Craving Cowgirl Read online

  Breaking the tension—a woman’s voice. “Get your ass up here. We don’t need her memorizing our faces.”

  The giant buffoon of a man walked towards me with a small pocketknife, then bent, narrowing his beady eyes, holding the knife to my neck, “You better hope he comes for you because I have plans if he don’t.” I shuddered at the thought, letting out the air I’d been holding as he walked away. Fake cuffs and domination were fun with someone I loved—the reality was way too much. Curling into the comfort of the corner, I held my eyes open and watched as though I were a mouse in a house filled with hungry cats.

  Chapter Five

  Matteo

  We’d have to fly two jets, one with the horses and the other with us. Everyone was ready in less than an hour. I no longer cared about the horses, or my parents, or the line. All I wanted was Hannah back in my arms, safe and happy. Leaning against the window in the jet, I tried to make sense of all that was happening. It couldn’t be this easy. They had to want more than horses. Kings Ranch didn’t have the best racers, but they weren’t broke. They were still a multi-million dollar ranch, breeding some good quality animals.

  I hadn’t slept in almost forty hours, and despite anxiety and worry, my body began shutting down with the lull of the engine—and soon I’d lost consciousness, feeling a sudden jolt of alertness every few moments as my brain fought the urge to rest. Calming myself, I imagined Hannah’s lips on mine the first time she’d touched me. The way she’d pushed against me with such shy virtue, then straddled me in that tiny sundress, not realizing the soft lips of her pussy were grazing my bare stomach as we kissed. She had become my everything, my reason for living, and I would kill to have her back. Again, I startled awake. Erik to my side, still reclined. Both of us piled uncomfortably despite the private bedroom in the back.

  “What’s your plan, sir?” Erik asked, leaning his seat upright.

  I cleared my throat, “We’ll have to land in Dublin, then drive north with the horses. I have transport vehicles waiting.”

  “And then what sir? You’re just going to ask them for a trade?” He said the words sarcastically, as though my plan weren’t well thought out.

  “Yes! I’m going to give them what they want and get Hannah back,” I snapped, raising my forehead. Erik stayed quiet, an orange peel consistency growing on his tightened chin.

  “Do you see my phone anywhere?” I stood and began searching, eventually finding it laid out in the aisle.

  “You okay sir? You’re usually much better under pressure.” He was right—I was. But the last few months had been more turmoil than I’d ever experienced. Yes, there had been blackmail attempts in the past, but never to this degree and never with this much to lose.

  “I just… I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her.”

  Erik turned towards me in his seat, the terrible night’s sleep sinking his eyes. “You won’t lose her sir. Just give them the horses and leave.”

  I nodded in agreement. There were no words to console what I was feeling. All I really needed was off this fucking plane so I could put this nervous energy to use.

  Moments later, I felt the plane begin its descent. Anxious energy now built in my legs. I needed to move. I needed to rescue her, save her from the hell she was being put through. We deboarded the jet and loaded the horses into the transport vehicles. I drove the trailer, still not trusting anyone. Erik followed in the SUV.

  Twisted roads and steep climbs led to green and darker green landscapes. The only thing breaking up the monotony was fluffy white sheep. Occasionally, an odd rock formation, or dry-stone fence, then green and darker green. It was enough to make anyone crawl from their skin, as the scenery played on repeat over and over, all as I imagined how I would approach the ranch, how I would react if they demanded more.

  Kings Ranch is secluded, sitting on the ocean side of a cliff near the most north-western part of Ireland. From the outside, you’d never know they were hiding a secret. We pulled through the timber post entrance with ‘Kings Ranch’ carved on top. Stones popped beneath the tires as we made our way towards the house—no security, no impasse, just a house on a ranch in the middle of nowhere.

  The home itself was behind a short front gate with wildflowers springing up from various patches—rising above, a gray stone mansion with ivy growing up the sides. To the left, maybe twenty feet from the house, the stables, dressed in fresh pine with tin roofing. It looked to have been recently remodeled.

