by Vonna Harper
"With my back pack. Ana, who is he?"
She'd almost forgotten about Matthew. Now she stalked within a few feet of him and pointed the gun at him. She didn't give a damn about this man. But Devin, who she loved—oh yes, loved!—deserved to know everything she did.
"He's a friend of John's. I guess they hunted together, guy stuff, before John and I got married. I don't think I've said more than a few words to him." She stopped, stared.
"What is it?" Devin asked.
"I just remembered—my God." She crouched down so she was eye to eye with Matthew but beyond his reach. "You came out to the ranch one day. You and John walked off together. The two of you were gone a long time. When you came back, you left and John—what did you talk about? What?"
"Go to hell!" Matthew ground out. He shifted position, cried out.
"You don't know what they said?" Devin asked.
"No. But John was upset afterward. Sick and upset." Straightening, she started back toward Devin. Unlike Matthew, Devin met her gaze. Even wounded and bleeding, unable to stand, he was incredible. How could she have thought she wanted him out of her life?
Thinking to tell him she'd been wrong, she glanced back at Matthew to make sure he wasn't moving. That's when realization struck. "It was hot when Matthew came out to the house." Her voice was expressionless; she felt anything but. "Early July. Shortly after John returned from the Siskiyous."
"Not long after Aaron was murdered," Devin finished.
* * * * *
Ana believed herself fully capable of torturing Matthew to get him to tell her more, but that would have to wait until she'd gotten help for Devin. Because she was unwilling to leave her lover long enough to go down for his cell phone, she'd rummaged through Matthew's belongings looking for one. She didn't find it, but she uncovered enough supplies that Matthew could stay here for a couple of weeks. She also came across a saddle and bridle, but Matthew refused to answer her questions about where his horse was. After Devin assured her that he could hold the gun on Matthew long enough for her to scan their surroundings, she walked over to the edge and held Matthew's binoculars up to her eyes.
Please, please let there be a horse out there. I've got to get Devin—
Yes, there! Not just one but her all of her missing livestock as well! All five animals were grazing not more than a half mile away. On the verge of letting Devin know what she'd found, she was distracted by a wide, flat area just beyond where the horses and mules were. It was a meadow, probably the one John had told her about, but instead of being full of grass and brush the way it should be—
"Ana," Devin called out. "Are you all right?"
"What?"
"I thought I heard you gasp."
Feeling numb, she stumbled back to where she'd left the men. Matthew stared up at her. "That's what you were protecting, isn't it?" she snapped at him. Then she sank beside Devin and leaned against his good side.
"What are you talking about?" Devin asked, leaning toward her in return.
"I found..." She took a calming breath. "There's marijuana down there. The whole valley is full of it. It—the crop is surrounded by a high cyclone fence."
"To keep wildlife out," Devin whispered. He wrapped his good arm around her. "Do you have any idea how many plants—?"
"Thousands."
"Worth millions of dollars."
She wanted to get to her feet, pick up the rifle and use it to beat the truth out of Matthew. Even more, she needed to remain where she was with Devin supporting her.
"How long have you had this operation?" Devin asked Matthew.
"Figure it out."
Devin took a long, shuddering breath. "This has to be at least the second year. It was you, wasn't it?"
Matthew turned his attention to his now obviously swollen knee.
"Ana's husband didn't kill Aaron, did he?" Devin's hold on her waist became tighter. "You did. What happened? John and Aaron came across your operation. You murdered my friend, but you didn't kill John because. . .shit, because you used to be hunting buddies?"
"Devin, I'm so sorry," Ana whispered.
"Don't be. You had nothing to do with it and your husband. . ."
"Why didn't John say anything?" She felt as if she might fly apart. "If he'd witnessed—tell me! Damn it, Matthew! Tell me! Was John part of—?"
"John?" Matthew laughed. "Your husband freaked. When he and that fucking ranger stumbled across my operation, he damn near wet his pants. He kept blubbering, begging me not to do to him what I had to do to that—what was his name?"
"Aaron," Devin bit out.
"Whatever. Ana, your precious John got down on his knees. I knew he was dying and besides, he didn't want the cops finding out about his little poaching operation. Hell, we went back a long way. When he said he wouldn't tell anyone, I believed him."
"But you came out to the ranch and threatened him just to make sure, right?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.
"I was protecting my investment." Matthew was quiet for a moment. "That's why I moved the body, so those local yokels would look in the wrong place."
"And when their investigation didn't turn up anything, you relaxed," Devin said.
"For awhile. Then it came out that your friend was an undercover cop, and I knew it wasn't over."
"Ana," Devin said. "Help me stand."
Are you sure? But Devin was beyond caring about himself, and because she loved him, she'd do what he needed. He took several deep breaths and then walked unaided over to Matthew. "How did you know who I was?" he demanded.
"I didn't—not your name."
"But you wouldn't have come out here, wouldn't have tried to kill me, if you hadn't known I was here. What tipped you off?"
Ana felt lightheaded. Did Devin suspect that she'd had—no! Surely he knew she'd die to protect him.
"Shit. I don't have to tell—"
"Yeah, you do." Devin positioned himself near Matthew's injured knee. "Maybe I broke your kneecap; maybe I didn't—yet."
"No!" Matthew blubbered. "You're some kind of cop; you can't—Ana!"
"I'm not going to stop him," Ana said calmly. "Do you get that, Matthew? Whatever it takes to get the truth out of you, I'll let him do it. Maybe I'll help."
"All right! All right! It was your sister."
"My. . ." She couldn't finish.
"She worries about you being without a man, you know. She talks. I listen."
"You—why?"
Matthew glanced at her, then went back to studying Devin. "To protect my investment. If there was any chance John told you what happened here last year, I figured you'd confide in your sister."
