High Country Rebel

Cat nodded. “And you met Griff in the process.”

Val’s eyes grew warm with love for her husband. They had been married a year and worked hard to bring the Bar H back from being a total loss. “He’s made it easy to come back.” Val looked around the warm, quiet kitchen. “This place held a lot of really bad memories for me. When Gus broke her hip and I came home to help her, I was really bitter about it at first. But I love her very much. She’s my grandmother and she was so important in my life when I was sixteen and she moved back here to the Bar H. I owed her, so I came back.”

“And Griff made the difference.” Cat knew they were deeply in love with each other. How often had she fantasized about meeting a man she could trust instead of fear?

Val wrapped her fingers around the mug. “Oh, yes, a big difference.”

“I overheard Miss Gus say you were trying to get pregnant?”

Val flushed. “I think I am, Cat. I got a feeling about it.”

“Have you tested for it yet?” she asked, thrilled. Cat loved babies and she’d delivered her fair share.

“No, and say nothing, okay? I haven’t missed a period, but I just feel different. It’s strange,” she said, shrugging. “I can’t put words to it. A new kind of happiness...”

“Fingers crossed,” Cat said. “Your secret’s safe with me, but do let me know.”

“I promise,” Val said, touching her arm.

“Hey,” Gus called from down the hall. “Cat? Talon’s waking up.”

Quickly, Cat pushed the chair back and stood up. “Be right there,” she said, and a new kind of excitement surged through her.

CHAPTER THREE

CAT SHOOED EVERYONE out of the room. Someone in Talon’s shape would easily become confused, with his mental faculties close to hallucinations due to his temperature. Zeke came over to his bedside as she sat down facing Talon, eyes bright and on his master. Talon’s skin appeared less gray and she took a cloth from the nearby bed stand. She gently sponged away the sweat on his brow, pale cheeks and thick, corded neck. Emotions swirled through her. How could one man have such a profound effect on her—and so fast? She watched his lids quiver. Yes, he was beginning to surface.

Setting the cloth aside, she listened to his lungs through her stethoscope. The antibiotics were starting to take a hold. Relief sizzled through her. She heard less crackling in his lungs. The fluids were slowly being reabsorbed by the body. Looping the stethoscope over her neck, she placed two fingers on the inside of his wrist. More relief. Talon’s pulse was no longer bounding. She picked up her thermometer, placing it inside his ear. Looking at it, she saw why he was becoming conscious. The fever was now down to 102°F.

“You’re one lucky guy,” she told him.

His lashes barely lifted.

Cat placed her hand on his. “Talon? Can you hear me? It’s Cat. You’re at the Bar H.”

A woman’s voice cut through the confusion rushing across Talon’s closed eyes. Weak. He felt so damn weak it was pitiful. Yet, when her warm, dry fingers curved over his sweaty wrist, the anxiety stopped. Her voice was low, intimate, and even his pounding heart responded to it.

God, he was thirsty.

It was the thirst that forced Talon to struggle mightily to raise his lids. When he did, his vision was blurred and all he saw was the color red in front of him. Blinking, the red turned out to be a red flannel shirt someone was wearing. It took every ounce of his strength to lift his gaze upward. When he did, he saw an incredibly beautiful woman with exotic blue eyes somberly studying him, her lush mouth pursed with concentration. And when her fingers curved more surely against his large hand, he felt her soft, maternal touch.

“Talon?”

His brow wrinkled. She knew his name. How? His mind wasn’t functioning. It pissed him off because as a SEAL, weakness wasn’t a word that existed in his universe. He forced his lips to open. Only a harsh sound escaped. Had he died? For sure he wasn’t going to heaven. Not in this lifetime. So was she an angel? His mind rolled around like a loose bowling ball with no boundaries.

She was pretty. Her black hair was slightly curled around her shoulders and framed her oval face. There was hidden strength in her face. A patient face. Her eyebrows were arched over those incredible blue eyes. Talon thought he saw her smile. Maybe he wanted her to smile because she looked so damn serious. Why?

And then his fevered mind put two and two together. The woman at his side, leaning forward, was also holding his hand. He liked her hand around his. Her skin was velvet, yet strong, like her. He became aware of the strength in her face. She couldn’t be more than twenty-five or so. And he saw redness around the left side of her slender neck, most of it hidden beneath the red flannel shirt she wore. Why? Was her skin burned from some tragedy?

“Talon?”

Her voice made him think of warm honey drizzled over his flesh. Talon almost wanted to laugh. As weak and sick as he was, he was thinking about sex. With her. He didn’t even have the energy to smile, much less entertain other things. She certainly inspired his imagination, even if his body couldn’t keep pace with the fantasy he was having about her in his arms, loving her, exploring her, kissing each square inch of that sweet-smelling skin of hers. He saw her lean away, and when she placed a warm, damp cloth against his brow and cheeks, it felt heavenly. He finally realized he was no longer freezing. The warmth of a blanket beneath him radiated heat. He could feel his fingers and toes once again.

Zeke whined.

Blinking slowly, Talon carefully turned his head and focused on his dog. Zeke panted and whined, his big ears up and his eyes dancing with happiness, his hot breath moist across his face. Talon wanted to speak, to pat his dog, but he could do neither. The woman laughed softly.

