by Elle James
The lead guy had circled back and stopped beside the guy Jolie had tagged. The man held his arm close to his side, but managed to get up onto the back of the leader’s bike.
Mad Dog ran after them, cursing his limp. He wasn’t quite fast enough to catch up.
“Caleb! Look out!”
A glance over his shoulder made Mad Dog change directions. He jagged to his right as a biker raced up behind him. The biker swung out a booted foot and kicked Mad Dog in his bad leg.
Mad Dog went down, pain shooting through his leg and all the way up into his back.
“Fuck!” Ignoring the knifing pain, he knelt in the dirt and aimed his weapon at the retreating figures. But it was too late. He’d missed his opportunity to catch one of the jerks.
He remained poised to shoot for a few seconds longer, in case the gang returned for more of the same. When they sound of the motorcycle engines faded into the distance, Mad Dog rose to his feet and limped back to the truck.
Jolie had left the cab and walked to the back of the trailer. She was speaking softly to the horses.
They pawed and whickered, their eyes rolling back in their heads.
She talked softly, soothing them with nonsensical words. Just the sound of her voice calmed them and, soon, they were standing still.
All in all, Mad Dog could have kicked himself. He’d failed completely. If not for Jolie, he’d have been injured, if not killed. Then she’d have been left to defend herself. “Thanks,” he said, grudgingly. He was angrier with himself than anything.
Jolie walked around the back of the trailer and laid a hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
He shrugged off her hand and nodded. “I’m fine. Stupid, but fine.”
“How do you figure?”
“A man with a limp, catching a man on a motorcycle?” He snorted. “What was I thinking?”
She cupped his cheek with her palm. “I thought it was pretty amazing. You almost had the first guy, and the way you hit the other one with the stick was inspirational.” She leaned up on her toes. “Impressive.” And she kissed him full on the lips.
Mad Dog stood still. Stunned. His leg hurt, and he was still mad at himself, but the kiss had knocked his mental self-flagellation on its ass.
He cupped his hand to the back of hers still resting on his cheek. “Why did you do that?”
She raised and lowered her shoulders. “I don’t know. But, please, don’t make a big deal out of it. We need to get the horses out of the trailer and check out the damage to the house.”
He pulled her hand off his face and pressed his lips to her palm. “Thanks again for saving my sorry ass.”
“Yeah? Well, I expect you to stick around and save mine in return.” She winked and slipped free of his grip. “Drive, Caleb. We have work to do.”
Mad Dog pulled his sore ass up into the truck and drove to the barn. “We need to notify the sheriff about this incident. They could be checking local hospitals for anyone coming in with a gunshot wound.”
“We will, but later,” she assured him. “We need to get the horses out of the trailer and make sure they weren’t injured in the excitement.”
They unloaded the horses from the trailer and led them into stalls.
“I’ll unload the rest,” Mad Dog offered.
“It will take less time if we do it together,” she said, lifting a saddle out of the truck bed.
Mad Dog took the other and followed her into the barn and tack room where they laid the saddles on the dusty saddletrees.
“My father used to keep this place spotless. He kept the saddles in the best working order.” She ran her hands over a set of punches used to poke holes in leather. “It’s like walking through a haunted house. I see him everywhere, and yet, he’s gone and most of the things he loved are gone.”
The sorrow in her voice hit Mad Dog square in the chest, making it hurt worse than his bum leg. He turned her around and pulled her into his arms. “He’s still here.”
Jolie looked up into his eyes, her own swimming in unshed tears. “How do you figure?” She swallowed hard and looked down.
“He still lives in your heart.” He touched her chin, guiding it upward. “You have good memories of him. Be glad you have those. No one can take those away. They can’t be stolen, sold or auctioned off. They’re yours forever.”
Then despite his better judgment, he bent and pressed his lips to hers.
8
Jolie forgot to breathe.
The first time she’d touched her lips to Mad Dog’s she’d done it as a thank you. But the resulting zing of sensations quickly turned the thank you kiss into something entirely different.
When Mad Dog kissed her, her heart stopped, her lungs ceased to function and her soul melted into him.
She forgot to breathe.
What had started as a union of two fighters, willing to sacrifice whatever it took to bring a terrorist to justice, had changed into something else.
They both still wanted to complete the mission, but their professional relationship had morphed into an off-the-record, hotter-than-sin attraction Jolie couldn’t resist. And from Mad Dog’s kiss, he was obviously finding it hard to resist as well.
His tongue traced the seam of her lips, pressing gently, questioningly.
Jolie opened to him, meeting his tongue with her own in a long, tender caress that started slow and sensuous.
Mad Dog’s hands slid down her neck. He cupped the back of her head and pulled her closer, deepening their connection.
Jolie threaded her hands into his hair, liking the rich texture and the thickness between her fingers. Slowly, she slipped her palms over his shoulders and down his arms, measuring the hardness of his muscles. Every time he moved they rippled beneath her fingertips.
Never had she felt this drawn to a man. When he’d leaped out of the truck in an attempt to tackle the man on the motorcycle, her heart had jumped into her throat. At that moment, she’d thought the man had to be insane.
