Cowboy to the Max

by Rita Herron

  With her love.

  Because she was totally in love with Carter Flagstone. The renegade cowboy, the felon, the man who’d risked his life to save hers more than once.

  So she invited his touch, and when he slowly stripped her clothes and his jeans, then spread his clothes on the ground to make a bed for them, she lay naked and waiting, welcoming him between her legs.

  Hunger spiraled through her, heating her blood to a frenzy as he dipped his head to taste one nipple, then he suckled her deep and hard, first one then the other until she cried out his name and felt herself coming apart in his arms.

  HUNGER FUELED Carter’s energy as he felt the first strains of Sadie’s orgasm rippling through her. He wanted more.

  Wanted to sink himself inside her until she forgot all the pain in the past and remembered only the pleasure that he could give her.

  She clawed at his back, urging him to make love to her, and he eased himself on top of her, carefully bracing himself so as not to crush her. Before, she’d felt smothered—he didn’t want to smother her now.

  Only envelop her in his love.

  “Carter?” she whispered into the darkness.

  “I’m here, Sadie, I’m right here.” He lowered his mouth to hers again, seeking, taking, telling her with his tongue what he intended to do with his body. She parted her legs for him, an invitation that spiked his blood, and he thrust his hips against hers, stroking her heat until she moaned and wrapped her fingers around his thick length.

  He throbbed in her hands, aching to be inside her, and she guided him to her warm chamber, urging him to fill her. Gritting his teeth to keep from shouting, he plunged inside her, the slow burn of release teetering on the edge of exploding.

  He wanted to stall the moment, but it had been five long years since he’d felt the loving caress of a woman, and Sadie was the woman he’d always wanted.

  “I love you, Carter.”

  Her whispered words tore at his heart as he thrust again and lost himself inside her.

  Sadie clung to him, crying out his name as she came again, and he kissed her soundly, then rolled to his side and swept her in his arms, tucking her head into the crook of his shoulder as he tried to make sense of the strange emotions overcoming him.

  Sadie had said she loved him.

  Had she only muttered the words in the heat of the moment?

  Of course she had. He was a two-bit cowboy, a convicted felon with nothing to offer her. He had dragged her into a mess, had almost gotten her killed, and he still wasn’t sure he could keep his promise and get them out of here alive.

  But he would die trying, dammit.

  Adrenaline shot through him and he suddenly pulled away, sat up and reached for his clothes. Sadie pressed her hand to his back.

  “Come here, Carter.”

  Tension knotted his shoulders, though, as he realized time was of the essence. He had no idea how much air they had left. And it wasn’t like anyone was actually looking for them. No one except the cops.

  And he’d done his best to keep them from knowing where he was.

  He yanked on his jeans and shirt and boots, then grabbed the flashlight. “I’m going back a few feet and see if I can find one of those picks or shovels.”

  Sadie sat up and wrapped her arms around herself. He glanced down, aching to lie back down and make love to her again. But if they died or he went back to jail, he’d never get the chance.

  “Carter, let me go with you,” Sadie said.

  “No, I’ll be right back.” He didn’t wait for a response, but rushed back through the tunnel, shoving rocks and sticks aside to find the area where the miners had left their tools. Time felt suspended, and worry nagged at him. His ears were honed, listening for another explosion. Finally the flashlight beam caught the tools half-buried in the rubble, and he scooped away enough dirt with his hands to uncover a shovel, then rushed back toward Sadie.

  By the time he reached her, she was dressed and combing the area for a way out.

  “The light was coming from that direction,” he told her.

  She didn’t comment, and for a moment he sensed he’d done something wrong, but he didn’t have time to analyze it. He had to get them out.

  So he propped the flashlight on the ground at an angle, grabbed the shovel and pick and began to work. Sadie joined him a minute later, taking the pick from him and hacking away at the wall of dirt and rock that had fallen.

  By the time they dug through the collapsed debris and crawled through to an opening, they were sweaty and filthy. He spotted the sliver of light from a few feet above, and gestured for Sadie to help him move the dirt surrounding it, hoping to make a clearing to free them.

