Nobody's Dream (5 page)

What the hell had he said? He had no memory of any conversations—hell, no memory of anything but some wild dreams about horses, avalanches, and Maggie.

Ironic that an avalanche had taken Maggie away and another had brought him into Cassie’s arms. Okay, enough trying to make sense out of this screwed-up mess. He wouldn’t be in this girl’s arms for long. She didn’t trust him. Detested him, most likely.

So damned tired. Too exhausted to do anything about the exotic, contrary beauty in bed beside him, for sure, Luke’s eyelids drooped.

“Good. Sleep now. You
need
to regain your strength.” Her words filtered through his fuzzy brain briefly before they faded away, but he heard her stress the word need as if there was an unspoken
soon
.

The next time he opened his eyes, the room was still dark. He lay pressed against a soft body again, nice and warm. Maggie. His cock stirred. His favorite times were waking up slowly together on their rare lazy days.

He was naked except for his boxers. She wore a bra and panties.

“I see you are awake again.”

Cassie? Slowly, Luke remembered where he was and what had happened. Avalanche. Cassie’s cabin. Hell, Cassie’s
bed!
Having her close like this—the closest he’d ever managed to come to the girl—made him grin. “How’d a little thing like you drag me in here?”

“You regained consciousness long enough for me to help you out of the truck, and I had you inside before the chills hit and you lost consciousness again.”

“Oh, so that’s why you undressed me.”

Her body grew stiff. “You had hypothermia. There would be no other reason for me to do so.”

Shit
. No wonder he’d been out for so long and was so confused now. He wondered if he didn’t have a concussion, too. Luke suffered enough of those during his football days in college to remember the confusion they brought. He might even be dealing with some altitude sickness. Her place was barely three thousand feet above his, but the effects could be exponential.

“Luke, are you still cold?”

“Not much anymore.” Being too cold definitely wasn’t his problem now. His cock grew stiffer with her breasts pressed against his side. Cassie was going to be embarrassed as hell whenever they decided to move out of this bed.

Not that he planned on moving anywhere at the moment.

“Good.” She yanked the top blanket off him and held it up to her chest. “Because I need to check on my soup. Now, turn your head away.”

Why’d Momma raise me to be such a gentleman?

Luke sighed and slowly turned away to avoid any sudden movement that might set off the jackhammer in his head again. She hurried to cover herself and get out of bed. He regretted the loss of her body heat the moment she left his side.

“I will be right back with a bowl of soup. It will help warm you even more. Would you like some coffee, too?”

“Both sound good. Black would be great.”

As her footsteps retreated and the door opened and closed, he rolled onto his back again with a groan, laying his forearm over his eyes. Damn, he hadn’t felt this weak since O’Keeffe kicked him in the thigh.

Aw, hell.
If his body hurt this bad, what did his new truck look like? Cassie said it was probably totaled. He’d only had the damned thing about five months. Bought it for hauling the—

Shit!
Luke tossed the remaining blankets off and struggled to sit up. The room swayed, his head pounded, and his vision blurred at the sudden change in position. He held on to the bedpost until he could see straight again. He needed to find his phone and send someone out to his ranch to check on his horses.

Luke stood and scanned the room, but it was too dark to see if his pants or coat were here. Where had he left his cell phone? He stumbled toward the living room and scanned the room from the bedroom doorway. No phone in sight. Most people didn’t bother with landlines these days, but alone up here on the mountain, Cassie should have a backup.

“Lucas Denton! I want you back in bed!” She stood in a doorway across the room, a steaming mug of what he assumed was coffee in her hand. At some point since she’d left the bedroom, she’d donned a poncho to cover herself.

Cassie wanted him in bed? He grinned. “How’d you know my given name was Lucas?”

“Just a guess.”

No doubt she used his formal name hoping to place more distance between them. Still, he didn’t mind hearing her call him that. Not as long as she let him call her whatever he wanted to.

Cassie came through the doorway from what must be the kitchen. The smell of strong coffee reached him. Damn, he needed that—but not yet.