But then, SEALs were trained warriors. He’d failed in his first attempt, then rolled to his feet and tried again. The man was fierce…unstoppable.
But when the gang member had pulled his gun, Jolie knew she couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Mad Dog was outnumbered. He couldn’t fight the whole gang, or see in all directions at once.
That’s when she’d fired her first shot, taking out the man who’d aimed his weapon at Mad Dog. She hadn’t fired with the intention to kill. Instead, she’d hit him in the arm. If he’d been more of a threat, she’d have killed him without hesitation.
She blamed her kiss on the wave of adrenaline still coursing through her veins. What else could have made her stand on her toes and press her lips to his? He was her partner, not her lover.
But when Mad Dog kissed her, he shattered her reasoning and sent her into a tailspin of vibrant sensations that culminated in her kissing him back.
She ran her hands down his back and into his jean’s back pockets, liking the firmness of his ass beneath her palms, wondering what it would feel like naked.
Though her knees grew weak and her lungs protested the need for air, she regretted when Mad Dog leaned back, breaking their connection.
He swept a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I wish I could forget the world and do this forever.”
She sighed and nodded. “But we have work to do. And my house…” The world came back in a rush. “I need to see what damage they’ve done.”
She started for the barn door.
Mad Dog snagged her arm and pulled her back into his embrace. “I’d like to think this isn’t over. Just delayed.”
Her heart pounded against her ribs, and her pulse winged through her veins. “We’ll see.”
“We’ll see?” He chuckled. “What kind of a response is that?”
She bit down on her bottom lip, afraid to smile and encourage him when she should be keeping her distance. God, but she wanted him closer. “What’s happening between us…” she shook her head. “It sho
uldn’t. It’s destined for heartache.”
“On my side or yours?” He brushed his thumb down the side of her cheek and softly across her lips. “I suspect on my side.”
She wanted to argue that it would be on her side, but she was afraid. Afraid of what she was feeling so soon after meeting the man. “It can’t be real. What we’re feeling. It’s too soon.”
He pulled her close, his hard erection pressing against her belly. “It’s real. But you’re right. It’s too soon. You need time. And I need to give it to you.” He let go of her waist and stepped back, letting her arms slip through his fingers until he grasped her hand. “But, this isn’t where it ends, sweetheart.” He leaned close until his mouth was a breath away from her ear. “This is where it begins.”
He left her standing in the barn and walked out into the open.
Jolie gave herself several more seconds to drag air into her lungs and calm her racing pulse. The man had her all knots inside. How could she think with him kissing and confusing her? She was a goddamn CIA agent, not a teenager on her first date. Hell, they hadn’t even gone on a date. They’d only known each other for an afternoon, a night and part of a day.
“This is wrong. So wrong,” she muttered.
“I can hear you,” Mad Dog said. He appeared in the doorway, his face a dark blob with the sun on his back. “And it’s only wrong if you make it wrong. From where I stand, it felt pretty right to me.” He held out his hand. “Come on, the coast is clear. Let’s see what damage they did.”
She knew she was in trouble, but couldn’t help it. Giving herself over to him, Jolie placed her hand in his and let him lead her up the rise to the ranch house.
Jolie’s heart dropped into her belly. The paint on the wall could be painted over, but the symbols were what worried her. The swastikas in bright red indicated what he’d feared. The motorcycle gang was indeed the gang terrorizing Eagle Rock. And they’d decided to target her.
As if she didn’t have enough going wrong in her life with Nadir, the radicalized ISIS terrorist, gunning for her.
Mad Dog glanced at her, his brow dipping. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“It’s just paint,” she said.
She’d grown up in the house, had a good childhood and loved her father. The desecration hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world. “My father always told me not to cry over things that could be fixed. Just fix it.”
Mad Dog chuckled. “I think I would have liked your father.”
“You would have. Everyone did.” Jolie shook her head. “Except the one who shot him.”
“In all the people the authorities interviewed, did they find anyone who would have wanted your father dead?”
She shook her head. “No one. It baffled the police. It’s the reason the case was never solved. I think the entire county showed up for his funeral. There wasn’t a dry eye in the chapel.” Jolie climbed the steps of the back porch and touched the red paint. “It’s already dry.”
“We can paint over it.”
“The place needs a fresh coat anyway before I can sell it.”
“You’re convinced you’ll sell?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I have no reason to come back. I should have sold the ranch before I left. I’m sure I could get a pile of money for the place, what with all the people from California searching for a place to get away from the noise of the cities.”
“Are you staying on after we resolve the situation with Nadir?”
She nodded. “Long enough to get this place ready for sale. Not a moment longer.”
“Why?” He climbed the steps to stand beside her and took her hand. “Because of all the memories?”
She nodded, her fingers curling around his. “The thought of someone else living here makes me sad. My mother and father loved this house and the land. They talked about raising their babies and grandbabies here.”
“Then your mother died...” he said softly, in a way that encouraged her to continue.
“Dad said they’d always wanted half a dozen children.” Jolie laughed, the sound sad and lonely, even to her own ears. “Mom couldn’t have any more after me.”
