Honor Bound

by B. J Daniels

  She looked into his gray eyes, felt a well of love rise inside her. She’d fought it for so long, afraid of the powerful feelings he’d ignited in her. The new Ainsley was up for the adventure. The old Ainsley?

  Her gaze locked with his. A tremor of excitement went through her. What could she say but yes to a life with this cowboy?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  BUCK LOVED THE sound of family in the big ranch house he’d built all those years ago. He looked around the room at his beautiful daughters and felt such a well of pride that tears came to his eyes. That he’d come so close to losing one of them still shook him to his core.

  Fortunately, the bullet that had hit Ainsley had missed any vital organs. She’d healed nicely. The fact that she was in love made her glow.

  He looked at his other daughters. They’d all found love. Half of them were planning weddings while the other half were now raising their young children—his grandchildren.

  “I can’t imagine life getting any better,” he said as Sarah joined him. He put an arm around her. Now he could admit that he’d been worried about election night. Maybe it was Sheriff Frank Curry’s concern that The Prophecy or some other radical group was going to do something violent.

  Frank had been right. It wasn’t until later that the news was released about the bomb and one of the agents disarming it. Had news of the bomb come out during his acceptance speech—he didn’t want to think about how many people could have been injured trying to escape in a panic.

  Buck had worried more about his family than he had himself. And with good reason, as it turned out. From what he’d been told, the man known as Joe Landon had been trying to kill Sarah and then blow them all into the next county. Fortunately, he’d been stopped—but almost at the cost of Ainsley’s life.

  “Why Sarah?” Buck had asked those handling the investigation.

  “Joe Landon was a member of The Prophecy.”

  “So they were still trying to implicate Sarah, even at the end.” Buck had shaken his head. The sheriff had said nothing.

  Now the case was closed. Landon was dead. The feds believed they had rounded up all of the old, as well as the new, members of The Prophecy.

  Buck breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Sarah closer. For almost two years he’d struggled to trust her again. Now, he could finally put those fears to rest. He just wished it would be as easy to forget about The Prophecy. Every time he turned around, that name kept coming up.

  Once the Feds began looking into Joe Landon’s crimes, they’d discovered he was responsible for money that had been hacked from the Sarah Johnson Foundation. Buck had started the foundation to help small businesses after he’d believed Sarah had drowned in the river all those years ago. Bo had been running it since college, but last year a large amount of money had gone missing.

  When they’d realized that the accounts had been hacked, they’d never expected to see that money again. But the feds had tracked it to The Prophecy and thought they could get it all back for the foundation.

  “A toast,” Buck said, raising his glass. “To the Montana Hamiltons!”

  Cheers rose and more congratulations. His daughters had thrown this party for them to celebrate their remarriage. Now the talk turned to the inaugural ball and Christmases in the White House.

  It did his heart good to see the pleasure on his family’s faces. Any doubts he had about being president were quickly forgotten. He could do anything with his family behind him and Sarah at his side. He couldn’t wait to take office.

  But first he would sweep Sarah away on a much-needed honeymoon. He’d wanted it to be a surprise, but his daughters had encouraged him to tell his wife, so she could take the clothes she would need.

  “We aren’t going far,” Buck had told them. “Only as far as Chico Hot Springs. I’ve rented a special cabin.”

  His daughters had rolled their eyes. “A cabin?”

  “You obviously don’t know your mother,” he’d said and realized how true that was of all of them. “She is going to love it.” At least he hoped so.

  “Uh, guys?”

  Everyone looked toward Bo. “I think my water just broke.”

  * * *

  FORMER SHERIFF FRANK CURRY stood out in front of the building along the main street of Big Timber, Montana, looking at his sign.

  “How long are you going to stand here?” Nettie asked as she joined him.

  He smiled over at her. “As long as I want.”

  Laughing, she entered Curry Investigations and put the plant she’d just bought on the corner of her desk next to the name plaque that read “Nettie Curry.”

  She heard the door behind her open. A gust of winter air rushed in, followed by her husband’s footfalls. As she took her place behind her desk, she smiled at the handsome man she’d been in love with since she was a teen.

  “We did it,” Nettie said.

  He nodded. “For better or worse.”

  “This isn’t marriage.”

  “We’ll see what you say after spending a few days in an office with me,” he said as he walked over to his desk and sat down. His name plaque read: Frank Curry.

  The phone rang. “Curry Investigations,” she said into the phone.

  * * *

  FRANK SMILED AND leaned back into his chair. Outside, the winter sun was low in the sky. It had snowed the night before, leaving everything white. Christmas was coming and then a new year. He felt excited, full of anticipation for the future.

  He had no idea if this crazy idea of his to be investigators would pan out or not. Maybe they would sit here five days a week, and the phone wouldn’t ring again. Maybe within a week they’d be at each other’s throats. Or maybe, just maybe, they would have one adventure after another as he hoped.

