Special Ops Cowboy

by Addison Fox

  Even as she thought the question, Reese knew the answer was undoubtedly a yes. Although few families in the Pass had homes or property like Reynolds Station, many had land and it wasn’t unusual for the kids in town to take up horseback riding. They also had an active 4-H club at the high school and an equestrian team renowned throughout the state.

  So, yeah, her child would probably learn to ride.

  Images of a small child seated on a horse, firmly in Hoyt’s lap, filled her mind. She nearly visualized the whole scene, the night-darkened sky before her fading, when something near the stable drew her attention.

  Movement?

  Reese edged closer to the window, peering out into the darkness. Although the moon was high, the stable was huge and threw off a large shadow on the end nearest the paddock. That’s where she’d seen movement and she leaned closer, willing something to happen again.

  Nothing wavered in the stillness and she almost stepped away, admonishing herself for seeing ghosts, when the motion came once more, along with the clear swing of a side door to the stable and a person running hell for leather from the stable and on behind the paddock.

  “Hoyt.” She didn’t scream, but he responded, up instantly at the heavy command in her voice.

  “What is it?”

  “Outside.” She waved him over, unwilling to pull her gaze off the stable for too long. “Something at the stable. A person.”

  He was beside her in an instant, the sleepy warmth of his body enveloping her as he leaned in behind her to stare out the window.

  It was only the work of a moment to see a huge ball of flame burst out of the stable, blowing out the front doors and knocking off the Reynolds brand where it sat high on the edifice.

  * * *

  “Call 9-1-1!” Hoyt screamed the words as he dragged on his jeans and boots. By the time he noticed his T-shirt was gone, Reese already had it off over her head and in his hands before he could consider getting another one.

  “Go. I’ll call and get everyone up.”

  He glanced back at her once more, where she had already jammed herself into her shorts and T-shirt from earlier, her phone in hand as she made the necessary calls.

  Hoyt charged from the house, the sounds of everybody waking evident around him. He vaguely registered Reese screaming for everyone to wake up but was out the door before he could hear any further response. Flames engulfed the stable, shooting into the sky and lighting up the night.

  He could feel the heat as he pounded closer and closer to the stables but his only focus was getting to the horses.

  Stink.

  Stink had to be okay.

  The thought played over and over in his mind as he rushed toward the stable door. It was only as heat engulfed him in a raging wave that he realized it was much too hot to go inside in only his T-shirt. Forcing as deep a breath as he could with the rancid smoke filling the air, Hoyt focused on all he’d learned in his former life.

  Assess.

  Identify.

  Act.

  That training had saved his life on more than one occasion and, if he had his way, would save Stink’s life now.

  Racing back toward a large hose they kept near the paddock for ease in filling water buckets, Hoyt turned it on and doused himself as fast as possible. As luck would have it, a stable blanket still lay folded over the paddock fence, and he grabbed it, soaking it as quickly as he could.

  Knowing there was no longer any time to wait, he dragged the dripping blanket, hoping it was wet enough, and raced toward the stables, wrapping it around himself as he went. Head covered, he went in low, flipping the locks on stall doors as he went. The horses were already screaming, their high-pitched cries full of fear at the reality of what burned around them. Hooves thundered behind him as each door burst open, and Hoyt kept his focus on lock after lock as he worked his way down the length of the stable.

  The fire burned around him, filling his lungs and batting at the thin armor he’d placed around his shoulders and head. He knew he didn’t have much time, the sound of cracking wood filling the air along with the raging whoosh of the fire, but he had to get to Stink.

  The second to last lock flipped open, leaving Tate’s horse, Tot, free to run. And then he was at Stink’s stall door. Dragging on the lock, he took a moment to look in the eyes of his horse. His comrade and his friend.

  And prayed he’d gotten there in time.

  Unlike the other horses, Stink remained silent. Hoyt saw the fear that flickered deep in those brown eyes, lit up by the flames that burned around them, but Stink stayed calm, remaining by his side.

  Hoyt moved quickly along the same path he’d come, his horse at his side, focused on the door.

  Focused on escape.

  That loud cracking echoed again, filling the air around him as everything seemed to get hotter. The cracking sound intensified and it was only as he and Stink cleared the middle of the stable that the roof collapsed behind them.

  Hoyt pushed on harder, determined to get out now that he’d freed all the horses. Determined to get back to Reese.

  Images of her filled his mind’s eye. Her. The child she carried. And the desperate need that now filled him to return to her.

  More of that violent cracking filled the air and Hoyt leaped for the exit of the building, Stink racing out just before him.

  It was only as he neared the door, the fresh night air greeting him along with the shouts of his brothers, that he felt the heavy tug behind him. Something slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground as heat seemed to cover him fully.

  He pushed to his knees, desperate to crawl to the exit, when another heavy weight fell on him. Reese’s face in the distance was the last thing he saw before the world went black.

  Reese screamed as she watched several boards of wood from the barn fall on top of Hoyt. Ace and Tate were several yards in front of her and both leaped into action, racing toward the burning barn and their brother. She heard sirens in the distance, but they seemed muted and vague as the sound of fire filled the air.

