His breathing was as labored as her own as his hand slipped up under her coat to her warm flesh. She arched against him, wanting and needing more, as she let out a moan of pure pleasure and whispered his name.
They both froze at a sound in the trees lower on the mountain. For a while, she’d completely forgotten T.D., forgotten everything but the feel of this cowboy’s arms around her.
Angus groaned quietly and let go of her, drawing back. “When this is over,” he said on a hoarse breath. “Jinx, I promise, when this is over...”
She touched her finger to his lips and shook her head. They couldn’t make promises. Not tonight. Not under these circumstances.
Angus looked as if he couldn’t bear to leave her. She knew the feeling. She gave him a gentle shove.
Nearby, they heard one of the traps being sprung. Then silence.
ANGUS WAS FURIOUS with himself as he rushed back to his spot on the mountain only to find that a deer had tripped one of his traps. The pretty doe bound off into the distance. But it could have just as easily been T.D. or one of his men. He shouldn’t have left his traps unattended. He wouldn’t again.
He’d let himself get carried away. It wasn’t like him and yet when he’d looked at Jinx... He thought of what he’d seen in her eyes. A need like his own. A fear matching his own. Tonight everything could go wrong and there could be bloodshed.
Forcing that thought away, he told himself it was why they’d both been vulnerable. Just the thought of the two of them on the side of this mountain in the dark and what he’d wanted to happen... He knew it was insane, but he’d felt as if they were the last two people in the world. Neither of them had wanted to stop, but fortunately, when the deer tripped the trap, they had.
What if it had been T.D. instead of a deer? What if he’d seen the two of them? He shook his head at his own impetuousness, let alone his foolishness. He could have gotten both Jinx and himself killed.
Tomorrow they would reach her grazing land with the herd, then... But that was the problem. Then Jinx would be back at her ranch dealing with her problems and there would be no excuse for him to hang around. That was if they lived through tonight, he reminded himself.
He heard a meadowlark whistle close by. “You all right?” Brick whispered as he came out of the darkness of the pines. “I heard one of your traps go off.”
“Deer. A little doe.” His voice sounded strange even to him.
“You all right?” his brother asked suspiciously.
“Just jumpy. You should get back to your traps.”
He nodded but didn’t move for a moment. Angus wondered if his twin could tell from his expression even in the darkness what he’d been up to.
“We’ll be done tomorrow,” Brick said.
“I was just thinking about that,” he said, honestly.
“I bet you were.”
“I’m looking forward to going home to the ranch.”
“Glad to hear that.” Brick slapped him on the shoulder. “Be careful.”
“You, too.” He watched his brother disappear back through the pines and tried to concentrate on staying alive tonight.
Chapter Twelve
As they waited for the cover of darkness, T.D. thought about sneaking into camp, finding his wife and collecting on at least some of what she owed him. She hadn’t just kicked him off the ranch. She’d kicked him out of her bed months ago.
He’d been fine with it at the time. He’d had Patty, and Patty was always willing. But she wasn’t Jinx. Patty couldn’t fill a need in him that had little to do with sex. Jinx had filled that need. He’d been married to her and the ranch. He’d felt he finally belonged somewhere.
What bothered him was that he’d thought Jinx would come begging for him after a few weeks, let alone a few months, without him.
But she hadn’t. It seemed impossible that she hadn’t seemed to miss his lovemaking as if he hadn’t been giving her what she needed. Was that true? If so, it shook the very foundation of what he believed about himself. All he’d ever had was his looks and his way with women. That Jinx might have found him lacking drove him insane with fury.
Patty never complained, he told himself. And yet the fact that Jinx didn’t want him back ate at him. When he got the chance again, he’d remind Jinx what she’d been missing.
“Let’s get ready to go,” he ordered everyone gathered around the fire. He sensed they weren’t as into this as he was and that annoyed him.
“Don’t you think she’s going to be expecting this?” Travis asked without moving.
He didn’t bother to answer him. Travis was right about one thing, though. Jinx knew him too well. She’d know he’d come for her tonight, their last night on this mountain. But not even Travis knew what he had planned. In the dark there would be confusion. At least that was his hope. Jinx would anticipate what he had planned. Too bad there was nothing she could do about it, though.
Still, it made him wonder if he was too predictable. Is that why she thought she could live without him? Maybe it was time to prove to her that he could still surprise her. He smiled to himself.
“Here’s what I want you all to do,” he said and told them their part of the plan, keeping his own to himself. He knew he couldn’t depend on Travis or Royce or Cash. But at least he had Wyatt here with him. They’d been buds since grade school. Wyatt would have his back.
Stepping away from the dying coals of the campfire, he pulled his binoculars from where he’d left his saddlebag to look toward her camp. He couldn’t see a damned thing, it was so dark tonight. He thought about last night when he’d spotted Jinx and he’d
