Stony Creek Cowboy [Stony Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Taylor Berke

  “Please don’t make this difficult, Doc, by making a single move or sound, okay? I am really kinda pissed off, you see, and it wouldn’t really take much encouragement to slice your insides open. Please take two steps back with me and let’s get in your Rover.”

  Billie nodded but felt the icy sensation of fear prickle up her spine. Len Drexel. Just when she thought that life would allow her some calm and peace, this waste of DNA had to keep targeting her in his crazy world. What the heck do they say about being kidnapped? Get in the car quietly or scream and kick? It isn’t like they teach this stuff in medical school and the place that she lived in New York never even had a burglary, so she was at a temporary loss. Deciding that keeping her cool and not upsetting the knife-wielding, smelly lunatic was her best option, she handed him the keys. Praying that someone saw her with him and called either Sly or Nat was all that she had to go on for the moment. She dropped her purse deliberately, which set off a stream of quiet cursing from her deranged captor. The knife stabbed into her slightly, causing her to cry out in pain. Billie became really frightened now at the sick look on Len’s face as his hand clenching on her arm tightened. She could feel the trickle of blood running down her belly and knew that there was enough to stain the front of her cream sweater.

  “You fucking whore. Do anything stupid like that again and I will just end this here and now. I don’t have nothing to lose at this point, you raggedy bitch. Gwen was right, you are more trouble than you are worth. I think making you suffer should be entertaining. Jackson is going to be a bit put out when he finds your used body. Or maybe he won’t. Perhaps he is a bit tired of you already? He got bored with Gwen mighty quickly so who’s to say he would even care if I ‘borrowed’ you for a bit? He didn’t even ask you to marry him, like Gwen. She is a little bitch, too. I might even let you watch me take out Gwen first instead of the other way around. She wanted to see you writhe under my cock, but I don’t need her as an audience. However, drop another fucking thing, and they will have to power wash this sidewalk to get you off of it!” Len spat out viciously as he exchanged his knife for a wicked-looking handgun.

  Billie couldn’t help the tremble that ran through her as he verbalized his sadistic thoughts. His hatred of Jackson must really run pretty deep to push him this far. Jackson loved her. Nothing this vile man could say would change her confidence in that. At least it all made sense now. Since that first meeting when Jackson had taken her away for lunch, this wacko probably felt it was more of the same old same old. Why would Gwen help this sicko?

  “Please, Len. I will come quietly. Calm down.” She was going to try to keep him talking.

  * * * *

  Jackson looked at his brothers and cousins. They all looked back him with unconcealed amusement. “Does anyone’s ass hurt? You know like in a cramp that possibly came from a guy slapping his junk around too much?” Brody called out the question looking like he was having serious difficulties trying not to laugh.

  “Nope, but I can guess that some of us are more, dehydrated, than others after losing too much body fluid since yesterday,” was Troy’s unhelpful reply.

  Jackson couldn’t even get mad at the moron saddle brigade that was made up of male family members. Instead, he continued to bait them with the same silly grin that he had been wearing all day.

  Ben even joined the fray. “The way I remember it, Jackson almost got himself arrested for public lewdness at his display in front of the police station. Sly was going to have shackled him, but I think that he has a thing for watching and was enjoying the show. Or perhaps it’s the shackles. Nope, probably both!” He laughed.

  Now that was a distinct possibility, Jackson thought. Sly definitely had some kinks of his own, which were okay by him. He just didn’t want Billie to be the star attraction in any of the good sheriff’s spank bank images. He felt his phone buzz and smiled with anticipation at reading a message from his medical goddess.

  “What the fuck is wrong with that woman?” Jackson blurted out. Everyone swung their heads in his direction to see why he would be so upset with Billie. “She wants me to meet her up at the hunting cabin, like I would ever meet her again in public much less in private! Some women are just psycho guys.” He looked around as all eyes looked at him questioningly.

