After that, they returned to the cabin, shared a tuna salad, and were now preparing to leave. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“Across the way, about fifteen miles or so. I left my cell phone charger in the car when we switched vehicles. My battery’s dead, and don’t make any smartass remarks like last time. You’re much too distracting.”
She laughed. “Am I?”
“I can’t concentrate when I’m inside you,” he said, raking her with a heated look.
“Oh?”
“Don’t look at me like that. You know what I mean. I need to buy a charger and contact Sam. She must be freaking out at my lack of communication.”
“Okay. So how are we going? There’s so much snow. The SUV—”
“Trust me. We aren’t taking the SUV. You’re going to need warmer clothes. My sister left some things in the hall closet last time she was here.” He eyed her. “She has a habit of leaving a few things behind wherever she goes, says she never knows when there might be an emergency. They might be a little loose, but they’re what you need. Put them on over your clothes.”
She headed to the hall.
“See if she left some boots, too,” Duel called. “Those shoes you’re wearing… not good. You can borrow a pair of my socks if you need them.”
Flayme found a one piece, lipstick red ski suit, black fur-lined boots, a hot pink knitted hat, white mittens and dark glasses to protect her eyes against the snow glare. Well, she’d be colorful if nothing else.
By the time she added the extra layer of clothing and accessories, Duel was waiting at the front door. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “You steal my breath away,” he moaned, rubbing his mouth against hers.
“I’m loud,” she said, eyeing the snow suit with humor.
“You look perfect. Ever rode a snowmobile?”
“Are you kidding? You’re the only powerful thing I’ve had between my thighs,” she teased.
He grabbed her hand, laughing. “Come on, you’ll like this, too.”
* * * *
Flayme thought the town of Spring Pass probably lived up to its name. Small, isolated and surrounded by the Rockies and more snow covered passes than one person could count, she wondered if maybe she and Duel were trapped for the winter.
He assured her they weren’t, but she had her doubts.
“I wanted a place without easy access roads,” he informed her, eyeing the different chargers for cell phones in the little shop they’d found.
Enchanting though Spring Pass was, she figured they were damn lucky there was a cell phone store in the little burg. Actually, once Duel located the charger he needed, then took the time to show her around the frontier town, it was bigger than she’d first thought.
The town sported a bank, a family-owned restaurant where he took her for the best hot cocoa she’d ever tasted, along with a burger and fries she devoured because the mountain air stirred her appetite. The sites included a Laundromat, a motel, a tiny ski lodge complete with a ski lift rising to a cleared slope, a supermarket, and a pizza place. The single street through the town was crawling with people, but Duel assured her it was locals. The town was too out of the way for most tourists, and too small.
She thought she caught a glimpse of an old-fashioned looking theatre, but Duel was pointing out historic landmarks and the theatre lost her attention. Three hours rushed past in a blur.
“It’s four o’clock,” Duel said, guiding her toward the red and blue snowmobile. “Another hour or so and it’ll be dark. We better head back.”
Flayme wanted to argue. She wasn’t tired of being a tourist yet, but he warned a front was moving in. “More snow?” she asked, scrunching her nose.
He shrugged. “It’s Colorado. In the higher elevations, it snows year round. We’re high. Come on. We can share the sauna when we get back. I’ll nibble on your body and teach you a thing or two about the many uses of fruit and riding a horny stallion.”
“More lessons?” she teased.
He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you,” he said, his voice and expression tender. “I didn’t know I could love this way.”
He sounded so serious. She took a moment to study him. This was her man and he was making certain she understood he belonged to her. Flayme wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. “I love you, too. Take me home, cowboy, and make wild, passionate love to me.”
He half lifted her onto the snowmobile and settled in front of her. Starting the engine, Duel patted her hands at his waist. “Hold on, baby.”
