Stone Cold Cowboy

For the fans, especially Diana Davidson, Lori Perrone-Frazier, Ruth Becht, and Pamela Shagena.

For my family, who never waiver in their encouragement, enthusiasm, and happiness for me despite the long days I spend with my imaginary friends. As much as I adore them, I love you all more.

S
adie crested the rolling hill and spotted her target: her missing horses and a herd of cattle that didn't belong to her reckless brother. She didn't waste a hope he was saving them from some predator. Not with two of his miscreant cohorts right beside him pushing the mooing and bawling animals farther along the valley. Leave it to her brother to make trouble with no regard for the consequences. If he got caught rustling cattle, he'd expect her to get him out of it. She'd been saving his butt since he hit a rebellious stage at thirteen that turned into his way of life, escalating from pranks to petty theft and drug dealing. What happened to the sweet boy who loved to swing the highest at the playground? The one who cried at their mother's funeral and brushed his hand over Sadie's hair that same night while they cried themselves to sleep on their mother's side of the bed? At twenty-one Connor had changed from a sensitive boy into nothing short of a hoodlum numbed by drugs, with no regard for anyone else. One day she feared he'd end up in jail for the rest of his life . . . or dead.

If whoever owned those cattle didn't kill him, she might.

A soft pat on the neck and a nudge with her heels sent her horse Sugar down the hill in a trot. Sadie loved to ride, but chasing after her brother took the pleasure right out of it. The cold wind, scented with pine, grass, and rain from the storm last night that had left the ground muddy, whipped her hair out behind her and burned her cheeks. Her lips dried and cracked in the bitter cold.

Her horse's fast approach startled several cattle. They broke off from the herd and scattered. She rode straight up the middle and split the herd in two, hoping to discourage the animals from following the rider up front and the two flanking them. Her brother spotted her and reined his horse around to meet hers. She pulled up short and stopped beside him, glaring at his ruddy face, red from the cold. His intense gaze collided with hers. His pupils were the size of saucers. High. Irritated he'd been caught, he narrowed his eyes on her.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

Her lips drew into a grim line. “Saving your ass from making another mistake.”

“Get out of here before you get hurt.” Connor scanned the area, avoiding looking at the two guys with him, who closed in on them. “You have to go now.”

Sadie sighed out her frustration. The cows had stopped walking down the valley and milled around them, chomping at the new grass just beginning to grow after the last of the snow melted. The cold temps remained even as spring pushed in to take winter's place. She stared at the poor, tired animals. Her brother and his buddies had pushed them hard and brought them a
long way. One steer turned, and she caught a glimpse of the brand on his hide.

She sucked in a surprised breath. “These are Kendrick cattle. Are you crazy? Those guys will hunt you down and beat the living shit out of you. If Rory comes after you, you'll wish you were never born.”

She'd gone to school with Colt Kendrick, but didn't really know him. The last time she saw him, he'd been sitting around a table with his two older brothers at the bar. She'd gone to drag her brother home after the bartender called to let her know Connor was playing pool and looking for a fight. He'd nearly gotten one when he stumbled into Colt and dumped beer down his front. Sadie stepped in just in time, blocking her brother from the punch Colt threw and almost landed straight in her face, until Rory grasped his brother's wrist and stopped his swing inches from her nose. When her brother tried to go after Colt, she'd tried to hold him off, but he got around her. Rory grabbed Connor by the shirt and held him off the ground in front of him like he didn't weigh more than a puppy. He'd looked her brother in the eyes and shook him hard to get his attention. He didn't speak. Didn't have to. The ominous look in his eyes made her brother quake in his boots. Rory set her brother down with a thud, and Connor ran for the door. Sadie chased after him, but not before she turned back and caught the feral look in Rory's eyes. The same kind of look she'd seen weeks earlier when she plowed into Rory's big, solid body in the feed store. The man was hard and unyielding, physically and mentally. You did not go up against a Kendrick, and especially him. Her stupid brother got off free and clear that time.

Connor scratched at a scab on his chin. “If you keep
your fucking mouth shut and get lost, they'll never know.”

