Only 05 - Autumn Lover

so much, and hated wanting her at all, that it angered him even to look at her. The memory of her laughter after being drenched with cold water haunted him.
    The memory of her nipples showing clearly through the thin, wet blouse set him afire.
    “It’s about Bill,” Elyssa said. “I’m worried.”
    Hearing Elyssa’s voice soften on Bill’s name, and seeing the concern in her eyes, put the finishing touches on Hunter’s already raw temper.
    “Just what is it about that cow-rustling, horse-thieving, Culpepper-loving son of a bitch that worries you?” Hunter drawled.
    “We can’t prove that Bill is stealing livestock.”
    “What kind of proof do you need, little girl? A confession? A track-by-track demonstration of how he did it? A shot in the back from ambush ?”
    “Bill would never hurt me,” Elyssa said urgently. “You don’t know him like I do. I’m—”
    “That’s gospel,” Hunter said in a savage voice. “I’ve always preferred women.”
    The insinuation didn’t even register on Elyssa. She just kept talking right over Hunter.
    “—afraid that he’s being held hostage by the Culpeppers,” she finished.
    “Hostage. Judas H. Priest.”
    “It’s the only explanation that makes any sense.”
    “You can’t see the truth when it stands on your feet and spits in your eye, can you? Dear old Bill is stealing you blind!”
    “No! He needs our help!”
    “He needs a bullet.”
    Elyssa looked at Hunter’s bleak eyes and remembered the tangible hatred he had for everything associated with the Culpeppers.
    Cow-rustling, horse-thieving, Culpepper-loving son of a bitch .
    “No,” she said in a raw voice. “I won’t let you hurt Bill. Do you hear me? Don’t hurt him!”
    Hunter gave her a raking, contemptuous glance.
    Then he wondered why pretty flirts like Elyssa and Belinda ended up losing their heads over two-bit cheaters twice their age who happened to be neighbors.
    Swiftly Hunter stepped closer to Leopard. When he spoke, only Elyssa heard him.
    “Quit dogging my tracks and wearing silk,” Hunter said in a low, icy voice. “If I wanted what you’re flaunting, I’d be the one guarding you, not Morgan.”
    “I’m not—”
    “The hell you aren’t,” he interrupted. “The boys laugh about it in the bunkhouse, all the hip swinging and lip licking and come-hither looks you give me.”
    “I do no such thing!”
    “That will come as news to me and the boys,” Hunter retorted. “Go away, Sassy. When I feel like taking what you’re shoving in my face, I’ll let you know.”
    Elyssa flushed with a combination of anger and embarrassment that her interest in Hunter was a subject of jokes in the bunkhouse.
    “Morgan,” Hunter barked. “Open the gate.”
    The gate squealed and creaked behind Hunter.
    “Now, get that spotted stud out of my way,” Hunter said. “I have better things to do than talk to a flirt.”
    Elyssa looked at Hunter for a long, tight moment. There was no give in him, no hint that he would relent and act on her fears for Bill.
    Fine , she told herself fiercely. I’ll do it myself .
    Ignoring the open gate, Elyssa reined Leopard toward the wide brush fence of the corral. The stud took it like a spotted deer, leaving Hunter swearing in the dust.

15
    H olding her breath, Elyssa crept down the staircase. She prayed every step of the way that Hunter was so exhausted by breaking broncs that he wouldn’t awaken.
    Or if he did, that he would mistake the creak and pop of the stairs for more complaints of the house as the damp ground fog settled into the wood.
    The thought of facing Hunter after the way he had stripped her pride raw in the brush corral made Elyssa feel hot and cold at once.
    Don’t think about Hunter and the hands laughing at you. Next to what’s happening on the Ladder S, all of the rest is just chicken feed .
    But Elyssa still didn’t want to face Hunter. She didn’t know whether she would ignore him or lift the shotgun and watch him sweat.
    The latter thought had great appeal.
    Don’t think about Hunter .
    Only when the door to the kitchen closed behind her did Elyssa relax and let out a sigh of relief. She had gotten away from her sharp-tongued watchdog.
    She hurried across the open area between house and barn. A pumpkin-colored moon hung big and low in the sky. There were a few high clouds, remainders of anevening storm. Despite the moon’s size, it cast little light. What illumination reached the earth was sucked up by a ground fog