  “Be careful,” Carter said. “We could bring the whole damn cave down.”

  She gave him a small nod, then worked more gently, prodding the soil nearest the opening to test it before she continuing hacking.

  They worked diligently until they’d made a hole large enough for Carter to see a way out. “Step back and let me finish,” he said, his heart drumming. “The mine’s roof could collapse any minute.”

  And what if they crawled out and walked into a trap?

  Hell, it was a chance he had to take.

  He felt for the gun inside his jacket, grateful he still had it.

  Then he spun around toward Sadie. “I’ll go first and see if it’s safe.”

  Sadie reached for him, cradled his face and kissed him passionately. When he pulled away, he stroked her cheek gently for a brief second, then removed his gun and held it at the ready as he dragged himself through the hole.

  Fresh air and the waning sunlight drenched the wooded area where the mine spilled out. He scanned the area, listening for sounds of the man who’d set off the explosion, then saw something running in the distance. A deer? A bobcat?

  The man?

  Fueled by rage and the need to catch the culprit, he pulled himself the rest of the way out.

  “Carter?”

  He reached down and offered Sadie a hand. “Come on, Sadie. I think it’s okay.”

  Suddenly footsteps crunched dried leaves and grass, and bushes rustled.

  Then the shadow of a man lumbered over him.

  Carter froze as the man shoved the barrel of a gun in his face.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Move, cowboy, and you’re dead.”

  Carter gritted his teeth as he stared into the condemning eyes of Sheriff Otto. The man who had been sheriff before McRae, the same man who had arrested him for Dyer’s murder. “How did you find me, Otto?”

  He grunted. “I figured you’d eventually end up here.” He cocked the gun and Carter tensed.

  Barring assaulting an officer, he had no way out. Resigned, he held up his hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot. Just listen to me, and let me get the woman down there out.”

  The sheriff’s ruddy face curled into a snarl. “The woman whose been helping you escape?”

  “She’s innocent,” Carter said emphatically. He gripped her hand, then helped her through the opening.

  Sadie collapsed on the ground, knees pulled up, gasping for air. “You have to listen to us,” Sadie said, her eyes widening as she spotted the sheriff’s weapon trained on them. “Someone framed Carter for murder and we know the reason. We can prove it. He tried to kill us.”

  Carter cleared his throat, slowly standing to face the sheriff, determined to draw the man’s gun away from Sadie. “It has to do with my father’s ranch,” Carter explained. “Dyer was working for a man named Mulligan. Mulligan is head of the Uranium Mining Venture in the state. Somehow he discovered uranium mines on my father’s property and knew they could make a fortune by mining them if they owned the ranch. But they needed my father and me out of the way.”

  “So Dyer used me,” Sadie said. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him frame Carter.”

  Carter started to wipe sweat from his eyes, but the sheriff tightened his grip on the gun and kept it aimed at him, s
o he forced himself to remain still. “Someone in cahoots with Mulligan, maybe Elmore Clement, killed Dyer to frame me, then sent Clement to con my father into signing his ranch over to him.”

  “I know about Clement,” the sheriff said, his voice cracking. “He was your cousin, but you killed him, too, when you learned your father willed him the ranch.”

  “I didn’t kill him,” Carter said. “And he’s not my cousin. He’s a con man.”

  The sheriff arched a thick, bushy brow. “You have it all figured out, don’t you?”

  The hairs on the back of Carter’s neck stood on end. “Not everything. I’m not sure Mulligan was running the show, but he’s a place to start.”

  A sinister bark of laughter rumbled from the sheriff’s chest. Sadie shivered at the sound, and Carter tensed, his pulse drumming.

  “You’re not as smart as you think,” the sheriff said. “And you aren’t getting off.”

  Carter’s gut tightened. “I know enough to have my case reopened,” he said. “To start a new investigation.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” The sheriff waved his gun toward Sadie, then back at him. “You’re not going back to jail, either.”

  “Then you’re going to help us?” Sadie asked.

  Carter’s suspicions mounted at the sound of the sheriff’s bark of laughter.