  Stepping out into the driveway, I adjusted my gun, assuring I could get to it. Erik followed close behind. I looked back slightly, “You sure you want to do this? They’ll want you dead. You know too much.”

  “I can’t let you do this alone sir. I’ve put you through too much already,” he answered, bending at a strange angle as he walked. I didn’t trust anyone but myself to make this exchange, but it was nice to know I had someone there with me as a backup. We’d barely reached the porch when a tall thin man wearing a herringbone newsboy cap opened the door. His cheeks, sunken and pinkish, his eyebrows shaggy. He had not been in the video.

  “I’m Matteo—”

  “I know you are,” the man interrupted with a rough Irish dialect, as though he needed to clear his throat, “You come with the horses?”

  “I want to see Hannah,” I demanded. “Meet me by the side of the barn, bring her out, and I’ll pull the horses back.”

  Surprisingly, the man agreed and retreated into the house. I shot a look back at Erik, who’d been lingering in the shadows. His rounded stature had become more curved with unease.

  “Do you have your gun ready sir? Just in case?”

  “Loaded and ready,” I answered, pulling up to the side of the stables. We made our way to the front of the truck and leaned against the grill, waiting for the owners of Kings Ranch to show their faces. Twenty minutes had gone by and still no Hannah.

  “I can’t wait here anymore, I have to go in,” I boiled, ready to destroy the whole place finding her.

  “Sir, give it five more minutes.”

  I didn’t want to be reasonable. I just wanted her back in my arms. Minutes continued to pass like hours as I paced a trail in the grass in front of the stables. Then finally, the side door to the house creaked, and the tall man with sunken cheeks walked out. Behind him, my Bella. Her hair, a mess. Her little nightgown, dirty and torn. I ran up the front steps and lifted her into my arms, carrying her tired body towards the SUV. At that moment, everything made sense. I had my girl, and that was all I needed.

  “The horses are yours. The papers are in the glove box. Erik, let’s go.” I’d love to say that’s where it ended. That I took my girl, and we rode off into the sunset. Though we didn’t, instead I heard a shot, a vacant noise into the air, a warning. I set Hannah down and told her to run to the SUV, then turned around, drawing my gun. I’d never shot but for practice. “You have the horses. I have Hannah, what’s the problem?”

  “We have to look the horses over first. Make sure ya aren’t pullin the wool.”

  I relaxed my stance and opened the back gate, letting the horses out one by one, giving him the pedigree to each as they passed. I was happy to have Hannah, happy that this would all soon be over. But I’d been with this bloodline since childhood, and watching them walk away made me want to fight.

  After the last horse had been accounted for, the tall man walked towards me with a small stack of papers, his shotgun now postured in his right hand. “We’ll need you to sign this too.”

  I quickly scanned the document, flipping each page back with spite. “I’m not signing this. You said nothing about a contract.”

  “You’ll sign it, or you won’t be gettin too far today. I need to know yer not comin back,” the lanky man added, tapping on the gun with skeleton like fingers.

  The contract was a bill of sale stating my agreement to sign over the horses. I looked back at Hannah—now in the front seat of the SUV, she was all that mattered. I c
ould take what I had left, and we could live a great life together. At this point, I’m not sure I had many choices. So, I reached out and signed the agreement.

  “Now that we got that settled, I gotta make sure you don’t come back again,” the man added, aiming his gun. I backed away, pulling my handgun up from my waistband. I could hear Hannah calling my name.

  Holding the gun steady, I continued backing towards the SUV. “You have what you want. Now we’ll go.”

  “No, what I want is confirmation you’ll never be back. And I don’t think I’ll have that until you’re both dead.” The man continued walking towards me as I stepped away.

