9781631051289TemptedbytheCowboySullivan

by Sandy Sullivan

  “I hope so too.”

  Jason and Mandy headed back across the street to retrieve his truck. A trip to Austin would take several hours. He just hoped they’d find Peyton soon. No telling what the crazy bastard who’d taken her would do.

  Once they were inside his truck, he opened the glove box and took out his .45. No telling whether he’d need it or not, but he wouldn’t take the chance if they found Peyton hurt.

  “You really do love her, don’t you?” Mandy asked, watching him check the clip for bullets.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “If you didn’t, you wouldn’t be running off to Austin with a loaded gun to find her. Admit it Jason Young, you’ve fallen hard for Peyton.”

  He stopped for a moment as images of their time together flitted across his mind—Peyton with her hair down around her shoulders, smiling up at him, making love to her in the shower, up against the wall in his room, and across the mattress of his bed, watching her serve customers at the bar from his spot in the corner, her smile lighting up the room even from that distance. When her gaze caught his, the feeling of his stomach in his throat wouldn’t go away. Yeah, he loved her. How could he not? “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “The stubborn fall the hardest. She’s in your blood, cowboy, and you’ll have no one else taking what’s yours.”

  “Nope. He better plan on hiding well because if I have a chance at him, he’ll be pushing up daisies.”

  “Go get ‘em, cowboy!”

  They drove out of Bandera hell-bent for leather to reach Austin before any harm could come to Peyton at the hands of her ex.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Peyton slowly opened her gritty eyes as she tried to swallow. Eating dried parchment would probably have produced more saliva. Her dried throat told her something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what. Everything seemed fuzzy and out of focus.

  “Ah, I see you’re awake finally. You slept for several hours.”

  Charles.

  “Open those pretty little eyes for me, darling, and we’ll get started on your punishment.”

  “Punishment?” she croaked as she tried to move, only to realize she was bound at the wrists and tied to something overhead. Her toes barely reached the floorboards. She glanced down to see he had her completely stripped of her clothing, which now lay in tatters at her feet. “What have I done?”

  “You ran away, baby. I’ve had a terrible time finding you over the last two years. Unfortunately for you, that means my anger has grown exponentially to a rage it’s been difficult to control. No one else could satisfy this need in me.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  He laughed, the sound reverberated off the rafters as she glanced around. A shiver rolled down her back at the maniacal sound. This wasn’t the apartment they’d rented together.

  “Do you like it?” he asked, his gaze sweeping the room. “It’s roomier. I got it especially for you and me to get reacquainted in now that I can release the inner beast I’ve been holding back. Something I can easily do since I’ve been planning this for such a long time.”

  “Inner beast?”

  “Darling, darling, darling.” He cupped her face with his palm. “You haven’t seen anything from me yet. I didn’t want to frighten you before by playing with you the way I wanted to, so I spent time with others to sate my desires, but now it’ll be all on you.”

  He reached into a duffle bag sitting on the floor near her feet. A long leather whip unfurled when he pulled it out.

  “What are you going to do with that?”

  “Mark up your pretty body so you’ll know you belong to me. Only my mark will be forever etched into your brain.”

  “Mark?”

  “I’ve become quite the master at the bullwhip. I can leave nothing more than a small red spot or I can draw blood, depending on your responses.”

  “Listen, Charles. I’m sorry I ran, but I didn’t know what to do. You were so distant. If you let me go, I’ll be the perfect lover for you. I’ll do anything you want me to do. I won’t run again, I promise.”

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you anymore, Peyton. You’ve lied to me, ran from me, cheated on me, and disappointed me beyond repair.” He placed his hand over his heart. “Now you’ll pay for your misdeeds until I say you’ve had enough.”

  He stepped behind her, trailing the whip over her back, leaving goose bumps along her flesh.

