All Autumn

by Sandra Owens

  “It’s probably going to be another thirty minutes or so before anyone gets here.” After putting a pad on one of the wounds, I wrapped gauze around it.

  Autumn tore off some more for me. “Those wounds are really deep.”

  I nodded. “Bear claws are nasty business.” Although the woman had deep gashes in her legs and arms, I couldn’t see any bite marks. Somehow she’d managed to get away from the bear long enough to get in the tree. She was damn lucky we’d come along when we had because she wouldn’t have held on much longer.

  Autumn hadn’t taken the first-aid classes that I had, but she didn’t shy away from helping me. “That’s all we can do for her for now.” The wounds were bandaged, and it seemed like she’d stopped bleeding.

  “She looks familiar,” Autumn said, then tilted her head. “I hear sirens. I wish Beau would come back.”

  “As long as he’s barking, he’s okay.”

  “I’d call him, but I’m afraid the bear would follow him here. He’s the hero of the day, though.”

  “Amen to that.” The day hadn’t gone as expected. I’d hoped about now that we’d be swimming in the bottom pool. Autumn had a bathing suit on under her shorts and shirt, and I wanted to know if it was a bikini.

  “Where am I?” the woman said, her voice weak.

  “You’re going to be okay.” Autumn brushed damp hair away from the woman’s face. “Is anyone else with you?”

  “No. Alone.”

  “What’s your name?” Autumn asked.

  “My . . . Taren Blanton.” Then she passed out again.

  Autumn glanced up at me with wide eyes. “I knew she looked familiar. Senator Blanton’s sister.”

  The senator on People Magazine’s latest Sexiest Men Alive list. What the hell was his sister doing traipsing around in the woods by herself?

  17

  ~ Autumn ~

  After Adam and the rescue team arrived and got Taren Blanton down the mountain, I called for Beau. Within minutes he came bounding to me. My knees buckled at seeing him safe, and I let out a relieved breath as I hugged him. “My hero.”

  He licked my face, making me laugh.

  “Crazy dog,” Connor muttered. “You’re supposed to be afraid of bears, Beauregard.”

  Connor’s gaze traveled over me, his mouth turning down in a frown. I looked down at myself. We were both covered in blood from our necks to our hiking boots.

  “Time for a bath,” he said, grabbing my hand. We half slid, half ran down the trail. At the bottom we tossed off our backpacks before tumbling into the water without stopping. Beau dived in with us, loving whatever this new game was.

  I came up sputtering. “Oh God, it’s cold.” I glanced around us. The people who’d been at the bottom of the falls earlier had left, and we were alone.

  “Nah, it’s like bathwater,” Connor said, his chattering teeth and blue lips putting a lie to his claim. “Come here. I’ll warm you up.” He pulled me to him.

  His tongue invaded my mouth, and I whimpered. At least I think that needy sound came from me. I leaned into him, pressing my breasts against a chest that was as solid as a rock wall. His hands slid into my hair, his fingers tangling in the wet strands.

  When I wrapped my legs around his waist, he lifted his head and stared down at me. A connection like I’d never felt before zinged between us, invisible sparks dancing all around us. It seemed as if the world had disappeared and it was just Connor and me.

  And Beau.

  My silly dog wanted in on the kisses. He paddle-splashed around us, gleefully barking and licking water droplets off our faces. Connor and I looked at each other, then burst into laughter. It was probably a good thing Beau interrupted us. Another few minutes and we would have been frolicking naked in a public place. I wasn’t sure where this thing between us was headed, much less what Connor wanted from me . . . Well, besides sex.

  That was pretty obvious by the erection pressed against my stomach. If he wanted more than a bit of fun between the sheets, however, he’d picked the wrong girl. I was solidly cured of wanting the little house with a white picket fence that came with a husband. Husbands couldn’t be trusted. At least where the Archer women were concerned.

  “You’re shivering,” Connor said. “Let’s get you out of here.” Back on dry land, he dug a hoodie out of his backpack, handing it to me.

  “What about you?”

