Her hands shook as she slid bullets into the cylinder, wondering why she’d allowed her fear that it might go off on its own to stop her from keeping the damned thing loaded for emergencies. She counted each one as she did, a simple way to keep her mind focused on the task and not give in to the anxiety that threatened to overtake her. The bullets were cold in her fingers, making her realize that she’d forgotten her gloves back at the saloon. Finally loaded, she ran her thumb over a bit of rust as she pulled back the hammer, her hands shaking. She didn’t want to shoot anyone. Maybe if they realized she had a gun, they’d leave her alone.
Closing her eyes to steady herself, she opened them and raised her arms to aim. They must have seen her gun, because they split up, each taking a different direction. She frowned, but it hardly mattered, she just wanted them to leave. Aiming in the direction of the nearest one, making sure her aim was a bit high, she fired.
The shot left her ears ringing and her hands vibrating from the shock, but she’d missed. The rider changed directions, galloping off to her right. Readjusting her aim, she followed him, but he moved too fast for her to get a clear shot. Dammit! Knowing she might not get another chance, she pulled the hammer back anyway, but then the grass rustled very close to her left side. She swung back around to that side, but before she could even get a glimpse of who had approached, she was knocked off balance by a large body. The momentum sent them rolling together through the tall grass until they finally came to a stop. She had managed to keep a grip on the butt of her gun, and pulled her hand up immediately, only to have it slammed back to the grass.
In a blind panic, she fought, but he wrestled the gun from her and threw it away before pinning her wrists to the ground over her head. She bucked to get him off, but he settled the full weight of his torso on her, effectively stopping her fight. His heavy, muscular thighs on either side of hers held her virtually immobile. Only then, when she was trapped, did she look up into the face above her own. Of course it had to be the pretty one staring back at her, his expression fierce and angry.
“You could have killed someone!”
“You could have left me alone.” Though she knew it was useless, she struggled beneath him anyway.
“It was stupid thing to do. You’re outnumbered.”
“What would you have done? Waited patiently for three strange men to come and get you?”
A sliver of moonlight crossed his features, creating hollows below his high cheekbones and showing the anger that lit his eyes. He was livid, but he smirked at her remark. His lips parted a bit to reveal a flash of white teeth, a predator toying with his meal. A shot of fear darted through her belly and it was as exciting as it was terrifying. Or maybe it was the wicked excitement that terrified her. She couldn’t bear to acknowledge its existence, much less contemplate it. Jerking her gaze away, she held herself rigid beneath him and asked, “What will happen to me?”
Her question must have settled him, reassured him that she was accepting her fate, because he relaxed above her, his muscles softening just enough so that she felt the weight of him pressing her down even more. It wasn’t as unpleasant as it might have been. He’d settled into the ease she remembered from the saloon, tempering his fierce edge just a bit. “That all depends on you, sweetheart. If you cooperate, you’ll be fine.”
She almost believed him, but then he called for rope, his voice hard as it rumbled through her. A coil landed in the flattened grass near them. He moved off her then, to grab her upper arm and pull her up to her feet. Only then did she realize how her legs trembled as her knees threatened to buckle. He must have seen, because his voice gentled as he pulled her wrists in front of her to tie them together. “Cooperate and you won’t be hurt,” he reminded her.
But she couldn’t stand there docilely to let herself be bound. Every instinct within her urged her not to let them take her. So she pretended compliance until he gave his focus to the task of tying her wrists and then she elbowed him hard in the ribs and took off. Though he grunted at the impact, she barely got two steps before he pulled her back against his chest. He was tall enough that she fit tucked beneath his chin so that he could look down to finish the task. His arms held her pinned while he fit the noose around her wrists and tightened it before she could do more than yelp in surprise. Pressure built up in her chest, but she fought it down and stared at her bound hands. She’d never before felt so horribly helpless and vulnerable and angry, all at the same time. She’d done nothing to deserve this. Damn Ship and every outlaw she knew!
She pulled at the binding and struggled against her captor’s hold, but then the Spaniard walked up to them, holding her gun loosely in his right hand. It wasn’t a threatening pose, but she knew that it could be aimed at her in the blink of an eye, so she stilled her struggles. She fervently hoped that he hadn’t been the one she’d shot at. But, then, that would only leave the giant and she really didn’t want him angry with her either.
“I’ll ask you once more and this time I’d appreciate an honest answer.” He paused to allow the importance of those words to sink in, his handsome face solemn and fierce at the same time. “What do you know of Ship Campbell?”
She pressed back into her captor’s chest, instinctively trying to distance herself from the gun. She might have imagined it, but his thumb traced lightly over the exposed skin of her wrist. The resulting involuntary shiver it caused unnerved her, so she jerked away, making him grasp her arms tightly. Instead of answering the question, knowing that her voice would only give her away, she shook her head.
The Spaniard sighed and looked down, shaking his own head at her. “Looks like we have an interesting night ahead.”
The deep voice at her back rolled through her. “The horses!”
At that, the giant walked out of the darkness and into her line of sight, holding the leads of all three horses. The dead weight of dread settled in her stomach, but she resolved herself to her fate. If they had followed her, then that meant they didn’t know where she lived and more than likely her sisters would be safe. If she could keep that information to herself until tomorrow, then Jake would find them alone at the farm by morning and take them back to the saloon. They’d be safer there with him.
She just had to make it through the night. The thought made her heart pound in her ears. These men wouldn’t give up until she told them whatever they wanted to know. They weren’t taking her to keep her tied up; they were taking her to force her to talk. She closed her eyes to fight back the treacherous tears that threatened. Whatever happened, she could endure it as long as she knew the children would be spared. She had to; they needed her.
The pretty one moved forward to his horse, a beautiful animal whose coat shimmered black in the moonlight with a pretty white star pattern between his eyes. What sort of outlaw owned such a magnificent creature? With the force of his body propelling her toward the horse whether she wanted to go or not, she didn’t have time to ponder the answer to that question. When they reached it, he stopped and looked down at her. She knew because his breath was suddenly very close to her ear, sending a strange tingle shooting through her, making her turn her head away to stop it.
“I can sit you in front of me without tying you down, if you promise to behave.”
“Go to the devil.” She bit the words out between clenched teeth.
His chuckle was anything but reassuring. Before she could anticipate his movement, he picked her up and sat her awkwardly across the saddle. When she would have kicked out, he grabbed her ankles and wrapped the length of rope hanging from her wrists around them, so that she was literally bound hands to feet. Then he mounted behind her and placed an arm securely around her waist and pulled her back against him.
His breath brushed her ear as he spoke. “We have a ways to go, so use the time to think hard about telling us the truth. No one wants you to get hurt.”
She almost scoffed, but held herself in check. Ship had brought home plenty of men like these. Ruthless men who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her if it got them what they wanted. Though Ship had taken care of her and her sisters