  “I’m helping you, all right.” The sheriff grabbed Sadie’s arm. “Out of my way and into your grave.”

  SADIE GASPED and tried to yank her arm away, but the sheriff shoved her back toward the mine opening. “What are you doing? You’re a lawman. You’re supposed to help us.”

  Carter fisted his hands beside him. “Let her go, Otto.”

  Sheriff Otto shook his head. “No way. I’ve made it this far. And you sure as hell aren’t going to stop me now.”

  “What?” Sadie whispered.

  “He’s behind it all,” Carter said, his tone dark but matter-of-fact, as if the pieces had finally clicked into place. “How did you find out about the uranium mines?”

  Otto tugged at his belt. “I lived in these parts all my life. I knew the area might have some mines. When Mulligan started asking around, I did a little search of my own. Then your daddy got out of jail and started spoutin’ off that he was gonna make him a fortune before he died.”

  Sadie’s head reeled from shock.

  “So you helped him along,” Carter said. “And what about Clement—you set him up to do your dirty work, then killed him to keep him quiet?”

  “Dyer and Clement were both losers.” Sheriff Otto shook his head, shifting and rubbing at his leg. “Ex-cons come in handy sometimes.”

  Sadie shivered. No wonder Carter had been framed so easily. The sheriff had ties and had easily planted evidence against Carter.

  Carter narrowed his eyes. “So you killed Clement and Loretta Swinson, too.”

  Otto made a clicking sound with his teeth. “Like I said, nothing is going to stop me. Your daddy was a mean bastard and didn’t deserve that money.” He waved the gun back and forth between them, a crazed look in his eyes. “But me, I done good all my life.”

  “You’ve killed three, four people so far,” Carter growled. “And now you plan to kill two more.”

  “Being good didn’t pay off.” The burly man cocked the gun then grabbed Sadie’s arm again.

  “You can’t do this,” Sadie said. “Think of the innocent women and kids on the reservation and the BBL. They deserve safe water.”

  He waved the gun at Sadie.

  “Enough talk. Get back in there. Now.”

  He flung Sadie into the entrance, and she cried out as her knees hit jagged rock. Carter lunged at the sheriff with a vicious snarl.

  They both flew backward against a tree, then the gun went off, the shrill sound muffled by Carter’s grunt of pain.

  Panic zinged through Sadie. Had Carter been shot again?

  PAIN SLAMMED INTO CARTER, but he managed to dodge the bullet. Still Otto had hit him in his gut where he’d been shot before, and blood trickled from his belly.

  Sadie screamed behind him. Fury enraged him, fueling his energy, and he jerked Otto’s gun hand up. Otto squeezed the trigger again, and the shot fired into the air. Carter tightened his grip, twisting the man’s wrist nearly backward. Otto bellowed in pain, his fingers falling open, releasing the gun. The gun fell to the ground at their feet, and Carter kicked it away with his boot, sending it skittering across the dirt.

  “Dammit, you’re not going to get away with this,” Carter said between clenched teeth.

  “You should have stayed in jail,” the sheriff spat.

  The reminder of his last five years of misery, of being locked up while his life passed him by, made Carter’s anger mount, and he slammed his fist into Otto’s jaw. The man’s head snapped back, then Carter shoved him to the ground. They rolled and fought, grunting and trading blows, dust and dirt flying as they hit each other over and over.

  Otto grabbed a rock from the ground and swung the jagged point against Carter’s temple, the edge connecting an inch below his eyes. Blood spurted and he rocked back, dizzy from the force. Then Otto punched him in the gut again, and he grunted, desperate not to pass out.

  Sadie yelled his name, fueling his need to protect her. She had suffered too much already. She needed him now.

  He would not let this bastard kill her.

  Channeling all his energy and rage into striking back, he swung his fist and connected with Otto’s stomach. The man doubled over with a groan, and Carter took advantage to punch Otto in the ribs. The sound of bones cracking was his reward, and he hit him again, this time so hard the blow knocked the sheriff to the ground.

