Frank walked into the barn from the south end, followed by Jack, a lanky hand of twenty-two. 'Once we get this mess cleaned up let's start moving the animals back into their stalls,' Frank ordered.
'What should we do about the stallion?' Jack asked.
Frank picked up a water hose and began coiling it. 'Hitch one of the other mares at the far end of the barn and give him his own stall for the night so he doesn't hurt anyone.'
'Who's gonna bring him in?' Jack asked, hands placed defiantly on his hips. 'Andy's the only one crazy enough to drag King into the barn, and he isn't here. You can't pay me to get within five feet of the beast.'
'Then leave King in the corral for the night,' J.T. ordered. 'Andy can bring him in the morning.'
Both men glanced his way. Jack's expression turned sheepish and his hands dropped back to his sides.
'Here, Jack.' Frank passed the other man the water hose. 'Take this back to the shed.'
Jack took his cue and left.
'How's Caitlan?' Frank asked, his tone softening.
'Fine. I sent her up to the house with Laura. I think I'm more shaken by what happened than she is.' J.T. rubbed at the tense muscles in his neck, still baffled at how calm Caitlan had been. No tears over the ordeal, no hysterics, just a hot, needy kiss that reached to his soul and beyond.
Glancing back at King's incinerated stall, a fresh batch of fury coursed through him. 'What, exactly, happened here?'
Grabbing a rag from his back pocket, Frank wiped his dirty hands. 'Seems like a fire started in the empty stall next to King's. All the animals are fine and the damage minimal, thanks to Caitlan's foresight.'
A prickle of awareness skittered over J.T.'s skin. 'Foresight? What do you mean?'
Bewilderment creased Frank's bushy brow. 'It's the damnedest thing. From what Laura says, Caitlan ran out of the house earlier like something was wrong. She got to the barn just as the fire started and began releasing the horses from their stalls.'
J.T. dragged a hand down his face, somehow not surprised that Caitlan had sensed the fire. Strange. Strange like her drawings. Strange like her medallion. Strange like the link that made her seem so much a part of him, even when she wasn't around. Who could explain any of that?
Kicking that nonsense out of his head, he rerouted his thoughts back to business. 'What do you think about the fire? Was it set deliberately?'
'Most likely.' The tone of Frank's voice bordered on resignation as he concentrated on rubbing soot off his palm. 'There was nothing in either stall that could have started the fire.'
J.T.'s jaw hardened as his first two prime suspects entered his mind without any prompting. 'Where were Randal and Mike?'
Frank shook his head, already ahead of the game. 'I checked them out first thing. Mike had a solid alibi and Randal said he was watching TV in his cabin when he heard the hands yelling for help. Both men helped to put out the fire.'
Uneasiness crept over J.T. 'I want the fire marshall out here tomorrow to conduct an investigation.' And maybe he'd mention the strange occurrences that had happened over the past week, just to get them recorded for future reference.
Frank nodded. 'Will do.'
Nearly an hour later, after the animals had been secured in the undamaged section of the barn, J.T. slipped into the quiet, dark house. The guest bathroom shower was running, and J.T. assumed Caitlan was in there, scrubbing the smoke and soot from her body. He found Laura fast asleep in her bed. Placing a loving kiss on her cheek, he smoothed the covers, then left her room and headed back down the hall.
J.T. restlessly paced the guest room while waiting for Caitlan. He tried not to imagine her in the shower, the warm water and slick soap sluicing over her silken skin, and failed. He wanted her too badly not to respond to the merest thought of her.
She was well and truly in his blood, a growing fever that made him burn from the inside out. He thought of having a wife, a mother for Laura, and how he wanted all that with Caitlan, a woman who would risk her life to save a horse. A woman who gave him so much without realizing it. Love. Laughter. Anger. Passion.
He didn't know how he'd been fortunate enough to have found her-or the other way around, as the case might be-but he was willing to fight for her, to prove that she belonged here on the Circle R with him and Laura.
Before he could talk himself out of joining her in the shower, he began stripping off his clothes. With every article hastily shed, his body grew achingly hard for her, his heart opening to receive her in the purest sense. Seconds later he stepped into the steamy bathroom and smiled when he saw her misty outline through the frosted glass shower stall door.
The time had come for him and Caitlan to settle a few things.
Chapter Twelve
Caitlan sensed J.T. before she actually heard or saw him. Eyes closed, the hot shower spray rinsed away the last of the soap from her body and hair and pounded the tense muscles across her back. An incredible awareness swelled within her, as if J.T. had reached out and physically caressed her. The shower stall door opened on a soft click and she shivered, not from the cool air rushing in but from the sensual anticipation racing along her spine.
Her lashes fluttered open and she looked at J.T., standing just outside the shower. He was naked and aroused, all sleek strength and firm, hard muscle. Liquid heat fluttered in her belly when his dark gaze slowly, reverently, glided the length of her body, and then back up again. Desire had clouded his eyes by the time he'd finished his visual exploration.
Touched by live flame, she fought the urge to cover herself. She knew what he wanted, knew she should tell him to leave, but her need and love for him eclipsed any semblance of reason or modesty she might have had.
He stepped inside the one-person stall and shut the door. Water droplets bounced off her and clung to his skin. He stood so close she had to tilt her head to meet his gaze. So close, his erection brushed her belly like a velvet caress and the tips of her breasts grazed the sprinkling of hair on his chest. Her nipples puckered into exquisitely tight buds, and she resisted the impulse to move even closer and rub against him.
The intense need blazing in his eyes kicked her heart into a heavy beat, reminding her of the desperate way he'd kissed her and held her after pulling her from the barn, as if he never wanted to let her go. Indeed, she hadn't wanted him to release her. At the time she'd rationalized his reaction as an outpouring of adrenaline and fear, but now she sensed his longing ran much, much deeper.
Tentatively, she reached up and touched a streak of soot on his cheek, wiping it away with her wet fingers. He'd put himself in danger by rescuing her from the fire, when it was her job to protect him. A tender ache wove through her.
'You could have died for me,' she whispered thickly, her fingers playing over his stubbled jaw.
Catching her wrist, he dragged her hand to his mouth. He placed a kiss in her palm, then nipped at the flesh just below her thumb. 'I would have, if it meant saving you.' His voice vibrated with emotion.
The love in his gaze was unmistakable, echoing her own feelings for him. In that moment she knew she'd take whatever he would give her. Tonight she didn't want to think… she wanted to feel everything J.T. had to offer.
Curling her hand around the back of his head, she pulled his mouth to hers and kissed him without restraint. Water sluiced over them and she pressed her body to his, sliding her slick, naked breasts against his chest.
He growled deep in his throat. Wrapping his arms around her back, he pulled her closer, returning the deep, tongue-tangling kiss with fervor.
And then it wasn't enough for Caitlan. She trembled. She ached. She burned for his touch. Her medallion tingled hot against her skin, but she ignored the radiant sensation for the excitement surging the length of her body.
His lips left hers and trailed down the side of her throat to her collarbone, his tongue lapping the water from her skin. When the wet heat of his mouth closed over a turgid nipple, suckling her deeply, her need mounted. He paid homage to both breasts, then nipped his way lower, exploring with mouth and tongue and the light graze of his teeth every sensitive hollow and curve. By the time he found his way back up, he was as soaked as she. He wiped the water from his face, his gaze so passionately intense she shivered.
'J.T., please,' she whimpered, plowing her fingers through his wet hair. She strained into him, yearning for the
