“So, then, laddie, you took a bullet for my friends, did you?” Hawk said, the contrived Scottish burr failing to conceal the concern in his tone.

At the sound of Hawk’s voice, Boyo’s tail began thumping against the ground. Bri blinked against the mist stinging her eyes.

Hawk dropped to one knee as another basket was lowered from the copter. “Okay, fella,” he said, sliding his arms under the dog. “Grit your teeth, ’cause I’m gonna lift you.” Slowly, very carefully, he rose to his feet. Cradling Boyo in his arms like a child, he carried him to where Tanner waited.

Gritting her own teeth, grunting, swearing to herself, Bri pushed herself upright and, moving stiffly, followed at Hawk’s heels. She saw Tanner remove a small cooler from the basket as Hawk approached.

After Boyo was settled into the blanket-padded basket, Hawk turned to Bri and drew her into his arms for a strong hug. “Thanks for taking care of him, Brianna,” he said in a suspiciously choked voice.

She stepped back to look at him with worried eyes. “Will he be all right, do you think?”

He gave her a nod and a shaky smile. “He’s a tough one. He’ll live to see his pups.”

“But…” she began, confused by his remark.

“Gotta go,” he said, turning to shake Tanner’s hand, then pull him into a quick hug. “Thanks, my friend.”

“Anytime, buddy.” Tanner stepped back. Hawk fastened himself into the harness and grabbed the line, and he and the basket disappeared inside the copter.

The hunt was over.

Bri watched until the rescue helicopter was out of sight. When she looked around the area, she saw Tanner had not only cleared away the makeshift camp but had set up their domed tent and brought the horses from where they had left them.

“I see you were busy while waiting for the helicopter,” she said, feeling a twinge at having not helped him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t any help…” she began.

He gave a sharp shake of his head. “I didn’t need any help. Boyo did.”

That quick, at just the mention of the dog’s name, Bri got all misty-eyed again. Just as quickly she felt Tanner’s arm around her, pulling her toward him in a comforting embrace.

“Don’t worry, Bri. He’ll be fine. He’s one tough dog. Now…” He slanted her a grin and wiggled his brows at the cooler Hawk had brought. “Let’s eat.”

“Hawk brought us supper?”

He nodded. “I guess he figured we’d be tired of trail grub by now.”

“And he was right. What did he bring?” she asked, suddenly ravenous.

Tanner began withdrawing items from the cooler. “Chili…French bread…and real brewed coffee.”

Bri sighed. “Be still my heart.”

“And he even packed desert,” he said, pulling out brownies.

“Wonderful,” she replied, her mouth nearly watering.

As evening was nearly upon them, chilling the air, Tanner built a small fire inside a ring of stones and they sat to eat.

“Getting chilly?” he asked, when he saw her shiver. Without waiting for her reply, he draped her jacket around her shoulders.

Sighing with gratitude from the warmth of the jacket and the fire, she smiled her thanks.

Everything tasted delicious, warming her inside as the fire and her jacket kept her warm outside. Bri silently thanked Hawk for everything, sighing in contentment over her second cup of coffee.

“Feel better now?”

“Much, thank you,” she answered. She stared into the fire letting her mind wander back to the action earlier that day. “Tanner, Hawk said something about Boyo living to see his pups,” she said. “What did he mean?”

“Just what he said. Hawk has a friend, a breeder of wolfhounds, and every so often he’ll agree to her plea for him to bring Boyo to impregnate one of the bitches she feels is champion-producing material. His pups are due any day now.”

Bri smiled, the first one since they had sighted Minnich. “I bet they’ll be beautiful.”

“So far, they all have been, and some of them have become champions.” He gave her an encouraging grin. “And I’m sure Hawk’s right-Boyo will live to see his litter and many others.”

Bri was quiet a moment, not sure she wanted to know or even cared, but she finally asked, “And Minnich?”

Tanner’s features went hard. “Oh, he’ll live to face a jury.” He was silent a moment before he added, “And by the way, we both got him. I hit him in the thigh, you got him in the shoulder. Now forget him. He’s not worth one more moment of your thoughts.”

“Right.” Bri nodded, swallowing against a sudden tightness in her throat, blinking against a sharp stinging in her eyes. “I’m beat. Let’s get this stuff cleared away so I can turn in.”

“Go,” he ordered. “I’ll do it.” He arched a brow. “Would you like me to warm some water so you can have a-” he grinned “-cup bath?”

“Oh, that would be wonderful, Tanner. Thank you.” She heaved herself up off the log.