  He smiled. I’d grown up with the man, had seen him smile thousands, maybe millions of times, but all of a sudden my heart bounced in response to that smile. What in the world was wrong with me that I was imagining connections and sparks happening between us, along with a heart that was acting twitchy?

  Connor dropped me off at home to shower and change. Because I couldn’t stop worrying about Taren Blanton, he was going to pick me up later so we could go to the hospital and check on her. Our little hospital didn’t have a trauma center, and in a phone call with Adam we learned that she’d lost a lot of blood, so they’d transported her to Mission Hospital in Asheville.

  I love Asheville, which Connor knew, and he’d said that after we paid Taren a visit—hopefully they’d let us see her—we’d have dinner at one of the downtown sidewalk restaurants.

  “What should I wear?” I asked Beau. He tilted his head as if attempting to translate my words into doggie talk. “No opinion, huh?”

  Was this a date? Connor hadn’t said, I’d like to take you out. But it kind of felt like one, and I wanted to look nice for him. Okay, I wanted him to look at me and drool. Yet, we were paying a hospital visit, so my sexy red dress was out. Since spring nights tended to be chilly in the mountains, I decided on a dark blue turtleneck sweater dress, a silver medallion belt, and black ankle boots with four-inch heels and lace around the top.

  My only jewelry was dangling silver earrings and a ruby ring I’d bought with the money my father had given me for Christmas to buy something “pretty” for myself. He was always generous with money on my birthdays and Christmases, but I’d just as soon have a poinsettia if he’d been the one to pick it out. Sadly that was wishing for more than he knew how to give his only daughter.

  I pushed thoughts of my father away before I let them depress me, because he’d disappointed me for as far back as I could remember. Or maybe I was the one who disappointed him. Anyway, I wasn’t going to let him ruin my night with Connor.

  As for Conner, it still felt a little weird to be having erotic thoughts about a man I’d known since he was a boy whose tree house Jenn, Natalie, Savannah, and I had stormed, determined to find out what he and Adam did up there. And now that boy was looking at me with hunger in his eyes. I was hungry for him, too.

  The doorbell chimed, sending Beau scrambling down the hall, barking a greeting aimed at whoever was on the other side, because surely they were here to see him.

  “It’s just Connor, silly dog.” Apparently Beau had learned Connor’s name, as he went into turbo excitement mode.

  Couldn’t say I blamed him. My excitement mode revved up a notch or two, right along with Beau’s. And when I opened the door, my breath swished out of me. Not that I’d never seen Connor dressed up. I had; at my wedding and Jenn’s, at a funeral or two, or at community events. But that was BTK, because everything to do with him now seemed to fall into two categories: before the kiss and after.

  BTK I would have thought, Connor looks nice tonight. Now my girlie parts were screaming, Gimme, gimme, gimme! Charcoal-gray pants, a thin black, silver-buckled belt, a light gray shirt—rolled up at the sleeves—a silver watch, and my favorite thing, his one emerald earring, all added up to a man who could give a girl erotic dreams. I was very much afraid I was going to start drooling the way Beau did at the sight of a new chew stick.

  Before I could say anything, Beau barked, demanding attention. Connor bent over, scratching Beau behind his ears. “And how is Beauregard tonight?”

  While his attention was on Beau, I let my eyes feast on Connor, on his black hair, not quite touching his collar, an
d the full lips that were curved up, the smile reaching his eyes, as man and dog greeted each other as if they hadn’t seen each other only two hours earlier. My gaze was caught by the way Connor’s muscles bunched under his shirt and the way his long fingers stroked Beau’s fur. I wanted to snatch his hand away and put those fingers on me.

  And seriously? I was jealous of my dog?

  18

  ~ Connor ~

  The only reason I was fussing over the dog was to give me a few minutes to get my feet back on solid ground before I decided to throw Autumn over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry and haul her straight to her bedroom.

  Good God, that dress clung to her every curve, and those little black boots with the heels put all kinds of naughty thoughts in my head, like her stripped of everything but the boots, for a start.

