Mallory's Bears(51)

Shit. Tell me he isn’t saddling that horse for her.

“Damn it, Gunner.”

His brother held up his hand in a feeble attempt to ward off Rick’s rage. “I know. But I’m getting caught between the two of you bullheaded, stubborn—”

Gunner stopped, his gaze going past him. Rick didn’t need to turn around to know she was there. He could sense her as though the connection had snapped a chain around his neck and turned him toward her. She was irresistible even when he wasn’t looking at her. When he finally did, she took his breath away. Had he ever told her as much? He promised he’d tell her that along with everything else.

As soon as we have more time.

Coward.

“Those are the same thing. Stubborn and bullheaded, I mean.”

Rick couldn’t find strong enough words to say what he was feeling. Or maybe he could and knew he shouldn’t. If he did, they’d never make it back out to the hunt. Instead, he’d carry her back into the house, lock the doors, turn off the phones, and keep her in bed for the next week.

He mounted his horse, which was safer than looking at her. Instead of saying what he wanted to, instead of telling her how hot she was, he ground out his order. If nothing else, he’d keep her safe. “You’re not going with us so just get on back in the house.”

“Aw, crap.” Gunner handed the reins to Mallory, then got on his horse. “I’m out of this. You two figure it out.” He clucked to Fleet, urging his horse out of the barn. “See you there.”

“Mallory, please, all I’m doing is trying to keep you from getting hurt.” Trying to talk to her was like trying to talk to a stone wall.

She tossed her hair over her shoulder, then put her boot in the stirrup and slung her leg over her horse. “Suit yourself. I’m going whether you want me to or not. Deal with it.”

Her gaze shifted to the rifle that rested in the holster slung behind the saddle. “Or are you going to shoot me to stop me?”

“Of course not, Mallory. Don’t you get it? I’d never hurt you. And it would kill me if anyone else did.”

She blinked, surprised at his revelation. Her mouth parted in a way that nearly drove him wild with need. “I’m going and you’re not stopping me.”

Damn, but he liked a feisty woman, even if she was irritating as hell. Maybe because she was stubborn. And especially when her backside looked so damn good in a saddle.

I should tan her hide. Not that it’d do any good. But shit, it’d feel good to do it.

He admired her stubbornness. She reminded him of himself. As far as he was concerned, that wasn’t a bad thing. It was that last thought that finally convinced him to do what she’d told him to do. Just deal with it. “Gallahad, stay away from females. They’re more trouble than they’re worth.”

Trouble came in a different form as they rode over to the side road that lay between Wallis’s and their ranches. He heard the cow before he noticed its dead calf. Her plaintive mooing reached across the expanse of the pasture, leading them to her like a signal beacon. It churned his gut, but he kept a straight face, knowing Mallory would find the scene difficult to take.

As they crossed over from the downed fence to the dead calf, he could already hear her sniffs. Damn, how he hated to hear a woman cry, but it was worse knowing it was his mate that fought back the sobs. He had to give it to her, though. Her face was scrunched up as she teetered on the edge of breaking down, but she managed to keep from letting go completely.

“Babe, you don’t have to see this.”



* * * *



Mallory shook her head at Rick. Gone was the anger she’d felt toward the men. In its place came the utter heartbreak for the calf and its mother. Determined to face the horror, she pulled her horse up to Gunner’s, then slipped off. She couldn’t, however, bring herself to get too close to the calf. Even from several feet away, she could see the mutilation it had suffered.

Gunner bent over the calf, checking for who knew what while Rick dismounted and headed toward the gully on the other side. She didn’t have to ask to know what was lying there.

Gunner straightened up as his brother came to his side. “She’s dead?”

She trembled when Rick didn’t answer right away.

“No.”

The mother had survived. “Should I ride back to the house and call the vet?” At least there was hope for one of the animals.

Rick’s face said otherwise. “No. She’s too badly injured.”

“But I don’t understand. You said she was alive.” Did he plan on lifting it onto his horse? That didn’t make sense, given the weight of the animal.