Page 23 of Montana Freedom

“Do you do that kind of thing often?”

Swinging down off the saddle, I led Thunder over to one of the nearby trees and quickly knotted the reins around the thin trunk with plenty of room for him to wander.

Emma tried to dismount too, but she wasn’t nearly as practiced at it. She slipped, and I made it just in time to catch her.

But catching her put her close to me, pressed up against my body so we were face-to-face. Looking into Emma’s eyes was like coming home to this place after being away for far too long.

And holding her like this? My mind acknowledged how good it felt to touch someone—really touch them—after years of being alone. And damn if I didn’t want to let her go, even if I had to.

“Do we go around rescuing people?”

“Yeah.” Emma’s voice was breathy as we were caught in the moment, the tension that sang between us whenever we got too close.

Put her down, Daniel.

I didn’t.

“When you live lives like we have, it’s easy to attract trouble. Do we do it all the time? No. We do it when we have to. Because we’re a family, and we don’t letanyonetake or hurt what’s ours.”

The intensity in my voice wasn’t something I intended, nor was the implication she was a part of that, but I didn’t regret it. Right now, with her in my arms? I felt like I would and could do anything for her.

Finally, I forced myself to release her. She slid to the ground, body gliding against mine, and it was an act of sheer will not to kiss her.

“Guess I got lucky.” She led Cinnamon over to the same tree.

“I don’t know if I’d classify living in a cage for a month to be lucky.”

Slowly, she sat down and looked out across the water. A gentle breeze stirred the surface and painted the world in blurry watercolor hues. Her voice was so soft, I wasn’t sure she intended me to hear. “Better than being buried in an unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere.”

She was right.

Later, when we’d come back to the occupied portion of the ranch, Emma told me she was leaving and drove out of the ranch in the truck she’d come to use. She’d kept her promise and told me whenever she left, even though I could tell it bothered her to have any kind of monitoring.

By the same token, it drove me crazy not knowing where she went every day. Where and why?

Part of my concern was for her health. Dr. Gold had taken out the port, and Emma was only on oral medication now. Soon, she wouldn’t be on any medication at all.

But I knew damned well her health wasn’t the full scope of my concern. I pushed into the lodge after watching her head back to her cabin to get the truck and made myself a cup of coffee.

Liam came out of the security office and looked at me. “You okay?”

I frowned. “Yeah, why.”

“Because you were treating the coffee cup like it did something to piss you off and you were going to break it in revenge,” he chuckled.

Looking down, I ran through the motions I’d made, and he was right. So in my own head thinking about Emma and her disappearing act, I’d barely noticed myself slamming the cup down. “Sorry.”

“Got Emma on the mind?”

I looked at him sharply and found him smirking. “What makes you say that?”

“Of all of us, you’re the steadiest. Even above Jude. But that woman brings something out in you we’ve never seen before. When you brought her back? I thought you were losing your mind.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s none of my business where she goes.”

It wasn’t. But that fact conveniently didn’t stop my instincts from going fucking crazy whenever she drove out of our gates.

“If it bothers you so much, just follow her.”

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