Chapter 14
“Istill can’t believeit. I knew he had a long way to go on his road to recovery, but I never thought…” Sam let her words trail off and slowly circled the rim of her glass of tea with her finger, absently staring at the kitchen wall. “I thought I thoroughly screened allapplicants.”
Cord’s warm, callused hand covered hers, and he lifted her fingers to his lips. “You did. You did everything right, including calling us when you feltthreatened.”
Already low on energy after yesterday’s events, she leaned into Cord’s side, welcoming the strong and sturdy arm he put around her shoulders. “Maybe I should have done another pre-interview. Maybe I didn’t include enough in-depthquestions.”
“Honey, you’ve got to accept the fact that sometimes there are just bad people in this world.” He’d seen enough ofthem.
“Matt wasn’t bad. I believe he was a great person before his injuries.” Her tone took on a slightly defensive stance and Cord squeezedher.
“What happened to him in battle broke him. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t put him back together normally. No one could. He came out here as his last chance. I saw how hard you worked with these men. There’s no way you could’ve changed anything thathappened.”
“But this is my ranch. I’m in charge of the safety of all mypatients.”
For some reason, Cord’s throat closed off, forcing him to swallow before he could respond. “I’m not saying that you’re wrong; you do have a responsibility to see to the well-being of your patients and your horses. But, some things are just beyond our control, and no matter how hard you try, sometimes bad things justhappen.”
Cord stared at the shiny, marigold-yellow, backsplash tile over the kitchen sink, not seeing the worn cracks, but instead watching as that second RPG flew through the air. What could he have done differently to prevent that massacre? What had hemissed?
“Cord,” Sam’s soft voice broke into histhoughts.
“Yeah?” His response came out rougher than he’d intended, but Sam didn’t seem to mind. Her soft palms cupped his cheeks, directing his gaze down tohers.
“You’re thinking about that night, aren’tyou?”
There wasn’t any accusation in her voice, just a gentle understanding that chipped away at the shields he’d put up around hisheart.
In any other situation, he would’ve lied and blown her question off, but Samantha deserved more than that from him. “Yeah.”
Instead of letting him go, her gaze remained firm. “There wasn’t anything you could’ve done differently that would have changed what happened. I’m going to tell you the same thing you told me—you carry out your responsibility to your men to the best of your abilities. You lost your leg and nearly lost your life. No one can ask you to give more than you’ve given, but all you can do is fight to get back on theteam.”
The shadowy ache that had been in his chest the past year sharpened. “That was different. I was trained to spot things that were out of place. I missedsomething.”
“It’s not different,” she insisted stubbornly. “That situation was out of your control. You said soyourself.”
He pulled his chin away, needing to put some distance between them. Her words were landing shot after shot at his resolve. He’d screwed up. If he hadn’t, those men would still be alive… Wouldn’tthey?
“Cord, what do you want more than anything else in theworld?”
His entire body hardened, every cell, every nerve finely attuned to the woman sitting right beside him. “You,” he answered withouthesitation.
Her lips stretched into a wide grin and she leaned toward him, her sweet honeysuckle scent wrapping around him. He met her halfway, taking her mouth with a raw and aching need. When he pulled away, they were both painting for breath. But it was Sam who recoveredfirst.
“While I appreciate that, and return your sentiment, besides me, what do you want more thananything?”
Refusing to face the subject again, Cord made a playful growling sound and buried his face in her neck, hoping he could distract her and enjoy the taste of her satiny skin. He opened his lips over the sensitive spot where her neck curved down into her shoulder and suckled gently. She gasped and grabbed his shoulders, her short nails digging in for support. Needing to get her closer, he grabbed her hips and lifted her, setting her down so that she straddled his lap. The position gave him easier access to every single part of herbody.
His need to distract himself shifted into an entirely different direction when he felt her hard nipples pressing into his chest through the thin material of her shirt. He kissed his way down her shoulder, calculating how quickly he could get that shirt off herbody.
He’d managed to get one hand up the waistline, before she grabbed his wrist and pushed back down, letting out a breathless laugh. “You’re trying to distract me onpurpose.”
“Damn right I am. Is itworking?”
He grabbed her ass and pulled her tightly against him, letting her feel how hard he was for her. She moaned and arched, giving him all the answer he needed. Cord shot to his feet, keeping her legs wrapped firmly around his waist. He turned to make his way down the hallway to herbedroom.
He kept his mouth on hers the entire way, feeling his path to the door. He kicked it shut behind him and fell on the bed with her beneath him, careful to keep most of his weight from crushing her. In minutes, he had her naked, her legs spread and buried himself insideher.
“Cord!” she cried out and lifted her hips to meet him, thrust for thrust. He took her hard and fast, the raw edge of need taking control and eradicating any finesse he’d hope to have. In some distant recessed part of his mind, he knew he should slow down, but Sam dug her heels into his backside and urged him on, clawing his back andshoulders.
