Page 129 of Knot Her Cowboys
No!
I screamed and flailed as Darlene and Darrell dragged me through the trees. Every step pulled me further away from my pack, and had more of the barn consumed by the flames, the roar and crackle of it drowning out the sounds of my panic.
“Quit your fucking squirming.” Darrell’s harsh grumble washed over me. “Stupid little cunt making me come all the way here to get you.”
I snapped my teeth onto his fingers, wincing at the taste of dirt and god knew what else on his skin. He dropped me hard onto the ground and pinned me with his knee to my spine.
“Just for that, I’m going to make sure it hurts.” I yelped at the sharp stab of a needle in my skin. “Do you think two days of an unattended heat before I claim you will be enough to calm down that shit attitude of yours? Hmm? Nothing to say?”
“She’ll keep her mouth shut if she knows what’s good for her,” Darlene snapped.
Except I knew for damn sure that letting myself be taken wasn’t going to be good for me. I screamed as loud as I could and grabbed onto Darrell’s legs before he could kick me.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” He tried to wrench me free and failed miserably. “Darlene, how’d you birth such a bitch? I don’t have time to train her to be docile.”
“Don’t look at me. I told you to add a sedative to the suppressant neutralizer.”
Fuck.
No sedative meant I could fight, and a suppressant neutralizer was better than a heat stimulant. It gave me time before I’d fall into the haze.
I grabbed the leg of Darrell’s jeans with both hands and walloped my forehead straight into his family jewels. He doubled over with a groan. Before I could leap away, Darlene was on me, yanking my hair to get me back under control, but I screamed and kept screaming, striking out with every limb. My mother and her horrible ideas had already cost me too much.I wasn’t going to let her take my future too.
I’d watched enough true crime over the years to know not to let them get me to a second location. If they got me off the ranchproperty, we could end up anywhere while Darrell waited for my heat to kick in.
“Stop being such a fucking hassle. Goddamn.” Darrell picked me up by the scruff of my shirt and got me in a headlock, forcing me to stumble along with him.
Away.
I had to getaway. Now.
Grabbing the front of his jeans, I squeezed as hard as I possibly could, digging in my nails for good measure until his grip on me released and I took off through the field. I went straight for the paddock and rolled under the fence. Darrell got hold of my feet and I kicked him square in the face. Rewarded with his bellow of pain and my blood buzzing with adrenaline, I yelled out, “Grizzy!”
My beautiful angel mule came trotting over, and she quickly realized I didn’t have any treats for her, but once Darrell came charging at us like a huffing bull, she leapt into the role of guard mule I’d jokingly dubbed her. Grizzy put herself between me and Darrell. He looked about ready to collapse. Darlene wasn’t much better as she ran over, nearly coughing up a lung as she stopped to catch her breath.
“Fu—fucking Christ, girl.” Darlene reached for me but Grizzy swung her head around, teeth going straight for Darlene’s arm. My mother shrieked and stumbled backward, hitting the ground and staying down.
When Darrell tried to go around the other way while Grizzy was distracted, he earned himself a swift kick to the chest that knocked him on his ass.
“Grizzy, I’m going to get you a whole bag of apples after this.”
“Fucking creature.” Darrell wheezed, getting to his feet. Grizzy kept going for him, forcing Darrell to dodge and curse, evading her teeth, but just barely. “Get your ass in my truck, Riley, or I’m going to turn this thing into glue.”
“I’m not goinganywherewith you. Go suck a cactus, Darrell.”
“All right.” He pulled out a pistol and aimed for Grizzy, but I flung myself at him, forcing the shot wide.
“Don’t hurt her!” I hung my entire body weight from his arm so he couldn’t even aim in Grizzy’s direction. Grizzy didn’t react quite fast enough to my presence, but her bite meant for Darrell wasn’t as hard as it could have been. Darrell held me in front of him, using me as a human shield to protect him from Grizzy, which only seemed to piss off my mule savior more.
“Get in the fucking truck.”
I gave in to the surge of fear that washed over me, letting my tears flow and my body shake. “Promise you won’t hurt her.”
“She deserves to be dog food for kicking me,” Darrell growled.
“Promise!”
“Jesus, fine. If you’ll shut up and stop being such a cunt, I won’t shoot the fucking animal.”