  Once I was sure I could talk without sounding strangled, I straightened. “You look nice.” Dumbass. You’d think I’d never paid a girl a compliment before. “Beautiful. Hot. Sexy. Delicious,” I rushed to say when the light faded from her eyes at my lame praise. “Take your pick of any of those.”

  She smiled, kind of shyly, which was strange because I’d never known Autumn to be shy about anything. Had it really mattered that much how I saw her? We were still standing in her foyer, and it seemed as if this was an awkward first date with a girl I had a crush on. I hadn’t experienced this kind of ineptness since high school when I was trying to impress Kyla Hamlin, head cheerleader and the lead in all my teenage wet dreams.

  “You pick one.”

  “Huh?” Oh, right. The compliments. “I can’t. Pick just one, I mean.”

  What the hell was wrong with me? I’ve always been at ease around Autumn, but something had changed. It had to be the boots.

  I glanced at Beau, who was sitting on his haunches, his big brown eyes peering up at me with what seemed like disappointment, and I imagined him saying, You need to up your game, dude. You’re really letting us guys down here. Totally weird getting encouragement from a dog—even if it was in my imagination—but I wasn’t about to let Beauregard down.

  “I can’t pick one because you’re all those things, Autumn.” I trailed my knuckles over the smooth skin of her cheek. “But if I did have to choose only one of those words, it would be ‘delicious’ because I want my mouth all over you.” Her breaths quickened right along with mine. My gaze roamed over her, stopping on her feet. “It’s those boots. In my mind I’m seeing you digging the heels into my back. I should point out that they’re the only thing you’re wearing when that happens.”

  My friend since first grade whimpered. “Connor,” she said, or rather, rasped, and how the hell did I even know rasp was a word before hearing that sound coming from her lips?

  I had two choices here. Forget we had plans and talk her into staying home, which I was positive I could do considering the way she was looking at me, or stomp down on that idea and take her out. She’d wanted to visit Taren Blanton and so did I, but more than that I wanted to take Autumn to dinner in Asheville. It had been an afterthought, just something to do, but her eyes had lit up when I’d suggested it, and now I was determined to follow through.

  But damn, that rasp. I wanted to hear it again, specifically when she was screaming my name. The sooner we made our hospital stop and then dinner, the sooner we could get back so I could make that happen.

  “Let’s go.”

  She raised her brows at the command that came out harsher than I’d intended, but when a man is hot for a particular woman, he’ll barrel through obstacles in his way like a jackhammer tearing through asphalt. And to the best of my memory I’d never been hotter for a woman than I was for Autumn Archer.

  “I understand Taren Blanton’s in room 323,” I said to the nurse manning the desk on the third floor. “Is she receiving visitors?”

  “Who’s asking?”

  A man in an expensive suit stepped up to us, and I immediately recognized the face I’d seen numerous times on the news.

  Autumn held out her hand. “Senator Blanton, I’m Autumn Archer, and this is Connor Hunter.”

  “The couple who rescued Taren.” He wrapped his hand around Autumn’s, and I managed to stifle a growl when he didn’t let go. “You have my gratitude, Miss Archer.”

  “Autumn,” she said. Rasped? My growl was getting harder to contain. She tugged her hand away. “Connor and my dog were the real heroes, Senator.”

  “I’m Lucas,” he said to Autumn before offering his hand to me. “You have my gratitude, Mr. Hunter.”

  “We’re just glad we were there to hear her call for help.” Our handshake only lasted a few seconds, the acceptable length for a man shake. Maybe I was being rude not offering him the use of my first name, but I was feeling annoyed and a bit territorial where Autumn was concerned.

  Even being a man, I could concede that Lucas Blanton was what women referred to as man candy. He was no slouch in the clothing department either. At a minimum he must’ve spent a thousand bucks on the Armani suit, and I wasn’t sure which designer the dress shirt was from but it was easily another couple of hundred dollars. All subdued but still shouting money.

  The senator owned a cattle ranch on the outskirts of Asheville, along with several businesses throughout the state of North Carolina. From all accounts he worked hard for our state, he was connected, he dressed well, had the looks that turned women’s heads, and had come to his sister’s side within a few hours of her rescue, but I didn’t like him. Mostly because he’d held Autumn’s hand too long.