  “You know, your skin will mark nicely. I haven’t had a woman who had skin the color of yours. Black women don’t mark so well. White woman are beautiful to mark although I wasn’t too picky with those I’ve taken.” He shrugged as he continued to trail the whip over her skin.

  “Please, Charles. Just let me go. I won’t report anything. I won’t tell a soul.”

  “Sorry. I can’t do that, Peyton. You need to be punished.” He moved behind her, cracking the whip into the air.

  She jumped as tears started to roll down her cheeks. He’d never been physical before, but apparently he’d been saving that little piece of information from her for some time. It was only the emotional abuse she’d had to endure. Now it would be physical too.

  The first sting of the whip on her skin made her jump, but it didn’t hurt too much, not anymore than the needle from a piercing or tattoo. However, there was a difference in this pain. It wasn’t self-inflicted. The piercings and tats helped her deal with the self-loathing, low self-esteem and emotional distress the abuse from Charles had inflicted. The burning slash of the whip didn’t make her feel better.

  “Charles, stop!”

  Having him inflict pain that had nothing to do with pleasure, made it abuse, and she wasn’t going to tolerate this from him anymore.

  “Oh, baby. You have no idea how far I’m willing to take you.”

  The whip struck again. This time, she could feel the blood seeping from the wound on her shoulder. He was a monster, crazy beyond anything she’d ever dealt with before.

  Before long, he was constantly taking the whip to her back as she tried to disconnect her mind from the pain. He laughed as he stopped for a moment to touch one of the wounds. A scream tore from her throat as the salt from his skin penetrated the wound.

  The door burst open as her head swam. “Jason?” Her voice came out in a painful whisper.

  “Back away slowly.”

  “Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?”

  “I’ve come for Peyton.”

  “She’s mine to do with as I wish. Leave now before I have you arrested for trespassing.”

  “She’s not yours, she’s mine, you bastard, and you can’t have her.”

  Charles coiled the whip.

  “Jason!” Peyton yelled, seconds too late as the whip struck his wrist, pulling the pistol from his grasp and sending it skidding across the floor. Charles struck again, landing a slice across Jason’s cheek.

  Jason dove at Charles as Peyton twisted around trying to keep them in her sights. A set of hands worked at the knots at her wrists. “No! I need to make sure Jason is all right. Leave me. Help him.”

  “Hush. Jason can handle himself.”

  “Mandy?”

  “Easy, honey. I’ll have you down in a minute.” Mandy grumbled under her breath about Charles being a bastard and she’d cut his balls off should she get the chance.

  The two men struggled on the floor, rolling around, knocking over furniture in their struggle to get the upper hand. “I’ll kill you for hurting her.”

  “She’s mine, cowboy, and nothing you can do to stop me. She’s my wife.”

  “Wife?”

  “Yes. We were married this evening when we reached Austin.”

  “Peyton?” Mandy asked.

  “I don’t know, Mandy. It’s a blur from when I left the doctor’s office. He was drugging me.”

  Jason climbed to his feet, breathing hard from the struggle with Charles. Unfortunately, now Charles had the gun and the bullwhip.
/>   “Charles, please. Let them go. I’ll do whatever you want,” she implored with her hands out as she slowly walked toward him.

  “I need to kill them, just like the others, so they can’t point fingers at me.”

  “Others?”

  “The women. The ones I used before I found you. They had to die. All of them.”

  Mandy and Jason looked at each other and then back at Peyton. “They won’t say anything, Charles, right Jason?”

  “Are you crazy? He just admitted he killed God only knows how many people. He needs to go to jail, Peyton.”

  “But if you don’t say anything, he’ll let you go, won’t you, Charles? It’s your word against theirs that you said anything. You’re an attorney. You know the evidence is threadbare.”

  “They have to die.”

  She stepped closer, hoping she could get the gun out of his hands or keep him from shooting the two people who meant the world to her. “They’ll go. Right guys? Just leave. Go back to Bandera.”

