The Colton Bride

by Carla Cassidy

  He seemed to read her mind and threw an arm across her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. “It’s been nice the past couple of days.”

  “It has been nice,” she replied, drinking in the scent of his familiar cologne, the warmth of his body against hers. They were no closer to knowing who wanted her kidnapped or who might have been stirred up by their questions about Faye. At the moment, none of that mattered because, as always, she felt safe and secure in Gray’s arms.

  She wanted him again. She wanted him to make love to her again. He’d reawakened the need she’d once had for him, and now she felt as if she couldn’t get enough.

  But he hadn’t made a move on her since that night they’d shared making love. He’d been affectionate and caring, and although she’d swear there were moments when she thought his eyes glowed with desire for her, he hadn’t approached her in any sexual way.

  She should be glad that, other than that one night, he was adhering to the rules they had set in place when she’d agreed to this marriage of protection, but she wasn’t.

  She didn’t know what might come first, another attack on her or the time when this arrangement with Gray would become too emotionally painful and she’d ask for a divorce despite any danger that might arise?

  Chapter 17

  Cath had woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Gray could tell the minute she opened her eyes that she was cranky and it was probably going to be a long day.

  Without acknowledging his presence she stomped into the bathroom and a moment later he heard the water running and knew she was taking a shower.

  Maybe a nice dunk under the water would wash away whatever was wrong with her. She’d slept later than usual. It was just after nine. He could have awakened her earlier to go down to breakfast, but mindful of her condition he’d decided to let her sleep. Gabby kept telling Cath that she needed extra rest and with death threats and kidnapping attempts he figured he should let her sleep whenever possible.

  The water ran for several minutes and when it shut off a cabinet slammed. Gray winced. She was definitely in rare form. Probably those pregnancy hormones flaring up.

  He sighed, walked to the window and stared outside. He tensed as he saw Jared Hansen and Cal Clark standing in the distance, talking. There was no reason for any anxiety to worry him at the sight of two wranglers having a conversation except the fact that he didn’t trust either of the two men.

  They spoke together for only a couple of minutes and then headed in different directions. At that moment Cath came out of the bathroom. She looked stunning, with her hair clean and shiny and her face wearing a minimum of makeup. She was clad in a pair of jeans and a denim-blue sweatshirt that emphasized the unusual blue of her eyes.

  “Feel better?” he asked cautiously.

  “I didn’t feel bad,” she replied. “I know we missed breakfast but I’m starving and then I need to get out to the petting barn.”

  “Let’s go get some breakfast and then we’ll head outside,” he said. He grabbed his gun and ushered her out the door. “Did you sleep well?” he asked as they walked down the long hallway toward the dining room.

  “Actually, I didn’t. I had bad dreams all night.”

  “Bad dreams?” He took hold of her elbow in an effort to comfort her.

  She looked up at him, her gaze holding a hint of irritation. “I dreamed that somebody came up behind me and grabbed me. They were carrying me off and you just stood there and watched.”

  “You know that would never happen,” he replied. So, this was the root of her bad mood. “Are you cranky and punishing me for what happened in a dream?”

  Her eyes flashed with a hint of guilt. “Maybe,” she admitted.

  “Just so I know,” he replied. By that time they had reached the empty dining room. As if possessing a sixth sense, Agnes came in from the kitchen and greeted them while they sat at the table.

  “I’m sorry, Agnes, I overslept breakfast. Would it be possible to just get some juice and toast for me?” Cath said and then looked at Gray.

  “Just coffee,” he replied. “I’ll eat a big lunch later.”

  With a nod, Agnes disappeared like an elfish ghost back into the kitchen. It was only minutes later that Lucinda delivered their food.

  “Do you intend to punish me all day because of your bad dream?” Gray asked once Lucinda had left the room.

  “Maybe,” Cath said, but there was a glint of humor in her eyes.

  Gray grinned at her. He knew she wouldn’t be able to sustain a bad mood, not his Cath. She was sunshine, rarely clouds. As he sipped his coffee, once again he was struck by the depth of his love for her, a love that had never died despite distance and time.

  She’d owned his heart since he was a boy and she owned it still, but as a man, he was afraid to speak the words of love that had fallen so easily from his lips years ago.

  He wanted this marriage to be real. He wanted to be the man who stood in the delivery room when the bean was born, the man who shared laughter and love with her for the rest of their lives. But she’d given no indication that she felt the same way, that she had any interest in transforming this marriage of protection into a real marriage of love.

  He took another sip of his coffee and realized that if he dwelled on these kinds of thoughts he would be in a foul mood instead of her.

  It didn’t take her long to eat her toast and drink her juice. Once she was finished they left the dining room to head outside.

  It was an unusually mild day for late October. The sun was bright overhead, as if expending the last of its heat before the cold of winter moved in.

  They stopped in the stable where Dylan was brushing down a horse. “Anything new?” Gray asked him, knowing that since he and Cath had told Dylan about his mother’s marriage certificate and his own birth certificate being bogus, Dylan had intended to ferret out the truth.

