Win Taylor.
He kissed her hard, almost savagely, and Cait welcomed his possessiveness. She returned his kiss equally as passionately, determined to show him what she’d kept inside, hidden beneath hurt and bitterness.
Deil’s frantic whinny startled them apart, and Cait jolted out of the circle of his arms. The timing couldn’t have been worse and she barely managed to sti?e a groan of disappointment. “Do you think the mountain lion’s back?”
Win nodded grimly and Cait noticed his lips were slightly swollen from their kiss. “Stay here,” he ordered.
“No. This is
Win’s eyes glittered and a crooked smile claimed his lips. “All right, but stay behind me.”
She didn’t argue, but would do what she had to. She pulled her ri?e from her saddle boot, glad she’d carried it in with the saddle instead of leaving it outside by the corral. Win retrieved his revolver from his bedroll in a corner stall and stalked to the wide doorway. Cait followed closely. He stood there, peering into the twilight and snif?ng the air like a predator scenting his prey.
Deil paced back and forth in the corral, his attention focused on something only ?ve or ten yards from his position.
Fortunately the moon was full, and Cait spotted a slowly moving shadow not far from Deil’s corral, on the far side near a stand of bushes. She’d never known a wild animal, especially a cat, to come so close to buildings.
“It’s over there.” Cait raised the ri?e to her shoulder.
Win slid his Colt out of its holster. “Dammit, I’m too far away for a decent shot.”
“I’m not,” Cait said evenly, although her heart was threatening to make a break from her chest. She could see the faint outline of the cat and centered her sight on what appeared to be its head.
Deil reared up repeatedly, slamming his front hooves on the ground. He grew more frantic as the lion crept closer.
Cait’s ?nger wavered on the trigger. All she had to do was delay ?ring and the cat would take care of the hated stallion for her. Either the lion would kill Deil or the horse would be injured so badly he’d have to be put down. And Cait wouldn’t even have to break her promise to her father.
“He’s only a horse, Cait,” Win whispered close to her ear. “He didn’t murder your father. He doesn’t deserve to die.”
“You didn’t see him.” An unexpected sob rose in her throat. “Deil kept rearing up and Pa kept rolling, trying to get away.”
“Deil was terri?ed, Cait, and just like when people are scared, they lash out at what they fear most. He was afraid of your father, and he reacted the only way he knew.”
The cat stalked closer to the corral and Cait followed him with her ri?e.
“It might seem that Deil hated your father, but he was reacting the only way he knew how.” Win paused and said quietly, “Just like when you were scared, Caity.”
The cat rose up and launched itself upward. Cait squeezed the trigger and the ri?e kicked her shoulder. The mountain lion dropped like a rock and lay motionless just outside the corral.
Cait closed her eyes and slumped. She felt Win take the ri?e from her numb hands, and his arm encircled her shoulders.
“You did it, Cait,” he said. His chest rumbled against her arm.
She gazed up at him. “Why didn’t you just take the ri?e and do it yourself?”
“Because it was your decision, Cait. You had to make the choice.”
“What if I made the wrong one?”
Win smiled gently. “You wouldn’t have.”
“How could you be so certain?”
“Because I know you, Cait.”
She thought about that for a minute, then smiled. “Yes, you do.”
“Go on inside and I’ll take care of the cat,” Win suggested.
She clung to his arm. “Will you come to me when you’re done?”
“Do you want me to?”
She released him, suddenly uncertain if he wanted what she did. Or even if she had the right to ask. “I love you, Win, and I don’t give a damn what people say. But I can’t give you children.” Her throat choked off the rest of her words.
Win’s expression ?lled with grief. “If I’d have known, I would’ve been here for you, Caity. I swear it. I wouldn’t have let you go through that alone.”
“I know.” She could barely squeak out the words and quickly looked down.
Win raised her face with a gentle grip on her chin. “Since I couldn’t have the woman I loved, I never planned to get married, which meant I’d never have children. But if you’re able to put up with what people will say about us, then I’d be honored to become your husband.”
Cait’s eyes burned with unshed tears. “I’ll be expecting you in the cabin.”
He grinned and Cait was struck by how much he resembled the boy she’d fallen in love with so many years ago. “Yes, ma’am.”
She watched him leave but turned away before he began his grisly task. Turning her attention toward Deil, she couldn’t help but feel that something between them had changed. When the stallion met her gaze, his eyes no longer appeared to mock her. Instead, she saw his pride and something akin to gratitude. She shook her head, laughing silently at her imagination.
Then Deil deliberately approached the end of the corral closest to her and tossed his head. Cait held her breath and forced herself to walk slowly toward him. She held out her hand as she neared him but only got within a yard before Deil backed away nervously. He gazed at her and seemed to nod, then turned away and pranced around the corral.
Cait watched him, allowing her admiration and hopes to rise. Her heart swelled with joy and contentment until it seemed to ?ll her chest.
She nodded to Deil, then turned to walk to her cabin to await Win’s arrival. This time she’d give him a true homecoming.
Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
WIN HELD A carrot out to the frolicking stallion, and Deil trotted over to take it almost daintily from his hand. Win smiled and scratched the horse’s forehead.
“You think you’re so tough, but you’re just a pussycat,” Win teased the stud.
The ebony horse whinnied in indignation and trotted away.
Win laughed at the stallion’s antics. After he and Cait had ?nally managed to tame him, Deil acted more like a spoiled child than the prize stud of the BriceTaylor Ranch.
Win turned away from the corral and spotted his wife strolling toward him with a radiant smile that made her eyes glow with happiness. Love and contentment made his own lips turn upward.
When she drew close enough, he wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her close to his side. “What’re you looking so secretive about?”
Her eyes danced with affection and mischief, a combination that never failed to ignite the passion that always smoldered close to the surface.
She sniffed. “As if I could keep any secret from you.”
“You managed to keep my birthday present secret for a full ?ve hours,” he teased.
She stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed and dropped a kiss on her impertinent nose.
Comfortable silence surrounded them as they watched Deil trot around the pen.