  No matter what happened, he was ready for whatever the future held. He’d thought he would miss the sheriff’s office more than he did. His undersheriff had stepped into the position until the election. He wished him well. But that life was behind him now.

  “Please, hold the line a moment, and I’ll let you speak with our lead investigator,” Nettie said into the phone and put the caller on hold.

  Her cheeks were flushed, her blue eyes bright and shiny. She smiled over at him and jiggled a little in her new office chair.

  “I think we just got our first case,” she said excitedly.

  He felt a small thrill move through him as he picked up the phone, telling himself that everything was going to be just fine.

  * * *

  SAWYER STARED DOWN at the woman in his bed and lost the last little piece of his heart. “Well?” he asked. “Was it okay?”

  Ainsley lay back in the bed and seemed to be trying to catch her breath. “It was...amazing. You were amazing. I had no idea what I was missing. But now that I do...”

  He laughed softly as he spooned her to him. “Glad you waited?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I love you,” he whispered next to her ear as he pulled her closer. He’d never felt like this before. He couldn’t find words to describe it. But with Ainsley in his arms, he felt...complete.

  “I love you,” she said. “Do you realize how long I’ve waited for this?”

  “I do. I hope it was worth the wait.”

  She laughed. “Are you fishing for more compliments?”

  “I just want to be sure I did it right. I was under a lot of pressure, you know,” he only half joked.

  “Let me say this. I can’t wait until we get to do that again.”

  He laughed and turned her to face him. “Well, my beautiful fiancée, I was only letting you catch your breath,” he said. “I could make love to you all day.” Then he kissed her.

  * * *

  AINSLEY MELTED INTO him in a heat of bliss. She couldn’t belie
ve she’d found true love. She pulled back from the kiss to cup Sawyer’s handsome face and look into those gray eyes. That she got to make love with him the rest of their lives was icing on the cake.

  They made love again. Sawyer had been so tender, taking her slowly and carefully the first time.

  “Love me,” she whispered. “Love me like you mean it.”

  His eyes lit as he let out a low chuckle. “You got it.” This time he took her with all the longing and passion she’d seen in those beautiful gray eyes. He filled her, satiating her, and yet making her yearn for more. Just not for a while.

  “I’m so happy for Bo and Jace,” Ainsley said later to Sawyer after they had taken a break and gone in search of something to eat. Sawyer had moved into her condo on the ranch until his leg was completely healed. Then they were going to look for a house of their own, so they’d have a place to live after the wedding.

  “Those two baby girls are so adorable,” Sawyer said as he opened a jar of peach jam. “I can’t wait until we start our family.”

  Ainsley grinned at him as she slapped peanut butter on a piece of bread and shoved it over to him for the jam. “Maybe we already have.”

  * * *

  SARAH PICKED UP the newspaper, glanced at the headline, and tossed it aside in the large cabin at Chico Hot Springs. She was sick of reading about The Prophecy and was sure Buck was, too. Their soon-to-be son-in-law, Max Malone, had done a series on the anarchist group from its beginning back in the 1970s to its demise the night of the election.

  The woman who’d confessed to being Red had died of cancer before her trial. Not that Max or Kat believed Virginia Handley had actually been the notorious Red. Because she’d been dying of cancer, they believed she’d taken a bullet, so to speak, for the real Red.

  Max had made a point of telling her what the other members now in prison had said about Red. “They believe the real Red is alive and that she’s gotten away with it all. If anything, they are convinced that she will now wreak havoc on the world. Their quotes make them look like lunatics.”

  “They still believe I’m Red,” she’d said to Max after agreeing to meet him at the newspaper to discuss the story before it went to press.

  “I’m afraid they aren’t the only ones,” Max said honestly. He and Kat had been investigating The Prophecy for months now. It was no secret that they believed Sarah was involved up to her eyeballs.

  “I know Kat doesn’t trust me,” Sarah had said. “What about you?”

  “The jury is out still,” Max had said. “But you know both of us will be watching you.”

  She’d smiled. “Then I hope I make you both proud.”

  “Champagne?” Buck said now, drawing her out of her thoughts.

  She turned to smile at her husband and take the glass he offered her. “This was a wonderful idea.” Outside the cabin she knew there were a half dozen agents guarding them. They were safe—and finally alone. For months there’d been staff and media surrounding them. She and Buck had very little time alone when someone wasn’t barging in—especially Buck’s campaign manager, Jerrod.

  But now Jerrod was in jail, awaiting trial for his involvement with The Prophecy. Buck had been shocked. Sarah knew she shouldn’t have been surprised since Joe had been behind it.

  But now here they were. Just the two of them. She’d insisted that even the agents keep their distance. “They don’t have to be right outside the door, do they?”

  Buck had agreed. “I’ll have them stay far enough away that you won’t even see them. How is that?”

  “Perfect,” she’d told him. “I just want you alone. Once we get to the White House...”

  “This is our time. You can have whatever you want.” He looked so handsome and distinguished. She could imagine his photo in the history books and felt a well of pride in this man she’d married.

