by Vanessa Vale
CAROLINE
What had I been thinking? I brushed my hair out of my eyes for the hundredth time. My neat bun had come undone, the pins falling out and blowing away in the wind. Why did I have to pick a night when there was a storm? I should just return to the ranch and slip back in bed, Finn none the wiser. It would be so simple to do. So comforting. But in the morning I'd be in the same predicament. Finn would still be in danger of Meecham's machinations. I would still be guilty.
I didn't hear the other horses until they were upon me. The night, pitch black with the storm hiding the moon, afforded them the opportunity of surprise. For a brief moment, I thought it was Finn who had followed me. That would have been easy - and wonderful. I felt safe with him, knew that he'd protect me and make everything all right.
The sight of Meecham, however, made me feel just the opposite. He was the last person I wanted to see. And he was not alone. Two men rode with him. Meecham was at first stunned to see me and so were his men. But then a quick, evil smile spread across his face. This was not good. I had to get away. Digging my heels into my mare, I skirted around them and set off at a gallop.
"You two continue on as planned. I've got the woman." Meecham's voice carried with the wind.
For one as heavy and ungainly as Meecham, he was an adept rider, easily maneuvering his horse beside mine as he grabbed my reins, ripping them from my fingers. "Out a little late, are we?" he asked.
I refused to look his way.
"Where's your husband?" The last word he spit out as if distasteful.
"He's coming. Just behind me," I told him, my voice chattering. It wasn't cold. The wind was fierce, but the air was warm. I could feel the crackling of energy in the air only an intense storm could bring. It was only a matter of time before the sky opened up and it poured. Being out on the prairie with no shelter of any kind, was not safe. A bolt of lightning sliced across the sky and lit up Meecham's face, the shadows casting him in an evil, maniacal glow. I shivered some more, this time from fear.
Meecham shook his head as if disappointed in a small child. "That man won't leave your side. You think I'm stupid enough to think he'd let you go off into a storm like this on your own if he knew? No. He's not following. He doesn't know where you've gone, does he?"
"Where are you taking me?" I asked. In the dark I was turned around, having lost my sense of direction.
Boom.
The thunder scared the horses, both of them startling. Grabbing the pommel, I held on for dear life.
"Where Masters won't think of looking for you."
The sound of that was ominous. What had I done? Finn would find me gone, search for me, then fall right into the hands of Meecham, just as the man had wanted. Instead of protecting Finn, I'd inadvertently led him right into danger.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
FINN
I made it to town just before the rain started. It wasn't a gentle spring rain, but a downpour, a veritable deluge, drenching me within seconds. I tied the horse's lead to the rail outside the jail, walking around behind the building to the tiny house built for the Sheriff. It took two attempts of banging on the door for Stevens to open it, the rain was that loud on his metal roof.
"She's gone," I told him.
"Caroline?" He buttoned his shirt as he asked.
"Of course, Caroline," I replied. I pushed my wet hair out of my face.
He sat in a wooden chair by the door and put on his boots, then grabbed his gun belt from a peg. I waited with barely restrained patience as he buckled it about his waist, put on a long coat that would shield him, if only partially, from the rain. Pressing his hat onto his head, he closed the door behind him. I didn't hold much hope for it to remain in place, the wind too strong.
"Any idea why she'd leave? Why she'd leave now?" The man lifted his shoulders against the rain and was most likely wishing he were still abed.
"I don't know, but she's got a secret. Something from her past she's not telling me."
We walked toward the livery at a fast clip, leading my horse by the reins.
"All women have secrets. You should know that," Stevens countered.
"This is different. She's different. We have no secrets except this. It's not a little thing; there’s something big that’s preventing her from giving herself to me completely."
"You mean you haven't fucked her yet?" my friend asked. If it weren’t him who'd asked, I'd have punched him in the nose and left him in a mud puddle.
"Of course I've fucked her. Six ways to Sunday. Before you ask, she likes it. Loves it."
