Cowboy Candy (10 page)

real hellion.
Guess it was because the old man was so hard on me at
home.”
She looked into his eyes. She could detect the slightest trace of sadness.
“Well, you and your father seem to get along well, now.”
“Sure, because I decided that I was going to make him proud of me.”
“He sure does look at you as if he is, and you’re the apple of your
mother’s eye.”
He looked down at their legs, swinging back and forth.
Then he looked up and took her gently by the shoulders.
“Maddy, I have to ask you something. I want you to be totally honest
with me. I know you well enough by now, that I think I’m entitled to an
answer.”
She got a scared deer in the headlights look in her eyes.
“What? . . . what is it?”
“What are your thoughts on marriage and kids?”
She nearly spit out her coffee.
“Whew . . . for a minute there I thought you were gonna’ tell me you’re
gay; not that there’s anything wrong with that.”
They both laughed and he suddenly grew serious, knowing that she was
trying to joke her way out of the question.
“I’m serious, Maddy.”
“Well, how do you feel about it?,” she countered.
“Okay, since you’re answering a question with a question, I’ll go first.”
She listened to his sexy deep voice and all but forgot what he was talking
about. . .
“ . . .For the longest time, I didn’t think I was capable of feeling
anything, really. When I got burned a while back, I thought I could do one
of two things. I could be the cowboy cassanova that women seem to think
I am, or I could concentrate on myself . . .improve the things that needed
improving, you know . . .try to be a better man.
I put all thoughts of
women and marriage on the back burner. Once bitten, twice shy . . .so they
say. That all changed when you came into my life.”
She smiled when he began to cradle her small hand inside of his.
“Dusty, you don’t need to explain yourself to me. I have a pretty good
intuition about things, most of the time.
I was in the same boat as you. I
devoted four years of my life to someone who verbally and physically
abused me. I swore up and down I’d never place myself in a risky position
ever again, as far as men are concerned. But then, I met you . . .and it’s all
changed in a scary and exciting way.”
He grinned and pulled her close for a moment. The stars were twinkling
above and the night air was beginning to cool. They scooted back and
leaned against the front seats. Dusty pulled a warm blanket around their
shoulders and the movie started to play.
Dusty laughed.
“Urban Cowboy, huh? Well, I’ll be.”
“What, you got something against city folks?”
He nodded.
“There’s an old saying in Mexico that I heard once . . .bad roads, good
people - good roads; bad people.”
She snuggled up against the warmth of his muscular body.
“Must be some truth to that. If I didn’t take a wrong turn off of the
highway, I never would have met you.”
“Let’s not think about that, Maddy. The fact is . . .you are here. I might
not be “urban” but I sure am one hundred percent, bona fide cowboy.”
He tilted her chin and his mouth covered hers in a delicate kiss.
“Ahem. . .guess what cowboy? I won’t break,” she smiled.
“Well, I’ll be . . .”
He held her face between his hands and proceeded to give her an erotic,
bone-shaking, passionate kiss. She smiled, put her arms around his neck
and kissed him for all she was worth.
He reached down and pulled up the tailgate, zipped the back window,
and pulled her on top of him. The movie, whatever it was . . . played in the
distance.

Jack was so angry that he was numb to the cold night air. He looked
back to ensure that the car was well-camouflaged. It was in the perfect
location . . .a utility road that had long been abandoned. He squinted his
eyes and could hardly distinguish the black paint from the nighttime sky.

He traipsed along a now-familiar path through the back woods leading
directly behind Maddy’s cabin. For the past week, he’d been scouting the
area to ensure that he wouldn’t be noticed. The woods were dense enough
and he had located a perfect vantage point.

Images of Maddy and the cowboy swirled in his deranged mind. It was
like a broken record, that played over and over.
Jack had always been
overly jealous of everything that Maddy did. He didn’t like her job because
her supervisor was a man. He didn’t like the way the produce guy at the
grocery store smiled at her and said hello. He didn’t like her having any
friends, using the telephone, or doing anything that took her attention away
from him. He was the man of the house and she did as she was told.

It hadn’t always been that way. He recalled their first year as a couple.
They laughed and made love.
They enjoyed one another and had fun.
Something
had snapped inside
of
him
when
he
realized just
how
independent she was. He didn’t trust her, but his ex-wife had something to
do with that. Maddy paid for his past hurts on a daily basis.

He finally arrived at the cabin, lit a cigarette, and took another swig of
whiskey from the large bottle in his hand.
He shook his head and was so
angry, he was practically trembling.

“And now, look at you. Livin’ high off the hog, bonking some
cowpoke, and dressing like a floozy. Well, Maddy Cassidy . . .just wait until
you get home tonight. You’re gonna wish you never set foot on Mountain
Rose Ranch.”

