and horses. There was so much more to it, and he was in charge of it all. On top of that, he had taken it on himself to make sure she was all right. She complained about it, but she reveled in the fact that he loved her enough to want to take care of her.

He came back out, a towel slung low around his hips, washboard stomach glistening from the water. His hair was still damp, curling around his shoulders.

Walking into the vast closet, he dragged on an old pair of sweats and a faded NYU t-shirt before climbing in next to her.

"Tell me about it," she said quietly.

"I shouldn't worry you..."

"I'm not something delicate that will break easily. If you want a relationship, then you're going to have to stop treating me like a damn child."

Suddenly the anger he had been feeling for the past three hours faded away as he looked into her eyes. Pulling her against him, he simply inhaled her scent and closed his eyes.

Chapter 9

He told her frankly about the discoveries by his men.

"Could it have been vagrants?" She was propped up on his chest, hair spilling over one shoulder. She had completely ignored her nighttime ritual of twisting the strands and left it hanging loose. He itched to slide his fingers through them.

"We thought of that. It was a senseless destruction as if the perpetrators had malice in mind. I can see the need to pillage for food and certainly shelter from the storm, but they cut several fences and some of the cattle are missing. Among other things. It was as if someone had it in for us. And wanted to prove that they could do whatever the hell they wanted.

"Circle M ranch is vast, and we never really have enough men to patrol the grounds. In the past when my father was in charge, he pissed off enough people to have them wanting to get back at him." He shook his head, hand lazily running up and down her back. "But not since I took over."