  “Nothing much,” Dylan replied. “I talked to Mathilda but she only confirmed that the story my mother told me was the same story mom had told her when she’d first applied for a job.”

  “What about the DNA test?” Cath asked.

  “Got swabbed yesterday at the police station,” he replied. “Chief Peters says it will take a while to get the results back.”

  “Are you doing okay?” Gray asked in concern.

  Dylan offered them a faint smile. “I’m getting through it all as best as I can.”

  “You know where to find us if you just need to talk,” Cath said.

  Dylan flashed a genuine smile. “I do. Thanks, Cath.”

  After a few more minutes of conversation about the workers and the ranch, Gray and Cath continued toward the petting barn. “I hope he figures things out in a way that can give him peace,” Cath said as they walked side by side.

  “Yeah, me, too. He’s one of the good guys,” Gray replied. As always, his hand was on the butt of his gun and his gaze swept the area for potential signs of trouble, but he saw nothing and nobody to concern him.

  He did notice the large tractor mower pulled up nearby with a wooden four-sided trailer attached and vaguely wondered who had left it unattended. Probably one of the men had brought it out to carry off some of the foul hay that Cath piled behind the petting barn. This was a task that was done a couple of times a week by different men.

  Whoever had been assigned the task today had probably decided to wait until he and Cath were finished out here and then he’d return to load up the old hay and carry it off to one of the distant pastures.

  “Maybe I should do the mucking today,” Gray suggested, thinking about her condition. The idea of her lifting shovels full of hay didn’t sit well with him.

  “I’ll take care of it,” she replied. “I’m not an invalid yet. Besides, I’d much rather you hang out at the fence and keep an eye on things while I work in the barn.”

  “Okay, you’re the boss. Just don’t do any straining. If something is too heavy, call for my help.” He opened the fence and she entered to the bleating, hee-ha
wing and happy snorting of her beloved pets.

  Gray stood at the fence and watched her as she laughed at the enthusiasm of the animals. “I never know if they really love me or just get excited to see me because I represent food.” Her eyes sparkled and Gray’s love for her pressed tight against his chest, threatening to spill from his mouth.

  She disappeared into the barn and he listened as she greeted the ducks, the ferrets and the bunnies, her voice light as air and with the melodic tones of happiness.

  He needed to tell her how he felt, but he didn’t want to do it here, not out in the open while she was doing her morning chores. He wanted to take her back to their suite, pull her into his arms and tell her that he wanted this marriage to be real, to be the forever kind of love.

  He knew he would be taking a chance. If she didn’t feel the same way he did then things could get very awkward between them as they continued this crazy relationship.

  But he had to take that chance. If he didn’t speak to her of his feelings he felt as if he would explode. Maybe this was the way fate had intended it all along for the two of them.

  Maybe it would be better if he had the conversation with her away from the house, away from the ranch altogether. “What do you think about maybe driving into Laramie tonight for dinner? We can try out that new restaurant that Gabby and Trevor told us about,” he said, his voice raised so she could hear him inside the barn.

  “Sounds good to me. I’d never turn down dinner away from here.” Her disembodied voice drifted out.

  Gray’s heart tightened as he realized that tonight he intended to tell her that he loved her and that he wanted to be with her and her child for the rest of their lives.

  He heard a faint footfall behind him and before he could turn, before he had time to react, something hard crashed down on his head. He fell to his knees as the world spun and sheer panic washed over him at the same time he fell into darkness.

  * * *

  “What time do you want to plan to drive into Laramie?” Cath asked as she leaned over to pet a couple of the rabbits in their pen. She straightened and waited for an answer. “Gray?” She raised her voice in case he hadn’t been able to hear her.

  He appeared before her, the man dressed all in black, with a ski mask covering his features, making it impossible for her to identify him. He carried with him a horse blanket and the glittering dark eyes of determination.

  The shock of his presence froze her in place and sent her mind reeling in a hundred directions. Gray! What had he done to Gray? Oh, God, please not Gray.

  Trapped. Her head spun to her own situation. She was trapped unless she could get out the small back door where she’d been shoveling out old hay. Those miniscule seconds of inertia worked against her. Before she could move he was on her. Before she could scream he’d slapped a wide band of duct tape across her mouth and threw the blanket over her head.

  Panic screamed inside her as he grabbed her, pinning her arms to her sides beneath the blanket. He lifted her as if she were a sack of potatoes.

  With the tape across her mouth and the blanket so tight around her she was disoriented, terrified and utterly helpless to fight back.

  She had no idea where he carried her, but groaned as he dumped her body into something, and then the sound of a tractor mower revved up. She knew...she was in the wooden trailer that was used to transport hay.

  She tried to fight her way out of the blanket, but it had been tucked around her like a tight shroud. Gray, where are you? Her heart cried out for him...for somebody to come to her rescue.

  Her heart stopped as the tractor came to a halt and the engine shut off. Strong arms picked her up once again and in the process she managed to get one arm up to grasp her necklace. But this time the feel of the stone brought no pleasure, no hope. It felt cold and alien, as if all hope had been sucked out.

