by Leah Brooke
She’d really believed that they loved her.
Never again.
She’d never again fall in love.
It hurt more than she could bear.
Brushing tears from her eyes, she opened the cabin door, looking around to see that only a handful of men stood in the distance, all of them looking in the direction the others had ridden.
She eased out, closing the door behind her and made her way across the porch and to the other side of the cabin, her heart pounding nearly out of her chest. Not taking her eyes from the men, she circled to the other side.
Pausing, she waited, and watched them glance toward the cabin. With a gasp, she pressed her back against the wall, tightening her arms around the bundle. Forcing her breathing to slow, even though she knew they wouldn’t be able to hear her from this distance, she counted to fifty before daring to peer around the corner.
Holding her breath, she watched them head in the opposite direction, and with a silent good-bye to her new home, she started to run—determined to find Willy before they did.
* * * *
Holding the reins of his horse, Phoenix walked behind his brothers with the rest of the ranch hands, looking into the distance, and across a field where Hart and Gideon also tracked Willy and his increasingly smaller gang.
They’d caught another member of Willy’s gang just a short time ago, when the outlaw’s lame horse had kept him from escaping with the others.
Wyatt and Hayes had recognized him at once as a train robber from back east, and after questioning him, had tied him to a tree while everyone else tracked the others.
No one spoke, all eyes trained on Hawke and Blade.
Hawke straightened from where he’d crouched to investigate the tracks he’d found. “They’re not far ahead of us. A few minutes.” Grim-faced, Hawke mounted again and started out, every line in his body stiff with fury.
Phoenix mounted and closed in behind him, angry that tracking made their journey frustratingly slow.
Each step, though, took them closer to the deadly threat to their wife.
Her safety meant everything.
They rode for several miles, the tension in the small group growing when they realized that they’d begin to circle the ranch, getting closer and closer to the homes there.
Closer and closer to the women.
Closer to Sarah.
Even the knowledge that men remained at the ranch to watch out for them didn’t ease Phoenix’s fears.
Judging from the looks on Hawke’s and Blade’s faces, it didn’t ease theirs, either.
Fighting the urge to race forward, he saw Hawke stiffen, sharing a look with Blade.
“What?” Leaning forward, he looked past them, his jaw clenching when he saw horses. “It’s about time.”
Hawke motioned for silence, and leapt from his horse without a sound, racing for the grove of trees to their left. “No. Hell.” The fear in his voice sent a chill through Phoenix, the chill growing colder when he saw what Hawke saw.
Blade ran after him, holding up a hand, not taking his eyes from the sight of Sarah standing at the edge of a grassy field, holding the bundle in front of her that she’d brought from Waco. “We’ve got to move fast, and your boots will make too much noise. We need you all to stay here. We’re going to be counting on your rifles.”
Phoenix started after them, stopping abruptly when Hawke held out a hand again.
“No, Phoenix. We need the element of surprise. Your boots will make too much noise.” He glanced at the other men, his eyes filled with terror. “Don’t worry about us. Protect Sarah. She’s trying to give the gold to Willy to keep us safe.”
Phoenix cursed and moved into the trees, searching for the perfect position while Wyatt and Hayes hurriedly led the horses deeper into the trees and out of sight, coming back in only seconds.
Conal glanced at Phoenix, his expression grim. “She’ll be all right. That bastard’s not gonna get the chance to hurt her. I’m going to make my way into the rocks over there with Hayes.”
Phoenix nodded, dropping to the ground with his rifle, aware that Adam and Wyatt moved to his left for a different angle.
His chest got tighter as Willy and the others approached Sarah on horseback. He counted four other riders beside the outlaw he suspected was Willy. To his surprise, one of the other riders appeared to be a woman.
Knowing how terrified Sarah would be of both Willy and the horses, he clenched his jaw, fear and pride at her bravery waging a war inside him.
Once they rescued her, he’d spend the rest of his life showing her how much he loved her—and never let her out of his sight again.
* * * *
Blade concentrated on speed and silence, while inwardly running through every prayer and curse word he knew. “I swear, once we get her, I’m gonna turn her over my knee until she can’t sit down.”
Hawke didn’t even glance at him as both men crouched low and raced toward Sarah, their position behind the trees making it possible for them to remain unseen. “I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands. Christ, what the hell does she think she’s doing?”
Blade kept running beside his brother, every step the outlaw took toward his wife striking terror into his heart. “You know damned well what she’s doing. That little thing is going against an outlaw to protect us from him.”
The idea that any of them needed protection from a man like Willy would have been amusing in other circumstances, but could prove deadly in this one.
It was something he had to make abundantly clear to his wife as soon as he got the chance.
Please, God, let me have the chance.
The outlaw and the others rode slowly toward Sarah, as if enjoying her fear and wanting to drag it out as long as possible.
Vowing to make the other man pay for scaring his wife, Blade clenched his jaw and reached for the war club strapped to his back, a curved wooden club wrapped in buckskin that he and Hawke always carried.
Running side by side, they burst through the tree line, coming up on the outlaws from behind.
Blade knew the moment Sarah saw them, and prayed that he and Hawke could reach the outlaws before they had a chance to get to her.