  So eff him. I appreciated her more than he ever could or would. “Can we visit Taren? We’d like to see for ourselves that she’s okay.” I put my hand on Autumn’s back, a possessive claim that every man on the planet understood. His gaze traveled from my arm to my eyes. Understanding shone in his, that Autumn was mine, but underneath that acknowledgment was a challenge.

  He wanted Autumn.

  I might not have as much money—even as successful as Adam and I were—as Lucas Blanton, have as much power, or spend insane amounts on my clothes, but I wasn’t about to stand by and let him go after my girl. If Autumn realized a male war was brewing over her, she’d slap us both silly. I knew that, but I doubted the senator did.

  “Can we see her?” I asked again, keeping my hand on Autumn’s lower spine. And yeah, she was leaning back against my palm. Definitely a good sign.

  “I don’t know,” Blanton said to Autumn as if she’d been the one to ask the question. “I just got here. Walked out of a meeting in Raleigh and flew up in my Lear the minute I was notified.” His gaze still on Autumn, he said, “Don’t leave.”

  “We’ll be right here,” I said, reminding him of my existence. Damn it, I was letting the senator get to me. I dropped my hand from Autumn’s back. “Nice guy,” I muttered, watching her watch Blanton walk away.

  “Seems so.”

  Seems so? How was I supposed to interpret that? Seems so as in he was the hottest thing she’d ever seen, or seems so as in he literally was just a nice guy?

  19

  ~ Autumn ~

  There was something going on with Connor. I wasn’t sure what, but he’d gone all squirrelly on me. His fingers had been making circles on my back, and then they’d gone away. Then there was the tension in his voice. The conversation between him and Lucas had sounded strained. I’d known Connor long enough to pick up on his nuances, and he was not his easygoing self right now.

  “I was impressed that Lucas walked out of a meeting the moment he heard about his sister. Shows he really cares for her.”

  “The senator is just an all-around impressive guy, hm?”

  It took a second, but then it hit me. Connor was jealous. Was he afraid I’d go for a man like Lucas Blanton? Granted, Lucas was extremely good-looking. His amber-colored eyes were the most intriguing thing about him. They were beautiful and full of intelligence. I supposed he had to be smart to be a senator.

  But he didn’t make my heart flutter the way Connor did. I did
like thinking Connor was jealous. That knowledge gave me a little thrill. Although it was tempting to test my theory when Lucas returned, I didn’t play games like that.

  I trailed my finger down the buttons of Connor’s shirt. “I suppose, but I have to say, he’s not nearly as impressive as you.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Well, in my humble opinion, anyway.” That got a bone-melting Connor smile.

  “Yours is the only one that counts.”

  “I’m sorry, but Taren’s sleeping,” Lucas said, walking up to us. “They have her pretty drugged up.”

  “But she’s going to be okay?” I slipped my arm around Connor’s.

  “I think so. I’m still waiting to talk to the doctor to learn how much damage the bear did.”

  “Will you tell her we stopped by?”

  “Of course.” Lucas glanced at our linked arms, then lifted his eyes to me. “Again, thank you both. I hate to think what would have happened to her if the two of you hadn’t been there.”

  “What was she doing out there by herself?” Connor asked.

  “That’s going to be one of my first questions when she’s awake.” He stared down at the floor for a second, as if considering his next words. “You’ve probably heard that Taren’s husband and baby girl were recently killed in a car crash.”

  I had. It had been all over the local news a few months ago. “Yes, and I can’t imagine how hard that must be for her.”

  “She . . . she’s been very depressed, which is understandable. Our family has been fussing over her, trying to take care of her. Maybe she just needed some time alone and decided to go for a hike. She’s always loved the mountains.”

  “I’ve always found peace in the mountains,” Connor said. “If there’s anything we can do, please ask.”

  “Actually, there is. I’d like you both to come back and see her when she’s a little better. I think she’d want to thank you.”