Page 131 of Knot Her Cowboys
If the Deckers lit our barn on fire so they could get Riley out of here, they weren’t making it far without a fight.
Grizzy charged alongside the truck, braying like she was berating me for taking this long to get involved. Ranger couldn’t outpace a truck for long. Our only chance was to catch up quickly. It was an old shitty model, banged up to hell and probably stolen from the farm stock so it wasn’t recognizable. That was good, though. Older vehicles had exploitable flaws.
The outline of Darrell’s arm and a pistol were visible through the small window on the back of the truck cab.
Riley’s face turned toward me. “Cooper!”
A second later, the brake lights flared, and the truck jerked hard to the right, skidding around before regaining control.
That’s my girl.
Fight back.
Give us time.
Don’t make me face a life without you.
Ranger surged forward, bringing us alongside the truck. I gave the window a swift kick and instead of shattering, the glass clunked down inside the door. I pulled Ranger back as Darrell tried to swerve the truck into us. He cursed up a fucking storm when Riley launched herself at him from inside the vehicle, biting his arm and wrestling the gun away from him. She flung it out the window, almost clocking me with it as we ran next to them.
Seconds flowed by like molasses in winter, everything in slow motion as I crashed against the reality of how easily I could lose her.
That wasn’t happening. I’d die before I let them take her.
Hooves thundered behind us, and I turned to see Cash catching up on our Quarter Horse, Betsy Boo.
Darrell flung Riley off, her back hitting the door hard, the glass in that window dropping off just like the driver’s side. They’d fixed that problem on newer models. I silently thanked Darrell for not wanting to wreck his god-awful expensive truck ramming through our gate like he had.
“Cash!” I yelled out. “Get her out of there!”
We had one chance, literal seconds to make this work. If we fucked up, who knew where Darrell would take her. Hell, we could know exactly where he took her and we still wouldn’t be able to get her back. It was now or never.
I grabbed the rope, holding the lasso loop in my hand. Riley fought to reach out her window, kicking at Darrell where he was grabbing her feet to stop her from climbing out. Cash wedged Betsy Boo in between Grizzy and the truck, snaring Riley around the chest and drove everyone onto the shoulder the same moment I thrust my arm through the window and hooked that rope around Darrell fucking Decker’s neck.
I urged Ranger to slow and we narrowly avoided Darrell’s truck swerving toward us, but the speed of it quickly snapped the rope tight. I let go so it didn’t drag me off my horse. The whole vehicle whipped to the left and hit the ditch, flipping straight over and coming to a stop with metal groaning.
Ranger trotted his way down to a full stop and I slid off his back, sprinting down the now-dark road where Cash had slid off Betsy Boo and was holding Riley in his arms.
She wriggled free when she saw me, slamming against my chest. Relief struck me even harder and I sank to my knees in the gravel road with her clutched to me.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry. I tried to get away sooner. He was going to hurt Grizzy and I couldn’t let him.”
I hushed her softly, burying my face against her throat and inhaling the sweetness of her floral scent. Between the heat of her body and her scent weaving into my soul, I could actually convince myself she was real. She was here, safe in my arms. My mind kept replaying everything, every horrific second of her being out of reach and on her way to a life she’d fled. I hugged her harder, as if I could compress us into a single body so I’d never have to part with her again.
Cash dropped down next to us, wrapping both of us in his embrace. “Jesus Christ, Cooper. You don’t do anything by halves, do you?”
I shook my head, not lifting my face to answer him more than that.
Grizzy shoved her nose up to Riley, snuffling and whimpering as she assured herself she’d succeeded in helping her favorite person.
Another truck came barreling down the road, getting to a stop when the headlights hit us. Dakota and Levi rushed out.
“Holy shit,” Levi gasped, falling to his knees to join us. “What the fuck happened?”
All four of us touched Riley anywhere we could.
“I felt her panic in the bond,” said Cash, “but I thought it was because she was scared for the horses. Then I couldn’t find her, and Cooper took off on Ranger. Dawned on me pretty quick what he thought had happened, and I figured it was better safe than sorry, so I followed him.”
Their words faded in and out. All that mattered was the omega in my arms. The scent of distress clung to her, but beneath that was all floral, her comfort growing the longer I held her. I squeezed her tightly, until her little wheeze sounded in my ear, followed by a loud intake of air when I loosened my grip. Riley nuzzled closer. My whole fucking world was right here and I’d almost lost her.