  Otto was a big guy, but his gut and age slowed his reactions, and Carter had had five years of prison fights to hone his skills.

  He didn’t have to think now. By rote, he used those skills. Otto fought back as Carter pinned him to the ground, but Carter sank his weight onto the man, pinned him with his legs, then punched him in the face, over and over and over.

  Five years of rage and brutal beatings with no one to help him drove him to vent his anger. Blood gushed from Otto’s nose and mouth, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he moaned in pain, his body going limp as he lost consciousness.

  All the nights in that cell, the isolation and despair flashed back, and Carter wanted to punish Otto. He wanted him dead.

  So he hit him again and again, smiling as blood pooled from Otto’s nose.

  But Sadie’s soft cry broke through the haze of his rage.

  “Carter, stop,” she pleaded. “Please, stop, you don’t want to kill him.”

  “Yes, I do.” Carter threw another blow.

  “No, you don’t.” Sadie tugged at his arm. “If you do, you’ll go back to jail and we’ll never clear your name.”

  Through the haze of his rage, her words registered.

  Five years ago he’d been out of control, and he’d ended up in jail.

  “We have proof, evidence,” Sadie said. “We have the will, and I’ll testify, and finally you’ll be free.”

  She gripped his face, and forced him to look at her. “That’s what you want, Carter. To be free. And this is not the way to get it.”

  Carter’s vision was blurred, but through the fog, he looked into Sadie’s eyes. Her beautiful, dark eyes that he had lost himself in the first time he’d met her.

  She was right. Killing Otto would feel good for a few minutes, but then he’d go back to jail and his life would be over. Again.

  Not that his future held much hope, but at least if he cleared his name, he wouldn’t live his days in a cell waiting to die.

  Slowly he climbed off of Otto, then grabbed the sheriff’s handcuffs from his belt, rolled the man over and cuffed his hands behind his back.

  Sadie had given him a reason to live and to keep fighting for that freedom. And he intended to fight.

  SADIE WAS TREMBLING as she searched Carter’s face. But she felt blood on his abdomen, and f
ear mingled with relief. Carter had subdued the sheriff and hadn’t killed him, but he was still injured.

  “You’re bleeding again, Carter. Did he shoot you?”

  Carter shook his head, glanced down at his belly and frowned. “No, he just opened up the wound.”

  “Thank God,” Sadie said. “But we need to stop the bleeding.”

  “Let me call Johnny before Otto comes to.”

  Sadie nodded and ran to the truck to grab an extra T-shirt to soak up the blood. When she returned, Carter was talking on the phone.

  “Yeah, Johnny. We’re okay, and Otto’s cuffed but he’s alive.” A pause and Sadie came to him, then began unbuttoning his shirt.

  “Thanks, Johnny. We’ll be here waiting.”

  He disconnected the call, and Sadie gripped his arm. “Come on and sit down, Carter. Let me look at the wound.”

  The sheriff groaned slightly and tried to open his eyes, but he was too weak and passed back out. Sadie balled the shirt into a compress and pressed it against Carter’s abdomen, soaking up the blood. Her heart hammered frantically at the feel of his skin beneath her fingers.

  They had made love only a little while ago. Then they had almost died.

  Although she had told Carter she loved him, he hadn’t confessed his love. In fact, he hadn’t responded at all.

  Except to pull away.

  What would happen once the police arrived? Once he was finally free?

  Would it be over between them?

  CARTER WRESTLED with frustration and despair as they waited on Johnny and the police. The instinct to run was so strong he considered asking Sadie to jump in the truck and suggest they drive to Mexico.

  But he was so close to justice he could practically taste it. And he couldn’t leave without making sure Otto paid.

  Besides, now his father was gone, if he cleared his name, this property should revert to him. Unless his father had stipulated otherwise.

  “Carter, are you all right?” Sadie asked softly.

  He looked into her endless brown eyes, and felt a ghost of a smile tugging at his lips, a confession of his love on the tip of his tongue. Yet too many doubts plagued him to speak. He had stared at prison walls for so long that he hadn’t dared to dream what would happen if he was finally exonerated.