  “I have exactly what I want right here,” she said, taking a sip of her champagne before putting down the glass and moving toward him. She slowly began to unbutton his shirt and, slipping it off, let it drop to the floor.

  Her fingertips brushed over his flat stomach, his side, his back as she moved around him. She heard Buck chuckle.

  “Is there something you want?” he asked as he put down his glass, his back still to her. He’d told her that he loved it when she initiated.

  “There’s so much that I want,” she said as he turned toward her. “I want you. I want us to make this country the best it can be.”

  He laughed as he pulled her to him. “With you by my side, that’s exactly what we will do.”

  Sarah smiled. “It’s all I’ve ever wanted. A better world for our children and grandchildren.”

  Dr. Venable had been right. Red’s spark of passion for her country hadn’t burned out. While those days of being that woman were behind her, she knew that Buck would lead this country in the best possible way. She couldn’t imagine it ending any better.

  * * * * *

  These determined cowboys will do anything for the ones they love.

  Don’t miss any of the stories in the thrilling MONTANA HAMILTONS series by New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels.

  WILD HORSES

  LONE RIDER

  LUCKY SHOT

  HARD RAIN

  INTO DUST

  HONOR BOUND

  Read on for an excerpt of WILD HORSES, the first book in the MONTANA HAMILTONS series.

  If you loved Honor Bound, then don’t miss Renegade’s Pride, the first book in New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels’ brand-new Cahill Ranch series!

  Rugged cowboy Trask Beaumont is back in Gilt Edge, Montana with a mission...to clear his name—and win back Lillian Cahill’s heart. Torn between her family and the man she never stopped loving, will Lillie give this bad boy a second chance?

  Order your copy of Renegade’s Pride today!

  * * *

  If you love strong cowboys, hot romance and thrilling suspense, then be sure to catch the thrilling Montana Hamiltons series!

  Honor Bound

  Into Dust

  Hard Rain

  Lucky Shot

  Lone Rider

  Wild Horses

  Complete your collection!

  “[The Montana Hamiltons] should definitely be on the must read list...a great introduction for new readers to this amazing author.”

  —Fresh Fiction

  * * *

  Danger runs high and passions burn hot in B.J. Daniels’s Beartooth, Montana series. Don’t miss any of these exciting reads!

  Mercy

  Atonement

  Forsaken

  Redemption

  Unforgiven

  Fallen (novella)

  Available now!

  “Daniels has written a book that will truly grab you by the throat and leave you speechless.”

  —Fresh Fiction on Mercy

  www.BJDaniels.com

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  Wild Horses

  by B.J. Daniels

  PROLOGUE

  January 27

  LIFE CHANGED IN an instant. Olivia Hamilton knew that only too well. One minute her mother had been alive. The next gone.

  Tonight, one minute Montana’s night sky had been clear, the next she found herself in the middle of a blizzard—fighting to stay on a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. Livie had driven in her fair share of winter storms, but this one was getting worse by the
moment. She couldn’t see more than a few yards ahead of her through the driving snow. Add to that, she didn’t know the road or even exactly where she was.

  All she knew for sure was that she was stopping at the next small town she came to and getting a motel for the night. She’d call home to let her family know where she was. As for calling Cooper Barnett...

  Just the thought of her fiancé made her grit her teeth. If the man wasn’t so damned stubborn they would have been married by now and she wouldn’t have taken off after their latest fight and ended up on this road alone in the middle of Montana in the winter with the temperature dropping and—

  The highway disappeared so quickly that she didn’t have time to react. Through the windshield all she saw was blowing snow as the SUV suddenly jerked to the right. The tires caught in the deep snow along the edge of the highway. In a heartbeat, the SUV plunged into the ditch. Snow washed over the hood and windshield. Her head slammed into the side window an instant before the airbag exploded in her face. Then everything stopped.

  Livie sat for a moment, too stunned to move. She was still gripping the steering wheel, her knuckles white. It had all happened so quickly that she hadn’t had time to panic. Now, though, she began to shake, tears burning her eyes as she realized the desperate situation she’d put herself in. She could feel freezing cold air coming in around the cracks in the door. She hadn’t seen a house or a light in miles.

  Pulling out her cell phone, she hoped she could get a tow truck this time of the night. But she quickly realized that, like a lot of areas of Montana, there was no cell service.

  At the sound of the engine still running, she told herself that her situation was dire enough without carbon monoxide poisoning. With the SUVs tailpipe deep in the snow, it wouldn’t take long before she was overcome. She quickly killed the motor.

  A deathly silence fell over the car as she considered what to do. The car was buried in snow in the ditch miles from anywhere. She’d always been told to stay with her vehicle, but she could feel the temperature dropping and she’d foolishly left in such a hurry that she hadn’t taken her usual precautions. She’d brought no sleeping bag or water or anything to eat and right now she had no idea how long it would be before anyone found her.