  Who knew fire could be so loud as it consumed every single thing in its path?

  The ranch hands had already come out of the bunkhouse, several swarming around to calm the horses while several others had joined Tate and Ace as they pulled Hoyt from the increasing debris filling the stable yard. It was only when a shout went up that everyone moved even more quickly.

  “It’s collapsing!”

  Belle and Arden each reached for her, pulling her away from the fiery tableau that spread out before her. Reese felt the shout creeping up her throat—instinctively knew she’d yelled Hoyt’s name—but heard nothing as the building collapsed in an inferno.

  Reese desperately sought for signs of Hoyt and his brothers, but saw nothing in the wild light that filled the space before her eyes.

  “Reese! Come on! You have to get back!” Belle screamed the words at her, her eyes filled with terror. It was that panic—one she understood intimately—that had Reese moving. Belle was as scared for Tate as she was for Hoyt and it did them no good to become added fodder for the blaze.

  She huddled with Belle and Arden on the far side of the paddock, searching for any sign of the men carrying Hoyt from the fire. Sirens pierced the air, red and blue lights evident in the distance, as two firetrucks screamed down the driveway, followed closely by the paramedics. But it was the three faces they all cared about so much—Ace and Tate, carrying their brother between them—that had her, Belle and Arden racing forward.

  Reese got to them first, reaching for Hoyt, who hung limp between his brothers. Each had one of his arms around their necks, holding him up even as he stood unconscious between them.

  “Hoyt!” She moved up, her hands reaching for his soot-covered neck, seeking a pulse. She struggled for the briefest moment, her own pulse beating like a gong beneath her skin, but hung on, her
index and middle fingers gently probing the skin of his neck.

  She finally found one, soft and thready, but steady, and let out a cry. “He’s alive.”

  Ace was gentle when he reached for her, moving her out of the way. “The crossbeam over the entrance fell on him. I don’t know if we should be moving him like this but we had to try.”

  Working in unison, he and Tate laid Hoyt out, gently pillowing his head on a blanket Arden had brought from the house. Reese was already on the ground, kneeling beside him when the paramedics rushed up. “Ma’am. Excuse us, ma’am.”

  Tate’s arms were already around her, pulling her away, giving the medics room to work.

  As she watched them lay a plastic mask over Hoyt’s face, Reese sent up a silent prayer as the tears poured in hot streams down her face.

  Don’t let him die.

  “You stubborn ass.” Tate growled the words from across the room as Hoyt struggled to a sitting position.

  The scent of antiseptic and that distinctive odor of hospital filled his nose, but it was significantly better than the lingering smoke that seemed to cling to him like stink on manure.

  “Where’s Reese?” Hoyt swallowed around the wheezy notes and reached for the glass of water beside his bed. Damn, he felt terrible. His entire back hurt, with much the same pain he’d felt the time he’d been thrown from a horse onto dry hard-packed summer ground.

  He’d survived that and he’d surely survive this, but damn it all, he felt like hell.

  “Down the hall with Arden. Doctor’s checking her out as a precaution. Would you sit the hell still? We’ve only been here an hour.”

  He was on his feet before he could stop himself, the machines he was attached to going off in a clanging whirl. “What happened to her?”

  Tate was by his side in an instant, holding him in place and easing him back to a seated position. “Whoa, little brother. Nothing’s wrong with her.” Tate moved into his line of sight, his gaze sharp and deliberate as he forced eye contact. “She’s fine. Do you hear me?”

  The disorientation that had kept him company each time he’d opened his eyes still lingered, but faded with the steady gaze of his brother. “Why is she being checked out?”

  “Precaution only. She was across the yard from the fire but the doctor wanted to check out any possible smoke inhalation. He also wanted her obstetrician to check her out and the woman arrived a little while ago. I’d tell you if it was more serious.”

  Hoyt trusted his family implicitly and took comfort from Tate’s words. That clawing, raging need to get to Reese hadn’t faded fully, but it did recede as he knew Arden was with her.

  “What happened out there?” Tate dropped to the bed next to him, his heavy sigh summing up his concern perfectly.

  “Reese saw it. She’s the reason we got the horses out in time.”

  “Saw it?”

  Hoyt struggled to erase the cobwebs that seemed determined to clog up his memories, working backward through the events to get a clear picture. “She stayed the night. And I guess she couldn’t sleep because one minute I’m dead to the world and the next she’s waking me up, telling me something’s happening at the barn.”

  “Someone did this deliberately?”

  “Must be.” Hoyt tried to piece it together, before it all came back in a wild rush. “She woke me up and said there was something out there. And no sooner did I get to the window then I saw the barn flare up like the Fourth of July.”

  “And you ran into it like the freaking conquering army.”

  Tate didn’t get mad often. Even when he was angry, he wasn’t really all the way mad. Hoyt knew his brother—and knew his moods as well as his own—and it was only when he heard the careful cadence and low-voiced words that he knew Tate had gone well past pissed off and straight into a barely leashed temper.

  “What else could I do? Stink was in there. So was Tot and all the rest of the horses. They depend on us.”