“You don't think they're going to know an entire herd of cattle is missing? You've lost your mind, little brother.”

He puffed out his thin chest, his bony shoulders going back. “I'm not little. I can take care of myself,” he whined like the child he acted like most of the time.

“You have yet to prove that in any capacity. If it weren't for me, you'd have been locked up in juvy at fourteen. All these years later, you're not proving to be any smarter than that punk kid who cried and begged me to save him. You promised me on our mother's grave you'd do better, you'd quit drinking and doing drugs. But you didn't keep that promise to me, or her.”

“I warned you.” The words belied the sad, resigned look that came into his eyes.

A split second later, she had the blink of an eye to understand what he meant. A fist slammed into her face, sending her off her horse and into the mud, grass, and darkness.

“S
top touching her.
Let's just go and get the damn cattle to the trailers before we get caught.” Connor stared down at her, lying on the ground practically naked.

What the hell? Her gaze locked on the man crouched beside her, his hand gripped around her upper arm, keeping her from scrambling away. Fear tore through her body. The cold bit into her skin and froze her bones. She clamped her aching jaw down tight to keep her teeth from chattering. She pushed up to sitting, her
knees drawn up, and covered herself with her hands. Her cheeks heated with embarrassment. She scanned the area for her missing coat, jeans, and shirt. At least the asshole hadn't gotten her out of her panties and bra; still, it wasn't enough coverage to make her feel safe, or keep her warm.

“Give me back my clothes.” Her sharp words didn't hide the fear shaking her voice.

“Shut up, or I'll clock you again.”

Scott and Tony, Connor's so-called friends, stood over her smoking cigarettes. The three of them collectively added up to one brain. None of them came up with a good idea, but they sure could turn a bad one worse one-upping one another. Now that she was awake, their gazes shot from her breasts to her face, then off to the scattered clouds overhead.

Connor pushed away the guy beside her, someone she didn't know. “You don't need to strip her. You fucking lay another hand on her and I'll kill you.”

She appreciated her brother's bravado, but the big dude with long, greasy dark hair; devil tat on his neck; and the wicked knife in his hand he whipped out from behind him could probably kill her brother with a look from his cold eyes. Her throbbing jaw attested to the guy's powerful right hook. If he'd hit a woman, no telling what he'd do to her brother.

The devil dude, as she immediately thought of him, stood and took a menacing step closer to her brother. “Your sister has one hot body. She'd look damn good in lace.” He raked his gaze over her figure, grimacing at her cotton bra and panties. “I say we teach her a lesson about butting into my business.” The devil dude smacked Scott on the shoulder, trying to get his agreement.

Scott and Tony continued to look uncomfortable, shaking their heads and toeing at the dirt, avoiding looking the devil dude right in the eye. They probably needed another hit of whatever they were on. Despite the cold, sweat broke out on their faces. Her brother didn't look much better.

“She's not going to say anything. The last thing she wants to do is get me in trouble.” The assurance her brother tried to put into his words fell short, making him sound more like a sniveling child.

“You do that all on your own,” she snapped, glaring at all of them. She stood up, realizing too late she didn't quite have her head on straight yet. Dizzy, she stumbled a step, then caught herself. She spotted her clothes tossed a few feet away and rushed toward them, hoping to grab them, run to her horse, and get the hell out of there before things got worse. She definitely didn't want to get hit again. The fear building in her gut that the devil dude might make good on his ominous threats, both spoken and unspoken, made bile rise to the back of her throat. She needed to get away now, before it was too late.

She wrapped her arms around herself, warding off another round of shivers, not all of which resulted from the cold, but the bone-deep fear they might not let her go.

“Where do you think you're going?” The devil dude grabbed her arm and spun her around. She took him by surprise, stepping in close and kneeing him in the nuts. He fell to his knees, his hands on his balls, the knife sticking out toward her.

“Sadie, no,” her brother shouted.

“I'll make you regret that, bitch.” The devil dude lunged for her.

