by Bobbi Smith
“I can wait, believe me!” She squirmed against him, hating being this close to him. He reeked of body odor and liquor, and she almost gagged.
Her words made him even angrier. He took her arm in a viselike grip and started toward the cabin.
“If you hadn’t helped Sarah, you wouldn’t be here right now!” he said in a snarl as he forced her along with him. “Maybe by the time I’m done with you, you’ll have learned to mind your own business!”
Tessa dug her heels in and refused to move.
Cursing, Boyd was forced to bodily drag her along with him.
“Come on, honey. We’re going to have us some fun!”
“No!” she screamed.
The forlorn sound of her cry echoed through the night.
Tessa knew that once he got her inside the cabin, any chance of escape would be gone. She continued to try to tear herself away from him, but he only laughed at her struggles.
“I do love feisty women. Sarah wasn’t like you. She’d fight me a little bit, but then she’d just lie there and let me hit her. You’re going to be much more fun,” he said, his breath hot on her neck as he leaned toward her.
Boyd opened the door and shoved her inside the shack ahead of him. He quickly lit a lamp and stood back to look at her as she stood before him.
“You know, missy, you and me—we could have fun tonight. What do you say? This can be easy or this can be a fight. Either way I’m going to have you, so you might as well lie down on that bed and spread your legs. I’ve waited about as long as I can. I’ve been thinking about this and planning this, and I’m ready for you now.”
Boyd advanced on her.
Tessa backed away. She nervously let her gaze dart about the small one-room cabin, searching for an escape route or some kind of weapon she could use to defend herself. Her hands were still bound, but she knew that if she could get hold of a revolver or a knife she might be able to stop him. The shack was sparsely furnished, though, with only the cot and a table and chairs. There was nothing she could use to save herself.
“Stay away from me, Boyd Wilson. Marshal Trent is coming after us, and it won’t be pretty once he catches up with you.”
Boyd only laughed again. “Trent doesn’t even know you’re gone yet. I sent him on a wild-goose chase while I was trapping you. It’ll be dawn before he can even get out of town with a posse, and by then I’ll have had my fill of you.”
His statement terrified her. She remembered how Jared had left her side so quickly at the dance, and she feared that what Boyd was saying was true. Jared hadn’t even been there when she’d been kidnapped; it was possible no one would even notice she was missing until morning.
“You’re wrong!” she argued. “Jared knows all about you! He’ll come after me!”
“Oh, it’s ‘Jared,’ is it?” he said in a sneer, closing in on her. “You know him real good, do you?”
“Yes, and when he gets here, he’s going to—”
“Give up your dreaming, bitch. There ain’t nobody who knows where we are. It’s just you and me, alone in this here line shack. I planned it this way, so we wouldn’t be interrupted.”
He advanced on her threateningly, his eyes aglow with his lecherous intent.
“Stay away from me, Boyd Wilson! Don’t you even think about touching me!”
“Oh, I’m more than thinking about it. I’m looking forward to it!” He came even nearer.
Tessa made her move. In a last, frantic, desperate attempt to flee, she shoved a chair at him and made a run for the door. She managed to throw the door wide, but she never made it outside. Boyd caught up with her and grabbed her from behind. He slammed her back against his chest.
Tessa cried out in true horror and pain. Her worst nightmare was coming true. She twisted in his arms, trying to break free. She couldn’t get away, but in a stroke of pure luck, her struggles allowed her to grab his sidearm.
Boyd realized instantly what she’d done, and he snared her wrist, trying to strip the gun from her hand. He was shocked by the strength and fury of her fight. Sarah had never resisted him this much. It only made him madder and even more determined to force her to obey him and to submit to him.
They continued the savage battle over the gun. He finally managed to force Tessa’s hand up so the revolver was pointed away from them both.
The sound of a gunshot exploded the stillness.