An image of her in the throes of an orgasm filled my mind. Her hair, wild and a tangle on my pillow. Her mouth open and her voice a throaty scream. Her eyes closed. Her breasts plump and full, the tips pink and hard. Her pussy clenching down on my cock, all but strangling me.
"Then you're not doing it right," he countered.
I let my fists relax, trying to remember that if the man were unconscious, he couldn't help me find her.
"Meecham's house first," I ground out.
"Why the hell would she go there?"
"She wouldn't. She's petrified of the man. At church today, he threatened me and my ranch. I want to ensure he's tucked away for the night."
"I wouldn't mind waking the bastard up. No skin off my back if he loses some sleep."
Lightning brightened the sky for a split second.
"I doubt he's asleep. I doubt anyone's asleep in this."
"I was," my friend grumbled. "Before you banged on the door."
No one answered at Meecham's house. The place was dark. Stevens opened the door - no one locked doors in Apex –and called out to Meecham. No answer. "Stay here."
I stood on Meecham's doorstep and waited as my friend searched the house.
"I've got a bad feeling," I told Stevens when he returned.
"You don't think he has Caroline, do you?"
"She wouldn't go to him willingly." I stopped, stood in the pouring down rain and thought, racking my brain for where she would have gone. How Meecham could have found her. "He did know of the package she had delivered, which seemed strange at the time. When I think on it, she was reserved ever since then. Quieter." When I fucked her earlier, it had been different. "He knows something."
"Then we have to assume he has her. Where would he take her? They're not here."
"No one in town would help him except for his butler--"
"Who the fuck has a butler?" Stevens asked, his voice acidic.
"--and perhaps his secretary."
"The butler lives here and Bob Graham has a wife and two children. I doubt they'd take her there," Stevens shared.
"They're not at the ranch." It came to me in a flash, just like a lightning strike. "The shack. He knows about it. Knows where it is. He'd take her there to fuck with me. As you are well aware, it's where I married her, took her maidenhead, made her mine. It's where he'd take her. To destroy that for me."
Stevens considered for a moment. Nodded.
"He would. Let's go."
CAROLINE
The shack was just as I remembered. Had it only been a few days since I was there with Finn? That I'd married him? Given myself to him? Now Meecham took stock of the one room and grimaced. He'd lit the plain lamp against the darkness. It was just as Finn and I had left it, ready for whoever needed it next. When I'd helped Finn tidy it up, I'd imagined readying it for one of the hands when winter struck early, not for Meecham.
I was drenched, my dress heavy and sodden. The rain hadn't abated and the pounding of it on the metal roof was almost deafening, but at least we were under cover, sheltered from it all.
"What do you want?" I asked, although I had a fairly good idea.
"I want Masters to suffer." The man grabbed the quilt from the bed and wiped his face, his jowled neck. "He took what was mine."
"If it's the inheritance, you can have it."
"Of course I can. He'll give it to me. He'll give everything that was my father's to me."
> Good, that was easy. "Then let me go."
He shook his head as he kept his beady eyes on me. "Oh, no. He might give me everything else, but there's one thing I'm going to take from him. You."
I gulped down the fear that lodged like a rock in my throat.
"Get on the bed."
I darted a glance at the place where Finn first took me. I couldn't get near it, not wanting to tarnish what my husband had made special. Memorable. Perfect.
"No."
As Meecham undid his pants, shrugging. "It's no matter. I'll fuck you on the floor first. You'll end up on the bed eventually. Has he ever taken your ass? Ah, by the look on your face, I assume not."
I stepped back once, then again, bumping against the cold stove.
"You don't have to like it. In fact, struggle."
He'd pulled his cock free from his pants and stroked it. I stole a quick glance then turned my gaze away, repulsed. I felt bile on the back of my tongue. His cock was pasty white, like the rest of him and small. I could see his grip move up and down the length in my periphery. I put my hands on the cool iron of the stove behind me and knew I had to get away from him.
