“No, Wyatt, this is about your fears. The truth is, what happened that night left you bleeding, and you’re too chicken to put yourself at risk again.” She scrambled to her feet and gazed down at him. “I’m going to bed. And just so you know, I’m not about to sleep alone in the other tent. If you try to bed down somewhere else, I’ll find you.”

“The wolves won’t be back tonight. Maybe not ever. As a pack, they pick easy kills, and they know now that the horses are well guarded.”

“Tell it to a tree. I’m not going to take any chances.”

As she turned to walk away, he couldn’t resist saying, “But you’re willing to take chances on a guy like me?”

He’d intended it as a dig, but she was smiling as she turned to face him again. “In a heartbeat,” she told him.

After she vanished into the darkness, he remained by the fire. He was aware when a lantern came on inside the tent, and he tried his damnedest not to look in that direction, but his eyes felt like refrigerator magnets that couldn’t resist the draw of steel. She was undressing. Her silhouette was cast against the nylon wall of the tent. In stark detail, he could see the shape of her breasts, the slope of her ribs, the indentation of her waist, and the sexy flare of her hips. His mouth went as dry as a sun-bleached bone. He’d warned her about not using a light in the tent. It followed that she knew very well she was putting on a show and that he might be watching. The realization infuriated him, and he sprang to his feet.

With both anger and need pushing him, he strode to the tent, swept aside the flap, and stepped inside. He’d intended to make a grand entrance and intimidate the hell out of her, but he’d forgotten this was a pup tent that didn’t allow him to stand erect. The space was also tiny, barely large enough for two people to sleep beside each other without spooning. His nose was level with hers, because unlike him, she was short enough to stand upright. She was still stark naked as well, and she made no attempt to cover any part of herself with her hands or arms. Wyatt could remember when she’d been mortified to have him see her in a tank top. He guessed maybe being at the ranch truly had helped her win the war with some of her demons. She definitely didn’t look embarrassed now. She stood with her shoulders back, a woman who knew she was beautiful and felt empowered.

It aggravated the hell out of him.

“Are you sure this is what you want? Sex with a bad boy for a whole week? Because I can give you bad, Erin. Just say the word.”

“What word would that be? I can think of only three: go for it.”

Angry and aroused wasn’t a good combination of emotions for a man to have when a woman challenged him to take her. Wyatt snaked out a hand, grabbed her wrist, and jerked her toward him. Stooped over as he was, her breasts were available to him with a mere dip of his head, and he latched onto a nipple. He didn’t try to be gentle. He hoped to scare the sand out of her and make her think twice about daring a dangerous man to make love to her.