I’d taken her back home while William had raced to fetch the doc and the sheriff.
She looked so pale and small, lying in the middle of our big bed, lips tightened with pain.
“If the pain gets to be too much, give her a couple drops of this with some water.” Doc handed me a small glass bottle with a stopper. I curled my fingers around it, holding onto it as though it was precious. It kind of was, wasn’t it? I couldn’t stand the idea of Sassy in pain.
“Thanks, Doc,” William said, clapping the man on the shoulder. “We appreciate you checking her over.”
“Of course.” Doc glanced at her again and shook his head. “I hate to see one of our women laid low, but I can tell she’s a fighter.”
I chuckled. “You should see the other guys.”
If Sassy hadn’t started screaming and fighting, things wouldn’t have gone quite as easily. She’d distracted Carmichael and his last hired hand, making it a lot easier for William and me to take them down when we could have easily been shot instead.
Doc snorted. “So, I heard. I believe I have an appointment to see one of them in the jail when I’m done here.” He gave me a look.
I shrugged. I had no regrets. I’d had a lot of anger to work out. The man was still alive, wasn’t he? That was more than the others could say. We’d had to even the odds.
“When will she wake up?” William asked, still worried.
“Oh, anytime now, I’d say.” Doc nodded reassuringly. “It could be five minutes, it could be an hour. She’s had quite a day.”
Yes, she had. She was battered and bruised all over. My lips tightened, and I wished Carmichael’s death hadn’t been so quick. He’d deserved to suffer more. If I could have given him a bruise to match every one of Sassy’s…
But he was gone, and she wouldn’t have to be afraid, no threat hanging over her head.
We still needed to deal with her dishonesty, but not until she was fully recovered. My cock tried to rise when I thought about spanking her perfectly rounded ass until she was very sorry, she’d ever lied, but I pushed back the thought. That was days away.
Doc left, and William and I sat down on either side of the bed, each holding one of Sassy’s hands and watching her pale face for any sign of movement.
“We’re going to have to get back to the ranch, eventually,” I murmured unhappily. We both wanted to take care of her, but part of that included taking care of the ranch. If our source of income fell apart, we would all suffer. Yet leaving our wife alone when she was injured felt plain wrong.
William nodded reluctantly. “We could trade off. Just for the rest of today and tomorrow. See how she’s doing after that.”
Sassy stirred, causing us to fall silent. Sitting up alertly, we waited to see what happened. Her lips parted, her eyelashes fluttered, and a little moan escaped. William and I squeezed her hands, giving her whatever comfort we could.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, just relax, you’re safe,” William said soothingly. To my surprise, she did relax as soon as she heard his voice. I was glad he was there. I hadn’t even considered she might wake confused, not realizing she was safe.
Slowly, her eyes opened, and she focused on us, one after the other.
“Lord Carmichael is dead?”
“As a doornail,” I said quickly. Her eyes widened, and William coughed. Damn, might have been too crass. “How’s your head? The Doc left some medicine if it hurts too much.”
“It’s okay.” She winced, wrinkling her nose as though she wasn’t sure of what she’d just said. “I think. It doesn’t hurt as much as it did… it…” Her voice trailed off, eyes shifting, then she tried to jerk her hand back. I tightened my grip, and she stared up at me. “Why are you being so nice to me?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be nice?”
To my horror, tears sprung to her eyes.
“You… you were so angry. You called me… you called me a… lying whore.” Her voice dropped, whispering the last two words, and my heart dropped as well.
I hadn’t realized she’d heard that. Shame filled me, and I hung my head, but I didn’t let go of her hand—I couldn’t.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, I was angry that you’d lied to us, but I should have never said that, never called you that.”
“He’s got a temper, but it moves fast,”