Page 63 of Branded

“A fucking great one.”

She shakes her head as she zips up her jeans, but I can see her smile. “We really need to get to the house before someone comes looking for us.”

“Let them look.” But I’m already straightening my own clothes.

“You’re insane.”

“Probably. But you love it,” I say with a laugh.

“Unfortunately, I do.” Her words are almost not loud enough to hear, but I do, and I reach for her hand, not making it a thing.

“Thank you. For tonight. For being right when I was being stubborn. For being fucking incredible.”

“That’s what I’m here for.” Her voice is still raw from crying out. “Now let’s go face whatever fresh hell is waiting.”

We leave the barn just as the sun fully clears the horizon, both of us still flushed, still breathing hard, looking exactly like we’ve just fucked against a wall.

And I don’t care who knows it.

* * *

The hell turns out to be three very angry siblings in the main house dining room.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Caroline demands the second we walk in. “You two left at midnight with a cryptic text and didn’t answer your phone for six hours!”

“We were working,” I say calmly as I pull Lennox closer.

“Working on what?” Nathaniel crosses his arms, his face tight with worry and anger. “We had no idea where you were. For all we knew, the Marshall crew had grabbed you both.”

“They didn’t, and we recovered the cattle. You’re welcome.”

Silence from all of them, which never usually happens, and all three of my siblings stare at me.

“You what?” James finally says.

“We recovered the cattle. All twenty-three head. They’re back in our south pasture where they belong.” I pour Lennox and myself a cup of coffee from the service on the sideboard. “Lennox figured that Marshall would be too distracted with his casualties to watch stray cattle. She was right.”

I hand her the mug and our fingers brush. The electricity from the barn still flows between us, and I want to touch her again, right now.

“You went back onto Marshall land?” Caroline asks slowly. “Hours after an ambush that put Dad in the hospital. The two of you. Alone.”

“Yes.”

“Are you fucking insane?”

“Possibly.” I take a long drink of coffee. “But we got our cattle back without a single shot fired. I’d call that a win.”

Nathaniel moves to the window, looking out toward where the south pastures would be. “You actually got all twenty-three head?”

“Count them yourself if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh, I believe you. I’m just trying to figure out if you’re brilliant or suicidal.” He turns back. “How did you move that many cattle with just two people?”

“Lennox did most of the work.” I glance at her. “She can do things with cattle I’ve never seen before. Made it look easy.”

“It wasn’t easy,” Lennox says quietly. “But it worked.”

Caroline studies her with new intensity. “You planned this? The whole operation?”