Shattered Justice Read Online Free PDF Page B

“I’m laughing because you make me so happy.”
    If he’d been a cat, he would have been purring. As it was, the low sound deep in his chest had more the rumble of a lion. Or a tiger. “Mmm. And you make me happy.”
    Target shooting was forgotten as he tugged her close. Her eyes drifted shut, and the feel of him flooded her senses. When he finally released her, they both were breathless. Sarah took a step back, glanced at the target, then dropped her best imitation of a curtsy.
    “Next shot is yours, Sir Justice.”
    His grin was all male. “Indeed, wench. Step aside and watch a master at work.” Dan slid an arrow from the quiver at his belt and took his stance where Sarah had been.
    He nocked the arrow and drew back, his smooth motions bearing testimony to his athletic grace. Standing there, bow and arrow at the ready, he reminded Sarah of the old Robin Hood movies. Except Dan was better built than the actor in those old movies.
    Sarah smiled.
Much
better built.
    At six foot four, Dan stood head and shoulders above most folks. Add those broad shoulders and the trim waist, that devil-may-care smile, those looks just rugged enough to save him from being pretty …
    Oh, yeah. He was pretty well perfect.
    At least Sarah thought so. And she wasn’t alone. She saw the way women watched him when he walked by. Just last week he’d stopped in to say hi at the high school office where she worked part-time. When she walked out to the parking lot with him, Sarah spotted female students and teachers alike watching her husband. And there was no missing the feminine appreciation in their features.
    Sarah didn’t mind, though, because Dan was all hers and had been almost from the day they met.
    The sound of an arrow striking home drew Sarah’s attention—Dan’s arrow struck just above and to the left of hers. She patted his arm, waggling her brows at him. “You’ll win the next one, Danny Boy.”
    He nudged her away, his deep laughter as sweet as the summer breeze blowing on their faces. You couldn’t buy days like this. Not for a million dollars.
    Sarah knew it and appreciated it. Deeply.
    August and September were too often brutally hot. But July days, like today, had just enough breeze to cool the sun’s heat, which made it perfect for hiking.
    As Dan reached down for his day pack and lifted it back onto his shoulder, Sarah started walking. “I think I’ll scout ahead and see if there’s a good spot to settle down for lunch.”
    “Okay, meet up in fifteen at the most?”
    She looked back at him over her shoulder, drinking in the sight of him, basking in the love shining in his face. “You got it, handsome.”
    Nope. You couldn’t buy days like this for all the money in the world.
    The woods around them were dense enough that Sarah was out of sight within minutes, but Dan didn’t mind. He preferred a more leisurely pace to Sarah’s bounding energy. Nor did he worry. Sarah could handle herself out here. She might be small—the top of her head barely reached his shoulder—but she was fit and strong. That was one of the things that first drew him to her. She wasn’t one of those fragile women who had to be sheltered and protected. No way. His wife was a tiny package of energy and spunk, and he loved that.
    As was the agreement—loser retrieves arrows from the target—Dan went to pull their arrows free. Slipping them into hisquiver, he followed Sarah’s trail with a practiced eye. No path out here. Just wilderness. Pure and majestic.
    He paused, lifting his face to the sun’s warmth. He enjoyed hiking almost as much as Sarah did. The rich, earthy fragrance of the Oregon forest filled his senses. He soaked in the towering evergreens all around, sunlight filtering down through dense needles.
    “Okay, buddy. No snoozing on the trail.”
    He chuckled and opened his eyes. His wife was just ahead of him, crouched atop a huge fallen tree. With her quiver of arrows on her belt, her bow slung across her slim