With his brother matching him step for step, they ran faster, the distance between him and the outlaw closing with every stride.
Hawke already had his club in one hand, his tomahawk in the other.
Neither one of them drew their guns, knowing that Phoenix would have his rifle at the ready.
His little brother never missed.
With so much at stake, he ran faster than he’d ever run before, every yard seeming to take forever. He ran past the other men, ignoring their shouts.
“So, you thought you could get away from me. You really think you’d get away with stealing my money? You’re gonna pay for that, bitch. You’re gonna pay on your back. You’re gonna pay on your knees.”
A fresh wave of fury raged through him, and with a scream of rage, he leapt at Willy.
* * * *
Sweat trickled down Sarah’s back. She’d dropped her bundle to stick her hands into her deep pockets, closing her fists around the bag of coins in each one.
The thought of facing Willy hadn’t scared her as much when she’d been with her husbands, but facing the outlaw now, she realized what a mistake she’d made in coming here.
Only the knowledge that giving him the gold would keep the others safe kept her from running.
Sarah spared a glance for the other riders, horrified to see that her mother rode with them.
Her mother’s dress was torn, and she looked haggard. Her cheek had a mark on it as if she’d been hit, and the bruises on her arms and other cheek were plainly visible.
He threw his head back and laughed. “We’ve been talking about all the things we want to do to you. Your ma kept us satisfied on the way, but we’re gettin’ a little tired of her.”
Blinking back tears before they could fall, Sarah lifted her chin. “I’m not
a virgin anymore, Willy. I’m married. I don’t think my husbands would appreciate your plans for me.”
She wished things had been different, and her husbands would ride to her rescue, but Willy had ruined everything.
She’d ruined everything.
Willy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.”
She took a steadying breath and pulled the two small pouches from her pockets. “Take the gold and just go away. Leave my mother here with me.”
“Not a chance. You’re both coming with me.” He pointed his gun at her. “As a matter of fact, I want to see what I’m getting. Strip. Right now.”
“No.”
Sarah gasped at the sight of Hawke and Blade running toward her, moving so fast she could only stare in shock.
Willy laughed. “Yes.” He moved forward, his eyes gleaming. “So, you thought you could get away from me. You really think you’d get away with stealing my money? You’re gonna pay for that, bitch. You’re gonna pay on your back. You’re gonna pay on your knees.”
The roar of rage that came from Blade sent a chill down her spine, the shouts and unmistakable gunfire that followed stilling her into immobility.
Willy turned to her, jumping from the horse and raising his gun. “You’re gonna die for this, bitch!”
Something hit her hard in the leg, making it buckle, but before she could fall, she felt herself slammed back to the ground when something simultaneously hit her shoulder and side.
It knocked the air from her lungs, making it impossible to draw a breath.
Seconds later, fire seemed to explode in her shoulder, leg, and side, increasing her panic.
Screams of rage and pain.
Feet pounding on the ground and coming closer.
She tried to lift her head, to fold herself into a ball against the pain, but she couldn’t seem to make her muscles work.
She needed to see them. She needed to know that the men she loved were safe.
A tear trickled from the corner of her eye.
And then, nothing but black.
* * * *
Hawke ran to Sarah’s side, fear gripping him by the throat and nearly choking him.
Willy had managed to get a shot off before Blade tackled him to the ground, while two of Willy’s men shot at her even as Phoenix and the others opened fire.
Hawke had killed the other man with a hard club to the head, preventing him from firing his gun again, but the damage had already been done.
They’d failed her.
They hadn’t been fast enough.
If she died, a part of him would die with her.
Kneeling over her, he resisted pulling her hard against him, forcing himself to remain calm to see to her injuries as Blade and Phoenix closed in on her from either side. “She’s breathing.”
Phoenix circled to her to her other side, and carefully worked her shirt free of her skirt. “Christ, she’s covered in blood.” He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against her side, grimacing when she moaned. “I didn’t get them in time.”
Hawke ripped her shirt from her shoulder and took Phoenix’s bandana with hands that shook, and secured it against the wound in an effort to stop the blood. “You got them. She’s alive.”
Wyatt yelled from behind him. “Is she all right?”
Blade cursed and half turned to see Wyatt holding on to the woman who’d been riding with them. “She’s alive. How about them?”
“They’re all dead, except for the woman. She says she’s Sarah’s momma. Damn it, stop wiggling. She wants to come see her.”
Hawke took the bandanna Phoenix had soaked from his canteen. “No.” He felt too protective of her to allow anyone else near, especially someone whose motives he didn’t trust.
Wyatt appeared at his side, but Hawke’s focus on Sarah was so intense that he hadn’t even heard the lawman approach, or seen him turn the woman over to Adam. “Oh, hell. Duke and Hayes are riding hell bent for leather to town for a doctor. Duke’ll bring him back while Hayes explains what’s going on to the sheriff in Tulsa. In the meantime, Eb went to get Will Prentice.”
Hawke wanted to throw up. “We promised to protect her.”
Wyatt moved to crouch beside Hawke, gripping Sarah’s arm and thigh to turn her. “We all failed her. What the hell was she doing out here?”
