One Tough Cowboy

by Lora Leigh

  Oh, that was it, the last straw. Now, she was embarrassed as well as aroused, frustrated, and angry. She really wanted to punch something. She glanced back at Hunter, her hard gaze matching his. She could almost hear the crackle of tension between them.

  “The hell I am going to the ER,” she said through her teeth.

  “Stubborn woman,” he growled at her. “You may need a tetanus shot.”

  She glared at him. “Had one, two years ago. I’m current. Just give me the fuckin’ Band-Aids.”

  “Doesn’t look so bad to me.” Logan stepped into the cramped space. He stood over them, his hands on his hips. His bulky frame was clad in a beige uniform, gun at his hip, and damn, if he didn’t make that ugly uniform look good. Samantha felt suffocated. Too many big, controlling men in too small a space.

  Logan’s eyes were hard as he examined her wound, tilting his head. “Bleeding has about stopped. Put some antibiotic ointment on it. She’ll be fine.”

  She liked Logan. At least one of them was making sense.

  Give her the fuckin’ Band-Aids. Hunter snorted as he handed her the box of Band-Aids and the antibiotic ointment. He wanted to snarl at Gabriel and Logan, but he wasn’t afforded that option at the moment.

  Both men were too damned close to her to suit him anyway. As if he wasn’t aware of them ogling her long, shapely legs.

  He glared back at the two men, frowning fiercely. He didn’t like the gleam of amusement that came to their eyes.

  “We’re leaving the ranch,” Hunter told her as the other two men finally filed out of the cramped area. “We’re in deep shit here, Sam. Get dressed and re-pack that bag while I get things together with Gabriel and Logan.”

  “What kind of deep shit? Did you find out something about the kid?” Her voice was filled with excitement now.

  Hunter wiped his hands over his face. She would be the death of him. She slapped a Band-Aid over the cut on her knee and followed him quickly as he left the room. He glanced back at her, seeing the glitter in her eyes, the flush on her cheeks, and the intent, determined expression on her face. Hell. He wanted to fuck her, not take her out into a damned war.

  “We found something, but I don’t know where the child involved is yet,” he growled as they entered the bedroom.

  He slammed the door shut behind him. His cock was raging, but he’d be damned if he’d let Gabriel and Logan hear the helpless little cries of pleasure that came from his Sam’s throat as he made love to her.

  “What did you find out?” She jerked her bag off the floor and tossed it on the bed. Glancing back at him curiously, she packed her things.

  “You got a pair of jeans to wear out of here?” he asked her, crossing his arms over his chest. She was raring to go, dammit. He had hoped to talk her into staying someplace nice and safe while he, Gabriel, and Logan moved in to find out what the hell the mayor and his henchmen were up to.

  She nodded quickly. “Now tell me what’s going on.”

  He sighed wearily. “We’re not completely certain, Sam. But it looks like someone is using Deerhaven’s old mines, cave system, and backwoods for human trafficking. We think the network is far-reaching and includes a lot of local and state officials.”

  Sam stopped packing. He watched her face.

  “What?” He narrowed his eyes, seeing a sudden dawning realization in her eyes.

  “When I was on the force in Detroit, there was an investigation. I suspected someone on the force of aiding in the transportation of illegals, possibly with terrorist ties and connections to the sex trade, slipping them across the border into Canada. Nothing came of it, but…”

  “Tom’s here, causing trouble.” Hunter clenched his fists as he tucked them into his pants pockets. “Was he part of the investigation?”

  Sam licked her lips nervously. “It was rumored he was under investigation, not part of the investigation,” she whispered. “Like I said, nothing came of it.” She shook her head desperately. “It was just a rumor.”

  “In this case, I don’t think it’s just a rumor, Sam.” He sighed. “Gabriel and Logan were investigating on this end. They’re part of a national taskforce, and Tom Novak’s name pops up in more than one memo concerning problems Detroit is having tracking this situation. When he showed up here, he raised more than a little interest.”

  Her eyes lit with an angry gleam. “That’s treason. Not only treason, it’s evil,” she said quietly.