“I need to use your phone.” He reached for the doorjamb with both hands when his legs began to wobble.

“You
need
to be in bed before you pass out.” She walked toward him and placed the mug on the coffee table. “Who do you want to call?”

Cassie glanced down at his boxers, and he realized that’s all he wore. She’d probably taken his pants to dry them out. As if realizing where her gaze was focused, she averted her eyes quickly. Knowing she stripped him out of his clothes, well, most of them, told him the woman didn’t mess around when dealing with hypothermia, despite clearly being uncomfortable in the presence of a nearly naked man.

The chill in the room made him cold again, his abs aching from many prior bouts of shivers that must have assaulted his muscles. This whole cabin was awfully damned cold. No wonder she had to wear a woolen poncho in here. He glanced over to find a fire burning in the fireplace insert, but heard no motor running the fan to put out heat. How did she survive the winter up here? Either the fire wasn’t burning hot enough or the blower was broken. He’d have to check on it. Later.

His focus returned to Cassie. “Listen, I need to check on my horses and find someone to go to my ranch to take care of them.”

“They are fine. Adam and Kitty spent the night there after the aval—”

“Kitty?”

“Sorry, Karla. I knew her as Kitty in college and the name stuck, although she did not let anyone call her that but me. Anyway, I called her a little while ago to let her know you were conscious and doing better. She said one of Angelina’s brothers—I forget which one, Matteo maybe—moved in at the ranch until you can return home.”

Luke hadn’t relied on anyone to take care of his commitments since the day he’d lost Maggie. Those horses were
his
responsibility. Sure, Angel’s brothers, Matt and Rafe, knew a lot about horses, but his animals had special needs.

“They won’t take too kindly to strangers. I still need to check in on them.” He realized it sounded like he planned to put a call through to the horses. He leaned his shoulder against the doorway and ran his hand through his hair, hating the feelings of helplessness overtaking him again. “Look, I need to talk with someone down there.” His raspy voice sounded barely above a whisper to his ears. He’d never felt so weak.

Trying to take command of the situation while fighting to remain upright, he held out his free hand palm upward. “I need to use your phone.” She stared him down, silent and unrelenting. “Please. What would you do if it was your alpacas in the hands of a stranger?”

Her features softened. She sighed and pulled a cell from the pouch in the front of her poncho. “But I insist that you sit down before you fall over.”

He walked up to the fireplace instead. Maybe being closer to the flames would stop his body’s incessant shaking. As he leaned his shoulder against the mantel, he accepted her phone and then stared blankly at the buttons. He had no clue how to reach any of the Giardano brothers. Glancing back at Cassie, who stood with her arms folded over her chest, he asked, “Do you think Adam’s still at my place?”

“No. Adam took Kitty home yesterday. She’s been having some back pain, and he wanted her in their own bed last night.”

Not that he could remember Adam’s number, either, but his or Karla’s contact info would be on Cassie’s speed dial.
Dammit
. Luke couldn’t think straight. He took a few steps toward the coffee table and reached down to pick up the steaming mug, but must have tripped over something and lost his balance. He pictured himself about to be sprawled out on top of the table.

“Luke!” Before he landed, Cassie ran around the table and grabbed him around the chest, surprisingly quick and strong for such a little thing. She helped set him upright again.

The room continued to spin. “Sorry, darlin’. Got a little dizzy.” When he patted her shoulder to convey that he was okay, she stepped away from him abruptly, forcing him to steady himself on the arm of the couch. He drew in a deep breath.

Fear. He saw genuine fear in her eyes, much like he saw in his horses. Why would she fear him?

“You should be in bed.
Please
, Lucas, cooperate with me. Make the call from there.” The plea in her voice caught him by surprise, too. Almost sounded like she cared. Well, if she didn’t, she’d have left his ass to freeze out in that newly formed snow mound. The woman was a mass of contradictions.

“Let me just call Angel before going back to bed. She’ll know how to reach her brother.” He heard her sigh as he stared at the phone a minute longer. Hell, he didn’t have a clue what Angel’s or Marc’s numbers were either. He always used the programmed contacts. Even if he did recall, the blow to his head had probably scrambled his memory.

