Only 05 - Autumn Lover

hand, tasting again anyway. Just to be sure.
    Salt.
    “Yes,” Hunter said. “I’m sure.”
    Unable to believe, Elyssa grabbed Hunter’s hand and lifted it to her mouth. Her tongue flicked out. The taste of salt spread across her tongue.
    There was no doubt.
    Elyssa dropped Hunter’s hand and turned her head away from his too knowing eyes. A tremor of suppressed emotion went through her.
    My garden…my refuge , she thought wildly.
    Oh, God, who would be so cruel ?
    Blindly Elyssa stared off into the darkness beyond the lantern light, fighting tears. Hunter already thought of her as a girl. She was damned if she would prove it by crying in front of him.
    Emotions Elyssa refused to give way to made her throat ache. A sheen of moisture grew in her eyes.
    The sound of dirt and salt being shoveled frantically came through the night. It was as though giant rats gnawed at the garden around the golden circles of light being cast by many lanterns.
    While the men worked, the storm kept increasing. Before they could shovel up all of the salt, much of the garden would be ruined, and with it the very earth itself.
    “Sassy?” Hunter asked after a time. “Are you all right?”
    There was no answer.
    Hunter wanted to take Elyssa in his arms. He wanted to give her what comfort he could.
    But that was impossible. He couldn’t trust himself to touch her in any way at all.
    His fingertips felt as though they had been scorched by flames. With every heartbeat he could feel the sleek heat of her tongue on his skin as though it was happening all over again.
    Hunter wanted Elyssa until he could barely stand up.
    I shouldn’t even be looking at her , he told himself bitterly. That silk she’s wearing looks like it’s dissolving in the rain as fast as the salt .
    With every instant Elyssa stayed out in the storm, more of the creamy silk wrapper clung to her body.
    Her nipples seemed to gather rain. Wet cloth shaped them. They stood proudly against the silk, as taut as though they had been loved by Hunter’s mouth.
    Judas Priest , Hunter thought, caught between anger and violent desire. She’s enough to make a bishop weep .
    “Go back to the house,” Hunter ordered, his voice harsh.
    Elyssa turned her face up to him. She looked bleak and vulnerable in the same instant.
    “Was it a Culpepper?” she asked, her voice trembling.
    “Sassy—”
    “Was it?” she interrupted.
    This time Elyssa’s voice was as harsh as his.
    Hunter drew a deep breath and thought fast. He didn’t want to go into the identity of the intruder. He didn’t like thinking about good old “Uncle” Bill, the man who was likely Elyssa’s lover.
    Almost certainly Bill was the man who had drawn his six-gun and sighted down its barrel at Elyssa.
    But girls were notoriously blind about men they loved. That was the only explanation Hunter could think of for Elyssa’s blindness about Bill.
    “Well?” Elyssa asked impatiently.
    “No,” Hunter said. “It wasn’t a Culpepper.”
    “How can you be so certain?”
    “The dogs.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “The dogs didn’t bark,” Hunter said curtly.
    “Maybe the wind was wrong for them to catch his scent.”
    “Vixen smelled the intruder when the wind shifted.”
    “And?” Elyssa asked.
    “She didn’t turn a hair.”
    “I can’t—” Elyssa’s voice broke.
    Hunter waited, not knowing what to say. He didn’t want to be in the position of pointing the finger at Elyssa’s lover. If it came from him, she would reject it.
    Let her figure it out , Hunter advised himself. Shouldn’t take her long .
    Rain came down harder now.
    Elyssa swallowed and tried again to speak.
    “You must—” she said huskily. She cleared her throat. “You must be mistaken.”
    “Did you hear the dogs barking?”
    “No. But maybe it was one of the new hands. Someone who is working both sides of the street.”
    “He rode off on a horse.”
    “S-so?”
    Hunter glared at Elyssa. The rain was coming down so hard now that there was more wet silk on her than dry.
    “Morgan!” Hunter yelled.
    “Yo!”
    “Any hands missing?”
    “No, suh!”
    “How can he be sure?” Elyssa hissed. “He didn’t even take time to count!”
    “He didn’t have to.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I told him to keep track of the men we don’t know,” Hunter said in a clipped voice. “He’s the last one asleep in the bunkhouse and the first one awake.”
    “But—”
    “But nothing,” Hunter interrupted impatiently. “Go