Ana’s scream was the only thing that saved us from hitting that damn cow. As soon as she turned, her hands came up to protect her face, and I knew we were on a collision course with something. Thankfully, quick reflexes made me swing right, just in time to clear the beast. If anything, we gave it a close shave with the bumper, but by the way it was sauntering down the wet pavement, I guessed we’d missed it completely. It walked away. The same couldn’t be said for us. We barreled at fifty-five miles an hour into a wet field.

“Are you okay?” I unbuckled my seatbelt and leaned over to check her out. My hands skimmed her body, making sure she was in one piece. She felt good under my palms.

I couldn’t believe I’d just crashed her Jeep. Having just relived her parents’ death in the maze of mirrors, I was certain she’d be a wreck, but she wasn’t. Maybe she was in shock.

“Oh my God, we almost hit a cow. Do you know how long we could have eaten on that roadkill?” She wiped her forehead with a shaking hand.

“I’m trying to make sure you’re okay, and you’re talking about a side of beef?”

She unbuckled her seatbelt and turned toward me. “Two sides of beef. I swear that was a whole cow in the middle of the road, but I haven’t been seeing things clearly tonight, so maybe it was a half a cow. And … if that’s true, then we have bigger problems than running off the road.”

“You’re crazy, but you make me smile.” I reached over and cupped her cheek, like it was a natural thing to do, and she leaned into my touch.

“What now?” She wrapped the flannel shirt around her fisted hand and wiped the fog from the inside of the window.

I could tell by the sucking sound around us that we were stuck in the mud. Even in four-wheel drive the wheels kept spinning. I dropped my hand and reached into my coat pocket for my phone.

“I don’t have a signal. Do you?”

Ana reached inside her purse for her phone. She pressed in her security code, and the screen lit up. “No bars here either.” We were almost to Fury, alone on a stretch of mountain road that sat between two mountain peaks and was deserted except for a few ranch homes that dotted the flats in between. Of course we didn’t have a signal. I shouldn’t have been surprised. Life was anything but easy. At least that was my experience.

The engine had died the minute we came to a stop. I turned the key over and over, but it barely gave me a sound. “Looks like we’re stuck until someone finds us.” She wrapped her arms around her body and shivered. Without the engine running, there wasn’t a heater. I leaned over the center console and tried to wrap my arm around her, but it was awkward and ineffective. There was too much space in between us. That’s when I got the great idea to climb into the back seat.

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, if we sit close together, we share body heat. Someone is sure to find us soon.” I wasn’t sure whether that last part was true, but I didn’t want her to be frightened or cold. I climbed into the back seat first and patted the space beside me. “Until then, let’s stay warm.”

She gave me a wavering glance before she relented and climbed in back beside me. “Grace will come looking for me if I don’t show up at home.”

“Super.” Though now that she was next to me, I wasn’t sure how super that really sounded. Being alone with Ana in the back seat had a certain appeal. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be found right away. I lifted up and leaned forward to turn off the headlights shining across the field.

“Shouldn’t we leave those on?” She curled into my side and laid her head against my chest. This was fucking heaven. I knew I had nothing to offer this girl but misery, but I didn’t care. For once, I was taking something for me. Life could fuck off.

“They’re at the diner. It will be at least an hour before they start looking for us. We’ll turn them back on later. I’d hate for the battery to die before then.” It was a good lie. Sounded believable to me, and it must have to her as well because she nodded and scooted in closer. The windows fogged around us, and I moved in for the kiss I had originally planned to take once I got her home.

Within seconds, she was in my lap with her hands tucked under my leather jacket. My hands were in her hair. Our lips pressed together, and my tongue explored her mouth. She was sweet, warm, and inviting.

My erection pressed against her bottom and each time she moved, I swore under my breath.

She pulled her lips from mine. “Am I hurting you?”

“You’re fucking killing me, but I’ll die happy.” I lowered my hands to grip her ass and pulled her into my rock-hard cock.

“Oh …” She lifted her hips, but I pulled her back down onto my hardness. I loved the friction her body created. It turned out the back seat was a brilliant idea. My skin burned, and by the rocking of her hips against me, I was certain she wasn’t focused on how cold it was.

She didn’t put up a fight when my hands slipped under the shirt and seared a path up her bare back. In fact, her moan told me she liked the way my calloused fingers touched her skin. It had been a long time since I’d had my hands on any woman—too long. My savage hunger rose inside me like a ravenous beast.

All I wanted was to feel something, and for some reason she made me feel things I had no right to feel. I’d visited every emotion with her from anger to laughter since we’d met. The only emotion left was regret, and I saw that coming at me fast the minute my hands traveled forward and grasped her breasts. Her nipples pebbled and strained under the lacy fabric of her bra.

A gentle moan of passion burst from her lips. “Oh God.”

I pulled away for a second. I wanted inside her more than I wanted anything. Fucking her in the back seat of her Jeep was not my original intention, but the deep-seated ache I had needed to be relieved. Strong vivid desire erased any sense of right or wrong.

“I want you,” I whispered in her ear. “I want my cock inside you now.” I pumped my hips up against her body to show her what she’d done to me.

She pressed herself against my length and ground into me. “Yes, I want you too.” Her hands were on the zipper of my jacket, pulling it down tooth by tooth.