Dusty had just walked her to the door and gave her a passionate kiss.
When she finally came up for air, he was walking towards the Jeep.
“Thanks, cowboy. . .I had a really great time tonight.”
“Thank you mademoiselle, the pleasure was all mine.”
He grinned and her stomach did flip-flops again.
“Miss Mabel was right,” she yelled.
“Right about what?”
“You are like Cowboy Candy . . .just the right combination of sweet

and heat.”
“Is that right?,” he grinned.
“See you in the morning?”
“You bet.”

He flashed a grin and turned the Jeep around. She stood on her front
porch listening to it dissappear in the distance. She leaned back and inhaled
deeply. Her lips still tasted of his sweet kisses, her breasts were still stinging
from the rough scrape of his stubble, and her heart felt as if it had wings.

He had been the perfect gentleman. He let her take the lead, it was all
up to her. She appreciated that. Most men would have been fumbling
around in the dark. . .trying to get their way. Dusty was different. He
respected her enough to give her just what she needed and left her wanting
for more.

She sighed dreamily.
“Dusty . . .in case I didn’t tell you tonight, I love you.”
She turned to step inside and noticed the porch light was out.
“Darn it.”
She felt in the bottom of her purse for her keys, then realized that she

hadn’t locked up when she left. Stepping inside of the cabin, she flipped on
the light and went upstairs with a plan in mind.
She was about to do
something that would change the course of their relationship forever.

She kicked off her sandals and pulled off her dress, reaching for a pair
of sweats and a tee shirt. Dusty’s cologne had lingered on her skin, making
her tingle all over. She wanted him. She wanted him bad.

Opening her dresser door she pulled open the top drawer. Inside, lay a
large assortment of Dusty’s bandannas. She pulled one out and hesitated.
“Nah . . . If I’m gonna’ to to this, I’m gonna’ do it right.”
She put on her pink fuzzy slippers and rushed downstairs and stepping

The hitching post was illuminated by the glow of the moonlight. Tied
to it were ten bandannas. All a different design, all a different color . . . but
all signifying the same thing.

