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“You should have killed it,” Tanner said.
Logan just shook his head. He could have easily put a bullet through the wolf’s heart if he’d wanted to. He’d intentionally grazed it instead—a flesh wound that he knew would scare off the animal without injuring it.
Logan was no stranger to killing. He was a skilled hunter, and he’d shot plenty of deer and pronghorn for food over the years, as well as smaller varmints and quail. He didn’t like the idea of killing when it wasn’t necessary, though. If the wolf had beenattackingthe woman, that would have been a different matter, but the animal had merely been checking her out, so Logan had chosen to scare the wolf off without killing it.
Normally, Tanner would’ve felt the same way. The fact that he didn’t only confirmed what Logan had been worrying about all day long.
Tanner hadfallenfor the woman.
Hard.
Logan had expected as much when Tanner had frantically woken him up with the news that they would be following some strange lady into the desert. Tanner had claimed it was the promise of firestone that made him so eager, but Logan had seen right through his story. They’d been riding together for too long, and they knew each other too well to try to pull the wool over one another’s eyes like that. Logan knew what Tanner was really after, and he’d said so as they’d been riding out of Lamentation that morning.
“Yeah, but just wait til you see her,” had been Tanner’s reply.
After that, Logan had not said anything else on the matter, but he’d been worrying about it all day long. He and Tanner were supposed to be partners—no,brothers!A long time ago they’d sworn a blood oath to stick together no matter what. Since then, they had lived a life of freedom on the open range, only working when they needed money. It was a good life for a pair of hot-blooded alphas. A free life.
Yet now Tanner had gone and gotten the foolish notion that they should go chasing after this mystery woman. Logan had never seen his friend get so worked up over a member of the opposite sex before.
It was downright concerning.
Then again, it was a good thing they’d arrived when they did. Logan hadn’t seen everything that had happened between the woman and her male companion, but he’d seen enough. The disarray of her clothes made it clear what the man had been trying to do to her, and the shouts he and Tanner had heard from a distance made it clear it wasn’t consensual. If the wolf hadn’t been there to tear that man to pieces, Logan certainly would have shot him.
Shooting a man was much easier than shooting an animal. Most men had it coming.
“Okay,” the woman called behind them. “I’m… I’m decent now.”
The two alphas turned their horses and started riding toward her. Under his breath, Logan said, “You go check on the woman. I’ll follow the wolf’s tracks and see where it went.”
But then, as they got closer, and Logan got himself a better look at the woman, he changed his mind. “Actually, why don’t you follow those tracks, Tan? You always were the better tracker.”
That last part was a lie, and the chuckle that Tanner gave in response indicated that he knew it, but he didn’t argue the point. He rode off in the direction the wolf had retreated, leaving Logan alone with the woman.
Just wait till you see her.
Now Logan understood what Tanner had meant by that. She was, without a doubt, the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen.
Before he could stop them, Logan’s eyes were wandering down to the woman’s boots and back up again, taking in every inch of her feminine beauty. Her tight jeans hugged her plump thighs and voluptuous hips in a way that made Logan’s balls pang with desire. And it only got worse as his eyes traveled northward. The ends of her torn shirt had been knotted together, leaving her smooth midriff exposed and offering a lot more than a glimpse of the deep cleavage between her ample breasts. Logan’s cock throbbed at the sight.
Her face, however, was the most enticing part. Eyes the color of turquoise, and a mouth made for sinning, and all of it framed by a mane of hair as black as coffee and shiny as silk. For a moment, Logan felt dizzy with arousal, and it was all he could do to keep from tumbling right off his damned horse.
But what was he doing ogling the poor woman like that? She’d just been assaulted. Logan felt a surge of guilt sweep over him.
And the woman had been injured too. Her right sleeve was torn away at the shoulder, and the cloth was now wrapped around her upper arm like a bandage. Part of the cloth was smudged with blood.
Logan swung down from the saddle. Even on foot, he still towered over the woman. Her small stature set off all kinds of protective instincts inside of him.
“Ma’am,” Logan said, hoping she couldn’t hear the tremble in his voice. “My name’s Logan Summerhill.”
“Shannon Duffy,” she said apprehensively.
“You’re hurt,” he said, gesturing to her arm.
The woman flinched away, as if she was afraid he was going to pull her makeshift bandage off.
“It’s fine,” she insisted. “Just a scratch really.”
Logan made a mental note to take a look at it later. For now, he didn’t want to push the woman. She was understandably rattled by everything that had just happened to her, and her turquoise eyes kept darting away from him, as if his presence made her nervous.
