Lone Wolf's Woman. Carol Finch
in the thick grass that lined the winding creek.
Lone Wolf slapped Julia’s horse on the rump, then dug in his heels to send his mount racing back in the direction they had come. Two minutes later they emerged from the creek. Julia looked a mite bewildered. He figured it was the first time someone had taken potshots at her.
It was not his first time. He had been a target more times than he cared to count.
“Sol has finally lost his grasp on reality,” she said, and gulped. “He was serious when he said that he wanted to wipe the Preston name off the face of the earth. Doesn’t he realize that he’s going to turn his own daughter against him when she learns the truth?”
“Lesson number two,” Lone Wolf murmured as he circled behind a rolling hill for protection. “Do not jump to conclusions. We don’t have proof that either ambush is tied to your feud with Griffin, no matter how much you might want them to be.”
Julia gnashed her teeth. “Easy for you to give him the benefit of the doubt, but not for me. Your brother wasn’t warned away from his true love and he didn’t get shot. Nor have you been battling rustlers since your father’s death. This is another example of Sol trying to make our lives miserable so we’ll give up, sell out to him and move away.
“And why are you defending him?” She huffed. “Because you’ve developed an interest in Maggie?”
Lone Wolf gaped at her in astonishment. “Where in the hell did that come from?”
“Are you saying that you don’t find her attractive?” Julia demanded. “That would make you the first man I’ve met who doesn’t.”
Obviously getting shot at had rattled Julia more than she realized. This incident was reminiscent of the nightmare that left Adam bedridden. Suddenly she was spouting comments without thinking first, because her emotions were all over the place again.
“Of course I think Maggie is attractive.” Lone Wolf chuckled and shook his raven head. “But if you’re under the impression that I’m interested in her then you’re wrong.”
“Am I?” she challenged.
“Yes, you are,” he insisted.
He shifted uneasily on horseback and looked away. Julia frowned at his peculiar behavior and wished she knew exactly what he was thinking. But Vince Lone Wolf was a master of self-disciplined stares that gave away none of his emotions.
“There’s something you need to know.” He took a deep breath, which made his broad chest expand noticeably. “Sol Griffin is my uncle and Maggie is my first cousin,” he said in a hurried rush.
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes popped. “Your what?”
Julia had no idea what she had expected him to say, but that wasn’t even on the list! Well, that explained a lot. No wonder he was reluctant to pin the shooting on Sol.
She suddenly recalled that Lone Wolf had refused her request for help until after he learned that Sol was involved. Alarm flared inside her. “What is this? Some kind of double cross? Are you working with the snipers?”
She recoiled from him, staring at him as if he were a dangerous threat rather than a trusted ally. Her first thought was that he meant to kill her where she sat, and then claim that someone else had attacked her.
Just what was in this for him? she wondered suspiciously. Partial ownership in her ranch after she and Adam were dead?
The frightening realization that this was a trap and that Lone Wolf was part of the conspiracy sent adrenaline pumping through her veins. For one wild moment Julia wondered if the reason Lone Wolf had volunteered to accompany Maggie home last night was so he could consult privately with Sol.
Dear God, she thought frantically. They were in cahoots and she had blundered headlong into disaster.
Instinct demanded that she run for her life before Lone Wolf grabbed his pistol and aimed it at her. Frightened, Julia took off like a rocket, using the technique of sprawling atop her horse to reduce her chances of being shot.
“Damn it, Julia,” he growled as he chased after her.
She cursed him back as she rode hell-for-leather toward the safety of home. He intended to betray her, she thought mutinously. The one man she thought was different from the rest of his gender. The one man who aroused her interest without trying. The man she had decided to pretend was her husband. The first man she wasn’t averse to having underfoot because she actually liked and respected him.
Curse it, she would never trust her judgment of men again!
Julia scowled when she heard the thunder of hooves close behind her. Swift as her mount was, it was no match for the powerful black-and-white paint gelding and its exceptionally skilled rider. Julia shrieked in alarm when Lone Wolf clamped his hand around her forearm. Before she could fight back he snatched her off her horse while at full canter and she found herself suspended in midair momentarily.
Her breath gushed from her lips when he clutched her against his muscular body. Julia squirmed defiantly while he forced her to straddle his thighs. She stared at the traitor face-to-face and wished him a fast trip to perdition.
“Simmer down,” he snapped as he reined his pinto to a walk.
“Like hell I will!” She spit the words at him and struggled valiantly for release—for all the good it did.
“Didn’t I just get through telling you not to jump to conclusions? Lesson number two, remember?”
Her gaze filleted him and he reciprocated in kind. She decided that when Lone Wolf was irate he could be very intimidating. He looked ominous and foreboding, just as he had last night when he’d yanked her off her horse and followed her to the ground to lay a knife at her throat.
The mistaken sense of security and comfort that she felt when she was with him shattered in the face of his thunderous scowl and the unyielding hold he had on her. The man certainly made a frightening enemy, she decided.
Julia knew she was as good as dead, because Lone Wolf had to be in a league with Sol. Her bitter neighbor was going to win this feud and his gun-toting nephew would make sure of it.
“You tricked me,” she said furiously. “You used me. And when you kill me I will find a way to come back and haunt you for the rest of your days—”
To her astounded amazement he angled his head and kissed her. To shut her up, no doubt. He couldn’t use his hand to cover her mouth because both arms were clamped around her waist to hold her still. So he kissed her. Hard.
Stole her breath out of her lungs was more accurate.
He crushed her so tightly against him that she couldn’t move. He kept on devouring her lips—and any woman with a lick of sense in her head would have continued to resist. Instead she melted against his powerful body and focused on the tantalizing taste of him, the unexpected pleasure that unfurled inside her.
She blamed her impulsive response on the emotional carousel her life had become. Plus, no man had ever dared to grab her and kiss her breathless, for fear of offending her and losing the potential meal ticket she represented. But Lone Wolf was nothing if not bold and daring and she had witnessed several examples of those dominant traits during their short acquaintance.
When he finally allowed her to come up for air she swore her eyes had crossed and he had robbed her of the ability to speak and think straight. She simply stared at him—at his sensuous mouth, to be specific—and wondered why she wanted him to kiss her like that again.
Obviously she had gone crazy. It was the only explanation for wanting to kiss a man who had turned out to be her worst enemy.
“Don’t make me do that again, Julia,” he growled at her.
Something fragile and unfamiliar that had just burst to life inside her—some unique sensation she couldn’t adequately identify—died a quick death. He was letting her know straight away that