The wind stung her face and whipped the strands of hair poking out from beneath the knitted hat. Flayme pressed her face against his back to stay warm. Everything smelled crisp and clean, the mountains, the trees, the snow. She could taste the coming snow in the air. In the distance, charcoal-gray clouds churned over the mountain peaks, rolling toward the basin. She figured they’d barely beat the blizzard home.
Home.
The word felt right. Home in the future was with this man. She didn’t care where they lived, as long as this cowboy was by her side. They were nearly to the cabin when Duel pulled over to one side and killed the motor.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I wanna show you something.” He helped her off the snowmobile, grabbed the rifle he’d brought with them, and guided her to a small ridge a few feet away. Handing her the firearm, he pointed. “Look through the scope straight ahead through that ridge of trees and a little to the right, about three hundred yards.”
Flayme did as he said and gasped. “Ooh!” A dozen or so elk moved across the valley floor in search of food. “Aww, poor things. They’re hungry.”
“They’ll dig through the snow for dead grass,” he assured her.
“How did you know they were there?”
“They graze there off and on all year round. See that big bull? He must weigh a good nine hundred pounds. He’s getting on in years now, but I’ve always thought he was majestic.”
“Yeah.” Flayme lowered the scope and eyed him. “I know the feeling.”
Duel glanced away. “There’s nothing majestic about me. The job I do assures that.”
She cupped his chin and turned him to face her. “Because of what you do, everyone can sleep at night. In my opinion, that makes you pretty special.”
“Thanks.”
“What’s that?” Flayme lowered the rifle at the noisy sound suddenly circling above them.
“Chopper coming in low,” Duel replied, looking up. “Shit! Get down! Down!” He shoved her to the snow-covered ground, dropping quickly to splay his body over hers. Duel rolled with her, stopping at the edge of a tangle of dead undergrowth. A spray of bullets peppered the ground around them barely missing them. “In the trees, quick,” he ordered, helping her to her feet. “Run!”
Flayme wondered why they just didn’t run back to the snowmobile then realized the chopper was between them and it. Bullets rained around them like hail falling from the sky. They slapped the nearby trees, sending shards of bark flying through the air, tearing up the snow and finally, hitting the snowmobile.
Boom!
Screaming, she stumbled and fell forward on her hands and knees, knocked to the ground from the repercussion. The loud explosion of the snowmobile sent pieces of hot metal and motor parts flying through the air.
“Fuck!” Duel helped her up, latched onto her hand and took off through the woods, but the chopper dipped, skimming the treetops and followed them. The sniper sent one last volley of bullets before the pilot lifted the aircraft higher and flew away in the opposite direction. Duel halted and glared at the disappearing aircraft. “Sonofabitch,” he muttered, pulling her close. “You okay? You aren’t hit?”
“No. No. I’m fine.” Flayme shivered. “Do you think—”
“Yeah. I don’t know how the hell they found us so quick.” He snatched up the rifle from where she’d tossed it aside. Duel took a minute to unzip the top of his ski suit. �
��Thank God it’s still in one piece.”
Flayme edged closer. “The charger?”
“Yeah. Good thing I tucked it in there before we left for the cabin.” He zipped his top and took her hand. “Come on,” he said and headed through the trees.
“Where we going?” Flayme glanced around. Snow had started to fall around them.
Duel hesitated. “Hunting.” He headed in the direction they’d spotted the elk.
“But…isn’t the cabin that way?” Flayme pointed to her right.
“Yes, but we can’t make it to the cabin, not before the blizzard hits. We need shelter for the night.”
“The night?” Flayme felt the icy chill already lacing her blood. She had a feeling things were going to get much worse before they ever got better—if they ever got better.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Courage—the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.
~Maya Angelou
Montana
Blackstone Ranch
February 19, Thursday
Sixty-five hours after the assassination…
Lacey McCord didn’t like Karen Blackstone, not just because she’d destroyed her marriage with Danger, but because there was something genuinely frightening about the woman. The look in her cold eyes reminded her of a rabid animal, not quite sane and a hundred percent deadly.
