Help! I screamed in my mind but I knew no one could hear me. It was unlikely anyone would see me either, with a barn between us and the fire, and our cabin blocking the view to Emma’s house. This criminal had chosen his spot well. My fights grew weaker and weaker and finally, everything went black.
I’m not sure how long I was asleep for, but when I came to I was facedown over the back of a horse. My body rocked in time with the plodding of the horse. My captor wasn’t in any rush, which made me suspect we had left Bridgewater far behind. I squinted, my vision blurred, trying to make out where I was but I couldn’t move for my wrists and legs were tied and I was afraid to lift my head too far for fear my captor would see I was now awake. I didn’t know what he would do to me so I stayed quiet and as still as I could while I tried to gather my wits. I didn’t recognize the little I could see of the surrounding landscape but then I wouldn’t; I’d only been in the Montana Territory for such a short time.
My brain was foggy and my mouth was dry but I didn’t dare ask for a sip of water to quench my thirst. It was much better to feign sleep, until I knew what kind of a man I was dealing with. No man who would kidnap a woman was likely to be kind, I knew that much. Mr. Yates is waiting for you echoed in my head, in time to the beat of the hooves beneath me, and the words filled me with fear. I’d thought I would be safe, this far from Philadelphia. I had no idea that he would want me bad enough to track me clear across the country. How on earth had he found me? I had left no trace…
Panic welled up within me but I pushed it away. It would do no good to give in to terror now – I had to keep my head. I had to think! How was I going to get out of this mess? I had no idea. I forced myself to breathe normally, in and out. In and out. Over and over, nice and slow. The dust kicked up from the hooves beneath me assailed my nostrils and threatened to make me cough but I closed my eyes and swallowed lots, forcing it away. I knew my captor wouldn’t kill me – I was no good to Mr. Yates if I was dead – and I hung onto that thought as each stride of the horse took me further and further away from Bridgewater and the men I had fallen in love with so quickly.
I let my thoughts drift to Shane and Roscoe. My husbands. Tall, dark and handsome, both of them. I thought of the chiseled lines of Shane’s jaw, the scratchy beard softening the hard planes of Roscoe’s face. I saw myself reflected in their dark eyes when they cuddled me close, remembered the feel of their strong arms around me as they held me tight. I pictured their bodies, long, lean and well-muscled. The way their cocks sprang out at my touch from where they were nestled in their bed of dark, curly hair. I thought of how huge their hands were. How their spread-out fingers covered most of my bottom when they spanked me, how their hands felt as hard as a board. But oh how different their hands were when they didn’t use them to punish, but to give pleasure, instead! They were skilled at making all my senses come alive, at making my nerve endings tremble and dance. At turning my core into molten lava. They were so alike I almost thought of them as one, yet they were so different as well. Already, they had made me feel like I was the most important woman in all the world.
How many hours had passed since I’d been taken? I didn’t know. Did they have the fire under control yet? Had they noticed I was missing? Were they searching for me? So many questions that I didn’t have the answers to, and I wouldn’t have the answers. All I could do was wait. And hope.
I hadn’t yet seen Shane’s smithy but I knew he was proud of it, of what he had achieved there. Pride was evident in his voice when he spoke of it, and the panic in his yell when he’d realized it was on fire, haunted me.
I imagined all the Bridgewater men making a human chain, passing along bucket after bucket of water, in a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames. How did they even fight fires out here? Did they have a water cart and steam pump like they had in Philadelphia? I didn’t know. I hadn’t been in the Montana Territory long enough to know about anything at all. I just hoped they were safe. I hoped I would see them again. I hoped they would find me…
My eyes closed of their own accord and the rhythmic rocking of the horse soon lulled me back to sleep.
13
SHANE
It was no good –
