She moaned again, and this time shifted her bodyslightly.
“Sam, come on, baby, open those eyes forme.”
She cracked one eye, moaned, and slammed it shut. “Sun.”
With lightning-like reflexes, Cord leaned over, providing her shade. “I’ve gotyou.”
She took her time opening her eyes, but when she did, Cord couldn’t help the broad grin stretching across his face. “There you are; you had meworried.”
“Whathappened?”
“You must’ve blown a tire or something, your ATV spit you out. You’re lucky you’re awake.” Actually, she was lucky she wasalive.
“My head hurts,” shecroaked.
“What else hurts? Can you move your fingers and toes? Do you feel like anything is broken?” He let his tone take on the brisk authority that had been trained into him from day one, finding comfortthere.
Sam shifted her feet and her hands, and then her legs. And then she made to get an elbow underneath herself and prop up. Cord caught her and kept her down, with a hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy. You could have a neckinjury.”
Instead of fighting him, she collapsed back onto the dirt. “Did I land on my head or something?” She lifted her hands to her face. The moment her fingers made contact with the raw scrapes on her cheek, she hissed in a breath and yanked themback.
Cord carefully took her hands in his and lowered them to her sides. “I’d say you took the brunt of the landing with your head; your face is scraped up and there’s a gash in your temple.” And she needed a CT scan to rule out any headinjuries.
“I think help is on the way. I looked for a radio in the truck but didn’t find anything. I think someone’s heading out from the ranch. I want you to stay right here and move as little as possible. I want to figure out a way to support your neck and back before you situp.”
He made to stand up, intending to check the status of that vehicle approaching, but Sam grabbed his hand. “Cord, why were you coming outhere?”
Her beautiful gaze searched hisintently.
He opened his mouth, and the words stuck in histhroat.
What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been racing out here to beg her forgiveness, and to apologize for his harsh words. And he was so damn thankful that she was still alive after that crash. “Sam, Ineeded—”
Cord heard the whistle a nanosecond before a blazing burn of pain sliced across his shoulder. He was thrown forward, barely catching himself on his elbows before slamming bodily intoSam.
“Oh, my God!Cord?”
He glanced at his shoulder, fresh, red blood dripping from a narrow gash across his skin. What thefuck?
Someone had shothim.
He heard another telltale crack, and then the sound of a bullet whizzing just over his head. “Staydown.”
Sam grabbed his arms, her short nails digging into his skin. “Someone is shooting atus.”
Careful to keep her body caged beneath his, Cord ignored the burning pain in his arm and carefully scanned their environment. The cloud of dust was nowhere to be seen, but the direction of the bullet had come from behind him. They were laid out in the open like fucking targets at a carnival shooting booth. Their only hope was to get to the truck forprotection.
“We’ve got to get to the truck. You think you canmove?”
She’d already moved some, which ruled out a major neck injury, and although he would like to not risk aggravating any possible fractures, if they didn’t get to cover, it wouldn’t matter if she had a fracture ornot.
“Yes, I think so. But your arm.” Her hand trailed up, stopping near his bicep just below thewound.
“It’s nothing. The bullets are coming from behind us.” And they had nothing for cover. “When I tell you, I want you to get to your feet and run for the truck. Get behind it and stay down. Can you dothat?”
“Yes,” she breathed out, the fear evident in hervoice.
As much as he wanted to take her into his arms and reassure her that everything would be okay, he had to get her to safety first. And the only way he could ensure she stayed alive was to keep himself between her and the shooter. “Stay right beside me the whole time, youhear?”