  “What is wrong with meeting her up there? She just wants more of the Powell pumping, man. No need to get mad over it. You haven’t ever had a problem with giving out too much sex, Jackson. I never heard you get upset over the idea of fucking the brains out of a gorgeous woman two days in a row. Excuse the disrespectful reference to the doc, please,” Brody said.

  “Not Billie, you pile of cow manure, Gwen! She was the one who just texted me,” Jackson yelled. Just then, Ben’s phone rang. As he answered, he got a concerned look on his face and put his hand over the phone.

  “Jackson, do you know where Doc is today? It’s Lizzie and she is kinda concerned. She has Dr. Daniels in the café with her and Billie was supposed to pick up Zeus by now. Her office is locked up tight but they found her lipstick and some other stuff on the ground outside. Now they are beginning to get concerned,” Ben said quietly.

  Jackson felt unease start to spread through his system. Billie was never late for anything, ever, and she sure as hell wouldn’t leave Zeus in the clinic a second longer than necessary. “Tell them to sit tight by the phone. I think I need some of you guys to come with me up to the cabin.”

  “We will all go,” they heard Cole answer softly. “I’m gonna let Hunter and Uncle Bill know where we are going and why.” The men all rode swiftly back to the barn and piled into two trucks with each man sporting a rifle, quickly letting Florence know what was going on. She surprised them by reaching into her purse and pulling out a small gun.

  She handed it to Brody while quickly telling him it was loaded and to call as soon as they heard anything and that she would call Sly and Nat immediately. He looked at her perplexingly, wondering where the hell she had gotten a handgun.

  As though reading his mind, she answered his unspoken question. “Donny” was all she had to say. Ah, that made sense. That man was crazy about his mother and would do anything to keep her safe. He would have to talk about this later.

  * * * *

  Billie was trying to hold it together as she sat in the passenger seat of her car. She tried not looking at the disgusting waste of a human life that was abducting both her and her vehicle for nefarious reasons.

  Stay calm. He won’t overreact if I don’t. Think, Billie, don’t feel, think. What would Jackson want me to do?

  She struggled to think calmly as her heart beat out of her chest with the threat of not only death but sexual assault. What the heck would Jackson want her to do? Go karate kid on him? No. She didn’t know any martial arts. Scream her head off? No. He didn’t like when people raised their voices. Darn it. Her normally reliable brain suddenly decided that fear was the one emotion that would short it out! Suddenly, a thought did come to her. Jackson would just say, “Talk to me, baby, then I will fuck you senseless and make it feel all better.”

  Hey! Although the second part of that thought sounded nice, it wasn’t going to be too helpful to her at the moment. However, the first part was possibly going to save her. Keeping her right hand lowered below the side of her seat and subsequently eye level, she began texting Jackson by feel of the buttons.

  911. Len taking me to your cabin. Help. Armed with gun. Hurry.

  That man was a one-man wrecking machine all by himself. She couldn’t imagine what a whole passel of Powells could do. Please let him get to her in time. Len shot her a glance that wasn’t quite as vicious as his previous mood.

  “Look, Doc, I kinda feel almost badly that you have to be the one in the middle of my long-awaited revenge against Jackson. Unfortunately for you, Doc, you are a hot piece of ass that makes my mouth water and I can’t stand to fuck his other bitch, Gwen, for another second. She sucks at it. Funny, she used to tell me how lousy Jackson was with his dick. They are
both unnecessary sacks of shit and I plan on doing away with both of them. Hmm, that gives me an idea. Gwen hates you and Jackson. By now, I am sure that she texted him so there is a paper trail leading to her cell. I think after I kill all of you, I should be safe after I put the gun in her hand! What do you think, Doc? Will they buy that?”

  Billie had remained quiet until that point, not even meeting his eyes. She felt nauseated every time that they made contact so she looked at her driver’s side door instead. What did she think? He was a psychotic wacko that she wouldn’t mind castrating! That is what she thought. However, if she voiced her true opinion, it probably wouldn’t aid in her attempt at keeping him from damaging her person. She had to keep him away from her until Jackson could find her.