Hawke took her hand, grimacing when she moaned. “Trying to give him back the gold so he wouldn’t hurt us.”
Wyatt turned to look at him over his shoulder, his eyes filled with pity and fury. “You’re kidding.”
Blade removed his buckskin shirt and folded it, gently lifted her head to slide it under it. “I wish he was. Christ, she’s a hell of a woman.”
Pressing the shirt against her wound again, Wyatt lifted the edge of the bandanna on her shoulder. “The shot in her side went clean through, but it looks like the bullet in her shoulder is still in her. It’s gonna have to be removed. How about the one in her thigh?”
“Still inside.” Hawke felt as if his heart was breaking, the pain in his chest almost unbearable. “She’s so damned small.” He should never have left her back at the cabin.
As all four of them tended to her, fighting to staunch the flow of blood, Phoenix cursed. “Why the hell did she think that bastard would just accept the gold she had left and leave?”
“She really took his gold?”
Hawke spared a glance at the woman who’d spoken, seeing that Adam remained poised to catch her if she ran toward them. “Yeah.” Furious at the outlaws, and at himself, he lashed out. “She had to protect herself somehow.”
Sarah’s mother nodded. “I deserved that. In my defense, though, I’m a weak woman. Always have been. Not like Sarah.” Tears rolled down her bruised cheek. “Please. I know I don’t deserve it, but I’d like to come closer. I’d like her to know I’m here. I need to tell her that I love her before she—”
Leaping to his feet, Hawke strode toward her, seething with anger. “She’s not gonna die, damn it, and if you say anything like that again, I’ll tie you to a tree and let the wolves have you!”
Ignoring the startled look from Adam, he hurried back to Sarah again, the knots in his stomach getting tighter. “She’s so white.”
Blade straightened and stood. “She’s lost a lot of blood. Let’s get a fire started. Will is gonna need hot water and we’re gonna have to sterilize the blade of the knife before we can dig the bullets out.”
Hawke shared a look with the others and said what he knew they were all thinking. “And to cauterize if we can’t get this blood stopped.”
* * * *
Sarah woke slowly, wondering where she was. A strange lethargy made her feel as if she floated, and she thought back to the time she’d spent with Hawke, Blade, and Phoenix in the spring.
Hearing the unmistakable sounds of low voices, she tried to turn toward them, but her body wouldn’t obey her.
She felt dizzy. Weak.
The only thing she seemed able to move was her right hand, and when she did, she encountered what felt like cool grass instead of warm water.
Pain in her side, shoulder, and thigh slowly let itself be known, and grew stronger with every passing second.
God, it hurt, throbbing with every beat of her heart.
She never knew something could hurt this much.
She kept moving her hand, loving the feel of coolness against her heated skin.
She tried to open her eyes, the feeling that something was very wrong taking hold of her and not letting go.
A wave of terror washed over her at the mental image of Hawke and Blade running toward her.
An ear-piercing scream of rage.
Shouts and gunshots.
Oh, God. Were they dead?
A sob escaped, and then another, the pain in her side and shoulder nothing compared to the agony in her heart.
“We’re here, love. We’re here.” Blade’s voice came to her as if from a great distance, low and gentle, but with a desperation she’d never heard in
it before. “Don’t thrash around. Easy, love. You’ll open up those wounds again.”
Wounds?
Had she been shot?
A hand pressed against her forehead, so cool and wonderful against her heated skin. “She’s even warmer than before.”
Struggling to fight her way through the fog surrounding her, she hung onto Blade’s voice like a lifeline. “Blade?”
“Yes, love. It’s me. Hawke and Phoenix are here with you, too.”
The sound of water, followed by a cooler cloth being placed on her forehead drew another moan from her. “Are we dead?” She saw no other way of explaining the strange feeling that made her hurt while floating.
“No, little one. We’re not dead. Open your eyes for me, Sarah.”
The command in Hawke’s voice had her fighting to open them, the need to see him again giving her the strength she hadn’t known she possessed. “Can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Open your eyes right now, Sarah.” The underlying fear in his harsh tone made her stomach clench, and using every ounce of willpower she possessed, she forced her eyes open to find herself staring into Hawke’s dark ones.
Only inches from hers, his eyes narrowed, swirling with an emotion her brain struggled to identify.
He smiled tenderly, but his body remained tight with tension. “That’s my girl. See? I knew you could do it.”
Sarah tried to reach for him, but she couldn’t quite drum up the energy. “You’re not dead.” The memory of the looks on their faces when they’d ridden out and the anger in their eyes came back in a rush.
He took the cloth from her forehead and she heard the sound of splashing water again. “No, little one. We’re all all right.”
Another hand touched her leg. “You’re the only one of us who got hurt. I’m sorry I didn’t shoot a second earlier. Willy and his men shot at you the same time we shot at them. I’m so sorry, honey.” The self-disgust in Phoenix’s voice had her turning her head to look at him, the effort taking the last of her strength.
“Willy?”
Phoenix’s jaw clenched. “He and his men are all dead. Pity. I had some serious plans for them.” His expression softened. “Honey, your momma’s here.”
