High Country Rebel. Lindsay McKenna

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СКАЧАТЬ his head. “No...this will be fine. Thank her for me.” He glanced up at Cat. The expression on her face startled him. Was that desire that he saw? Something was going on between them. It was like a living, organic connection simmering and popping between them.

      He didn’t dare think about it.

      Talon scowled and picked up the large soupspoon. There was a pink linen napkin beside the bowl and nearby salt and pepper shakers.

      “Okay,” Cat murmured. “I’ll let you eat in peace.” Because if she stayed, she’d start asking Talon a hundred questions and he didn’t need that right now.

      Nodding, Talon watched her leave. The sway of those sweet hips beneath the loose-fitting jeans made him go hard again. Damn, the woman was really riling up his body. It wasn’t her fault, Talon realized as the door quietly closed. Cat was not flirting with him. He didn’t see a ring on her left finger, either. But nowadays, that meant nothing one way or another. She was probably hooked up with one lucky bastard who was privy to that luscious body of hers. He grew harder. Cursing softly beneath his breath, Talon took a first, tentative sip of the soup.

      His stomach growled loudly. How long had it been since he’d last eaten? Three days, maybe? Walking the plains of Wyoming, the towns so far apart there was no way to get food. He always kept enough kibble for Zeke in his rucksack, which lay across the room, propped up against the wall. And he’d run out of protein bars, which were good but too damned expensive for him to buy.

      The soup tasted delicious and he ate slowly, reintroducing food to his shrunken stomach. The silence settled around them. Zeke appeared happy, his brown eyes alight with joy. Talon could read his dog just as well as Zeke could read him. They’d been together a long time and knew each other like few animals and humans ever would. He smiled at Zeke and then picked up a noodle, blew on it to cool it and then gave it to his dog. Zeke gobbled it down, licking his muzzle on both sides and then giving Talon a pleading look for more.

      Outside the window, Talon could see the blizzard was still in full force. It looked like another six inches had accumulated since Cat had rescued their sorry asses off that highway this morning. His hand shook badly as he brought the spoon to his lips, spilling half of it into the bowl and the rest around the tray. Cursing softly, Talon set the spoon aside, curved his hands around the bowl and lifted it to his lips, instead.

      Talon wiped his mouth with the linen napkin afterward, thinking he’d died and gone to heaven. A warm room. He was dry. He wasn’t freezing anymore. His teeth weren’t chattering. He could feel his toes and fingers. Life was good. All thanks to Cat stopping and the generosity of Miss Gus and the McPhersons. He had a lot to thank them for and he would once he got some strength back.

      Cat Edwin. He sat there, mentally repeating her name, scowling. Maybe he was frustrated because of nearly a year without a woman. As a SEAL coming back off deployment, it was easy to hook up with a woman, no strings attached. SEALs were always a hot commodity. Talon shook his head. Cat interested him on that level, for sure. But there was something more to her that he itched to explore. And then Talon grunted and shook his head. He was penniless, needing a job and he had responsibilities for his mother. Getting involved with Cat wasn’t in the cards right now. Maybe later. Probably never. For all Talon knew, she could be married and have a bunch of kids. Still, he owed her. Big-time.

      * * *

      TALON WAS DOZING when he heard a soft knock at the door. Cat called through the door. Instantly, he sat up.

      “Come in,” he called, his voice rough.

      “You look better,” Cat observed. That was an understatement. Talon was stunningly handsome. He could be a model, that rock-hard, clean jaw of his. His large, well-spaced eyes missed nothing. She felt the heat of his gaze on her face, drifting south, to her breasts. Instantly, her nipples hardened. Thank God she wore a heavy flannel shirt. Cat wanted to cross her arms, hide from him. His look triggered threat within her. It brought back memories of her father looking at her in much the same way and it scared her for a moment. The mature woman in her understood it was a man appreciating a woman. But the little wounded girl inside her cringed in terror. Of possibly being hurt. She swallowed hard and forced herself to walk in, regardless of his inspection.

      “I feel better,” Talon said, watching her progress. Jesus, he felt like a starved wolf wanting to claim his mate. Cat was in good physical condition. He could tell just by the way she walked, the way she carried herself. There was no excess on this woman’s body except in all the right places. He sensed trepidation in her—and he was the cause. He had the laserlike focus any SEAL would have. Their sudden intensity scared people or made them uncomfortable. But it was an ability that had saved his and his team members many times before.

      “Miss Gus would love to come in and visit you,” Cat said, picking up the tray and facing him. Zeke sidled up to Talon, and the man gently petted his dog with his large hand. Her flesh rippled with possibility. She wondered what it would feel like for Talon to graze her flesh in just such a way. Despite his height and his size, his touch on Zeke was clearly tender with love. Her heart melted. Though Talon was a rugged and big man, he could be gentle. That reduced the threat level markedly as she stood beneath his warm appraisal.

      “Sure,” Talon said, clearing his throat. “But if I could get someone’s cell phone? I need to call my mother first. She needs to know I’m all right.” He had a cell phone but couldn’t pay the bill, so it wasn’t working. Not something he wanted to admit to anyone. Talon felt ashamed that he was destitute, relying on the goodwill of others to help him scrape through this harsh period in his life.

      “I’ll tell Miss Gus. She’s got a cell she can loan you.”

      Talon watched Cat turn and leave. Man, the sway of her hips, that very nicely defined butt of hers and his fantasy of wrapping his hands, grabbing—

      “Talon!”

      He lifted his head, seeing Miss Gus limp into the room. “Hey, Miss Gus, good to see you,” he rasped.

      Gus grinned and stopped in front of him. “Talon, you look awful.”

      “Thank you, I think.” And then he lost his smile, slid his hand into hers and squeezed it gently. “Thanks for giving me room and board.”

      Snorting, Gus leaned over and kissed his recently shaven face. “Welcome home, Talon. You know you’re always welcome here.” She released his hand and sat down in the wooden chair near the bed, intently studying him. “Cat said you’re doing better. Your fever’s down but not gone.”

      Talon nodded and lay on the bed, his back against the headboard. “Whatever she’s doing is helping me a lot.”

      “Cat’s the best. Thank the good Lord she found you out there this morning or a snowplow would’ve discovered your frozen body tomorrow morning on that highway.”

      Grimly, Talon sighed. “It was a close call, Miss Gus.”

      “Well, you weren’t meant to die just yet.”

      Flinching inwardly, memories of Hayden and him strung up, being tortured, slammed into Talon. Hayden did die. Talon had almost died but clung to life until Zeke brought help and he had been rescued, a hairbreadth from death himself. His throat tightened and he croaked, “Yeah, it wasn’t my time.”

      “The soup good?”

      “Wonderful,” Talon admitted, suddenly emotional. “I remember you making me those chocolate-chip cookies when I was a kid, Miss Gus. I knew your chicken СКАЧАТЬ