“You aren’t going to do anything stupid, Webb. I won’t let you.” Grady scolded the younger man in a no-nonsense tone that Webb ignored.
“We’re well past the point where you can control what I do, Grady. I want to know where my brother is and if these dicks had anything to do with his disappearance. If I get to rattle a few cages along the way, well that just sounds like a good time.”
Ten shook her head, which sent water flying off the brim of her ball cap. She pointed a finger at Webb, which made him grin. He apparently liked being bossed around and taken to task by the leggy blonde. “City boy, you sound a little too eager to start trouble, if you ask me. If you’re a liability, I’ll cuff you to the four-wheeler and come back for you when this disaster is all cleaned up.”
Webb held up his hands in front of him in mock surrender. “I’ll behave . . . for now. I am serious about handling the second wave of distraction though. That means Cy and Grady can get into the compound once we find it and look for Sutton and Emrys. Leo can handle the first distraction from a safe distance, keeping her cute ass out of the line of fire, and you can keep everyone covered.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “Your ass is pretty spectacular, as well. I don’t want you to think I didn’t notice.”
The woman huffed and copied Cy’s stance with her arms locked over her chest. “Forget cuffing you, I may just shoot you and leave you for the mountain lions.”
Cy made a low noise in his throat that sounded like a growl and narrowed his eyes at the injured man. “Mention Leo’s ass again and you won’t have to worry about what Ten has in store for you, because I’ll rip your fool head off your body with my bare hands.”
I put a hand on his arm, which felt like wet stone under my fingertips. “I think everyone needs to go to their separate corners and try and get some sleep. We’re going to head out early in the morning and none of us has gotten very much rest over the last few days. We’re all wet and on edge but threatening one another isn’t doing any good.”
If collapsing in a heap on the ground was an option, I would have gladly taken it but I didn’t want to end up even wetter and more miserable than I already was.
Cy loosened his rigid stance and moved to put his arm around me. Typically, when he pulled me into his broad chest it was like being engulfed in warmth and comfort. It was a testament as to how crappy the conditions were that he was just as chilled and just as clammy as I was. I didn’t snuggle into him like I wanted to, but I did rest my forehead against the hollow of his throat. I couldn’t resist the urge to lick at a drop of rain that trickled down the strong column and across my lips. The little touch of tongue to cool skin made him shiver and had his arms tightening around me.
“I need to get a fire started so we don’t freeze to death tonight and to keep the predators I’m actually afraid of away.” He was trying to normalize the situation for me and I wanted to kiss him from head to toe in gratitude. His caring went bone deep and didn’t falter, even when it would be easy and reasonable to brush to the side, considering the circumstances. I let him go and straightened my shoulders because if he could bend but refuse to break, then so could I. And I was going to hold on, and ride out the storm, weather beaten but still standing on the other side. That wasn’t something I would have believed myself capable of doing a few days ago, but this trip and all the ways it had not gone as planned was undeniably eye opening.
I left Cy to work on the fire and made my way over to the horses to see if there was anything I could do to make them more comfortable in the drizzle that was still coming from the sky. The poor animals had pushed just as hard as we had and there was no way they weren’t exhausted and sick of being wet and cold, just like I was.
In the middle of rubbing Edgar down with a lone dry blanket I found, I heard footsteps behind me that were too light to belong to any of the men in our motley crew. I looked over my shoulder as the ranger approached and tried not to stiffen or launch my automatic defenses when she gave me a considering look that raked from the top of my head to my toes.
“You’re pretty good with the horses for a California girl.” Her tone was dry and she made no effort to hide the sarcasm in it.
I lifted an eyebrow in her direction. “How do you know I’m from California?’
She lifted a shoulder and let it fall, eyes never moving from what I was doing with the horses. “I asked Cy to give me a rundown of all the guests including where they were from in case we have to launch an official search party.”
I nodded at her and calmly told her, “Believe it or not, they have horses in California.” I didn’t toss her snide tone back at her, I kept mine even and bland. I didn’t need her to point out that she was a much better fit for the man hunched over a pile of kindling, trying to make something burn in the nearly impossibly conditions. I knew I wasn’t who Cy needed, but there was no hiding the fact that I was who he wanted.
She took her hat off and shook it out. I felt all the air rush out of my lungs when I realized she was something more than beautiful when her entire face was visible. I was starting to think there was something in the water out here that made the men and woman forged from this land outrageously attractive.
“He does this all the time, you know.” She put her hands on her hips and gave me a steady look. “I’m not trying to be a bitch but I’ve known those Warner boys for a long time and the one thing all of them have in common is the habit of wasting time on the wrong women. I admire you stepping up to the plate when you are so clearly out of your element. Most women in your shoes would have demanded someone take them back to the ranch or opted to lay low at the cabin. I don’t want you to have some kind of false fantasy built up about Cy, where you think things between the two of you last beyond your time on his turf. Once you’re gone . . . you’re gone and he’ll be onto the next one.” The words were callous but I could see that she really thought she was doing me a favor by laying them on me like bricks. She was telling me, like I should have told Chris’s wife, the kind of man I was losing more and more of myself to. She wasn’t worried about my reaction or the outcome because to her, she was looking out for me in her own blunt and abrasive way.