  “There’s one behind you sir!” Erik yelled from a place I couldn’t see. I spun around, looking for another gunman, but saw nothing. “He’s right their sir,” Erik repeated from an unknown location. I turned again, disordered by the man closing in from the front and the unseen shooter behind me. I shot the gun, seemingly hitting no one. At this point, I was close enough to the SUV door to jump in and drive away, but Erik was nowhere to be found. I got in anyway and pulled the SUV back figuring if he was close enough to speak to me, he was close enough to see me back out. That inevitably he’d run to the door, but he didn’t. Nothing happened. The man with the gun backed off and I pulled out of the driveway with Hannah as though she’d been visiting. Turning the corner out of the ranch, I drove up the road about a mile before parking the SUV among a line of trees.

  “I have to go back for Erik. I can’t leave him here.”

  “Is he even on our side? You don’t owe him; they will kill us. You saw their guns… right?” Her eyes were wide, bloodshot and shaking, her hands firmly planted on the dashboard. She was terrified, and all I wanted was to keep her safe, but I couldn’t leave Erik behind.

  “I’m sorry my Bella, I can’t leave him. I’ll just be a second.”

  “Please, Matteo. Please. These guys are fucking serious.” I looked back at her, she was still shaking.

  I put my hand on her cheek, running the back of my fingers over her smooth skin. “I’ll be fast. I’m just going to see if he’s in the line of trees right there. That’s the only place he’d have been calling from. If he’s not, I’ll assume he’s found his way out.” She softened her eyes, but her heart was still stressed, but I had to make this fast. I wasn’t sure how much time we had. Stepping out of the vehicle, I walked back down the driveway—curving into the bush on the side before anyone noticed me coming.

  “Erik… Erik…” I repeated, quietly calling for him amidst the overgrown trees, nothing. The rest of the ranch was wide open spaces, if he wasn’t here, he was in the barns, and that was too much of a risk. He’d let me down in the last few months, but for over twenty years he had been there for me in the most reliable way. Keeping my promise to Hannah, I studied the tree line and headed back towards the SUV—hoping he’d seen it and crawled in during my absence. Though when I returned, he wasn’t there.

  “Nothing?” Hannah asked.

  I shook my head in response, placing my hand on her knee. “I’ll keep trying his cell. Right now, we need to get you to the hospital.”

  “No! Please. They will find out. They will come after us. I just want to go home. I’m fine. Just shaken up.”

  “Did they—”

  “No. No one did anything. It was just scary. I’m fine.” She was brushing me off, trying to handle too much. Strength didn’t begin to describe her. In the past few months, she’d left an abusive marriage and managed to will her way through extortion and torture—something I’d promised to keep her safe from. She deserved more, and I had to figure out a way to make it happen.

  Chapter Six

  Hannah

  In all the drama, I’d learned two things about Matteo. The first, how willing he was to forgive those he loved. The second, at what lengths he’d go to save them.

  “It just doesn’t make sense; he had his phone. He would have texted me by now,” Matteo trilled, letting his accent grow with his frustration. I laid next to him on the king bed, melting away against his strong arms. The citrus and patchouli he wore had begun to smell like home. He turned towards me, refocusing his attention. “I’m just glad you’re home.”

  “I’m sorry you had to give up so much. I wish I could get it all back for you somehow.” I let the words fall from my lips as he traced the lines on my face with his fingertip. “You’re my hero, always and forever.”

  He smiled, pulling his face into a dimpled grin, then lifted on top of me. “You’ve given me something worth fighting for.” He kept his weight boosted just above my body, his muscled arms flexing at my sides as he leaned in towards my neck, gently kissing the arch below my jaw. “Now… let me welcome you home.”

  Kissing roughly—he remembered each sensitive area as he worked his way down my collar bone, towards insides of my elbows, my breasts, the tips of my fingers, my inner thighs, lighting my nerves with wet heat. Settling between my legs, he leaned in, blowing warmth on my clit before touching.

  A gush of calm ran over my body, parking me in the moment. I reached down, running my fingers through his hair, inviting him in further. He secured my hips with his hands and pulled me in, burying his rough face in my alter as though he were asking forgiveness for his sins. I arched my back, fighting the edge of euphoria. Moaning, he vibrated desire and liberty straight through me—causing my hips to wiggle against his hands as they held me in place.