She expected him to grab her, but she couldn't get out of the way fast enough. His hands clamped on to her shoulders. The knife handle dug into her arm, but fear for her life made her act. She brought her arms up and broke his hold. Surprise showed in his eyes, but they narrowed with determination. He grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward. She plowed into his chest with a thump. His cold leather jacket chilled her skin even more. He wrapped his arms around her back, squeezing her close. She head-butted him, hitting him more on the chin than nose than she'd like. He shoved her back to the ground and swiped the back of his hand over his face. Slumped in the dirt and grass, she stared up at him, trying to clear the haze from her aching head and vision, wishing she'd broken his nose.

She tried to think fast, but the guy came after her again, falling to his knees, straddling her hips. His heavy weight pushed her butt into the soft earth, and a jagged rock dug into her spine. He pressed the knife to her neck. The menacing smile on his face reinforced the dangerous look in his eyes. He'd do it. He'd kill her and not think twice about it.

Cold fear washed through her, stealing her every thought and breath. Her heart slammed into her ribs and stopped for a brief second. Her whole world halted as she stared up into eyes that held nothing but death.

“Kill her and I won't make any more meth,” her brother yelled.

Startled by her brother's admission, Sadie glanced at Connor, caught the apologetic look, then stared back up into the devil dude's flat eyes.

“You'll cook, or you're dead. You owe me more than the price of those cattle.”

“If I'm dead you get nothing. Don't kill her.”

The devil dude smiled. It frightened her more than anything he'd done so far.

“Okay. I won't kill her.”

The easy acquiescence didn't ease her mind.

“Grab that wire and rope from my saddle,” he ordered Scott.

“We should get out of here. Those Kendricks come for their herd and we're dead.” Scott tried to talk reason with the irrational devil dude.

“Get it now.” The devil dude bit out the words. Scott jumped to do his bidding, beaten without ever really getting in the fight to save her.

The devil dude clamped his hand on her aching jaw and shook her face. “No one fucks with me. If they do, they get what's coming. You're going to get your due.”

Sadie wanted to run, but he had her on the ground, that damn knife at her neck, pressed so hard to her skin she felt a trickle of blood run down her throat where he cut her. His gaze fell on the blood. The slow smile that spread across his face disturbed her, but not as much as the lust that filled his dark eyes.

Scott dropped the coiled barbed wire and rope next to her. Connor stood off to the side, pacing, biting at his thumb, his eyes filled with worry, but he didn't come to her rescue, just kept gnawing on his already raw skin.

“This is going to hurt, bitch.” The menacing words held a note of anticipation and enthusiasm that soured her stomach.

He used his grip on her face to hold her down. He slid the knife into the sheath at his back, pulled a pair of wire cutters from his back pocket, and snipped a long length of wire from the coil. He held it up in front
of her, set the tool down, took both her hands, and pulled them up in front of him. She bucked her hips and tried to pull free, but nothing worked to dislodge the big man from her body.

“Let me go, asshole.” She tried to put as much bravado in her voice as she could conjure to hide her fear, but the tremble in her voice gave her away.

“You asked for it.”

He wrapped the wire around her wrists and in between. The harder she tried to pull free, the tighter he wound.

Panic rose in her chest, making it difficult to take a deep breath. Her chest heaved in and out. In another minute, she'd be hyperventilating. “Stop. Please. You're hurting me.”

“Ah, music to my ears.” The amusement in his eyes told her how much he enjoyed her fear and pain.

“You sadistic son of a bitch.”

“Yes, I am.” His eyes went bright with delight.

The barbs bit into her skin. Blood trickled down her arms from multiple punctures.

“Go get the horses while I finish here,” he ordered her brother.

Tony and Scott scurried away without a word. The dread in their eyes when they snuck quick glances back told her how much they feared this man.

“Leave her. You taught her a lesson. Let's go,” Connor pleaded, pacing back and forth not even five feet away.

“I thought letting her walk home in her underwear in the cold would have taught her a lesson about sticking her nose into things that don't concern her. But your sister had to go and fuck with me.” The devil dude
leaned down close and stared her in the eyes. “You kick me in the balls, bitch, I'll make you bleed.” The whispered threat didn't lessen the ominous reality that he meant it. He turned back to her brother and yelled, “Go get the horses. Hers too. We're leaving.”