Therefore, she wondered why the hell she’d accepted the woman’s invitation to visit the ranch. She sighed. She must be a glutton for punishment. It was the only logical explanation.
Karen stood beside her at Joseph’s gravesite, and though Lacey realized the woman wasn’t responsible for her son’s death, she felt her resentment building by the second. She should get Rafe and leave. This had been a bad, bad idea to try to be civil to someone who wasn’t civilized.
And—there was Danger. The effect he was having on her, she felt as if her body was suddenly coming out of deep freeze, thawing from the sexual heat from within every time she was within a foot of him.
Ever since this morning when he carried her from the kitchen to the living room, a raw hunger had set in between her thighs, a steady heat, warm and mushy, that refused to go away. It left her with the knowledge that he’d somehow made her want him again. She sighed. If she was honest, she’d never stopped wanting him. He’d stopped wanting her.
She’d had to wear a thicker sweater to keep anyone from noticing the way her nipples rose to attention when he was near her. What was wrong with her? This was so not good.
One—she was committed to Rafe. She was married to him for God’s sake, possibly pregnant. There was no going back.
Two—Danger didn’t love her. He’d made that clear months ago. He’d killed every feeling she ever had for him. So how could she suddenly want him…unless those feelings had never really died? Had she simply buried them, unable to face the pain of losing him? Losing his love? God, now she didn’t know what to think, how to feel, or what to do.
She looked around feeling bewildered and bombarded by doubt. All she wanted was to escape, get out of here, and get off Blackstone property. But Danger and Rafe had gone on to the barn, leaving her alone with Karen. If she took the cowardly way out now, since she’d given Rafe the nod to go ahead, she’d look like an idiot. She was the one who’d insisted he couldn’t spend the rest of his or her life shielding her from the ugliness of the world. At some point, she had to learn to stand on her own again. Today was a good day to begin.
Karen rubbed her distended belly, smiling. “Did Danger tell you we’re hoping for a boy? You know…to replace the one you and he had you let get killed. I’ll be sure and protect my baby. He totally blames you, you know, for little Joseph’s death. He thinks you should have been willing to die to save his son.”
Inside, Lacey felt as if she’d been sucker punched. She hadn’t seen that one coming. “No, he didn’t tell me any of that.” Her heart twisted in agony. Outside, she remained calm. “I hope you two get your wish. I hope you have a boy.” Lacey turned to head to the barn. Feelings for Danger? Huh! She must be insane. She wanted Rafe. She needed to be by his side, to feel his strength around her, and if that made her a coward and a weakling, then so be it. She couldn’t talk about Joseph’s death to this woman. She wouldn’t discuss her son with Karen.
Karen snatched her arm, jerking her around. “Are you pregnant yet? I understand you’re having a difficult time conceiving.”
There was something sly and taunting in the woman’s words.
“I don’t see where it’s any of your business.” Lacey tugged on her arm. “Let go of me.”
“Danger and I…we only had to do it once, and bam, I was pregnant. He’s quite the stud, isn’t he? Of course, we did it dozens of times while you were away on your little trips snapping pictures. He was so hot for me I was bound to get pregnant.” The woman’s fingers bit painfully into her forearm. “He wanted a baby with me very much.”
“I said let go of my arm.” Lacey felt her panic rising. She had to get away from this woman.
“I think you are,” Karen said, ignoring her.
“What?” Lacey frowned.
“Pregnant. I think you got a baby in you. A woman has a certain look when she’s knocked up. You have that look. Better be careful, Lacey, that Smitt Davis doesn’t rip this one out of your belly, too.”
Lacey swayed. “Shut up! Let go of me and shut up. Why are you saying such things to me? Why are you being so cruel? I’ve never done anything to you.” She tore free of Karen’s firm grip and stormed toward the barn. Tangling with Karen wasn’t her idea of fun. She wanted to go. Now! Coming here was stupid. She shouldn’t have let Danger sway her into returning to Montana. He’d destroyed her once. Obviously he was determined to do so again.
