“Ian’s with the herd, and Danny took their ma back ages ago. She didn’t tell you where she was goin’?” Andrew shook his head and swayed a little. Jacob’s voice dropped menacingly. “You better sober up, Thompson. I swear, if somethin’s happened to her—” He clenched his jaw. “You check back at camp. Maybe she just went back on her own. I’ll check the fort.”
“Aren’t the stars beautiful tonight?” Garrett’s low voice warmed her all over. She looked up and couldn’t help but agree. There was no moon, and the Milky Way lay strewn across the velvety sky like a thousand diamonds. He pointed out Orion the Hunter and told her of how Draco the Dragon had come to make his home among the stars. She was mesmerized. The sound of the fort receded, and she was only aware of the heat of his body close to hers, the strength of his arm under the perfectly tailored serge of his uniform, his hand covering hers, virile and strong.
Kate looked down from the dazzling night sky and saw a small copse of trees materializing out of the night. She frowned. Were there any trees on the path from the train to the fort? She turned her head, puzzled. The river shimmered on her left. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I think we’re goin’ the wrong way.” His hand tightened on hers.
“Not to worry. We’re taking a different route. There’s a group of drunks loitering at the ford. I wouldn’t want to upset a lady’s delicate sensibilities.” His pace quickened.
The trees loomed before them now. Her stomach churned with sudden misgiving. “Please, Garrett, let’s go the other way.” She tried to stop, but his hand clamped on hers like a vise. They were among the trees now. Fear rose like bile in her throat. “Please, Garrett. Stop! Please!” she cried, trying to wrench her hand away. But he caught her wrist and pulled her roughly to him.
“Don’t tell me you don’t want this too,” he growled as he forced her against a tree. “You act demure, but your eyes tell a different story. So alluring. So seductive.” He kissed her roughly on the neck.
“Please! No!” He was crushing her. Kate could barely breathe past the terror coursing through her. She struggled fiercely, the stubble of his beard scraping her cheek. Her forehead connected with his jaw.
“You little vixen!” he spat and grabbed her by the throat, cutting off her air and dragging her to the ground. “You’re gonna make this hard for me?” He grunted and started roughly pulling up her skirts. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart. It’s about the chase, really; the struggle will make it all the sweeter.”
Kate tore at his hand but to no avail. He was so strong! She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe! She bucked and writhed, spots swimming across her vision, feeling her struggle weaken.Lord, help me!She was losing consciousness.Please, Lord!Her eyelids fluttered, blackness closing in around her. The hand on her throat dropped as he knelt above her, fumbling with his belt. She gasped, precious air flowing into her lungs, and with all the strength she possessed in her body, she brought her knee up into his groin, and as he groaned and doubled over, she made a fist and struck him in the nose with all the ferocity of a prairie storm.
Kate heard a crack as his head snapped backwards, his eyes wide with pain and surprise. She scrambled up and started to run.Kate heard amenacing shout behind her and a sound like a bull crashing through the undergrowth. Terror flooded through her. She ran as fast as she could, tears streaming down her face, air burning in her ragged throat.Lord, please! Please help me!
Chapter 15
Urgencybuildingwitheverystep, Jacob scanned the darkened alleyways of the sleepy fort. No moon out tonight. He listened, his heart thudding heavily in his chest, but couldn’t hear anything above the music spilling out from the hall. He strode out of the fort confines, lengthening his stride, something inside him propelling him out into the night. But this was the opposite direction from camp. Jacob warred with the pull inside him. Kate was good with directions; she should have known which way to go. But if she had been taken … He swallowed hard.
He saw a thicket of trees to the left, just far enough from the fort to be out of earshot. His mouth went dry. He quickened his pace. His ears caught the faint sound of running feet and someone gasping with exertion, and fear flooded his body. He broke into a run and called out to the darkness, “Kate!”
“Jacob!” came the faint reply, but the terror he heard in her voice sent his blood roaring in his ears.
“I’m here!” He pulled out his gun, searching furiously for her in the night.
There! He sprinted toward her, stomach lurching as he saw a hulking shape looming behind her, reaching out, grasping her hair, yanking her backwards.
Jacob roared in fury and plowed into her attacker, taking him to the ground, the force of the impact nearly knocking the air from his lungs. The brute snarled and landed two vicious blows in Jacob’s ribs.
Pain exploded in his side. He rolled away and hauled himself to his feet, gasping, hunched over. He had lost his gun in the tussle. Starlight glinted on the epaulets of an officer’s uniform as the assailant rose. Blast it all, he was big.
Raising his fists, Jacob went in swinging.
Jacob’s right cross connected with the lout’s jaw, and he managed to land his left in his stomach, but Jacob had dropped his guard and took a brutal hit in the temple. He stumbled back, vision swimming. The officer closed in, grinning wickedly.
Jacob swayed on his feet.Stay in it, Munroe! She needs you!He shook his head, growling in pain, and raised his fists again.
Then the brute’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he collapsed in a heap.
Jacob’s vision slowly cleared. Kate stood over her unconscious attacker, her chest heaving, her hair pulled loose from its pins and tumbling in riotous waves around her, blood on the butt of Jacob’s pistol held in her shaking hands.
He limped over to her, gently taking the gun out of her hands. “It’s all right, Kate. He’s out cold. You got him.”
Kate looked at him, eyes wide, tears gathering on her lashes. She choked out a sob. “He was so nice. I didn’t think he would—” She cut off, putting a shaking hand to her mouth.
He ever so gently laid a hand on her shoulder, and she collapsed into him, weeping. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tenderly, fighting against the waves of white-hot rage coursing through him. He thought of his gun. If Kate weren’t here … he breathed deep, clenching his jaw. She needed him—that was the most important thing right now. Heheld her as she cried, until her tears were spent and her breathing slowed.
“Thank you, Jacob,” she whispered into his shoulder. His heart hitched at the way she said his name. Kate drew back, her tears glistening in the starlight, an unfathomable serenity on her face. “You are an answer to prayer, Jacob Munroe. I prayed for the Lord to help me, and He sent me you.”
She said it with such simple conviction. He shivered, thinking of the restless urgency that had led him straight to her. Had he really been used by some divine power?
The officer groaned and Kate gasped sharply, clutching Jacob’s arm as terror washed over her features. Jacob quickly moved in front of her, then bent over the attacker. He was coming to. Making quick work of it, Jacob sliced the officer’s shirt and hogtied him as tight as he could. Even in the darkness he could see the lump forming on the base of his skull and the caked blood fanning down over his mouth and chin. Had he punched his nose during the fight?
Jacob gave the knot a final tug and stood up gingerly, clutching his side. Now that his blood had stopped pumping, the pain in his ribs flared with every breath, and his head throbbed with every heartbeat. He gritted his teeth. Kate still needed him. She trembled violently. He slowly shrugged out of his coat, suppressing a groan, and draped it gently around her shoulders. “Kate,” he said softly. She stared down at the officer. “Kate? Kate, look at me.” She turned to him, eyes wide and unblinking. “Did he—?” Jacob’s throat closed around the question.