“Then your father died...”
“And took with him any reason for me to stay in the back of beyond.” She turned to stare out at the pasture. “Why would I stay when my job is with the CIA? I have to be in Virginia, or wherever else they send me. I don’t have time to come out to Montana and run a ranch.”
“Will you make a lifetime commitment out of the CIA?” Mad Dog asked.
“Why not? I need a job, and I can’t run a ranch by myself.”
“What if you got married and had children of your own?”
She snorted. “I’m an assassin. That scares most men.”
He pulled her into the circle of his arms. “Not me.”
Jolie leaned into him. “I’ve seen the videos of what SEALs have to go through in training. You’re a special kind of crazy to do that.”
Mad Dog laughed out loud. “Okay, then. I’m crazy, and you’re badass. A lethal combination.”
“An impossible combination.” She walked out of his embrace, determined to put distance between her and her burgeoning desire. Hell, it followed her, swelling in her like magma in a volcano. “Why would the gang target my house and me? Do you think they’ve been recruited by Nadir?”
He shook his head, frowning. “I’d like to talk with Hank. He and my boss have been talking. Someone’s bound to have seen some chatter on the internet.”
“My land line was disconnected eight years ago, and cell phones are useless this far out.” She pushed a hand through her hair. “I’d like to look around the ranch before dark.” Jolie faced Mad Dog. “Can we visit Hank after dark or tomorrow?”
Mad Dog hesitated, and then nodded. “Sure. Though we still need to report the gang attack.”
“And we will.” Her lips twitched. “Unless you want to put off your first riding lesson.”
He held up his hand. “No, no. I’m game, if you are.”
“It’s been a while since I rode a horse. I have to tell you, it takes some getting used to. I’ll be as sore as you are tomorrow.”
“I doubt it,” Mad Dog muttered, rubbing his thigh.
“How’s the leg?”
“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “Let’s saddle up those ponies and ride out into the sunset, or whatever the hell cowboys do.”
Jolie laughed all the way to the barn, her anger over the damage to the house mellowing as she went.
She led Topper, the bay gelding, out of his stall and tied him to a ring affixed to one of the support timbers. Then she led out Butterscotch, the palomino mare, and tied her off to another pole.
“Just do what I do,” she said and entered the tack room, hefted a saddle from the saddletree, snagged a blanket and carried them out to her horse. The blanket went on first, and then the saddle.
Mad Dog followed her move for move.
She gave him pointers about placement of the saddle and blanket and showed him how to cinch the girth around the horse’s belly. “Tighten it more than once. Sometimes, the horse blows out his belly. If you’re not careful, you’ll find the saddle, and the person in it, sliding sideways off the horse.
Once they had both horses saddled, Jolie helped Mad Dog adjust the stirrups to a length suitable for his long legs. Then it was time for the bridles.
Mad Dog tried to do what Jolie was doing, but the gelding wouldn’t open his teeth.
Jolie grinned. “They can be stubborn sometimes. Stick your thumb in the corner of his mouth like this.” She slipped her thumb into the corner of the gelding’s mouth. The horse opened his teeth, and she slid the bit to the back of his mouth and the straps over his ears. “Easy,” she said.
“If you say so.”
“The hard part will be staying in the saddle for more than fifteen minutes.” She led her horse toward the door.
“Not so fast.” Mad Dog grabbed his reins and hurried out
ahead of her, his horse plodding along behind him.
Jolie could get irritated by Mad Dog’s insistence on being first out the door, but she found it endearing that he wanted to be sure she was safe. It was nice to be able to rely on someone for a change, instead of being completely self-sufficient. Her father had raised her to stand on her own two feet and operate independently. But he’d also taught her the value of having a partner to help out in tough situations. She had to remind herself this partnership wasn’t forever. The thought made her sad.
* * *
After a crash course in how to mount and post, Mad Dog found himself high on a horse, riding across a pasture into the hills. When the horse was walking, he was fine. Trotting was hell, and galloping felt like he was flying in the wind.
Like Jolie had warned, he was sore as hell in the first fifteen minutes, his tail bone bruised and his legs cramping from trying to figure out the rhythm he needed to employ to save his ass from a thorough beating in the saddle.
He made a mental note to himself to check out what it would take to revive the four-wheelers before the next time they headed out into the hills. Horseback riding was definitely an acquired skill and took time to build up to.
His partner seemed a natural in the saddle. Every move was fluid and graceful. She and the horse seemed to understand what was expected and became like one entity moving together.
Why the hell had Lambert sent him to Montana to help out an agent who was also a cowgirl? What she needed was someone who knew his way around a horse. Not a gimpy dude with no idea how to save his own ass in the saddle.
Maybe Hank had one of his Brotherhood Protectors who’d be a better match to protect Jolie.
As bad as his tailbone hurt, Mad Dog couldn’t bring himself to abandon Jolie now. The woman had already earned a special place in his heart. He couldn’t leave her now. If anything happened to her, and he wasn’t there to stop it, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
Which left him where he was. In a saddle on a horse that couldn’t quite keep up with Butterscotch, praying Jolie would soon turn back and head for the barn.