Jared was growing frustrated. He had stayed on Boyd’s trail for hours now, but the going had been slow, even with the brightness of the nearly full moon. Its muted light had helped him with the tracking, but he still felt he wasn’t gaining on them fast enough. He feared he wouldn’t catch up with them in time to save Tessa from whatever torture Boyd had planned for her.
Reining his mount in, Jared sat in silence and studied the rocky landscape around him. They had to be somewhere close—but where? He dismounted to check the tracks. They had passed this way. He climbed back in the saddle and urged his horse on at a slow, measured gait.
Jared hoped Boyd didn’t realize that he was this close on his trail. If the man felt overconfident, he might make a mistake.
It was then, in the silence of the night, that the sound of Tessa’s cry came to Jared.
“No!”
The desperate sound pierced him to the very depths of his soul. He tensed, waiting, listening, hoping for another clue to her whereabouts. Her cry had been distant, but had not seemed too far off. When all remained quiet, he kneed his mount forward again.
Jared knew Boyd had worked for the Rocking K Ranch for a while and that this was Rocking K land. There had to be a good reason he’d come this way, and Jared was convinced that the man believed he had a safe hideout somewhere close by. He planned on proving him wrong very shortly.
Jared hadn’t ridden too much farther when the sound of a gunshot rent the night. The explosion sent a chill through his very soul. Drawing his sidearm, he urged his horse to a gallop. There had been no mistaking the direction the shot had come from, and he feared for Tessa’s life.
The low glow of the lamplight from the rundown line shack’s window was a beacon. Jared knew he’d finally found them. Reining in a short distance away, he dismounted and, staying low, cautiously approached the cabin. He could see no movement inside the shack and feared he was too late.
Silently Jared offered up a prayer that the gunshot hadn’t harmed Tessa. Jared was reliving his worst nightmare as he moved ever nearer the cabin. He knew that if anything had happened to her he would never be able to forgive himself. He had watched his father die. He would not let it happen to Tessa.
Jared knew Tessa was everything that was good about people. She was generous and kind and loving, not to mention beautiful and intelligent. She didn’t deserve the savagery Boyd was trying to wreak upon her. He had to save her—now.
Reaching the side of the shack, Jared pressed himself close against it. He slowly rose to take a look in the window.
Tessa struggled against Boyd’s overwhelming strength as he dragged her across the cabin toward the bed.
“Get your hands off me, Boyd!”
“Hell, no, woman. I want my hands all over you!” he told her, laughing at her efforts to free herself.
He was able to control her, but he had to admit that she was a feisty female. Sarah had been easy to dominate. This one was going to be harder, but he knew that ultimately having her would be worth the fight. Just feeling her struggling against him as he forced her toward the bed was arousing him. He was on fire with wanting her, and it wouldn’t be long now.
“I’d rather die than let you touch me!” she swore.
“Don’t tempt me, sweetheart!” he said hotly in her ear as he pawed at her.
The heat of his breath on her neck made Tessa’s flesh crawl, and she could just imagine how horrible it was going to be to be forced to submit to him. Determined to save herself, she fought him even harder, twisting and turning with all her might.
To her misery, Boyd only laughed at
her efforts. He lifted her and bodily threw her upon the bed. Tessa tried to get back up and get away, but he grabbed her by the bodice of her gown and shoved her back down. The material ripped in his hand, and he grinned evilly as her lacy chemise was revealed to him.
Boyd went still. Drool was gathering in the corner of his mouth as he stared down at her. She was his. Nothing was going to stop him from having her now—nothing.
Flaming heat settled low in his loins. This was the time. Boyd laid the revolver on the floor next to the bed and fell heavily upon Tessa, ready for her.
Tessa kicked at Boyd and tried to push him off her, but he was too heavy. He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head to avoid him.
Boyd gripped her chin and forced her to look at him. He could see the fear in her eyes, and he liked it. He felt a rush of power.
“You know what’s gonna happen next?” he asked as he leaned down to cover her mouth with his.
