Aimée Thurlo - Restless Wind

How lovely it would have been to share a special place with Ranger where no one could find them for days on end… The ringing of Ranger’s cell phone quickly brought her out of her musings.

Ranger looked at the display and recognized the number. “I’m here, Fire. What’s up?” But the voice that answered wasn’t his brother’s.

“Who am I speaking to?” the voice on the other end demanded.

Ranger pulled the truck over to the side of the highway and focused. “You first, pal.”

“This is FBI Agent Harris.”

Ranger identified himself immediately. “How did you get the cell phone you’re using, Agent Harris?”

“It was the last number dialed on one we found beside the body of another murder victim.”

“Victim? Who?” Fear pried into him like a knife to the gut. But it couldn’t have been his brother. Hunter was too good at what he did. More important, Ranger was sure he would have felt his own twin’s death. He was as linked to Hunter as daylight to the sun.

“We haven’t ID’d the body yet.”

“How did he die?” he asked, his voice thick.

“Sniper took him out with one bullet to the head, apparently. An unidentified witness called in the shooting from a pay phone, and we’re trying to track him down,” Harris said. “When we arrived at the scene, it took a while to find the exact location the perp used to take the shot. Get this-it was five hundred yards away. We found two sets of footprints and vehicle tracks there.”

“Not many people could have made a shot like that,” Ranger said, his voice sounding detached.

“I know. That’s our best lead. Trujillo ’s importing talent, either an ex-military marksman, or someone who gets in a lot of practice at the range.”

“Two sets of prints suggest a military-style sniper team-spotter and shooter,” Ranger said, his voice taut. “Let me know when you’ve identified the body. The cell phone you’ve found, I believe, belongs to my brother, Hunter.”

“I understand your concern, Blueeyes, and I’ll call you personally when we get more information,” Harris replied, his voice less official now. Then he ended the call.

Dana saw the beads of sweat that had broken out on Ranger’s forehead despite the cool temperature outside. His knuckles were white, a sign of the death grip he had on the steering wheel.

“What’s happening?” she asked.

Ranger filled her in with short clipped sentences. “But it couldn’t have been my brother. Not many people can guard against a sniper, but my brother would have sensed what was going down. I’m sure of it,” he added for his own benefit.

“Other explanations are possible, too. For instance, your brother might have been there, and dropped the phone when the shooting took place. With a sniper in place, it’s possible he might not have been able to retrieve it. Or maybe he loaned the phone to the victim and was somewhere else at the time,” she said, her tone hopeful. “Don’t assume anything. Wait until they confirm the victim’s identity.”

Ranger tried to push back the darkness that surrounded his every thought, but he couldn’t quite do it. If it was true and his brother was dead, his own personal hell was just beginning. “The blood that pumps through my brother’s veins is the same as mine. He and I are linked. I would have felt his death,” he repeated firmly.

“Hold to that, then,” she said, feeling the edge of desperation that lay behind his words.

He turned up a dirt track that led to the bosque area around the Animas River, not far east from where it joined up with the San Juan. An area free of development, the beauty here was unspoiled, just as nature had intended. He pulled the truck off the irrigation canal road, and down into the dense undergrowth, then shut off the engine.

“We need to hang out for a bit. Here, we’ll be out of view and the cell phone will still work. For now, I’d like to stay in contact with Harris.” He stared ahead for a second, then slammed his hand hard against the wheel and cursed.

She could feel the darkness building inside him. For the first time since they’d met, Ranger needed her. As someone who’d learned how to cling to hope when there seemed no reason to do so, she could help him now. Ranger needed to find his own strength again and she would be his guide.

“Let’s walk down to the river,” she suggested.

He nodded. “I know a nice spot against the sandstone hillside, a place where the river has worn a shallow cave into the cliffs. It’s not too far. It’s deep in the bosque and between two bluffs, so the place is secluded. We should be safe there while we wait.”

Taking her hand, Ranger led the way through the maze of cottonwoods, willows and grasses. It never ceased to amaze her how someone as tall and broad-shouldered as Ranger could move so silently through thick vegetation like this.

Later, when they reached the river, he looked in both directions, then led her downstream. Where the cliffs were closest there was a small shelf-a sandbar-that led them into the narrow channel. About fifty feet farther, they came across a small, sandy area along the inside curve of the river. At the base of the cliff was a spot where spring floods had undermined the wall.

Dana sat down beside him on the sandy earth, but seconds later, he stood and began to pace along the water’s edge.

“My brother better be out there, alive and well, or there’ll be more blood spilled. I’ll make sure of that.”

She walked over to where he stood and took his hand. “Concentrate on life. Celebrate it. You’ve always done that by living in the moment. Don’t stop now. Life is a gift and not even a moment of it should be wasted.”

Dana pulled him to the ground, sat astride him and slid her arms around his neck, molding herself to him. She would give him the comfort only love could bring-a reminder of life in the midst of death. She could think of nothing greater to give the man she’d fallen in love with.

As her lips met his, Ranger returned the kiss fiercely, taking what she offered like a dying man struggling for a breath of air.

She pushed back his shirt and covered his chest with tiny, moist kisses, wanting him. His need pressed intimately against her as her trail of kisses went ever lower down his body. She could feel the fierce pounding of his heart against her palm. She loved touching him and the way his breath sharpened when she caressed him.

“Slow down,” he whispered, bringing her face up to meet his lips. Ranger kissed her slowly. In contrast to her hurried movements, he was patient, parting her lips easily, deepening their kiss and letting her take a shaky breath before kissing her again. His voice was gentle as he pushed her hips down against him. “Feel me. I’m ready. But you’re not. Not yet.”

Steadying her between his arms, Ranger undressed her with unbearable patience, letting his fingertips glide along her breasts, then taking them into his mouth, suckling gently, until she cried out his name.

A whirlwind of emotions ribboned around her. She’d wanted to give comfort but now all she could feel was heat, the searing kind that melted everything in its path. Each nip sent her closer to the brink. Feeling him throbbing beneath her parted legs, she tried to unbuckle his belt, but her fingers were clumsy and her hands shaking.

“If you have any pity in you, you’ll help me with this thing,” she said, laughing out of sheer frustration.

His chuckle was a throaty growl that sent its ripples all through her. With one quick twist, he undid his belt, then opened his jeans. “Pull them down,” he ordered.

Dizzy with needs, she did as he asked because it was exactly what she’d yearned to do. Restraint had covered his body with a sheen of perspiration that accentuated every plane and rise. He was magnificent, his muscled flesh the color of a sunset. She smoothed her hand over him, learning what gave him pleasure.