  “I hope you don’t mind, Len, but I will leave all planning of this event up to you. You seem to know what you are doing and must be doing a good job, as I am your hostage in my own car at the moment.” There, Billie thought. Butter up his vomitous ego. Maybe he could daydream of how amazing she thought he was and he might become distracted. Distracted enough for her to do what? She had no idea. He was too big and strong to fight and take him down, but she was sure that she could outthink him. Perhaps that was the key. He was a man after all. Maybe if she appealed to his vanity and his buffoon-like mentality, she could win. She looked in her purse for what just might become her salvation. She had dropped so many things on the sidewalk earlier, but thankfully that didn’t include her cell and hopefully not what she needed. Yes! Her hand connected with what she had been searching for and suddenly she felt a bit more confident. She could do this.

  “Len, um, may I ask you a question?”

  He looked at her again with an annoyed expression. “What is it?” he barked.

  Almost losing some of her newfound false bravado, she met his now-angry gaze. “Do you think that Gwen is an attractive woman?”

  “What the fuck do you want to know that for?”

  “Well, other than we both have been involved with Jackson, I was wondering if our opposite looks might, um, interest you. You know, like variety.” Oh please let him continue to be an arrogant jerk and have him just think that she was a nosy, idiot woman. She was going to try to mastermind the greatest and only manipulation of her life.

  Len got an odd look on him now and his body seemed less tense to Billie. “You mean, do I like that you two sluts are like night and day? Hell yeah. I got enough to go around. Why? You suddenly want some of this before I use you to devastate that asshole?”

  Blech. He started to look her up and down with lust starting to enter his eyes. He let his gaze rest on her heaving bosom. She almost took a chance and jumped out of the car as he let one hand grab her breast. His fingers were painful and Billie was filled with disgust as they bit into her soft flesh. The road had begun to wind into the mountain. If Billie wasn’t pretty positive that she would break a whole lot more than her arm, she would try to jump at feeling his nauseating touch. Stay calm. Jackson will fix this. Stay calm.

  Len looked at her now with definitive interest. Billie could feel the bile rise in her throat. She pulled away and leaned against the window.

  “Nice tits you got there, Doc. I am not sure if I should fuck them or your pussy first.”

  “Um, Len. Let me talk to Gwen, please. I might have an idea that you may enjoy. Perhaps we could work something out.” Billie cringed as she choked out the words.

  “I seriously doubt it but you can try. After all the trouble I went through to set this up, shooting your dog and all. You do owe me something,” Len leeringly stated.

  Thankfully, the cabin came into view. It was a charming small log production and under other circumstances, she would love to spend some private time here. Just not with her present revolting company. In a blink of an eye, she found herself catching her breath as the gun was once again leveled at her chest.

  “Time’s up, Doc. I have to say that I am really gonna enjoy fucking you raw. Get out of the car now, please.” He walked to the front of the Rover and started rubbing his erection through his jeans. Billie almost retched but caught herself as Gwen opened the door cautiously at first. Anger surged through Billie like she had never known, replacing the fear that was coursing through her. She was going to make it and when she did, she was going to never let a day go by without kissing Jackson on his lips and knowing the taste of his cock on her tongue. Yes, that gave her a better visual.

  “Geez, Len, it took you long enough to get here. What the fuck were you doing as it doesn’t look like you did Miss Priss here yet?” Gwen gave Billie a confidently vindictive stare.

  Out of nowhere, surprising both Billie and Gwen, Len quickly lunged forward and backhanded Gwen so hard, she spun and hit the ground, hard. Billie ran to Gwen. The doctor in her needed to help no matter how undeserving this icky woman was. She gently lifted Gwen’s head into her lap and used her sleeve to stem the blood that was now flowing from her mouth.

  “Shut up, you dumb bitch!” Len screamed at Gwen who was now trembling in Billie’s arms. “You are not running the show here. In fact, I am going to fuck both of you and then kill you, too. You are such a stupid whore to think I would hold to any deal with you. You would fuck any man with a pulse and a penis. I should just kill you right here, right now.”