  Hunter was silent for a moment before he sighed wearily.

  “Yes, Sam, which makes Tom incredibly dangerous. We suspect the mayor as well as Rodgers and Decker of conspiring with him. Now get ready, get your stuff together. I have to talk to Gabriel and Logan, and see how we’re going to do this.”

  He walked to her, hating the hurt in her eyes. She looked disillusioned, betrayed.

  “I thought he was just an asshole. I had no idea he was capable of…” she whispered. “Will they suspect me now? Of helping him?”

  They had, Hunter knew. Gabriel had been very blunt in giving that information. Until the incident with the truck. The description Sam had given of the driver matched with a suspected arms dealer involved in kidnapping and the transportation of illegals.

  Her injuries, her attempts to stop the truck, and now the attempt on her life pretty much cleared her of suspicion.

  “No, Sam,” he promised, pulling her into his arms as he kissed her forehead gently. “No one suspects you, baby. But you are in danger now. You can identify the driver, and you know the dangers involved in that. We have to end this.”

  He pulled back, but he couldn’t resist lowering his head to kiss her trembling lips. His hunger for her was unlike anything he had ever known. He craved the taste of her … Yeah, that soft trembling moan. His body tightened, his cock raging instantly in demand.

  Her mouth opened for him, her tongue tangling with his timidly as her hands gripped his shoulders. She wasn’t timid for long, though. Hunter groaned as she moved against him, her hands moving to his hair, her lips opening farther, her mouth becoming hungry now as the kiss intensified. Kissing her was like feeding fire, and it was threatening to rage out of control.

  He tightened his grip on his control, easing back shakily as she moaned at the desertion.

  “Damn, baby.” He sighed, leaning his forehead against hers as he stared down at her. “You burn me alive.”

  He touched her cheek gently before releasing her. Her skin was soft, though still pale. But the pain was gone from her eyes. They were darkened now, and rich with passion. That look made him want to devour her.

  She drew a deep breath, causing her hard-tipped breasts to push against the fabric of his shirt. Damn. He wanted to rip the shirt from her and immerse himself in the heat and fiery passion that belonged to Sam alone.

  “Hunter…” He saw the emotion in her eyes, the words trembling on her lips, and waited breathlessly. “Nothing.”

  Disappointment raged through him as she shook her head and moved carefully away from him.

  “Sure?” Damn her, she was stubborn. Or was he merely indulging in more wishful thinking than the situation deserved?

  He loved her. There was no doubt about that. He had loved her when she was a kid, then at seventeen that love morphed into something completely different. He was so damned crazy about her now he could hardly see straight for it.

  “Yeah.” She cleared her throat, moving back to her suitcase. “Do whatever you need to do. I’ll be ready in less than ten minutes.”

  Hunter sighed. “I’ll finish out things with Gabriel and Logan. We’ll be waiting on you in the living room.”

  He left the room, his cock hard and ready, his heart and mind whirling in confusion. Dammit to hell, she had to love him. Why was she being so hesitant? He shook his head, promising himself he would find out soon. As soon as he had her safe.

  * * *

  God help her, now was not the time. Samantha wanted to tell Hunter she loved him, that she always had and always would. There had be
en something in those eyes of his. Something mesmerizing, something powerful that pulled at her. For a moment she thought he might actually be in love with her too. This was the worst possible time, and she was too vulnerable. Best she clear her head; she couldn’t let herself go there. Not now. She’d made a fool of herself over Hunter Steele too many times. She wouldn’t do it again.

  Her heart was still pounding, her nipples sensitive, sending pulses of need radiating through her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. Her pussy throbbed, and every step caused a silken sliding friction that made her want to plead for release. With her love came this all-consuming lust, hunger, desire. Whatever the hell it was, it wasn’t like anything she’d ever known, and it wasn’t something she could easily ignore.

  She pulled off her shorts and with a grimace, her underwear. She was gonna need panty liners with Hunter around all the time. Quickly she pulled on clean panties, followed by her jeans. She stuffed her toiletries into her overnight bag and folded the clothes she just took off and put them in the outside pocket of her bag.