His hands upon me, his cock within me would destroy me. I'd be better off dead. He could wipe out Finn's touch. Ruin it all.
Meecham took a step closer, his hand still on his cock. Even with his eyes on me, he was focused on his lust for revenge. His cheeks became ruddy; sweat dotted his brow in arousal.
The rain had lessened, the noise within the cabin diminishing, yet the danger remained.
I needed a weapon, some way to defend myself when I was beneath him. Turning left and right, I caught a glimpse of the coffee pot sitting on the stove. Swiveling, I grabbed the handle and spun, swinging my arm out in an arc as I stepped toward Meecham, striking him across the side of the face with the blunt base.
He stumbled sideways, his hands coming up to his head. His erect cock peeked out of his pants. The sight of the man almost comical had I not known his intentions.
I dashed past him and out into the night, the rain instantly wetting me further and blurring my vision. Even through the pounding of the rain I could hear the roaring of the creek, swollen and rushing from the storm. Bright white filled the sky followed by a deafening boom. I could see the water had breached the banks where I'd stood and married Finn just the other day. The water was raging - a flash flood.
Where were the horses? He hadn't put them in the small pen when we arrived, too keen to drag me into the shack. Glancing back at the cabin, I worried that Meecham was behind me. I ran toward the pen just to confirm. Empty. I ran the other way, searching for the animals. They were gone - long gone, most likely scared off by the thunder.
"Caroline," Meecham called out, his voice eerie. I couldn't see him, but then he could not see me. I ran, putting distance between me and that voice.
The ground was slippery and I fell, landing on my hands and knees. I stood, but slipped again.
"Just where I want you. Hands and knees," Meecham growled.
Lightning split the sky again. The side of his face was mottled from where I'd struck him and his eyes were wilder than ever. He wasn't just intent on his attack, he was mad. The combination was terrible for me.
I crawled as fast as I could away from him, the sound of the creek louder now. I didn't even know the water was there, dark as it was, until I saw it rushing just beyond my fingertips.
"There's nowhere for you to go. Like I said. Struggle. I assure you, I like it."
He pounced, moving with startling speed for a man of his weight, and was atop me and flipping me over before I could put up my hands in protection. Air escaped my lungs and I tried to breathe, my hands slapping at his wet shirt to no avail. My sodden dress was a hindrance for him, the material difficult for Meecham to lift. I felt his cold hand touch my bare calf, then my knee and I knew this was it. He wasn't going to kill me, but I was going to wish I were dead.
I felt his cock prod my leg as he worked my dress up. My hands pushed on his shoulders, my hips bucking up to dislodge him.
"Caroline!" I heard my name over the rain and the water. "Caroline!"
Meecham continued, not hearing my name as I had. Was my mind wishing a savior?
"Caroline!" The voice came louder this time. When Meecham lifted his head, I knew it wasn't my imagination. My hands dug at the sodden ground, over the clumps of grass. My left hand went into the water, the strong current easily pushing it down. There, beneath my fingers, was a smooth rock. Scrambling, I worked my fingers around it. Gripped it.
"Caroline!" It was Finn. I'd recognize that voice anywhere.
"Here!" I shouted back.
Meecham froze, one hand on my thigh, his head turned toward Finn's voice. I took my chance, the only opportunity Meecham had offered. Lifting my arm, I swung it up and hit him as hard as I could, the rock making a cracking sound against his skull as it hit. For one moment, he paused, stunned, then collapsed upon me.
I pushed against him, struggled to get out from beneath his dead weight. Oh god, he was dead.
"Help, Finn, please help."
The men appeared out of the blackness and they knelt down beside me, just as I worked myself from beneath Meecham. It was Finn and the sheriff. Finn pulled me up to my knees and into his arms as Stevens checked on Meecham.
My husband was as wet as I, but I didn't care. His arms were around me, holding me so snugly I could barely breathe. Nothing mattered except for the feel of his beating heart against my cheek, that he was safe.
"He's dead."