“Dusty, you’d better be ready. Your gonna’ get some strong and sweet
like you’ve never tasted it before.”
She clapped her hands in delight and ran back inside of the cabin.
Breathless, she leaned back against the door and closed her eyes.
“Dear Lord. . .thank you for bringing such a good man into my life.”
She went into the kitchen to get some milk and went upstairs, knowing
that she was going to have a restless night. Walking into the bathroom, she
pulled her hair into a ponytail and opened the medicine cabinet to get her
toothpaste.
She barely had time to register the tall figure standing in the dark before
he grabbed her. A vise-like hand was clamped over her mouth and her arm
was pinned behind her. Suddenly, the light switch was flipped on. Her
eyes grew as round as saucers when she recognized who it was.
Struggling for all she was worth, she was no match for Jack Carter. The
snake in the grass had found her, but how?
She tried to regain her wits . .
.he was never the sharpest tool in the shed, somthing that gave her some
comfort. She’d have to outwit the bastard, and she was determined to beat
him at his own game.
He reeked of stale whiskey and cigarettes and was glaring at her
menacingly in the bathroom mirror.
“So . . .miss smarty pants, or should I say . . .whore!”
He twisted her arm hard and she tried not to wince in pain.
“I s’pose your sleeping with that G.Q. cowpoke I saw ya’ with.”
“That’s no ordinary cowpoke Jake. He’s part owner of this place. Trust
me, when he finds out that you’re here, there’ll be hell to pay.”
“Oh, is that so?”
She tried to stare him down, but his grip only tightened over her mouth.
She was frightened to do anything for fear that he would cover her airway
and suffocate her.
“Whether you did, or whether you didn’t. . .makes no matter now.
What’s done is done. I’m here to remind you that I was serious. I told you
never to even think about leavin’ me . . .and here you are, gallivantin’ about
town lookin’ all pretty, while I’m groveling at home in a dirty house?”
He smacked the side of her head hard and she saw stars. He pulled
some duct tape out of his jacket pocket.
Her struggling only made things
worse. She attempted to remain calm, but the look of sheer terror in her
eyes told him that she was still a lowly, worthless member of the weaker
opposite sex.
He tore off some tape with his teeth and slapped it across her mouth.
Then he wrapped her wrists with it.
“Oh God, where is he taking me? Dusty, help me . . .I need you.”
He grabbed her by the ponytail and nearly lifted her off of the floor
while she winced in pain.
“Sorry to show up on such short notice. Ruined your plans, did I? Well
isn’t that just too fucking bad.”
He was still the miserable scum that he always had been, but now
seemed like
a
Jekyll
and Hyde, frightening
her.
He
had always let
accusations fly, however; he had a new tone in his voice, and it was pure
venom.
“Now, you and me are gonna take a little moonlit stroll.”
He began to drag her down the spiral staircase to the front door. She
tried to resist, but he was too powerful and she only managed to piss him
off even more. She was a lot stronger than he could remember and he had
quite the little spitfire on his hands. Determined, he pushed her up against
a
wall, shattering
a
framed photo
and sending
her
crashing
into
a
plantstand. He pulled her up by the duct tape on her wrists and she nearly
passed out from the pain . . .while he dragged her down the staircase.
He opened the front door and whipped her onto the porch. Shutting
the door behind them, he pulled her down to the river. Unbeknownst to
him, she had kicked off a slipper in the soft grass near the path that led to
the Diamond. She was positive he didn’t notice what she was wearing. He
was so blinded by rage the only thing he could see was her ass in the trunk
of his car heading back to Tennessee.
Her heart was racing and her feet stung as he dragged her through the
ice cold waters of the Diamond. She struggled a bit, trying to regain her
footing but continued to stumble and fall under the water as he dragged her
along. Panicked, she was afraid he might drown her. Finally, they were
climbing a grassy knoll and she suddenly found herself in the woods.
He pulled her along as if she were a dog, using her hair as a leash. Her
foot was being ripped to bits by stones, gravel, and twigs. Her other foot
sloshed in the soaking wet slipper that made a squishing sound with every
step that she took. Her face was being scratched and scraped by low-lying
branches. She tasted the saltiness of her own blood in her mouth.
The minutes felt like hours until finally, they reached an abandoned
utility road. He grabbed her and forcefully shoved her into the back seat of
a perfectly camouflaged car. He pulled out the duct tape and secured her
ankles to ensure she could not escape, no matter how hard she tried. He
pulled the carefully arranged branches off of the car and started the engine.
She felt the transmission kick into first gear and heard gravel moving under
the tires.
She sighed, miserably and her mind was racing.
“Why? Why me? Why is this son of a bitch doing this? I don’t love
you Jack. The worst part about it is, you don’t love me, either. I’m simply
a person of convenience that you are forcing into your life. I don’t fit the
puzzle any more, why don’t you get it?”
She attempted to work at getting the tape from around her wrists. The
sound of the gravel was replaced by a smooth humming sound and she
knew that they were heading down the main highway to El Dorado. The
radio was blaring and good old Jack was drunker than a skunk, but
continued to drink from his bottle of whiskey.
She was laying on her side and managed to wriggle her hands to the
jagged edge of the seatbelt buckle. Slowly and methodically she scraped the
tape against the metal. Periodically, she felt the tape with her tongue, and
finally she felt it was ready to give.
Suddenly, the car pulled over to the side of the road and parked. She
held her breath and prayed that Jack didn’t pull off the road with the
intentions of doing her any harm. She listened, but her heart was beating
so loudly in her eardrums that she could hardly hear anything at all.
Jack was beyond drunk. She supposed that was why he pulled off the
road. Maddy figured they couldn’t be very far away from the ranch; they’d
only been on the road for half an hour at the most.
Jack was mumbling incoherently while he continued to drink from the
whisky bottle.
Before long, the only sound she heard coming from his
direction was a loud buzz-saw like snoring and snorting. He had passed out
cold.
Lucky for her.
Her head hurt and her body was scraped and
scratched, but thankfully she was still alive and not far away from Grand
Valley.
The tape on her wrists was finally cut all the way through. She pulled
her right hand free, removed the tape from her ankles, and quietly opened
the back door. She held her breath, careful not to make a sound. Jack was
three sheets to the wind, and thankfully had no clue that she had escaped.
She started to run . . .knowing that she had to back track to get back to
Grand Valley.
She tore the duct tape from her mouth and ran for all she
was worth. The main highway was dark and not a single soul was in sight.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins . . .she had to put as much distance
between herself and the car while darkness was still on her side.
Losing track of time and distance, she began to slow down to a trot.
Suddenly, she was illuminated from behind.
“Shit, that can’t be him!”
She was scared. She was tired. She wanted to go home.
She spied a lodegepole thicket and ran for it, crouched down behind a
large rock, and waited. The approaching vehicle drove past and a wave of
relief washed over her.
There was no way that son of a bitch would be awake any time soon.
Still, she didn’t want to risk him finding her so decided to wait for the sun
to rise before she made her move. Miserable, she hunkered down behind
the rock and longed for the shelter of Dusty’s arms.
A few hours ago she was having the time of her life . . .she had finally
found love. Jack Carter had another thing coming if he thought he was
going to take that away from her. . .he’d have to kill her first.
She was never one to run from adversity, but there was no telling what
that drunken fool was going to do. When she left him, she’d decided she
was never going to look back. Now, here he was. Creating havoc and
involving innocent people in his crazy scheme to kidnap her from the
ranch.
He’d threatened her hundreds of times, however; she didn’t think he’d
go to such extremes to get her back. Well, she wasn’t going down without
a fight.
She steeled her nerves and tried her best not to let that jackass get the
better of her.
“Don’t cry . . .don’t do it.”
A single teardrop escaped and she reached up to swipe it away with the
back of her hand.
“Shit!”