Cassie came to his rescue, taking the cell from him. “I do not wish to bother Kitty, but Marc’s number is in the recent calls. He was with Angel the night of the avalanche and called to check on you. Maybe they are still together. If not, I am sure he will know how to contact her.”

“Good thinking.” Luke sat down hard on the small sofa, too late realizing the jarring movement would set off more jackhammers between his temples. He held his head in his hands, hoping the throbbing would go away before he had to speak to anyone.

Cassie hit the callback button and handed it to him again. When it went to voicemail, he left a brief message.

Let go. There’s nothing you can do now.

No doubt Marc had taken care of everything after hearing about the accident. The man was good at taking care of everyone’s needs but his own.

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Cassie. “Thanks. Guess I’m going to have to trust that they have things under control down there. How long do you think it’ll be before I can head home?”

Cassie shrugged and pocketed the cell again. “The road is covered with twenty feet of snow, ice, and debris from fallen trees and rocks. I would guess a couple of weeks. At least this is late April, and some snow will melt in the days to come.”

“Damn. That’s a long time.”

“Look, I did not ask for this, either.”

He shouldn’t be so ungrateful for putting her out like this. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I’m not used to lying around doing nothing.”

“But that is just what you are going to do for the next few days at least. Now, back to bed.”

He stood and swayed on his feet. Cassie placed an arm around his waist and led him back to the bedroom, piling up pillows and blankets so he was sitting up. “I will return in a few minutes with your lunch.”

With it being so dark in here, he would have expected it to be time for breakfast or supper. Much as he hated to admit it, being back in bed was just what he needed. The shaking had finally stopped, and he leaned into the pillow. He needed to regain his strength.

Cassie returned a minute later and handed him the mug of coffee. “Drink this while I prepare a bowl of soup for you.”

“Why don’t you join me?”

“It will be easier for me to eat in the kitchen.”

She probably preferred to keep her distance from him. He took a sip of the black brew. It was stronger than he made it at home, but damned good. Maybe it would clear some of the cobwebs from his brain and give him a boost of energy. Not that there was anything he needed to be doing or that she would allow him to do for a while.

Except maybe checking the blower on her fireplace insert. He made a lousy patient, but thankfully, stayed pretty healthy most of the time. Too bad Cassie would be subjected to his frustration until he was well enough to go home.

When she returned, he didn’t waste any time trying to set a different tone. “Cassie, darlin’, I’m not blaming you for my being stuck up here. It’s my own fault, but I have a lot of obligations right now. I can’t be away from my horses too long. It’s a crucial time in their recovery and training. I don’t even know what the weather’s like down in the valley. O’Keeffe doesn’t like being shut up in the barn, but I can’t leave her out in a blizzard, either.”

She sat down on the bed as far away from him as practical and traded him his mug for another filled with soup. “The storm was mostly up here in the mountains. Kitty said they only had a few inches at your place that first night.” She cocked her head. “How many horses do you have?”

He grinned. “Four at the moment. All rescued mustangs that had been abused or neglected. I’m training them for SAR work.” He didn’t want to think about the day coming when he had to turn them over to someone else, for the same reason foster parents found it hard to let the kids they cared for go.

“SAR?”

“Search and Rescue. I just transferred to the squad out of Fairchance. When these horses go to new owners, I’ll take on three more. My mustang sanctuary is small potatoes compared to some, but I can’t afford to hire a lot of hands to help right now, so three’s my limit.”

“But you said you have four.”

Luke smiled. “The fourth is Picasso, a gelding I plan on keeping. He was my first one and a damned good SAR-trained horse already. When Pic’s ready, he’ll be valuable in mountain rescues, but we’ll remain a team.”

Thinking about how he’d recently been rescued himself, Luke shivered and took a sip from the mug of soup—well, more like broth. Still, it tasted better than what he would have served himself from a can. The heat from the liquid warmed his insides, and he finished it off, handing her the mug when he didn’t see a nightstand nearby.