  Although she twisted her body, trying to get free, it did no good. His hold on her was too strong and the blanket too tight. Emotion welled up, but she shoved it away, knowing that if she began to cry she could strangle herself because of the duct tape across her mouth.

  She had no idea where she was being taken. Although she heard sounds, a door closing softly, another one squeaking open, she couldn’t guess where she was being taken. In one final act of desperation she ripped the necklace from around her throat and fought to get her hand out of the blanket.

  She wasn’t sure her hand was free of the material or not when she dropped the necklace, praying that somebody would see it and it would provide a clue as to her whereabouts.

  The man who carried her never said a word, but she smelled his sweat. She had the sensation of going down. Stairs? Was she in somebody’s home? It had to be somewhere nearby as they hadn’t travelled that long in the tractor.

  The Blacks’ house?

  One of the outbuildings?

  A new smell mingled with the odor of the man, the scent of dank earth. Her heart slammed against her ribs. Was she going to be buried? Why would somebody do that to her? Who was it behind all this?

  Once again tears threatened and she screamed over and over again, but with the duct tape so firmly across her mouth her screams sounded like nothing more than the squeaking of a mouse.

  He walked for what seemed like forever and not only was she filled with fear for her own life, but also for Gray. What had the man done to Gray? Was he dead? That could be the only reason for this happening.

  She should have told him that she loved him. She should have told him that she’d never stopped loving him. In the near month that they’d shared she believed more than ever that they belonged together.

  And now it was too late.

  Finally, after what seemed like forever, he placed her on her feet and pulled off the blanket. While she was still disoriented, he whirled her around and efficiently bound her wrists together behind her back.

  When he turned her around she realized three things...they were in a dimly lit tunnel with a small room in front of them and they were not alone.

  As the man shoved Cath into the small room, he turned to speak to the other figure, also dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask. Cath had the impression that it was a woman and there was something hauntingly familiar about her.

  She stared at the figure, trying to identify who it was behind the mask, who appeared to be in charge of her kidnapping.

  The eyes behind the woman’s mask met hers, although Cath couldn’t discern the color of the eyes. Those evil eyes narrowed, as if she didn’t like Cath looking at her.

  In a sudden rush of movement, the woman raced toward her, punched her in the face and then shoved her hard. Cath reeled from the unexpected blow and her head collided into the room’s wall.

  Pain crashed through her head. Stars exploded, blinding her as she slid down the wall and knew no more.

  * * *

  “Gray? Gray, wake up.”

  The familiar deep voice slivered faintly through the darkness but didn’t pull him out of the abyss where he’d fallen.

  “Gray. Dammit, open your eyes.”

  This time the voice sliced through the dark and Gray opened his eyes to find Dylan crouched down next to him. Dylan’s expression was dark with worry as he helped Gray to a sitting position.

  “What happened?” Dylan asked.

  Gray, completely disoriented, stared at him and attempted to fight past the shattering pain in the back of his head. He continued to stare dully at Dylan. He raised a hand to the back of his head where a lump the size of Montana rose up to greet him. One touch of the lump and any lingering darkness or disorientation that had plagued him instantly vanished.

  “Cath,” he said, the single word holding all the panic that scorched through him.

  He struggled to his feet with Dylan’s help, horror coupled with urgency as he started toward the barn. She wouldn’t be there. Even as he raced to the fence he knew she was no longer inside the structure.

  Gone.

  She was gone.


  He’d been so busy, so distracted thinking about his love for her that somebody had managed to slam him over the head and get to her. He’d let down his guard and now she was gone.

  He turned to Dylan. “She was working here and somebody came up behind me, knocked me out and took her. We’ve got to find her, Dylan.” Pain centered in his stomach and seared through his chest, making it feel as if he was on the verge of a heart attack.

  The tractor with the wagon that had been parked on the side of the petting barn was gone, as well. Where was the tractor? Had that been how the kidnapper had carried her away?

  How long had he been unconscious? A glance at his watch let him estimate that he’d only been out for maybe ten or fifteen minutes.

  “There was a lawn tractor here with a wagon. We need to find that tractor because I think it was used to carry Cath away from here.” He grabbed Dylan by the shoulders. “We’ve got to find her. She’s in trouble.”

  Dylan nodded, his gaze steady as if in an attempt to calm Gray. Nothing would calm Gray except having Cath back in his arms. “We’ll start by looking for that tractor. You take the east outbuilding and I’ll take the west ones. We’ll meet up back here after all the outbuildings have been cleared.”

  Gray took off running, grateful that Dylan had a plan, for Gray’s head felt jumbled, filled with both physical pain and mental anguish.

  The first building he reached was a small storage shed that held a variety of gardening tools. What it didn’t contain was Cath.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should call for help, rouse every cowboy and house staff available to search, but somebody had smashed him over the head and he didn’t know if raising an alarm might put Cath in even more danger.

  He and Dylan knew this land, knew this place better than anyone on staff. They’d grown up here, explored every nook and cranny. If Cath was still on the property they’d find her. He didn’t even want to think that she might have already been moved off the property.

  He ran from the gardening shed to one of the old barns that populated the grounds. “Cath!” He cried her name again and again, hoping against all reason for a reply.