He waved her away. “Go, get ready, I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

She was waiting for him in the tent, stripped naked except for a towel she had wrapped around her shivering body. Tanner stepped into the tent to hand her the bigmouthed thermos and cup.

“Take your time,” he said, lifting the flap to leave her alone. “I’m going to clean up at the stream.”

Although it was big for a thermos lid, bathing from it was more than a little difficult. Bri managed, at least enough to make her feel reasonably clean again. Though she was cold, she relished the feel of the water as the cupful sluiced down her body. She imagined it washing away not only the grime but the horror she had seen that day. The pain that she had endured while watching her sister suffer. It was over now, but somehow she couldn’t get it out of her system.

When the thermos was empty, she dried and dressed in another pair of long johns and socks she’d stuffed into her pack. She had just exited the tent when Tanner came back to camp.

“Better?” He was close enough for his breath to ruffle her hair.

“Yes.” She spoke true, to a point. Her body and clothes were clean, but she was tired and emotionally exhausted. Maybe that’s why the dam burst.

Tears welled in her eyes. Bri could no longer hold them at bay, nor the sobs clawing at her throat.

Turning away from him, she ran into the tent, and scrambled under the cover. Unable to stem the tide, she wept like a heartbroken child.

“Hey, Brianna, what’s this?” Concern deepening his voice, Tanner crawled into the sleeping bag next to her, turning her into his arms. “Honey, it’s over now,” he murmured, drawing her protectively closer to him. “Why are you crying?”

“I was thinking of Dani-” she sobbed. “Now maybe she’ll unlock her bedroom door and come join the family again for meals, start living again.”

“I’m sure she will.” Tanner stroked her hair as he tried to reassure her. “Maybe you and your parents can even talk her into seeking professional help.”

Bri nodded, the tears clogging her throat and blocking her voice. In his arms she wept and wept, for what seemed an eternity.

When the emotional storm passed and her tears had subsided, Bri managed, “Thank you.” She took Tanner’s hankie and wiped her eyes and cheeks.

“You’re welcome,” he said.

She sighed. “Now I’ve got your shirt wet.”

“It’ll dry,” he whispered near her ear, softly, almost affectionately. “Now go to sleep.”

“One more thing.” She tilted her head up. He drew back to stare at her face with those heart-meltingly gentle eyes. “Since the hunt’s over, do we have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning?”

He laughed. “No, sweetheart, we don’t. You may sleep in an hour or so longer. But we need enough time to eat and collect our personal gear. Hawk said there would be a helicopter arriving to pick us up around midmorning.”

“But what about the horses?”

“Wrangler friends of Hawk’s will be along to take care of the animals and bring them in.”

“Oh, okay.” She yawned, so bone-tired now that she’d let out her suppressed emotions.

Tanner lowered his head to softly press his mouth to hers in a sweet good-night kiss.

But, as it had the night before, the kiss deepened immediately, setting off a firestorm of passion between them. Suddenly Bri was wide-awake, grasping his hair to pull him closer to her, returning his kiss with everything in her.

When he could, Tanner said, “Brianna, you’re tired. Are you sure you want-”

“Yes, I want,” she said, running her hands over his shoulders, down his already heaving chest. “I want your kiss, your body, all of you.”

“And I want you the same way,” Tanner muttered in a half growl of need.

After some hurried shuffling around, their clothes were gone, heaped on the tent floor on either side of them. Tanner was kissing her, her lips, her face, her breasts and lower. He kissed at the juncture of her thighs, and she cried out with pleasure. Before her cry faded, he was inside her, increasing her pleasure to near screaming point. This time when they climaxed, they soared over the edge of ecstasy together.

“That was lovely,” she murmured, curling against him. In the next moment she was sound asleep.

“You are lovely,” Tanner whispered. Fully aware she couldn’t hear him, he added, “And I love you.”

The helicopter dropped them off on the helipad at Hawk’s place. Bri lugged her gear to the house, eagerly waiting while Tanner unlocked the door with the key Hawk had given him. Hawk had remained in town at the animal hospital with Boyo.

The minute she stepped inside, she dropped to the floor everything but her backpack and took off for the bathroom.

“What’s the hurry?” Tanner called after her. “Don’t you want some lunch?”

“No.” Bri kept going so had to raise her voice. “I want to soak in a tub full of hot water for hours. Then I want some lunch.”

Tanner was laughing. She could hear him through the door of the bedroom she had slept in before. She practically tore off her dirty clothing, grabbed the one clean set of bra and panties she had left and made a dash for the bathroom.