  Gwen started to cry and was gasping for breath under the weight of her terror as Len now directed the gun on her. Billie herself took a deep breath and forged ahead.

  “Len, Len, wait, please. You don’t need to kill either of us. Let us show you how we can calm you, together. Maybe we can please you enough that you might want to, say, keep us.” She prayed his hormones would overcome his common sense. She closed her eyes in revulsion as she let go of Gwen and stood to face Len. With trembling fingers, she started to unbutton her blouse while desperately trying to look like she wanted him to be interested in her. Ugh, men really did only think carefully about one thing. Len looked like a bomb could go off on his head and it wouldn’t have distracted him from eating up the vision of what she looked like as she revealed her breasts encased within a lovely lacey bra. Yuck, the first thing she would do after Jackson saved her and had sex with her was to burn this bra and thong, pronto!

  “Len, let’s go inside and have a drink. I think we know where this is going to go, no?” Billie tried really, really hard to give him a come-hither look but wasn’t sure it was believable as she wanted to take a stick and poke out his eyes so he couldn’t look at what she considered Jackson’s property anymore.

  Len shifted his glazed glance from the whimpering, sniffing woman who lay cringing on the ground to the pretending-to-be-confidant woman with her breasts hanging out of her shirt. Lust overtaking any sense of self preservation, Len put the gun down. He rubbed his hands against his crotch and licked his lips in anticipation.

  “Why the fuck not?” he murmured.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The men riding in the truck containing Jackson were solemnly silent. Jackson sat in the passenger seat with rage and tension radiating out of his body. His father leaned over from the backseat and gently rubbed his shoulder for a short moment before leaning back and sighing. Jackson felt none of the usual comfort that his dad normally provided him. He wanted to kill something, or rather, someone. How was he supposed to sit here calmly while Hunter drove at breakneck speed up the winding roads with the other truck of men in close pursuit?

  “Hunter, stop driving like a fucking sissy and floor it, man!” he growled out in his intended direction.

  Jackson knew that Hunter deliberately didn’t even respond or make eye contact with the fire-breathing dragon that he was acting like, barking orders from the seat next to him.

  Hunter had known Jackson for years and knew that his calm, controlled veneer was being mangled at this moment. Jackson never had his feathers ruffled, not when his uncle passed away, although incredibly saddened, and definitely not with his divorce from the Gweninator.

  Wow, he thought, Jackson never dou
bted that any man in Stony Creek would give his right nut to love that woman, but knew that Hunter must be aware of how in love he really was. She was smart, beautiful, articulate, funny, and just an amazing person. Jackson knew that Hunter was very upset by the current situation, as he cared very much for not only Billie but him as well.

  “Jackson, I think it might be best if you hang back and let us take the lead. You aren’t in any shape to be objective here, brother,” Ben tried to reason from the backseat. Jackson was unmoved by Ben’s comment as he sat stonily still in his seat. Every man became tense as the trucks pulled up just short of the cabin. It had been forty-five minutes since Jackson had received the text from Billie alerting them as to her destination as well as Len being armed. Forty-five fucking minutes. No one knew what they would find and the air was so thick with the strain you could cut it with a knife. The men split up into groups of two and surrounded the small cabin. They were to wait for Sly’s signal that he needed back up. Jackson wanted to storm into the cabin and kill that asshole. He didn’t even care. The loss of Len’s life wouldn’t mean a thing to him since he had his love and obviously was terrorizing her in some fashion. He kept a clamp on his thoughts as he refused to imagine how the bastard was either hurting or frightening her. It wouldn’t help her any and wouldn’t serve him any good in not trying to stay calm. Both Sly and Nat had their guns drawn and were edging toward the only door. Sly indicated that he didn’t hear anything from inside, causing shivers of fear to envelope Jackson’s soul.

  As if on cue, the front door slowly cracked open. Jackson and the others hefted their rifles onto their shoulders in sync. Jackson held his breath as his heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest. Please let her be all right, please god, please. I am going to marry her on the spot and never let her out of my sight again if only she could be all right.