Page 36 of Rescued By the Mountain Man Cowboy
"Oh."
She laughs. Small. Stunned. I am stupidly in love with that laugh and that's a problem for later. I lean back in.
Her mouth opens under mine. Her tongue, careful at first, then less careful. My hand at her jaw slides down to her throat, thumb at her pulse, feeling it kick. She lets out a breath I feel in my chest.
The rain's letting up. Some part of me knows that. The hammer on the tin is easing into a patter. I am not stopping. I'm just settling in deeper, getting my arm under her, pulling her halfway into my lap because why the hell not, when…
"LUKE! ANNA"
Madison.
Outside.
Yelling.
Footfalls on wet leaves. Hard. Coming up the spur.
Anna goes rigid. My hand drops from her throat to her shoulder. We're both off the floor before I've thought about it, her stumbling into her boots, me already at the door.
"LUKE, ANNA, where are you?"
"Madison."
I push the door open.
She's coming up the path in waterlogged sneakers, soaked through, hair plastered to her face, phone in her hand, clearly been in the rain for a while. She is not smiling. She is not joking. She is not the woman who stood on my porch earlier this week, making lewd jokes about pinned bodies. She skids to a stop ten feet from the lean-to. Hand on her side. Catching her breath.
"There you are. Christ. I went to the cabin, and you were both gone, and Diego said you took her up the ridge, and I..."
"Madison." I keep my voice level. "What happened?"
She holds up a finger. Breathing.
Anna comes up beside me. Boots half-laced. Cheeks flushed from the kiss, the cold, both. "Madi. What's wrong?"
"A package came." Madison straightens. "To the main house. About forty minutes ago. I almost didn't think anything of it because we get deliveries all day, distillery shipments, ranch stuff, whatever."
"Madi, breathe. You’re not making sense."
"Anna." Madison's eyes are on her. Hard. Steady. "It's got your name on it."
The world goes quiet.
The rain's still coming, lighter now. The fire's snapping behind us. Anna's hand finds my forearm and grips it hard enough to bruise.
"What?" she whispers.
"Your name. Anna Kim. Hand-printed. No return address." Madison swallows. "Gabe wouldn't let anyone touch it. It's sitting on the porch waiting for us."
I look down at the woman who, ninety seconds ago, was kissing me like the world was small enough to fit in this room.
Her face is white.
"Get the horses." My voice comes out flat. "We're going. Now!"
Chapter Seven
ANNA