I stiffened at Steven's words. Dead. I'd killed Meecham.
"I...I didn't mean to kill him. Finn, you have to understand, I didn't intend to do it. Not like last time--"
I realized my mind had run off, my panic overtaking common sense. I was about to say unlike last time when I'd intentionally killed my father. Hopefully, with the rain and the creek, he hadn't heard me.
Grabbing my face, Finn tilted my head up to his. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters as long as you're safe. Did he hurt you?"
His frantic gaze roved over my body. His hair was darker and molded to his head, his eyes black in the darkness, but his hands were hot against my skin.
I shook my head. "No. He didn't hurt me."
"Good. Then I won't have to kill the bastard all over again."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
FINN
The sight of Caroline pinned beneath Meecham was something I'd never forget. Terror gripped my heart when his pale skin shone brightly at a flash of lightning. What also showed brightly was his cock, sticking out from the darkness of his pants. I sprinted toward them, my feet unsteady on the slippery ground. Stevens must have seen it, too, for his pace matched mine. All at once, Meecham froze, then slumped onto Caroline.
I slid on my knees across the waterlogged ground to reach her as she struggled to pull herself from beneath the bastard's limp body. It was only when I had her in my arms, could feel her deep breaths moving my arms was I reassured. I felt a hard object against my ribs, looked down and saw she clutched a rock in a tight grip. Slowly, I worked the object from her hold, met Stevens' eyes over her head and handed it to him.
Stevens nodded once, but said nothing.
Meecham hadn't hurt her. He was going to rape her. There was no question. If we'd been just a few moments later, he would have succeeded. The bastard's cock had been out, Caroline's dress up and tangled around her thighs. Scooping her up, I stood, her size and weight so slight, even with her clothes sodden.
"I'm getting her out of this rain."
I didn't give Stevens a chance to respond. It wasn’t necessary. We'd come for Caroline. Meecham didn't matter. Besides, he was dead. Caroline had killed him. Between one heartbeat and the next, she'd killed a man.
The door to the shack stood open, the lamp lit. There were puddles on the floor, meaning they'd been inside first. The coffee pot was on the floor along with speckles of blood.
Caroline had said she was
n't hurt. I didn't see any blood on her, but the rain could have washed it away. I placed her so she sat on the edge of the bed and I knelt before her. In the light, I was able to finally get a good look at her.
"You're sure you're not hurt? There's blood on the floor." I slid my hands over her face, the back of her head, her neck, over her shoulders. I ran them over her entire body as she sat there, quietly letting me. I picked up the quilt from the floor and started to wrap it around her.
She held up a hand. "No. Not that." Her eyes widened as she stared at it. "Meecham touched it."
I dropped it back to the floor. Tomorrow I would burn it. I'd burn the whole shack down if she wanted.
Gripping the sheet, I ripped it from beneath the mattress and wrapped it around Caroline, using a corner to wipe her face, to dry her sodden hair.
Stevens came in, his boots heavy on the wood floor. He pulled the chair from beneath the table, turned it and sat. Water dripped onto the floor beneath him.
"Why did you go off with him, Caroline?" I asked.
Her blue eyes flared. "I didn't go off with him! I was leaving you."
My heart sank.
Tears filled her eyes, ran over and down her cheeks.
"You wanted Meecham."
She moved to stand, but I held her down easily enough. "Of course I didn't want Meecham. He's...he's awful. I...couldn't stay with you anymore."
"Why? Was it so bad? Did I hurt you? I never hit you."
Her eyes were so distraught, they all but pleaded with me. "You were perfect. So perfect." Her small hand came up to run over my cheek.
"You killed someone."
I turned to look at Stevens, who sat there, slumped down in the chair, watching Caroline as he spoke.
From the look on Caroline's face, I knew right then that she had.
"How--"
"You said so outside." Stevens angled his head in the direction of the creek. Even with the door closed, the rushing water was loud. The rain had tapered off slightly, fortunately.