  “I’m not leaving without you, Peyton.”

  “Me either.”

  “Stubborn asses! Go!” She got close enough to see the confusion in Charles’ eyes. He really was crazy. “Give me the gun, Charles.”

  “No. I have to kill them.”

  “Charles, please, let them go and I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll stay with you forever.”

  Charles waved the gun toward Jason, pointing at his chest. “I must kill them or they’ll find us again.”

  He took aim at Jason. Just as he pulled the trigger, Peyton swung, hitting the gun in his hand as she prayed Jason hadn’t been hit.

  “You bitch!” The gun came up in her face as she stared down the barrel of a .45 pointed between her eyes. “You’ll die with them!”

  A blur rushed into Charles’ side as Jason tackled them both. She screamed out in pain as her back hit the wooden floor.

  Jason and Charles wrestled for the gun now trapped between their bodies. An explosion cracked the air and Peyton screamed once more.

  * * * *

  Jason wrestled with Charles across the floor. The gun trapped between their bodies. This wouldn’t turn out well, one way or another, but if it meant Peyton would be safe, then so be it. He would give his life to keep her out of this maniac’s hands.

  Peyton screamed as the gun went off.

  Jason waited for the burn of the bullet as it penetrated his body, but it never came.

  He looked down in Charles’ wide eyes.

  The other man didn’t move, his gaze fixed to the ceiling above them in death’s blank stare.

  “Jason!”

  “I’m okay,” he said as he moved back, taking the gun from the dead man’s hands.

  Blood seeped across Charles’ chest, spreading over the entire front of his shirt.

  “Mandy, call the police,” Jason said, stepping back as Peyton threw herself into his arms.

  “Already on it,” she replied, talking into her cell phone as she gave them the information on where they were located.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, pushing her back a little so he could unbutton his shirt.

  “You know I love to see your chest, Jason, but really? Is now a good time?”

  “Baby, you need something on.”

  She glanced down at her exposed chest and crossed her arms over her naked breasts. “Oh yeah.” He wrapped his shirt around her, helping her to stuff her arms into the sleeves. She hissed as the shirt touched her back.

  “You’ll be going to the hospital to get those looked at.”

  “I’m fine.” She grabbed him around the waist the moment he finished buttoning up the front of the shirt. “Hold me.”

  “No problem, darlin’. I’ll hold you as long as you want me to.”

  “Don’t ever leave. I need you.”

  “Honey, you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

  Within several minutes, the police arrived with guns drawn. Jason had placed his gun on the bare coffee table across the room and sat with Peyton on the couch trying to calm her shaking as the rush of everything hit her.

  “The ambulance is here too.”

  “He doesn’t need one, but she does.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “No you aren’t, darlin’. You’ll let them take a look at your back,” he said, holding her as close as he could. He almost lost her and the thought scared the hell out of him. “She’s been whipped.”

  “Let’s see so we can evaluate you, ma’am,” the paramedic said as she slowly unbuttoned the shirt. “We need to take you in so the doctor can look at those. Some are pretty deep.”

  She glanced at Jason. “You’ll go with me?”

  “Of course. I’m not leaving your side if I don’t have to.”

  “Thank you for rescuing me.”

  “I love you. There is no place I’d rather be.”

  “You love me?”

  “Yes. This isn’t the time or place for this conversation, but I do love you and I hope you love me too.”

  “I do, Jason. I love you so much.” She buried her face in his neck and he felt the warm trickle of tears on his skin.

  “Ma’am?”

  “All right.” She wiped the tears from her eyes as she sat back.

  Her tears broke his heart. He never wanted to see them again on her pretty face. “There now.” He wiped the remaining wetness from her cheeks. “Let’s get you fixed up.”

  “I’ll need your statement, sir,” one of the officers said, as his partner called the coroner’s office. “It appears this is self-defense, but we’ll need to get the detectives involved.”

  “No problem.”

