Captured by Cowboys (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 1)

Chapter One

Emmett Stone watched the clouds darken behind and above snow-capped Blue Arrow Peak. The white flakes shouldn’t be falling at this elevation until late September, another four months from now, but by the feel and smell of the air and the look of the sky, he knew their raindrop cousins were about to come down in buckets. “We better get back to the cabin and pronto, buddy.” He patted his horse’s thick neck.

Bullet, his constant companion for the past thirteen years, snorted his agreement. The steed still had some life left in him, thank God, though his gait had been slowed by time. Galloping was unfortunately relegated to bygone years for his four-legged, chestnut-colored friend.

Emmett got up in the old boy’s saddle in a single bound. The wind was picking up speed at his back, fueling the coming storm. It was definitely going to be one helluva squall.

Warning his younger brothers, who were working the south part of the ranch, would’ve been best. Too bad cell service didn’t work up here. The roads, all of them dirt for miles and miles, would likely wash out, making travel by horseback rough, and by truck, which Cody and Bryant were in, impossible. Their ranch hands, Sawyer and Reed Coleman, were safe in town at their sister’s for her birthday.

He looked at his watch and thought that his brothers might make it back to the cabin in time if they cut

out a little early, though he doubted they would. Like him, they put in a good ten to twelve hours each and every day.

Ranch life could be hard, but it also had its rewards, which were many. Those rewards had kept him and his brothers in line since they were kids. They’d kept the ranch and built it into something to be very proud of. According to the accountants, their assets—the land, livestock, and other holdings—were worth well into the hundreds of millions of dollars. He should’ve been satisfied with the success, but he wasn’t. The all-too-familiar gnawing at the back of his mind inched up into his consciousness, making him feel unsettled and restless. He shifted in the saddle and tried to shove the nagging thoughts away. It didn’t work. The longing had grown and grown over the past few years. Why? He wasn’t even sure what it was he was longing for.

“Bullet, I need to be more like you. Take things one day at a time. Thinking too much gets a man in trouble.” He tugged on the reins slightly, guiding his horse through the gate and onto the county road that edged the ranch. He dismounted and closed the gate. Turning back to Bullet, he spotted something about a quarter mile up the road. Was it a downed animal?

He jumped on the horse and headed that direction, the opposite way of the cabin. Best to check it out. The thing looked too small to be one of their heifers or young bulls, which had been calved in March. Now they were fully weaned and over four hundred pounds. No, the bundle ahead was something else. A small doe or a female wolf?

Once he and his ride had covered half the distance, Emmett realized this was no downed animal. The bundle in the road was a person, a woman.

Clicking his tongue to the roof of his mouth and gently tapping Bullet’s sides with the heels of his boots, he urged the old boy to pick up the pace. Once he got next to the female, he leapt from his saddle and knelt down next to her.

Lying faceup, eyes closed, she was mumbling something. The first thing he saw was the gash just under her hairline. What was she doing this far from the paved road? He glanced around to see if he could see her car, but found none. What could’ve happened to her?

Her clothes were torn in a couple of spots and she had no shoes on her tiny feet. Even in her current state, he couldn’t get over how unbelievably beautiful she was. Auburn hair framed her delicate facial features. Her thick red lips accentuated her pale skin. She was perfectly curvy, just the way he liked women.

“Are you awake, miss?”

Her mumbling continued but her eyes remained shut. He leaned down to see if he could make sense of her words.

“Right. Need to…bliss. Right…please help…bliss. Got to…right.” She continued to ramble, but he couldn’t make heads or tails out of what she was saying.

Her wound no longer bled, but had likely only just stopped. Dark blood coated her long auburn hair. He placed his fingers to her neck to see how steady her pulse was. Luckily, the beats vibrated evenly on his fingertips. Strong heart.

Moving her might be a risk since he wasn’t sure if she had any internal injuries, but it was a risk he might have to take. The storm would be here in a flash and he couldn’t, even if he stayed and covered her with his own frame, leave her in the middle of the road to be drenched. He moved his hands over her body, pressing slightly here and there to see if she had any broken bones or other wounds. Touching her slender arms and legs awakened strong emotions inside him—the need to protect, the need to possess, the need to claim.

He reined in his mind. This vision of feminine wonder needed him to remain focused. Once he was satisfied that he could move her and not harm her further, he swung the woman into his arms.

“Bullet, slow and easy. We don’t want to hurt her.”

His old friend turned his head and blinked. Emmett knew the horse understood. Horses understood a lot more than most gave them credit for.

He hauled her up into the saddle with him, something he’d done several dozen times with other wounded creatures, but never with a woman before.

“You’ll be okay, miss. I promise.” A raindrop hit his nose. He placed his Stetson on her bloodied head to keep the coming rain out of her face. “Let’s go, Bullet. Slow and easy.”

* * * *

Cody Stone let out a big breath of relief as he drove his truck to the cabin. “Home sweet home.”

“Amen to that, brother.” Bryant, his twin, sat in the passenger’s seat.

The rain was coming down so hard that the windshield wipers hadn’t been able to keep up. He’d been driving blind for nearly an hour. His shoulders were tighter than he could ever remember them, and it wasn’t from having to replace a half dozen posts and stringing new barbed wire for the fences either. It was from nerves about the possibility of rolling the truck on some pretty narrow roads. Dry, they were difficult. Wet, they were tough. Drenched, they were treacherous.

The lights were on in the cabin, indicating Emmett was already home. He looked up at the chimney and saw smoke coming out. Good deal. A fire was just what he needed for sure, and a few gulps of whiskey would warm up his insides real nice.

He stepped up on the cabin’s front porch and heard the squeak of the board that needed a couple of nails in the worst way. His brothers and he had never wanted to repair it. Their mother had called it the cabin’s doorbell years ago, and that had always brought a smile to their dads’ faces. He liked the cabin better than their house down in the valley, where they stayed most of the time. The cabin was rustic and drafty in places. It didn’t have Internet, or even a phone, but it held more memories for him than the house. He and his brothers had increased their stays up here over the years. Emmett claimed it was better to be on the ranch, especially during the winter and spring, than fifteen miles away. He was right, too. The roads often became impassable during snowstorms or downpours. The current rain would likely cause a slide of rock and mud—maybe two or three of them. Turkey’s Pass would definitely need the Bobcat and probably Narrow Belt, too. Nickel Ridge might weather this storm without a mark, but the way the rain was coming down, he doubted it. That would mean at least six or seven days, at minimum, to clear the road to town. Not a problem. They had supplies enough to get through several months if need be.

With Bryant at his heels, Cody opened the door and entered the cabin. The fire was going, the lights were on, but there was no sign of Emmett.