"I—I didn't know anything."
"Ana," Devin said. "Did you tell your sister about where I wanted you to take me?"
She nodded.
* * * * *
Soon Ana would go back over everything that had happened today, everything she'd learned, but that could wait. After tying Matthew's hands behind him and roping him to a tree, she'd gone down and brought back two horses. She could have managed leading a mount for Matthew, but when Devin told her he'd have law enforcement sent back for him and his marijuana crop, she didn't argue. She needed, wanted, to be alone with Devin.
Despite what it cost him, he managed to get himself into the saddle but let her handle both animals. Intent on finding a way down off the peak that wouldn't jar him too much, she didn't say anything until they were on level ground. She should have gone ahead of him, but she couldn't bring herself to put that much distance between them. He rode leaning forward a little, cradling his injured arm with his good one.
"If you need to rest, you'll let me know, won't you?" she asked.
"I'm all right. Ana?"
"What?" You're going to tell me that today has convinced you that you don't want anything to do with me. That it's too intense.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this."
"Me? You got shot."
"It could have been you."
&n
bsp; She looked over at him. His eyes were clear, dark. And the way he was staring at her—
"It wasn't," she whispered.
"But it could have been. When I think of what nearly—Ana? I was wrong."
She stopped both horses, leaned over and found the courage, the need, to touch his thigh. "Whatever you have to say, I need to talk first. What I said about wanting you out of my life, it was because. . ."
"I felt overwhelmed," he whispered.
"You did, too?" Was she going to cry? "I've never felt—when we were together, it was everything. Everything. The sex. More than the sex."
"Feeling as if we were one person, no longer separate."
"You weren't ready for that," she said.
"Neither were you."
"No," she admitted. Praying it wouldn't be the last time, she began rubbing his thigh. "I wasn't. But then you were shot and—and I knew I couldn't go back to what I was before you came into my life."
"When I felt that bullet, the only thing that mattered was that I stay alive because you—because you'd changed me."
She was crying, but it didn't matter. "You changed me," she admitted. "You made me a woman."
"Would you like to prove that?"
Confused, she blinked away her tears. Only a few inches away, just out of the reach of her fingers, Devin's cock pressed against his jeans. "It's telling the truth," he said. "About how I feel about you."
"That's a purely physical reaction."
"No, it isn't. Ana, I'm trying to say that you're the most important thing that's ever happened to me."
"I—I hear you."
"More than that. I need you to believe."
"I do." Her voice was strong now. "Devin, I love you."
Epilogue
Ana hung up the phone and walked out to the front porch where Devin sat in the rocking chair, his feet propped on the railing. She leaned down and nibbled his neck. "That was the district attorney's office," she said. "It's official. The trial will start next Monday. They want to talk to us tomorrow to go over our testimony one last time."
Devin shook his head, then brought his legs down and patted his thighs, indicating he wanted her to sit on his lap. She happily accommodated him. "Six months from his arrest," he said. "That's not too bad."
"Six months." She sighed. "It feels as if we just met, not half a year ago."
"In other words, you haven't grown tired of me?"
"Let me think about that." Taking his hand, she placed it over her breast. Just like that, her nipple hardened, and she became aware of her cunt. "Nope. Not tired. It still feels damn good."
He slid his free hand between her legs. "Yes, indeed, it does feel good. Does the D.A. still think the trial won't take more than a couple of days?"
"He said to tell you that he owes you a C note if it runs longer than that." Already it was getting hard to talk. "He—he also thanked me for getting you to transfer here."
"He gave you credit, did he?" Devin unfastened her jeans' snap and started toying with the zipper. "I wonder what gave him that idea?"
"I have no idea—except that you've moved in with me."
"Yeah, I guess that would be a give-away." He pulled the zipper down a few inches, then slid his hand under the fabric and used his forefinger to trace a circle around her navel. "I was thinking. . ."
"What?" She prompted. It was the middle of the afternoon, and she was expecting several families to return before long with the horses they'd rented for the day. Much as she wanted to have sex, there wasn't time for the kind and duration she wanted—that she knew he preferred. "What were you thinking?"
Devin nibbled the side of her neck, then licked the spot. "This is working out pretty well between us, isn't it?"
Well didn't begin to touch at the mind-blowing changes he'd brought to her life. Now, nights weren't just for sleeping; sometimes they spent an entire night in the same bed and didn't so much as nap. Not only that, he was turning out to be a competent ranch hand, and she loved his enthusiasm for his career. It was as if he'd finally buried Aaron's ghost.
"Ana," he whispered. "I'm trying to ask you something."
His serious tone pulled her back into the here and now. She straightened and leaned away from him so she could see his features clearly. She'd come to love his eyes, not just because they were bright and nearly black, but because they revealed so much of the man behind them. He could be gentle, calm, and strong by turn; the night he'd helped one of her mares give birth had been proof of that.
Sometimes when they were having sex, she cried. Instead of questioning her about something she couldn't explain, he'd lap at her tears until they dried. That always made her laugh, and for some reason, he'd laugh too; that usually led to another round of sex.
That was why she loved him, not just because of their active sex life, but because she adored his laugher.
"Ana? I hope—I'm ready for this, and I think you are too, but if. . ."
"Yes," she whispered.
"Yes, what?"
"I'll marry you."
He chuckled. "What are you, a mind reader?"
"When it comes to certain things, yes. That was a proposal, wasn't it?"
"It sure was. Only, I'm getting confused. Am I asking you, or are you asking me?"
"You're asking me because you want to make an honest woman of me."
"Oh no, sweetheart." He slid his hand back under her jeans. "It's way too late for that."
Also at Ellora's Cave
Hard Bodies
Thunder
Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.
www.ellorascave.com