  “It’ll have to be after he gets checked out,” the paramedic replied, indicating the small amount of blood on his left side. “It appears you’ve been shot, sir.”

  “It’s just a flesh wound.”

  “What? You were shot? Let me see.” Peyton turned him so she could inspect the trench dug through his flesh. “Jason, you need to get checked too. This could be serious.”

  “He missed.”

  “Not entirely.”

  “Fine. We’ll go together.”

  “We’ll get your statement at the hospital then, sir.”

  Mandy stepped forward toward the officer. “I’m a witness to what happened. I’ll stay and give you a statement too.”

  The paramedics ushered the two of them out to the waiting ambulance and into the back. Jason insisted they put Peyton on the stretcher on her side so she could relax and he would sit in the front.

  He called his parents on the way to the hospital to fill them in on what was happening. “No Mom, I’m fine. It’s a flesh wound, but I’m going to have the doctor look at it to make sure it doesn’t need anything besides a bandage. Peyton’s wounds need to be looked at too. We’ll probably stay here in Austin for a couple of days because the police will want to talk to us, I’m sure. No, we’ll be okay. You don’t need to come. Just do me a favor, call Dan at The Dusty Boot and let him know what is going on so he doesn’t get more worried than he is. Have someone check my animals please. Thanks Mom. I love you too and yes, I’ll hug Peyton for you. Bye.”

  Shortly after the sun broke over the horizon, they drove into the ambulance bay at the hospital, the paramedics ushered them both inside into separate rooms, but only sectioned off by a curtain. He asked them to leave it open and even though the nurse seemed reluctant, she did what he asked.

  Peyton’s wounds weren’t too deep, but the doctor had to stitch a few closed. The others would heal on their own. She would have scars to match the wounded soul he now knew lie within. Mandy had told him about the hell she’d went through living with this guy. He knew he would spend the rest of his life making sure she knew she was the most beautiful woman inside and out, he’d ever seen.

  “You okay over there?” he asked from across the room.

  “Yeah,” she replied, her voice small and broken.

  He got o
ff the gurney so he could move to her side. “Baby, don’t. Don’t let him win. He was totally wrong about you.”

  “I can’t help it, Jason. I spent years listening to him tell me how worthless I am. How ugly things were between us. How I couldn’t satisfy him in bed…”

  “Baby, you’re gorgeous. You have a wonderful life. You are going to school in the fall to help people in situations just like yours. You are the most amazing woman I’ve ever had in my bed. I’ll hear no more about all of this. He’s gone. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore and believe me when I say I will spend the rest of my life making sure you know how much you mean to me.”

  “Did you really mean it when you said you loved me?”

  “Of course, I meant it. The minute I get the chance, we’re going to get married.”

  “Married? You want to marry me?”

  “Yeah. I want you with me forever.”

  “Married,” she whispered, tears making her eyes sparkle like golden topaz. “I never thought I’d hear those words from you again after you said it before. You aren’t the marrying kind, remember?”

  “I am now—with you.” He leaned in and kissed her. Not a quick peck, but a full onslaught of desire waiting to explode between them at the merest touch. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  The doctor cleared his throat as he came into the room. “You two can leave as soon as I get the nurse to dress the wounds.”

  “Thanks, Doc.”

  “You’re welcome. I hope the guy who did this to her won’t be hurting anyone else?”

  “No sir, he won’t.”

  “Good and I don’t care who hears me say it either.”

  While they were waiting for their discharge papers, the police came in and told them they would have to come to the station tomorrow morning to make their statements.

  “That’s fine, officer. We don’t plan to leave town for a couple of days if you need us to be here.”

  “We aren’t going home?”

  “No, I told my mom to have the guys keep an eye on my cattle and horses for me. We’ll stay here a couple of days.”

  Mandy came through the doorway with a smile. “Everything is good. I’m going to take the bus on home to leave you two some time to get reacquainted.”