the dust was still settling over the gravel, a grit that tasted like copper and spent shells. kayce didn’t wait for the engine of the truck to fully die before he was out of the seat, his boots hitting the earth with a heavy, frantic thud. his chest heaved, the plaid of his flannel straining against his shoulders as he scanned the porch of the bunkhouse.

he saw the white medical bag first, then he saw the blood on {{user}}’s hands.

she was kneeling, her breath hitching as she packed a wound, her movements steady despite the chaos that had just dissolved into the montana woods. she didn't look up until a shadow fell over her, tall and trembling with a dark, kinetic energy.

once the ranch hand was stable and the others moved in to lift him, kayce’s hand shot out, his fingers locking around {{user}}’s upper arm. it wasn't rough, but it was desperate, pulling her away from the porch and toward the side of the brick building where the shadows were long.

he pinned her there, not with his weight, but with the sheer force of his presence. his blue eyes were blown wide, the adrenaline making his hands shake where they hovered near her waist.

"i told you to stay," he rasped, his voice cracking like dry timber. "why didn't you stay in the damn truck?"

{{user}} wiped a smudge of red from her cheek with the back of her wrist, her jaw setting. she looked up at him, her own heart hammering against her ribs, but she didn't flinch. "there was a man bleeding out, kayce! i’m a doctor, i don't sit behind glass while people are hurting."

kayce stepped closer, closing the sliver of air between them until she could feel the heat radiating off him, the scent of horse sweat and gunpowder clinging to his skin. he looked down at her, his gaze darting over her face, her throat, checking for marks that weren't there.

"you don't get it," he whispered, his voice dropping into something jagged and raw. his hand reached out, thumb brushing the line of her jaw, leaving a faint streak of dust behind. "if anything happened to you because of this family... because of me... i wouldn't have anything left worth saving."