“Zeke’s been waiting for you to become conscious, too.”

Swallowing hard, his throat dry, Talon closed his eyes, fighting to put one word together. He didn’t want her to stop moving that warm washcloth against his neck and shoulders. God, it felt good.

Talon clung to her warm gaze. Her face was less than a foot away from his, studying him. Was she a doctor? He finally realized that black thing hanging around her shoulders was a stethoscope. Though he wanted to tunnel his fingers through that thick, shining mass of gleaming black hair that softly framed her face, he could barely move one finger.

“W-water...” His voice sounded like the croak of a bullfrog. The woman reached up and then adjusted the IV in his arm. SEALs were trained in giving a team member an IV when they were shot and losing a lot of blood.

How he enjoyed her profile as she turned and busied herself. It was clean. Beautiful. He laughed to himself. Somewhere in his mind, he remembered her name was Cat, appropriate because of her slightly tilted blue eyes. She wore no makeup. And when he flared his nostrils, he picked up her woman’s scent, a special fragrance that was only her. It felt like life to Talon. Hope. Maybe he wasn’t going to die after all?

“Water?” she asked him, looking into his barely opened eyes. They felt cloudy with fever.

“P-please?” he asked. Talon smelled the sweat and filth of his own body. He stank. Yet, this woman didn’t seem to care or mind as she left his side. Where did she go? Talon didn’t have the strength to move his head to find out. The warmth of the blankets felt incredibly good to him. He hated the cold.

And then she came back. Talon heard her tell Zeke to move and she sat down at his shoulder, her hip brushing his arm. Closing his eyes, he savored her warm, dry arm sliding behind his neck and shoulders.

“Okay, up you go,” she urged.

Her breath was sweet and moist as she leaned down, her face very close to his. Talon couldn’t even help her, too weak to sit up by himself. Yet, amazingly, she levered him up and held him with her woman’s strength. She placed the lip of a glass to his mouth. The water was tepid, but it tasted like heaven. He drank thirstily, some of the water leaking out the sides of his mouth, soaking into his beard. In no time, he’d drained the contents.

Talon closed his eyes, feeling the water inside him, feeling less thirsty. He regretted her lowering him down against the soft, fluffy pillows once more, her arm sliding out from beneath his neck and shoulders. He was a big man, and yet, she’d had the strength to lift him. That amazed him. Granted, she appeared to be almost six feet tall, was medium boned, but she was still all woman. Starving for her touch once more, Talon closed his eyes, feeling better but missing contact with her. Better to imagine it for now. The fever still had him in its grip and his mind bounced around. What would it be like to kiss that mouth of hers? It was a soft mouth, full and wide. The kind a man could drown himself in, explore and make his own. He’d kissed his share of women over his time as a SEAL but her mouth intrigued him more than any other. Would her skin, those faintly flushed pink cheeks of hers, feel like warm velvet beneath his exploring fingertips? Would her hair feel warm and silky as he sifted them through those strands? Talon bet they would.

Cat continued to study him in the silence. The whole scene settled the anxiety that had hovered about him these past few months—maybe years. She gave him peace when he no longer had any himself. Made him feel safe in a world he knew was unsafe. All of this from just her gaze.

“Your fever has just broken,” she said, touching his forehead.

Just keep on touching me. It feels so damn good. Talon greedily absorbed the feel of her fingers sliding lightly up and down his arm in slow, gentle motions. Did she realize how good it made him feel? How long had it been since he’d felt this kind of peace?

His dog. Talon barely opened his eyes. “Zeke?”

She smiled. “He’s right here. We gave him food and water. He’s okay.”

Relief zigzagged through Talon. Zeke was being looked after. Gratefulness embraced him. He couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer, exhausted.

The last thing Talon knew, her long fingers gently stroked his lower arm, as if to reassure him that everything would be all right. His mind began shutting down. This respite was like heaven to him.

Cat didn’t want to stop skimming her fingers across Talon’s arm. As she saw him sink into sleep, she remained at his side. Zeke had lain down parallel to the bed, his paws touching her booted feet. Cat swore she no longer saw worry in the dog’s huge brown eyes that glittered with such fierce intelligence.

She had to stop stroking his arm or else she’d be in big trouble. She fussed with the covers, making sure Talon was snug and warm. Once again, she gazed upon his sleeping features. She wondered again what kind of weight this man carried on his shoulders. Why was he walking out in that miserable blizzard? Did he not have any money?

Cat stood and walked over to the pile of his wet, smelly clothes. She picked up his jeans and went through the pockets. She found a wallet and sat down on the edge of the bed to take a look. He had a driver’s license, a military ID and about twenty dollars. And that was it. No credit cards. She set the wallet down on the bed stand and turned her attention to the dog. Moving her fingers slowly across Zeke’s long, powerful body, she noted he was thin but not starved like his master. Talon must have fed Zeke before himself. He cared about Zeke, but not himself as much. Cat reached out without thinking, sliding her hand gently down Talon’s forearm. His skin was no longer moist. Instead, she could feel the fever ebbing.