She couldn’t go through that again.
She’d never survive.
Lacey suddenly felt crowded. Panic swept over her leaving her shaken. If she wasn’t careful, he’d destroy what she had with Rafe. God, she’d almost fallen for his hot gaze and whispered yearnings again. She’d almost let him come between her and Rafe.
She pushed open the barn door and rushed inside, determined to get Rafe and leave. But once inside, the air felt thick and suffocating. Deathly quiet waited like something dark and evil. It sent the first prickles of foreboding down her spine. “Oh, God, no,” she whispered.
She felt his presence. How she knew Smitt Davis was close by, she had no clue, but she knew it. Her heart tripped. Her skin crawled. He was here!
Stumbling to a halt, she froze. The horses stood utterly still in their stalls, like the deathly quiet, they waited. She blinked, trying to adjust to the surrounding dimness of her vision from coming in from the glaring snow to a darker interior.
“Come on in, Lacey darling, I’ve been waiting for you.” The creepy voice slid over her, shaking her to her soul. He stepped out of the shadows and her heart leapt to her throat. “Welcome to hell. I thought you’d never get here.” He leveled a gun at her. Her blood turned to ice. “I think this time I’ll make damn certain you’re dead.”
“No,” she sobbed. “It can’t be.” Lacey looked around, desperate to locate her husband, but it was Danger’s gray eyes she saw first. His silent apology. Regret. Love? Surely in her terror-filled moment she misread his feelings for her again? But no, she hadn’t misconstrued anything. She knew he’d die for her, but she refused to let that happen.
He stood to one side, a gag in his mouth, his arms bound behind him. He struggled to get free, but it was obvious the rope around his wrists was strong and unyielding. Blood streamed down one side of his face. She looked away, searching for the man she loved, the one she’d given her heart to at Christmas, the one who’d been there for her when she’d been all alone in that well dying, the one who’d sat at her bedside and held her hand when she was in the hospital. Rafe.
She located him seated on the floor. Rope was wrapped tight around his chest securing hi
m to a support beam. His hands were firmly fixed behind his back. A dirty rag filled his mouth, too. His eyes glittered, a fierce blue. They burned like fire, but were steady and silently telling her he was there for her, reliable as always.
Lacey looked around for a way to defend herself, but saw nothing but bales of hay to her left, feed barrels standing at each stall, every horse with their own special feed mix, reins, bits, and saddles. If she could distract Smitt, maybe she could escape, get help, or have Karen call the sheriff’s department, something!
Backing up another step, she bumped into something solid behind her. Before she could turn to run, Karen’s arm shot around her neck in a tight stranglehold. “Going somewhere, bitch?”
“What? What are you doing?” Lacey choked. “Let me go. We have to run!”
“You think you’re so smart, coming here all hotsy-totsy, better than me. The laugh’s on you, bitch. My husband and me, yeah, we’re gonna have some fun.”
Lacey glanced toward Danger. “You and Danger planned this? I think he forgot his part, else, why’s his hands tied behind his back?”
“Not him.” Karen snarled and pulled her hair.
Lacey winced at the pain to her scalp.
“Danger isn’t my man. Smitt’s my husband. I can’t be married to the sheriff, not when you’re still his woman.”
“No,” Lacey denied. “Turn me loose. You have no reason to be jealous of Danger and me. He loves you…an–and I’m married to Rafe. We love each other.”
Karen snickered. “Stupid bitch, you just don’t get it, do you? You aren’t married to Rafe,” she said smugly. “You’re still Danger’s wife.”
Lacey swayed. “You’re insane. I’m Rafe’s wife. We—”
“You’re wrong,” Karen screamed. “Tell her she’s wrong, Smitty. She’s trying to ruin our little party by not playing the game. She’s confusing me. Make her admit she’s wrong.”
Playing For Keeps (Montana Men) Page 37