Chapter 7
She tookhim to the burn barrel out back behind the barn. “That’sit.”
Samantha rose up onto the toes of her muddy boots and peered into the black-and-white ashes. “I thought about keeping it as evidence, but just couldn’t stomach the thought.” She’d wanted to throw up the second she figured out what the white stain on her sheets were, but somehow, she’d worked beyond the urge. Determine to get rid of the evidence someone had been roaming around her room—worse, pleasuring himself in it, she’d torched it. Looking back, she realized she may have reacted a bit more out of emotion than commonsense.
Cord stared down into the rusted barrel, his face a hard mask that was now completely unreadable. “I don’t guess it would’ve done us much good. It would’ve taken weeks to get a DNA sample back, and I don’t intend to take that long to catch thisbastard.”
He turned to her then, his forest green gaze softening. “I don’t blame you for what you did. If I was in your shoes, I would’ve wanted to do the samething.”
Sam blew out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Cord’s opinion had always matter to her, and apparently that hadn’t changed in the least. “So whatnow?”
“Who else knows about thesheets?”
“No one, not even any of the guys on the ranch. I stripped the bed myself, burned it thatnight.”
And then she’d taken two showers, scrubbed her bedroom with bleach cleaner and locked her door. Not once had she worried about her safety on the ranch before that night, and it had pissed her off to have that net of protection, however false it may have been, stolen from her. This was the one place she’d been able to truly make her own. Not only that, she loved what she did. Giving back the only way she knew how, trying to make a difference in the lives of men who’d given up so much for their country. She knew her work would never even hold a candle to their selfless service, but it was all she had and she’d keep right on giving. She turned and stared out at the pink and orange sunset, hanging over the low-slung, practically treeless horizon. The wild, barren land stretched out for hundreds of miles. Only the strongest could survive in this territory. “It’s beautiful isn’tit?”
Sure she missed the deep greens and blues of southern Georgia, but this place had become herhome.
“Stunning,” Cord said in a quiet voice that drew her attention to him. Only he wasn’t staring at the sunset, he was looking directly ather.
Uncomfortable with his open admiration, Sam scuffed her boot in the dirt. “I know it’s not much to go on, but do you have any plans to catch thisguy?”
He nodded without looking away. “I’ll call Clint and get him to check on your ex-boyfriend’s whereabouts. It’ll be pretty easy to find out if he’s been in the area. After that, I’d like to have Ryder take me out to where you found the slaughteredcattle.”
Sam couldn’t help the slight stiffen in her shoulders. “Why Ryder? It’s myranch.”
“Yes, it is, but right now I have to assume you’re a target. And there’s no way I can protect you out in the open like this, not unless I’m more prepared. I need to gather more information, scope out the territory and figure out the best spots to set up forrecon.”
Cord eased in closer, crowding her personal space. “Then maybe you and I can talk aftersupper.”
“Talk?” She couldn’t think when he was this close. But talking wasn’t even close to what she wanted to do withhim.
He dipped a callused finger under her chin, tipping it up so her eyes met his direct gaze. “And finish what we started earlier if you’re interested.” Cord’s head dipped down. Sam held her breath, tiny butterflies tickling the insides of her stomach. “And what wasthat?”
“This.” His mouth settled over hers, firm and demanding. Sam moaned in the back of her throat as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in, taking as much as he was giving. Cord gently brushed his lips across hers, teasing her with a slow, calculating torture. She wanted more, and she let him know it by tugging on his coarse, thick hair. Instead of complying and giving her what she so desperately demanded, he lifted his head and nibbled across her jaw, slowly making his way back to her lips, his touch so white-hot her insides burned with unmetdesires.
“Cord,” she moaned into his lips. “Don’t teaseme.”
He chuckled lightly against her mouth. “Like I said, we can talk after supper. And after we both have ashower.”
She glanced down at her dirty shirt and jeans, then shifted her gaze to his equally filthy clothes. “Since when is Cord Carter afraid of a littlemud?”
His hands slid down her arms, cupping her elbows. “It’s not the dirt I’m worriedabout.”
Cord glanced over his shoulder and Samantha followed his line of sight. Matt and Thad had stopped at the entrance of the barn and were openly staring. For about the hundredth time since Cord had come back into her life that morning, Samantha felt embarrassed heat flush her face. “They’ve never seen me with anyone before.” And she’d never intended to give them such a wide window into her personal life. This was exactly what she’d promised herself not to do earlier, after the awkward moment in the barn, but the minute Cord touched her she forgot all of herpromises.
Cord absentmindedly rubbed his thumb back and forth on her elbow, the lighthearted teasing in his eyes gone as he studied the men, speaking quietly. “You ever have any trouble with your ranchhands?”
“No,” she answered, surprised at thequestion.
“How long have they been workinghere?”
Not sure she liked where Cord’s line of questioning was going, Sam took a step back, putting some distance between them so she could clear her mind. “Ever since they were accepted here. I guess it’s probably been about six months for Matt and Thad Guidry has only been with us about amonth.”
“When did you have the firstincident?”
“Three weeksago.”