  Tom certainly hadn’t made her yearn like this. Tom, what in God’s name had she seen in him? She’d thought maybe she loved him once. She had admired his strength, his intelligence, his independence. He had never demanded of her time; he had his thing and she had hers. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, just for a moment.

  At the time, it seemed the perfect relationship until the abuse started. Samantha shuddered at the memory of his tirades, the threats and accusations, the name-calling, deriding her in front of fellow officers. It had been too much, so she broke it off, or tried to. She swallowed the knot lodged in her throat, clenched her teeth, ran her shaking hands over her hair. Her braid still in place, she took a deep breath. All this time he was a monster.

  And now he was trying to use her. Had she been used before? It made her skin crawl to think about it. She wanted the weasel to feel pain. Lots of pain, hideous, gruesome, tremendous pain. And she wanted it to be at her hand. Although she was pretty sure if Hunter got to him first, there would be very little left of him to hurt. Well, she thought, as she stood and slung her bag over her shoulder, ignoring the bite of pain, she’d just have to get to Novak first now, wouldn’t she?

  chapter nineteen

  Hunter stood with his back to her, his hands on his hips, talking to the state cops. The man looked good from every angle, his ass was no exception. Even with all hell breaking loose around her, she thought about how she’d love to bite it. Samantha gave herself a mental head slap. God, she was a mess. It didn’t matter what was going on, just the sight of him turned her into a wanton inferno of lust. Her insides melted, her vagina clenched. She nearly moaned out loud. Damn. Gabriel and Logan didn’t look bad either. Yep, she was losing it.

  “We intercepted a transmission reporting another delivery in a month,” Gabriel said. His voice was a commanding deep bass.

  “From where was it sent?” Hunter asked.

  “Morocco,” Gabriel answered.

  “Let me guess, the report was meant for Novak,” Hunter suggested.

  Logan nodded.

  Gabriel glanced briefly at Logan then fixed his gaze on Hunter again. “We suspect this isn’t something as simple as human trafficking this time. There very well could be a terrorist cell involved with this one. We know there’s a small cell in Deerhaven now that will be moving on. We’re expecting activity within the next day or two. Just lay low and watch. If you observe anything, report it immediately.”

  Hunter’s back stiffened. Samantha would be willing to bet that his gray eyes were narrowed.

  Logan sighed, reading Hunter’s body language. “Look, I completely understand how you must feel, but if you go Rambo out there, you’ll blow the whole thing.”

  “I’m not a stand-by-and-watch kind of guy, but I’m not wet behind the ears and I’m not an idiot either. I’ll do what needs to be done,” Hunter bit out.

  “Good.” Gabriel’s frown deepened. Did the man never smile? “We’ll be heading to Los Angeles today to coordinate with the taskforce being prepped there.”

  Samantha cleared her throat and their gazes shifted past Hunter to focus on her. With their closed expressions, broad chests, and massive biceps, they were an intimidating sight to behold. Even without the wide, shiny, black gun belt hanging low on their narrow hips. She suddenly felt sorry for anyone who tangled with these boys.

  Gabriel stood just a little taller than Logan, his black hair was wavy and a bit mussed from the wide brimmed olive hat he held in his hand. Those vivid green eyes of his were revealing. There was a story there. The corner of Logan’s mouth lifted a bit and the half smile made his blue eyes sparkle. Did he just wink? She could have been mistaken. Maybe he had a twitch. Hunter turned and frowned at her. What had she done now? Sheesh.

  “Ready?” Hunter’s tone was a bit strained. He took her bag and pulled her firmly to his side as she walked up and stood beside him.

  Samantha lifted her face and narrowed her eyes. “Yes.”

  “Let’s go.” He nodded to the officers, who turned and walked out ahead of them.

  The back seat of a patrol car was not designed for comfort. Samantha shifted, trying to relieve the cramp in her thigh.

  “Will someone fill me in now?” she snapped.

  She met Gabriel’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and when he didn’t say anything, she lifted her brows and he looked back at the road. She turned to Hunter sitting beside her. His long legs made him decidedly more uncomfortable than she was.