“No!” Tessa’s cry was smothered by his sloppy attack. She almost gagged as he thrust his tongue crudely into her mouth. She tried to tear herself free of him, but succeeded only in exciting him more with her movements.
“Yeah, darling. That’s how I like it. You move for me now.” He was growling as he pressed wet, disgusting kisses down her throat toward her breasts.
“Stop it! You’re an animal! Get off of me!”
“I ain’t getting off of you until I’m through!”
He pushed her skirts up and was reaching down to open his pants. He was not about to be deterred.
Tessa was experiencing true, helpless terror for the very first time in her life. In her heart, she’d been holding fast to the hope that Jared would rescue her. She’d believed that this couldn’t really be happening to her—that Jared would somehow find a way to get there in time, but now she realized that there would be no escaping Boyd. She was his prisoner, and helpless before his brute strength. She closed her eyes to the sight of him exposing himself, and she emotionally girded herself for the torment to come. There would be no escape now. There would be no—
In that instant the door of the cabin seemed to explode inward.
The resounding crash startled Boyd. He froze and looked back over his shoulder to see the lawman coming through the door, his gun in hand. The sight of Jared charging into the cabin spurred him to action. Boyd threw himself off the bed and made a grab for the revolver where he’d left it on the floor.
Chapter Fifteen
Everything seemed to happen in an instant. Boyd took aim at Jared. Tessa saw what he was about to do, and she kicked out at him just in time. Her blow jarred him enough that his shot went wide, missing Jared. Boyd leaped to his feet in a roar of frustration.
Boyd’s move gave Jared just the target he needed for he’d feared shooting wildly with Tessa in the room. He turned and fired, his aim true and deadly. The bullet took Boyd square in the chest, and the force of the shot sent him crashing back against the wall. He collapsed and lay unmoving, dead before he hit the floor.
Jared glanced toward the bed. From where he was standing, he could see only Tessa’s legs, but it seemed she wasn’t moving.
“Tessa?” Jared said her name cautiously, fearing she’d been injured in some way.
“Oh, Jared!” Tessa’s voice was barely a whisper as she ran straight to him.
Jared opened his arms to her and enfolded her in his protective embrace.
“Thank God I got here in time,” he said hoarsely as he held her close.
“I was praying you’d come.”
“You’re all right? You’re not hurt?” he asked, holding her away from him a bit so he could look down at her and make sure she really hadn’t been harmed in any way.
“I knew you’d save me,” Tessa told him in a soft voice as she gazed up at him. Jared looked so fiercely protective that she almost smiled at him. She knew she was safe now.
At her words, wild, chaotic emotions charged through Jared.
I knew you’d save me.
He struggled to control himself, swallowing tightly against the powerful feelings that filled him. He lifted one hand to gently touch her cheek. “I told you I would always keep you safe. Sometimes angels need protecting, too.”
The look in her eyes was so open and inviting that Jared couldn’t help himself. He bent to her and kissed her. It was a cherishing kiss, an adoring kiss, a fragile expression of the wild emotions they were both feeling. Jared wanted to lose himself in her embrace, but he was still too aware of what had just happened to her. Without ending the kiss, he bent to lift her into his arms and carried her away from the scene of the attack.
At his gesture, Tessa looped her arms about his neck. She held on to him, relishing his power and control. When at last his lips left hers, she rested her head trustingly on his shoulder.
Jared found a small clearing near the front of the cabin, and he sat down there. He kept Tessa on his lap, cradling her against him, and offered up a silent prayer of thanks that he had reached her in time—that she was safe. They remained that way for a time, sitting in silence, wrapped in each other’s arms, slowly coming to grips with the reality of her rescue and the joy of her safety.
“You really are all right?” Jared asked some time later as he drew a ragged breath.
She nodded. “You got here just in time,” she said quietly. “How did you know where to find me?”
“When I heard that you’d gone with the little boy at the dance, I suspected all wasn’t what it seemed—especially since I’d seen Boyd just a short time before.”
