Page 9 of Fierce Protector

“I’ll try to stop the bleeding. You call the vet.”

Long minutes later, Ledger had the horse calmed to the best of his ability, but the blood flowed freely from a deep wound in its leg.

One of the guys snapped the lights on, but even with better visibility, he couldn’t see a single thing that could have caused an injury of this kind.

A female voice drew his attention. “Thanks, Colton. I’ll take it from here.”

Ledger pushed up from his squatting position. His gaze tripped over the woman coming toward him.

A woman he recognized.

Her honey-brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail instead of loose like it was when he saw her before.

His gut clenched.

She looked up and met his stare. The shock he felt at seeing Demi was echoed on her face.

He started to speak, but she gave him a pointed look and shook her head.

“What happened here?” She approached the horse with a calm demeanor that spoke of innate bearing more than training.

“I heard noises and the horse was going crazy. I found her cut and bleeding.”

She gave him a once-over. He was covered in blood. He’d wiped his hands on his jeans, leaving rusty streaks, and his shirt was covered too.

“You tied the blanket over her wound?” Demi bent to take a better look.

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s see what we’re working with.” She worked the knot loose and slowly drew the cloth off the horse’s wound. Fresh blood pooled in the gash.

“Damn.” She bit down on her full bottom lip.

Something stirred low in his core—something that had nothing to do with the horse.

She pulled her bag across the stall and unzipped it. As she withdrew instruments, he stole looks at her.

She was prettier than he remembered. After their steamy encounter, he’d used the fantasy of her when he was alone in the shower.

Only those didn’t end with a broken condom.

“Hold this.” She passed him a sterile package.

He glanced at the words and saw it was a suture kit.

“Get in my bag and find a pair of gloves. Put them on and then open the package for me.”

He hadn’t taken orders from anybody since leaving the SEALs but he didn’t balk at her command. When he squatted next to her and reached into her kit, her scent hit him in a sweet tease.

With economic movements, she grabbed thick gauze and began mopping at the blood.

“How bad is it?” he asked.

“It’s not great for a rodeo horse to have a severed tendon.”

“Shit. Doesn’t that typically mean you have to put the horse down?”

“Not this horse, we’re not. I’m going to do my best to suture it. Now open the kit.”

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