Mallory's Bears(26)
Gunner and Kid wheeled their horses around with Gunner yelling and spurring his horse into a gallop. Kid’s worried eyes found hers, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he kicked his horse with his heels, and gripped the reins as the horse bolted into a run, almost jerking him out of the saddle. Rebel ran after them.
She made a grimace as she went to her knees on the other side of the calf. “Maybe I should’ve followed Gunner back to the house. We’ll be lucky if Kid doesn’t fall off and break his neck.”
“Maybe, but it’s too late now. He’s a big guy. It’ll take more than a fall to kill him.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears.” She stroked the calf that seemed a lot calmer than she did. “Easy, baby. It’s going to be all right. What could’ve bitten him?”
“Almost anything, but I’m guessing that’s a wolf’s bite.”
“A wolf?” She looked around her. Was the wolf still in the area?
“Yeah. I’m surprised it didn’t kill him. Either the calf got away from the wolf,”—his jaw muscles twitched—”or the wolf didn’t mean to kill it.”
“Why would a wolf attack it and not want to eat it?”
“Most wolves wouldn’t attack unless they’re hungry. At least not normal wolves.”
“Normal? What does that mean? Are there abnormal wolves?” She saw something pass over his face and realized before he spoke that he wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth.
“We’ve had a problem lately with the cattle and even a horse getting attacked. But the wolf didn’t eat anything. Not one damn bite as far as we can tell. He just tore them apart and left the carcasses behind.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. The way you say it makes it sound like the wolf’s on a vendetta. Like it’s doing it out of spite.”
“Yeah, but we won’t know the reason until we find which wolf, or wolves, is doing it.”
She hated it when the idea came to her, and wanted to keep the awful thought to herself, but, as Kid had said, sometimes her mouth jumped ahead of her mind. “The calf’s going to be all right, isn’t he? The truth.”
“I hope so. Why do you ask?”
“Isn’t he what you’d call a downer?”
Rick groaned, then let his head fall to his chin. When he lifted his gaze to hers, she could tell that she’d made yet another mistake by asking.
“No. A downer is a term they use at packing plant when a cow gets hurt and can’t stand up on the processing line. This little guy can walk, but we don’t want him to. Not until the doc has a chance to look at his leg. Unless the doc says he can’t save his leg, we’ll take care of him until his wound heals.”
“And if he can’t save the leg?”
“We’ll do what we have to do. Anything else would be inhumane. Damn, you don’t think much of us, do you?”
“No, I do. Really. And I’m sorry. I have a couple of problems. First, I ask a lot of questions. Second, I can’t seem to keep my foot out of my mouth.” She smiled, hoping he’d get her joke. “Is that what they call hoof and mouth disease?”
He let her off the hook, rolling his eyes at her horrible attempt at humor, then murmured soft words to the calf. “Naw. You have foot and mouth disease and I have the cure.”
“You do? What is it?”
In the next instant, his mouth was against hers. The kiss demanded her full attention as his tongue whipped inside her mouth, then made a quick route around hers. The ever-constant tingle that ran under her skin morphed into a surge of power that had her mind spinning. The world around her ceased to matter as his hand cupped the back of her neck and held her to him.
She leaned forward, her hand pressing against his chest to keep her steady. Her temperature rose, turning the warm summer morning into an inferno that came from within. If he’d told her to forget the calf and get undressed so he could ravish her, she would’ve gladly done so. His kiss took over any sense of time or urgency, other than her own.
His palm left her neck, then skimmed along the curve of her shoulders, and over to her breast. She moaned, hoping he’d continue. Yet, to her dismay, he pulled away.
“You’re a hard woman to understand.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, you are. First you want to hang me out to dry, thinking I’m an animal abuser. Then you’re ready and willing to fuck my brother and me last night.”
The calf jerked as she reared back. Anger swelled in her, powering throughout her body in trembles of rage. “I wasn’t the only one doing the fucking, you know.”