Slade slipped back into bed with me, one hand sliding up past my hip and settling firmly on my breast with a none-to-gentle squeeze as his hot breath rushed over the side of my face.

A cold chill of warning broke out over my skin, firing every single synapsis in my body. I didn’t think twice as I pulled my head forward and then snapped it back with such violence that I shrieked with it.

Stars exploded before my eyes, but I couldn’t allow the pain to anchor me in place. I had to move.

“You bitch!”

I would have made it to the edge of the bed, would have escaped, had it not been for the sheet tangled around my leg. I lay there, half suspended between escape and capture.

He climbed my body, grabbing a handful of hair. I was pulled into a position that no matter how hard he yanked, I couldn’t move.

“Do you think I’d just walk away and watch you with him?” Clint hissed as he moved over me from behind.

I bucked against him, trying to throw him off as the sound of Lucy’s deep warning growl ripped through the air.

“Shut her up, or so help me God, I’ll kill her right in front of you,” Clint said, trying to shove his knee between my own.

It hit me then just how unstable Clint was. Lucy was behind him, warning him that she was moments away from attacking, but it didn’t seem to register with him. He had rape and violence on his mind, not self-preservation.

He was insane. That meant I needed to stay calm and focused, because there was no way in hell I was going to let him overpower me. No way I’d allow him to hurt me ever again.

“Lucy,” I called to her.

Her growl turned fiercer. It didn’t matter what I said. Didn’t matter how many times I said it. Lucy wouldn’t hear me. She was past being hurt, too.

I heard it then, the sound of a pistol being readied to fire. I waited, but only for a split second. Terror snaked through me, and I rolled just as the gun went off.

Clint screamed as I scrambled to get away from him, but not because of my escape. It was because Lucy sank her teeth into his ankle. With the single mindedness of a true cattle dog, she brought him to heel.

Clint kicked out with his other leg, catching Lucy in the head before I could stop him. He drew back his foot and tried to line up another blow, but Lucy, angered beyond feeling any sort of pain, had let go of his heel and lunged at his face.

Clint rolled to get out of her way, the gun still gripped in his hand.

I knew what I needed to do, and that there was no way I’d get out of it without either getting bit or shot.

Jumping on him, I grabbed the arm holding the gun as a look of sheer madness rolled over his face.

He cussed every word he knew, telling me all the ways he planned to hurt me, while Lucy kept dodging in to get a good nip at him.

I’ve never fought so hard in my life. Never felt the need to overpower a human as much as I wanted to overpower Clint. In some small way, he must have known it, too.

We were locked in a battle neither of us was willing to give up. He wasn’t going to let me live, and I wasn’t going to let me die.

I couldn’t hold him like that for long. He was stronger than me by far, and the element of surprise was gone seconds after I’d jumped him. I had nothing but my will and determination to fight back.

And Lucy.

Precious seconds slipped by as I tried everything I could to keep him from knocking me off him. Lucy snapped at every part of him she could, getting me a few times in the process.

Sweat broke out all over our bodies, making our struggle a slippery one. Clint made his move and broke my hold. He came up roaring, the gun swinging up. Just before he leveled it on my face, Lucy lunged.

I grabbed the gun as he fell, hands slipping on the hot metal, and scrambled backward as it fell to the floor beside me.

Clint gurgled as he fought to detach Lucy from his throat.

I lifted the gun, willing my hands to hold it steady, and then sent a prayer up.

Lucy went limp before the gun went off. Her body fell to the floor and didn’t move. Clint’s blood covered most of her snout. Thick globs of it mixed with slobber hung from the corners of her mouth.

Clint gasped, holding his hand against his throat as his mouth opened and closed. He lurched forward and landed face-first against the floor.

“Gracen!” Slade’s panicked shout came from the front door, then I heard his feet pounding up the stairs.

Before I knew it, he was on the floor beside me, kneeling as he pulled me into his arms. I couldn’t form a single word. Couldn’t pry myself from the shelter of his arms to check Lucy. I was held completely immobile because every single memory of the night Clint had attacked Lucy and me the first time had forced its way out of whatever dark corner of my mind it had tucked itself away in. In doing so, it cracked my head wide-ass open.

“Oh, God, Gracen. I never should have left. I can’t believe… Are you okay? Gracen, say something, please,” Slade begged, holding me away from him as he searched my face.

I swallowed hard, turned sideways, and vomited.

“Slade? Gracen?” All at once, Lex was standing over us. His eyes skipped over me and landed on the brutal sight behind me.

His phone was at his ear, and he barked orders into it.

Moving around us, he went to Lucy first, checking her. “She’s alive.”

