Read Online Winter Fire by Elizabeth Lowell - Free Book Online Page B

has some homemade whiskey that—”
    â€œNo,” Case said. “I want a clear head.”
    She wasn’t surprised. Though pale, obviously in pain, and not able to stand, he had an animal alertness that was unmistakable.
    He was a man used to living with danger.
    Ute had been the same way when he first came to Lost River ranch.
    Often, he still was.
    â€œHow did I end up here?” Case asked.
    â€œUte found you.”
    Calmly she peeled the bedcovers down to his waist. As she bent forward and began unwrapping the bandage on his arm, her hair slid in a soft cascade across his chest.
    Cool, yet it burned him like naked flame. His breath hissed in and his heartbeat doubled.
    â€œSorry,” Sarah said, lifting her hands instantly. “Are you sure you don’t want something for the pain?”
    â€œYes,” he said through set teeth.
    Her eyelids flinched but she said nothing. She simply got on with the task of unwrapping the rest of the bandage on his arm. Delicately her fingertips brushed the area around the furrow left by the bullet.
    Again his breath hissed in.
    She frowned. “Is it that tender?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œAre you certain?”
    â€œYes,” he said, jaw clenched.
    She gave him a wary look. Then she went back to her tender tracing of the skin around the shallow wound.
    This time Case didn’t make a sound, despite the heatin his blood that had been summoned by a simple, impersonal touch.
    Never should have kissed her , he told himself savagely. Dumb. I haven’t wanted a woman like this since …
    His thoughts scattered.
    He hadn’t ever wanted a woman the way he wanted Sarah Kennedy.
    For a few more seconds the gentle, delicious torment of her touch continued. Then she withdrew.
    â€œThe skin around the wound is cool,” she said. “No infection, but you’ll have a scar.”
    â€œIt won’t be the first.”
    â€œOr the last,” she said, thinking of the wounds on his thigh. “Since you’re awake now, I won’t wrap your arm again. It will heal faster in the air.”
    Case watched her face while she pulled the blankets up over his bare chest. Then she shocked him by flipping the covers off his legs all the way to his navel.
    â€œJudas priest!”
    One-handed, he raked the covers back over himself.
    Sarah was too surprised to stop him.
    â€œSis?” Conner called drowsily.
    â€œGo back to sleep,” she said. “It’s just Case thrashing around.”
    â€œYou need me to hold him while you change the bandages again?”
    She raised her cinnamon eyebrows at Case in silent question.
    â€œDo I?” she mouthed.
    His eyes widened. He had just figured out that there wasn’t one inch of him that Sarah Kennedy hadn’t already seen.
    Dead naked.
    Red burned on his cheekbones above his weeks’-old beard. He took his hands away from the covers.
    â€œI can handle it, Conner,” Sarah said neutrally. “Go back to sleep. You have to relieve Ute in a few hours.”
    Her brother made a muffled sound, rolled over, and slid back into the sleep his growing body craved.
    â€œGet me a loincloth,” Case said flatly.
    Without a word she stood up, went to a basket in the corner, and shook out the last shirt that Conner had outgrown and worn to shreds in the process. The remaining fabric had been destined for the rag rug she was making. If it took a detour on the way, no harm would be done.
    â€œWill this do?” she asked.
    â€œYes.”
    He held out his right hand. Plainly he intended to put the cloth on himself.
    â€œIf you move around,” she said, “you could open the wounds again. Let me wrap—”
    â€œNo,” he interrupted curtly.
    One look at his face was enough to tell Sarah that he meant it. She could hand over the cloth or she could fight him.
    â€œDon’t be foolish,” she said crisply. “I raised Conner, I was married, and I