  “We believe they’re using the rest stop off the interstate as a pick-up and drop-off point. There’s a network of caves right above it. You and I are going to camp there and stake it out. Gabriel and Logan are taking us to pick up another vehicle, then we’ll take an old back road up to the caves,” Hunter said, holding her gaze. “Everything we need is there already. Jacob hooked us up.”

  “We expected they’d try to take you out, Officer Ryder,” Gabriel interrupted. He didn’t like explaining himself, she could tell by his tone. “So we had things put in place to send you and Sheriff Steele on the stakeout. That way you’re safe and you’re useful at the same time.”

  Useful? Ha. He had no idea. She hated being underestimated.

  “And we will be in communication with those two?” She nodded toward the front seat without taking her gaze from Hunter’s. She couldn’t look away from the storm brewing in his eyes.

  “Yes, and others working on the case.” He lowered his voice a bit. “Are you up for this?”

  Samantha snorted. “I am so up for this.” She finally turned away. Her tone did nothing to hide her desire for revenge. She could still feel Hunter watching her. Gabriel too. She knew they were concerned. They probably thought she was too emotionally involved. But she didn’t care. There was too much at stake here. The fact that she’d been used, was still being used by that little pissant of a man was just one part of a whole shit storm of things that made her livid.

  So was the kid part of a family involved in a terrorist cell or was he or she part of the flesh trade? The thought of either scenario had her stomach churning. He’d sounded so young and that cry was definitely one of pain. Was he sick or injured? Was he being abused? She jumped when Hunter enveloped her hand in his, linking his fingers with hers.

  The warmth of his hand, the caress of his thumb, soothed her. It was as though he read her mind and knew how to ease her building anxiety. She closed her eyes. When had she let her guard down and fallen all the way? God, she loved him more than she thought she was capable of loving anyone. If he didn’t love her back, she was going to break a little. Real damage that would take longer to heal than any bruise Tom had left on her body.

  She squeezed his hand, shifted again, and frowned out the window. The road began to narrow and the homes became farther apart. They turned off onto a wooded dirt road. It wasn’t long until the woods became denser, the road rougher. Finally they came to a stop. Logan got out and opened the door for
them. Gabriel continued to watch in the rearview mirror.

  Samantha got out of the car and stretched her arms up over her head to relieve the stiff ache in her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Logan’s appreciative gaze. Hunter didn’t try to hide his scowl as he went to the back of the car and lifted her bag from the trunk. She lowered her arms and quickly pulled her shirt down, clearing her throat.

  Logan’s eyes were bright with humor. Samantha could tell he enjoyed pressing Hunter’s buttons with his subtle flirting.

  “Follow this road about five hundred feet then turn right onto an overgrown path. Take that path about three miles and you’ll see a stick in the ground with a neon orange tie on it. Pull it up and turn there into the wooded area. Around the corner and almost on the edge of the cliff, you’ll find the mouth of the cave,” Logan said, as he got back into the patrol car. “Be sure and watch for it or you’ll pass it right up.” He smiled at Samantha and winked. She was sure of it this time. “Be careful. We’ll be in touch.”

  Hunter nodded. “Thanks,” he said blandly and began walking.

  Samantha heard them backing up as she jogged to catch up with Hunter. They walked in silence until they came to the Jeep. It was painted camouflage green, black, and gray. It was fully loaded, indeed. They had night goggles, weapons, two-way radios, a sat phone, food, matches, lanterns … everything they could possibly need was there.

  She climbed in next to Hunter.

  “You good?” she asked, laying a hand on his forearm.

  He looked at her as he turned the ignition. She felt a shiver slide up her spine. A mixture of heat and anger gathered there, then softened. He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m good.”

  She kept quiet for most of the teeth-rattling way. She held on tight to the roll bar to keep from being thrown out.

  “Maybe we should have taken this trip on horseback,” she said after a particularly hard bump.

  “Nah, still would have been a rough ride and slower,” Hunter replied, not taking his eyes off the path. “The work it would take to brush down, feed, and water Buck and Shiloh while we’re here would be counterproductive.”