  He pulled up, and slid inside of me without hesitation, his face wet with my pleasure. “You know I like getting lost in this wet, relaxed pussy,” he moaned, dialed in on my eyes as he until he came and relaxed next to me. I wanted to lay like this forever, settled wildly in his arms, safe from all that pursued us. However, a flash from his phone disturbed the mellow.

  “Your phone’s flashing,” I said, pulling the sheet up from the foot of the bed. He reached over and opened his cell, clicking on an email that had come in from xxdeadheatxx. He scanned the message faster than I could take it in, then played the video link. It was a video of Matteo, shooting his gun and in the same frame Erik falling to the ground. The cameraman goes to Erik’s side to check his pulse, then zooms in on Matteo.

  Matteo dropped his phone and turned towards me. “Did I just see that right?”

  “I don’t think so; watch it again,” I stated with downturned brows. We had both seen what looked like Matteo shooting Erik, though that is not what happened. We played the video again, and sure enough, it played the same.

  “You couldn’t have shot him! There’s no way. He was closer than that. We could hear his voice.”

  “The email says they are giving it to the police in three days. If I disappear, they will consider holding it.” His lips curled, transforming his face to a shape I hadn’t yet seen—his voice ragged and snarled. “I’m going back there.” Matteo bolted out of bed, his muscles firing and popping, his mouth running with rage.

  “They are willing to kidnap people to prove a point—they will kill you!”

  “No, if they wanted to kill me, they would have already. They have my horses, if I show up dead too, every finger points to them.”

  “They will spin it like you’ve been making bad decisions. Like you got crazy with the bucket list, got rid of the horses, went on some drug binge, and died. Matteo, leave it alone.”

  He raised his arms and clasped his hands behind his head, “But I didn’t shoot Erik! I’m not running the rest of my life because of some video. If they want to kill me, let them try.”

  “Not for the rest of your life, but we need to figure out what happened before we make any rash decisions, because that video looks like you killed him.” He turned his head away from me, clenching his jaw. I know he didn’t want to hear anything I was saying. Standing to be near him, I rubbed his flexing back as he stared out into the night, “Maybe Erik isn’t dead, maybe he is still part of all this.”

  “Even better! If he’s not dead, we can prove this is all some gi
ant fucking shit storm.” He was fuming, angrier than I’d ever seen him. As much as I loved staying at the castle in Italy he called home, I knew we needed to leave.

  “I think we should go, lay low for a bit and see what happens,” I said softly, leaning against his back.

  Matteo turned from the window, laying his back onto the bed, “I’ll call to have the jet readied. I know where we can go for a bit. It might even make you feel at home.”

  “Where’s that?” I asked, happy he’d decided to lay low.

  “Alaska.”

  Chapter Seven

  Hannah

  It was well after dark when we finally pulled up to the luxury cabin in Northern Alaska. We’d stopped at a safe deposit box, picked up the key, flown the length of half the world then driven three hours into the tundra. I was ready to be planted.

  “I’ve been renting this place out in the summer months. Never actually stayed here,” Matteo said, sliding the key into the door.

  Even in the darkness, I felt at home surrounded by the scent of pine and cedarwood. Matteo opened the door and led me in as he carried in the supplies we’d picked up. I wandered around the cabin for a moment then took our bags upstairs. High angled ceilings opened the main living area with a cozy stone fireplace center stage. In the middle of the room, a leather sectional with Aztec blankets thrown about. Large picture windows surrounded every inch of space along the exterior. To the right, an open kitchen with gourmet appliances and light granite counters. Upstairs, a loft with a pool table, wet bar, and two bedrooms. One set up for children with bunk beds and the other a master suite. Everything was natural, made from local timber and impeccably decorated to fit the Alaskan theme. It was small and cozy — the perfect nest for us until we figured things out.

  “Hot tub?” Matteo offered, unbuttoning his shirt. “I could use some time with my girl before bed.”