I let go then, curling into myself and crying as I pressed my hands to my face. She was alive, and Clint wasn’t getting away. I could put my back to the grizzly scene and let someone else take care of it while I allowed myself to fall apart.

A blanket covered me as hands moved it in place. I was lifted, carried away in arms that kept me close and warm.

Inside my own room, a baggy sweatshirt was pulled over my head. Slade’s hands shook as he dressed me. Never once did he question me as he put me back together second by second.

There was a soft knock on my bedroom door, but Slade ignored it. It opened anyway, and there stood Lex. Eyes filled with tears, he walked with slow steps until he was mere feet away. We held each other’s gaze until I dipped my head, wondering why I had made that slight move. He replied in turn and then fell to his knees. Clasping his hands together in his lap, he bent his head as he cried.

I found Slade’s hand and gripped it as hard as I could, feeling the jerking spasms of his own pain rolling through him.

My boys were suffering, and I had an idea as to why. Yes, I’d been attacked. Yes, I’d fought my way free of it. But Clint hadn’t done all he’d set out to do. He hadn’t broken me. He hadn’t raped me. I hadn’t let him. And I’d be damned if I let him break them, either.

I put my hand out and gave Lex’s shoulder a squeeze, and then a slight shake. I did the same with Slade’s hand. When I had both of their attention, I finally spoke.

“It’s over. All of it is over, and we’re going to be just fine.”

They both gave me an odd look, but we were interrupted by Officer Whiten when he walked in and cleared his throat. “The ambulance just left.”

I forced myself to stand, fighting my knees to hold me up. Slade’s arm came around me as Lex’s hand settled on my shoulder.

“Is he dead?” I asked.

Officer Whiten held his hand up, stepped back out into the hallway, and said, “Get her wrapped up in that blanket and take her down to my car.”

“Lucy?” I staggered forward.

“Officer Whiten is taking her to the vet for us,” Lex said from over my shoulder.

“He kicked her in the head,” I found myself saying. “Tell the vet to make sure… to make sure…” I couldn’t finish what I was saying.

Officer Whiten nodded. “Don’t you worry none, Gracen. My niece is the best damn veterinarian in this here part of Texas.”

I wasn’t sure why, but that made me feel a little better.

“And Clint?” Slade asked.

I shied away from the name like a spooked horse. It was a good thing Slade knew his way around spooked horses, because within a minute of the simplest touches and a brief whispering of words, I calmed.

“He’s in transport to the hospital. Paramedics seem to think his chances are very slim,” Officer Whiten replied.

“What happens to Lucy if he dies?” Lex asked.

Officer Whiten’s eyebrow cocked. “Why would anything happen to Lucy?”

“I saw him. I saw what he looked like. It’s clear she attacked him. Will an innocent dog be put down because she was protecting her family?” Lex all but demanded.

“Of course not,” Officer Whiten answered, pausing for a moment before continuing, “Way I see it, if he doesn’t make it, that’s a whole lot less to deal with than if he does.

“I’ll need a statement, of course, but not right now. Maybe come by the office tomorrow afternoon, so we can get everything documented. Unless, of course, you’d like to speak to me now?”

I nodded, not wanting to put anything off. Didn’t want to wait one more day to drag it all back up.

“In that case, I’ll send my deputy to take Lucy over to the vet clinic,” Officer Whiten informed us and then walked out of the room.

Sitting right across the hall from where it all happened made me feel a little sick. “Let’s go downstairs. I’d rather talk to him there,” I said.

The general recap of events didn’t take long. I kept everything brief and to the point. There wasn’t any reason to go into the details. He’d attacked me. I’d attacked him back. I glossed over Lucy’s part, not wanting to paint a vicious picture of her because there wasn’t a vicious bone in her body. She’d done everything she could to protect me, and it was my turn to protect her. She hadn’t sought violence, but she damn sure wasn’t going to allow it to happen to her or to me. In my eyes, that made her a damn good dog.

* * *

Clint didn’t make it to the hospital. He died in transport. A major artery had been punctured, but because it wasn’t external, the paramedics had no idea just how extensive his injuries were. Odd things, arteries.

Lucy spent a few days with the vet before Lex was allowed to spring her. Once home, Lucy was back to being her lovable self. She was spoiled and pampered by the hands as they all overfed her on treats and belly rubs.

Slade and Lex had spent a few hours in Slade’s room getting it cleaned up before deciding the big house needed a little bit of TLC, so they decided to hire someone to come in to cook and clean.

My house stayed vacant for a while, but was soon rented out to none other than Lucy’s vet. I had a feeling there was something brewing between her and Lex, but kept it to myself. They’d sort it out or they wouldn’t. It wasn’t any of my business.

All that mattered was that the ranch would flourish under Slade and Lex’s care, and so would I.