Tory’s chest felt as if it were being squeezed in a vise. “It had to be him.”
Linc’s gaze sharpened. He glanced from Tory to Josh, whose jaw looked tight. “You think Damon Bridger hired those guys to give you trouble?”
“That’s the only explanation that makes any sense,” Josh said.
“It was him,” Tory said flatly.
“You don’t have any proof,” Linc argued. “No way to connect him to what happened.”
Josh surged up from his chair. “I’m going to Phoenix. I’m putting an end to this once and for all.”
Tory shot to her feet and gripped his arm. “You can’t confront him, Josh! He’ll have you thrown in jail again and this time you won’t get out!”
Linc and Carly both stood up. “Tory’s right,” Linc said. “You can’t just charge in there and beat the guy to a pulp. You have to think this through, come up with a plan.”
“I don’t want to go in there and beat him to a pulp. I want to end him.”
“Josh!”
“Take it easy, all right?” Linc said. “I’ll send Townsend to Phoenix, put him in touch with your PI friend, Hamilton Brown. Maybe they can find out whether or not Bridger is responsible.”
Josh looked like he was going to explode. He took a deep breath, finally managed to bring himself under control. “All right—for now. Maybe Ham and Townsend can find out what’s going on. But this is ending—soon. If Bridger is willing to go as far as hiring outlaw bikers to tear up the ranch, he isn’t going to stop until he gets to Tory. I’m not letting that happen.”
“There’s still a chance what happened had nothing to do with Bridger,” Linc said.
Josh’s features remained tight. “You’re right. We need to be sure.” His arm went around Tory, keeping her close. “I’m kind of out of the mood for this. What do you say we go home?”
Her insides were shaking. It had never occurred to her that Damon might be behind the bikers’ attack. “I’m more than ready.”
“Maybe we can pick up something to eat on the way,” Josh suggested.
Tory just nodded. She let Josh guide her out of the bar, her mind going over what Tag Joyner had said. All the way to the truck, she kept thinking of Damon. Linc might not be sure Damon was responsible, but Tory was. Though she’d prayed it wouldn’t happen, she’d been worried about something like this.
Her chest clamped down. She couldn’t avoid it any longer. She knew what she had to do.
Josh ended up pulling into the Iron Springs Café for something to eat and a piece of homemade apple pie, but Tory’s appetite was gone. By the time they stopped at Mrs. Thompson’s to pick up Ivy, she was mentally packing, getting ready to leave.
“Ivy’s already dressed for bed,” Mrs. Thompson said when they arrived. “We baked cupcakes.” She handed Tory a flat plastic container with dark circles visible through the lid. “Chocolate with chocolate frosting.”
“They look great. Thank you.”
Ivy was half asleep when Josh carried her out to the pickup for the short ride home, then into the double-wide trailer.
“I’ll sit with her till she falls back to sleep,” Tory said to Josh, sitting down in the chair next to the little girl’s bed. But it only took a few minutes before she was breathing deeply, fast asleep.
Easing her tired feet, Tory pulled off her boots and socks and tossed them into her bedroom on her way back down the hall. She was sifting through one plan after another when she walked into the living room and found Josh sitting on the sofa.
“I’m staying here tonight,” he said, casting a dark look her way.
She’d been afraid of that. She had things to do to get ready. She needed to get out of there—the sooner, the better.
“What about your nightmares?” She crossed her fingers, hoping the reminder would be enough to send him home.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
Urgency clawed at her. “Why do you want to stay?”
“You know why. Because I’m not letting you run. Tell me that’s not what you’re planning. Give me your solemn word you won’t pack up and leave the minute I’m out the door.”
She couldn’t do that. She wouldn’t lie to him, and she would never break her word to Josh. Surely if she told him the truth, he would realize she was right.
“I need to go, Josh,” she said softly. “We both know it. As long as I stay here, bad things are going to happen. Once I’m gone, Damon will figure that out and leave you alone.”
Josh shot to his feet, his features dark and intense. He gripped her shoulders. “You aren’t leaving because of some maniac who plans to do God-only-knows-what once he gets his hands on you. I’m not letting that happen.”
Tory gasped as his mouth crushed down over hers. Heat blasted through her the way it always did when he touched her. She moaned and clung to his shoulders. Josh kissed her as if his life depended on it, as if he couldn’t get enough.
He walked her backward till her knees hit the sofa. She went down and Josh followed. His mouth found the side of her neck and his teeth nipped an earlobe. Shivers crawled over her skin and need burned through her, making her hot and wet.
Josh popped the snaps on his denim shirt and peeled it off, pulled off her tank, popped the front of her bra and stripped it away. When his mouth fastened on her breast, a little whimper came from her throat and moisture settled deep between her legs.
“I need you,” he said. “I won’t let him hurt you.” He shoved her jean skirt up around her waist, pulled her panties off, and tossed them away. His kiss was rough and hungry, burning and endless. She was so hot, so needy.
Josh freed himself and then he was inside her. Tory moaned. Josh took her deep, driving hard. She wrapped herself around him, dug her fingers into his powerful shoulders. His heavy weight pressed her into the cushions and she loved it, loved his fierce masculinity. Her body began moving in sync with his, arching upward, taking him deeper, demanding more.
Josh rode her hard, taking what he wanted, giving her what she needed, driving her up to the peak, making her whole body burn. Pleasure, pure and raw, poured through her, and a shattering climax struck. Tory clung to him, felt his hard muscles go rigid. An instant later, Josh followed her to release.
Afterward they lay together, drifting in a sensual haze, slowly spiraling down.
“Don’t leave,” Josh said, kissing her softly one last time, curling her against him on the sofa. “Promise me.”
There was something in his voice.... She remembered the nightmares he suffered and the story she had read about him. She thought of what he had done to protect his men, thought of the friends he had lost.
It occurred to her that though she needed his protection, perhaps Josh needed her, too.
“I’ll stay,” she said softly. “I promise.”
His hard body relaxed. He tucked her closer against him, and in minutes they were asleep.
When she awoke late in the night, a light blanket was draped over her, but Josh was gone.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The day was overcast and grim, with a dense layer of heavy black clouds, the wind whipping through the branches of the trees, hurling dead leaves across the ground. The horses were skittish, the cattle uneasy, sensing the coming storm.
Josh headed over to the cow barn where young Ty Murphy, the black-haired teen who was now his part-time stable hand, had been working.
“Looks like you’re done with the stalls,” Josh said.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’ve been working a three-year-old gelding that shows real promise. I want to see how he responds with someone else on his back. Cole says you’re a good rider. Can you handle him?”
The kid grinned ear to ear. “You bet. Which horse?” He was a handsome kid, features so perfect he was almost pretty. But unlike his two predecessors, Ty Murphy had a core of integrity.
“The sorrel out in the field behind the ring. That’s Red. Bring me the buckskin, Thor. He can be a little cranky, and he needs work on his neck rein.” He glanced toward the open grasslands. “We won’t be able to stay out too long. Not with the storm coming in.”