Spurred (Steele Ranch 1)

“Ma’am, I can barely hear you. Are you in trouble?”

“Yes!” I hissed.

“What is your location?”

“Steele Ranch.”

I had to hope the woman knew where that was because I had no idea of the address. Was there even a street number for a ranch with over sixty-thousand acres?

“You said Steele Ranch?”

“Yes.”

“I’m sending officers to you now.”

Another thump, this time louder.

I disconnected. I was in the middle of nowhere. God, how long would it take for the police to get here? Where were they? Barlow?

I could call the bunkhouse. There was a group of men just down the hill. Or Jamison. But I didn’t have the numbers. Jamison had said the list was on the side of the fridge.

Not happening.

Cord. Riley. I had their numbers. I could call them. Swiping as fast as I could, I got to Cord’s number first in the alphabet, pressed Send. Another thump had me jumping. Ring!

Oh, god. They were in Helena!

They couldn’t get to me in time. What was I going to do? I—

“Hey, sweetness. You haven’t touched yourself yet, have you?”

“Cord. Help,” I whispered.

“What’s the matter?”

Perhaps it was my tone, but he immediately knew I didn’t need help with an orgasm.

“There’s someone in the house,” I repeated.

I heard Cord talking to someone, his voice loud in my ear but I wasn’t paying any attention.

“Where are you exactly?” he asked.

“In my room.”

I walked to the corner, hunched my shoulders in to be as quiet as possible.

“We’re on our way.”

“Helena’s too far!” I hissed.

“We’re almost to Barlow. Just passed the road to the ranch. Riley’s turning around. Get in your closet. On the floor. Close the door. Whatever you do, don’t come out until you hear one of us. Okay?”

I nodded, realized he couldn’t hear me, then replied, “Hurry.”

Ending the call, I opened the closet door as slowly as possible, but when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, I realized there was no time. Whoever it was was going to find me.

The closet though, was small. Tiny and my suitcases were tucked on the floor. So much for the maid’s room being cozy. I wouldn’t fit and I couldn’t pull the bags out or it would be obvious where I was.