  Tate leaped up, whirling on him like a man demented. “I depend on you, you stupid ass! You! Not my horse. My freaking brother.

  “Damn fool—” Tate paced the room like a man possessed. “And you ran straight into the damn thing, the freaking length of a football field, full up and on fire.”

  “I know how big the stable is.”

  “Could have fooled me, you dumb bastard.”

  Tate continued pacing, each step fierce and deliberate. His normal good humor and easygoing nature were nowhere to be found. If anything, Hoyt realized, his brother was only getting madder.

  Recognizing he had to get the situation under control, Hoyt said the only thing he could. “I couldn’t leave Stink. At least not without trying.”

  It was the exact right thing to say and finally forced Tate to make eye contact. “You really are a freaking idiot.”

  “The pain in my chest with every breath I take is doing a damn fine job of reminding me of that.”

  “Damn it, man.” Tate dropped down next to him. “You’re my brother. You. The one I love beyond reason.” He nodded toward Ace. “Along with that ugly mug over there.”

  Tate was gentle as he pulled him close and Hoyt wasn’t about to argue. This was his brother and while he may have been the one to give a scare, he’d also had the thought, racing out of that building, that he’d never see Tate again. “I love you, too.”

  “Remember that, dumbass.” Tate wrapped an arm around Hoyt’s shoulder. “You. Not my horse, who I also love in a way that borders on the unnatural, but you.”

  “Belle know?”

  “That I love you?”

  Hoyt shoved him back, even though he was weaker than a day-old colt. “I meant the horse.”

  “Yeah.” Tate laughed, their impasse at an end. “For reasons I can’t quite fathom, she seems to find it endearing.”

  Chapter 16

  Reese fussed around the edge of Hoyt’s bed, well aware it made him nuts and unable to help herself.

  Five days.

  It had been five endless days of inquisition and fear and absolute turmoil at the ranch and they were no closer to finding the culprit than when it had all started.

  None of it had been for lack of trying.

  Belle was going on nearly sixty hours of minimal sleep, along with half the Midnight Pass PD. They’d ultimately turned over the investigation to the county fire marshal, but it hadn’t stopped them from doing all they could to find the culprit. From what Belle had muttered before laying her head down on the kitchen table the night before, they’d been through endless traffic footage from in and around town, along with scouring all feeds on the ranch, and had yet to turn up anything workable.

  Reese had been questioned endlessly on whom she’d seen running from the stables, but other than the glimpse she’d spotted of the perpetrator running from the back end of the stable and out behind the paddock, she had little else to offer.

  It was maddening.

  And the fact that she had a grouchy, unbearable patient wasn’t helping.

  “I’m fine, damn it.”

  “The doctor said you need more rest. You had a barn fall on you, Hoyt Reynolds. A damn freaking barn.” Reese looked down to see her hands spread akimbo on her hips and couldn’t quite hide how silly she felt.

  Hoyt must have seen it, too, because she saw the first hint of a smile through the grumpy frown he’d been sporting since Thursday.

  “It was only a portion of the barn.”

  “Do you think this is funny?”

  “Not particularly. But watching you standing there like an avenging angel certainly gets my motor running.”

  If she looked silly standing there with her hands on her hips, Reese knew she must look even stranger goggling at him with wide eyes. “Are you coming on to me?”

  “Well, you are standing there, your breasts heaving in a very attractive manner.”


  “My breasts are not—” She looked down at herself—her heaving self—before crossing her arms over her chest. “This is not funny. You’re hurt.”

  “I’m feeling better by the minute, baby. And besides, I rested enough. I feel fine.”

  “Then stand up without holding anything for support, walk across the room, turn around and come back to me.”

  The damn man was out of bed before she could blink and he followed her instructions so fast she barely had time to register when he dived for her on the return trip, capturing her in his arms and pinning her onto the bed. “See?”

  She did see. Or, more to the point, she felt. Felt all those strong rangy muscles pulling her close. She felt his need, hard and insistent against her. And most of all, she felt that answering response coiling below inside of her.

  “I hardly think this is the time or the place.”

  “Ooh,” he said and smiled. “I just got the stern teacher voice. You realize you’re only getting yourself in deeper and deeper here.”

  “That is not my stern teacher voice.”

  “What are you waiting for then? Lay it on me.”

  Reese couldn’t help it. Despite all that was going on and all that was still not figured out, she couldn’t hold back the laughter. Nor could she hold back just how good it felt to lie there with him, wrapped up in each other, teasing and laughing and simply enjoying the moment.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “And now you’re using SAT words.” Hoyt slapped his forehead before falling back on his side next to her. “You unman me, woman.”

  “Is this some weird lingering teenage boy fantasy? Something like you’re too hot for your teacher?”

  He rolled over, propping himself up next to her, a wolfish grin that was about as far from boyish as you could get covering his face. “I’m more than happy to play that game if you want to.”

  “This is a new side to you.” She poked him in the chest. “I have to say, I kind of like it.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

  And then he proceeded to prove it to her, running his lips across her jawline and up toward the shell of her ear. With a light breath, he blew along the same path he licked with his tongue, sending a series of shivers skating down her spine.