“You did?” She was surprised by this revelation.
“That was why I left you after our dance. I caught a glimpse of him in the crowd and wanted to keep an eye on him to make sure he didn’t get near you. He got away from me, though. When I realized I’d lost him, I came back to keep watch over you, and that was when I heard Julie telling your mother where you’d gone. I found the boy and he told me what had happened, so I was able to get on your trail right away.”
Tessa lifted her head to look up at him. “Thank you,” she whispered, drawing him down to her for another kiss.
Jared bit back a groan at the touch of her lips on his. Tessa was proving to be his agony and his ecstasy.
This was Tessa Sinclair. He told himself it was crazy to feel this way about her. This was the woman who was constantly causing him so much trouble. But all the logic in the world was lost in the ecstasy of her kiss.
This was Tessa, all right. This was the woman who wanted only to help other people. This was the woman who cared more about strangers than she did about herself. This was “the angel,” as they called her affectionately in town.
And she was an angel to him.
Her kiss was heavenly, and just having her here in his arms and knowing that she was safe filled him with a sense of joy he couldn’t explain. Jared wouldn’t have thought it possible to feel this way about her a few weeks before, but now, everything about holding Tessa close and kissing her seemed right.
Jared tried to keep the kiss innocent, but when Tessa shifted on his lap, moving closer to him, he lost the battle. He tightened his arms around her and deepened the kiss, parting her lips and seeking out her sweetness.
Tessa was momentarily surprised by Jared’s unexpected show of ardor. But after Boyd’s disgusting pawing and slobbering, Jared’s kiss was perfect. He had saved her from a fate worse than death. He had rescued her from certain abasement and rape. She gloried in his honor and in his strength.
Jared finally ended the embrace to save his own sanity. With Tessa pressed so intimately against him, he could not deny that he wanted her, but as much as he would have loved to continue kissing her, he knew what was best. Tessa had just been through hell. She was vulnerable and in no condition to make love to him. He held her near, waiting for his own breathing to calm, but it didn’t happen. Just having her this close to him aroused him. Jared knew that he had to get up and move away from her for a few moments.
“I’d b
etter take a look around and check on things. Do you want to spend the night in the cabin or—” He didn’t get any farther.
“No!” she answered quickly, shuddering visibly at the thought. She never wanted to go inside that line shack again as long as she lived.
“All right, then I’m going build a fire and see what we can use to camp out for the night.”
She nodded, but was reluctant to let him go. Right now she felt safe only when he was holding her; still, she knew Jared was right. He did need to build a campfire. Reluctantly she moved off his lap.
Jared wanted to pull her back, to hold her to him and never let her go, but he had a duty to perform. Unable to resist, he pressed one last, quick kiss to her lips, then got up and started the fire.
“There’s a posse coming after us, but I don’t know how far behind me they are,” he told her as he returned to her side carrying his bedroll. He’d tended to his horse and had checked around the area to make sure everything seemed safe. As he stood over her, he began to unbutton his shirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked a bit nervously as he stripped the shirt off and stood naked to the waist. She stared up at him, realizing suddenly that he was a beautiful specimen of manhood. He was long and lean. His shoulders were broad, his chest wide and powerful. He was bronzed from the sun, and she knew a sudden desire to run her hands over that hard-muscled strength.
“You need something to cover yourself with. The posse could ride in at any time.”
Tessa had been so caught up in all that had happened that she hadn’t even thought about her torn bodice. She glanced down, seeing how much of her bosom was revealed by the torn dress.
“Thank you,” she said softly, blushing slightly as she took the proffered garment and quickly put it on.
The shirt was still warm from his body and held a hint of Jared’s scent. Tessa breathed deeply of it, feeling safe and protected.
Jared spread out the bedroll for her to sit on, then glanced toward the shack.
“I need to go see about Boyd. Will you be all right out here alone for a few minutes?” he asked, still worrying about her.