Buckhorn Beginnings. Lori Foster

       She searched his face, but the stubbornness was there, along with too much determination. She simply wasn’t up to fighting him. Not right now.

       “It’s not safe because…” She licked her lips, considered her words, then whispered, “Someone is trying to hurt me.”

       Sawyer stared at her, for the moment too stunned to speak.

       “Is this something I should know about, Sawyer?” Morgan asked.

       He almost groaned. Wishing he could remove the fear from her eyes, he gave her a wink, then turned to face his most difficult brother. “Eavesdropping, Morgan?”

       “Actually, I was doing tea duty.” He lifted a cup and saucer for verification. “Hearing the girl’s confession was just a bonus.”

       “It wasn’t a confession. She’s confused from—”

      “No.” Trembling, she scooted upward on the bed, clutching the quilt to her chest. She chewed her lower lip, not looking at Morgan, but keeping her gaze trained on Sawyer. After a rough bout of coughing, she whispered, “I’m not confused, or making it up.”

       Sawyer narrowed his eyes, perturbed by the sincerity in her tone and the way she shivered. If anything, she sounded more hoarse, looked more depleted. He needed to get the questions over with so he could medicate her, get her completely dry and let her rest. “Okay, so who would want to hurt you?”

       “I don’t know.”

       Morgan set the tea on the bedside table. “Why would anyone want to hurt you?”

       Tears glistened in her eyes and she blinked furiously. One shoulder lifted, and she made a helpless gesture with her hand. “I…” Her voice broke, and she cleared her throat roughly. Sawyer could tell how much she hated showing her vulnerability. “I don’t know.”

       Agitated, Sawyer shoved Morgan away from where he loomed over her, then took up his own position sitting next to her on the bed. “Honey—”

       The sky seemed to open up with a grand deluge of rain. It washed against the windows with incredible force. Within seconds the sky grew so dark it looked like midnight rather than early evening. Lightning exploded in a blinding flash, followed by a loud crack of thunder that made the house tremble and startled the woman so badly she jumped.

       By reflex, Sawyer reached out to her, closing his hand over her shoulder, caressing her, soothing her. “Shh. Everything’s okay.”

       A nervous, embarrassed laugh escaped her. “I’m sorry. I’m not normally so skittish.”

       “You’re sick and you’re hurt.” Sawyer leveled a look on his brother. “And you aren’t going anywhere tonight, so put the thought from your head.”

       Morgan promptly agreed, but the curling of his lips showed how amused he was by Sawyer’s possessive declaration. “Sure thing. We can sort everything out in the morning after you’re rested.” He slapped Sawyer on the shoulder. “Let the doc here fix you up. You’ll feel better in no time.”

       Casey came in with the baseball jersey. “Sorry, it took me a little while to find it.”

       Sawyer accepted the shirt. “Good. Now we can get you out of these wet clothes.”

       Jordan lounged in the doorway, a small half-smile on his mouth. “Need any help?”

       And once again, Sawyer had to shove them all out the door. You’d think they’d never seen an attractive woman before, the way they were carrying on, when in fact they all had more than their fair share of female adoration. But as Sawyer closed the door and turned back to her, seeing her lounged in his bed, her long hair spread out over his pillow, her wide, watchful gaze, he knew he was acting as out of sorts as the rest of them. Maybe more so. He’d just never been so damn aware of a woman, yet with this woman, he felt he could already read her gaze. And he strongly reacted to it.

       That just wouldn’t do, not if he was going to be her doctor.

       He laid the shirt on the foot of the bed, resolute. “Come on.” After pulling the damp quilt aside, he hooked his hands beneath her arms, lifted her, then proceeded to unbutton the shirt he’d loaned her as if he did such things every day. She was silent for about half a second before suddenly coming to life. With a gasp, she began batting at his hands.

       “I can do it!” she rasped in her rough, crackly voice.

       He cradled her face in his palms. “Are you sure?”

       For long seconds they stared at each other, and just as his heartbeat began to grow heavy, she nodded.

       Pulling himself together, Sawyer sighed. “All right.” He suffered equal parts relief and disappointment. “Get those wet jeans off, and your panties, too. You’re soaked through to the skin and you need to be dry and warm. Leave your clothes there on the floor and I’ll run them through the wash.” He slid open a dresser drawer and retrieved his own dry jeans and shorts, then as he was reaching for the door to leave, he added, “I’ll wait right out here. Call me when you’re done or if you need help with anything.”

       He stepped into the hallway and ran right into every single one of his brothers. Even his son was there, grinning like a magpie. He glared at them all while he unsnapped and unzipped his wet jeans. They smiled back. “Don’t you guys have something to do?”

       “Yeah,” Gabe said with a wide grin. “We’re doing it.”

       “At times you’re entertaining as hell, Sawyer,” Jordan added with a chuckle.

       Sawyer shucked off his clothes, content to change in the middle of the hallway since they pretty much had him boxed in. He was annoyed as hell, but unwilling to let them all see it. As he stripped down to his skin, Gabe automatically gathered up the discarded clothes, helping without being asked. Then he handed them to Jordan who handed them to Morgan who looked around, saw no one else to give them to and tucked them under his arm.

       After he was dressed again, Sawyer crossed his arms over his chest, returning their insolent looks. “And what’s that supposed to mean, exactly?”

       Morgan snorted. “Only that you’re acting like a buck in mating season. You’re looming over that poor woman like you think she might disappear at any minute. You’re so obvious, you might as well put your brand on her forehead.” Morgan pushed away from the wall and ran his hand through his hair. “The problem is, Sawyer, we don’t know who she is or what she’s hiding.”

       Sawyer disregarded his brothers’ teasing remarks and frowned over their concerns. He didn’t need Morgan to tell him there were going to be complications with the woman. His own concern was heavy. “So what do you want me to do? Take her back to her car? Do you want to lock her up for the night until you fit all the pieces together? The woman is sick and needs care before her situation becomes critical.”

       Casey frowned. “Is she really that bad off, Dad?”

       Rubbing his neck, trying to relieve some of the mounting tension, Sawyer said, “I think she has bronchitis, possibly pneumonia. But I haven’t exactly had a chance to check her over yet.”

       Just then every window in the house rattled with a powerful boom of thunder, and in the next second, the lights blinked out. It was dark in the hallway, and all the men started to grumble profanities—until they heard a thump and a short, startled female yelp of pain in the bedroom.

       Sawyer reacted first, immediately reaching for the doorknob, then halting when he realized all his brothers intended to follow him in. One by one they plowed into him, crushing him against the door, muttering curses. Over his shoulder, Sawyer barked, “Wait here, dammit!” then hurried in, slamming the door in their curious faces.

       The wall of windows in his room offered some light from the almost constant strobe of lightning, but not enough. He searched through the shadows until he located her, sitting on the floor by the bed. Her wide eyes glimmered in the darkness, appearing