We were both completely caught up in the passion until a sharp rap on the window pulled us from our momentary bliss. The glow of a flashlight lit up the inside of the SUV, and a voice I recognized and loathed sliced through the air.

“This is Sheriff Stuart. I need you to exit the vehicle with your hands up.”

My hands fell from her breasts as a growl fell from my mouth. “Motherfucker.”

Ana shifted from my lap and righted her clothes. She opened her door first and stepped out of our warm cocoon into the frigid night air. I heard her feet hit the slick mud and watched as she slipped and fell to her ass, too fast for me to react.

The asshole didn’t even try to help her. His attention was on me.

“Well looky here. Isn’t this interesting? Old man McKee said someone was driving too fast for conditions and crashed on his land. Get out of the car, boy.”

I hated it when he called me “boy.” He did it to piss me off because he was in a position of authority.

I raised my hands because I didn’t want to give him a reason to shoot me. He’d been looking for something to pin on me for years. I couldn’t believe he’d finally found something. There was no way I could prove that I wasn’t driving too fast for conditions.

I slid out and immediately went to help Ana up.

“Hands up, boy.”

I raised my hands along with my voice. “Don’t be an ass, Junior. Help the woman up.”

He looked at Ana like he’d just realized she was there. She’d tried to right herself several times, but the mud was slippery, and she couldn’t get a foothold.

Sheriff Stuart gripped her arm and pulled her roughly to a standing position. I moved forward. I didn’t like the way he manhandled her. I backed off when his free hand went to his service weapon.

“I’ll need your license.”

Ana stepped between the sheriff and me. “You’ll need my license. I was driving. Ryker was a passenger.”

Sheriff Stuart eyed her with suspicion and then looked at me. “Is that true?”

I started to talk, but Ana interrupted. “I don’t let people drive my Jeep, sir. I was driving. If you’ll let me get my wallet from the front seat, I’d be happy to get you my license.”

He looked her up and down like she was dessert. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

I wanted to punch his big fat bulbous nose. Now she was a sweetheart? Minutes ago she wasn’t worthy of a helping hand.

“I’m Ana Barrett. I just moved to Fury.” Her voice was sweet. “I’m so glad you showed up.”

He looked between Ana and me. “Is this piece of shit giving you a problem?” He flipped the snap on his holster like he was ready to draw.

“Oh, heavens, no. Ryker has been a saint.” She smiled broadly, and I nearly sank to my knees into the mud. This woman was trying to save me. Didn’t she know I was a lost cause? “My car started giving me problems at the fair. Nate took my pregnant friend home while Ryker offered to drive with me. We were going to take it to his shop so he could work on it, and then a silly cow crossed my path and here I am.”

I stood there straight-faced. She was lying to the law for me. Sure, we had talked about a tune-up, but there was no plan. At least there hadn’t been, but I would make sure her Jeep ran like it was new. I rewarded loyalty, and this woman was putting it all on the line for me—me, a man not worthy of her glance.

“I’d be negligent if I didn’t warn you about him, Ana. Ryker Savage is not the type of man a beautiful young woman like yourself should be keeping company with.”

She leaned against me. I wanted to wrap my arms around her in a show of solidarity, but I didn’t dare move. Sheriff Stuart only needed me to flinch, and he’d find a reason to arrest me or shoot me.

“I thank you for your concern, but you needn’t worry. Now if you’re going to write me a ticket, I’d like to get it over with, and then maybe you can help me get my car out of the mud.”

I couldn’t see her face, but she had to be smiling because the sheriff was speechless. I’d been dazzled by her smile more than once, so I almost felt sorry for the bastard. When he regained his gruff disposition, he demanded, “Why were you in the back seat?”

“It was warmer back there.” She said it like it was common sense, and he was an idiot. The truth was, he was an idiot, and I loved how easily she could put him off kilter.

The sheriff hooked his winch up to her back bumper and pulled the Jeep to the road.

Ana climbed into the front seat next to me where her feet didn’t touch the gas pedal because of my adjustment. She looked over at the asshole standing next to her rolled-down window. “Must have moved when we crashed.” She adjusted the seat and turned the key. The engine sputtered and died. She pumped the gas and tried again. This time it turned over. With a wave of her hand, she said, “Thanks for your kindness, Sheriff.” She pressed the gas, putting distance between the asshole and us.

When we were a safe distance away, I twisted in the seat and asked, “Why did you lie?”

She kept her eyes on the road and said, “I like you more than I like him. He seems like a jerk.”

“You’re a good judge of people.”

She dropped one hand from the steering wheel and reached over the console to touch mine. “I hope so. You have a story to tell, Ryker, and I’m happy to listen when you’re ready to talk.”

I knew I’d tell her my story. She’d defended me, and in doing so she’d earned the right, but it wouldn’t be tonight. I wasn’t ready to ruin the best moment I’d had in years.

We rode the rest of the way into town holding hands. I gave her directions to my garage, and when she pulled into the driveway, I walked around to her side.

“Thanks for what you did. No one but Mona and Nate has ever stuck up for me.” I leaned in and brushed my lips across hers. When I pulled away, she licked her lips like she was savoring the kiss.

“I have a feeling you’re worth it.” She rolled up her window and drove away.

Ana Barrett was changing my life from the top of my head to the tip of my toes and all the way back to my shriveled heart.