Cowboy Christmas Rescue: Rescuing the Witness / Rescuing the Bride

Chapter 4

“Brady!” The sound of Kara’s voice cut through the whoosh of water and the thudding in his head. His chest wrenched, knowing he’d failed her.

“Brady!” The branches of the tree shook, and a hand grasped at his belt.

Kara?

Fear for her life jolted him out of his reverie, and he cut a side glance to the woman battling the current and grasping for a hold on the cottonwood branch. Shifting his own grip to free a hand, he groped for her arm and hauled her closer to him.

Sputtering and shivering, she draped herself over the trunk of the tree and gasped for breath.

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, his tone sharpened by shock and concern for her.

Still panting for air, she angled an angry look at him. “Shopping...for prom!” she grated. “What...does it l-look...like?”

“It looks like you’re trying to get yourself killed!”

She frowned and coughed. “Well...there’s that, too.”

Her sarcasm chafed his raw nerves. This was no time for jokes, no matter how snarky.

“Of all the—” He cut himself off, gritting his teeth as he tugged her onto the tree more securely. He didn’t know whether to rant at her or kiss her. But when she raised her chin, facing him with muddy water streaming down her gorgeous face, her lush lips scowling at him and her golden-brown eyes flashing with fury, he chose the latter. He splayed a hand at the nape of her neck and captured her mouth with a kiss meant to claim her and calm his frustration with her recklessness.

She mewled a weak protest, then leaned into the kiss, her lips as eager and desperate as his. When he raised his mouth from hers, she met his gaze with haunted eyes. The emotion in them said what she refused to admit. She still wanted him, still needed him, still loved him.

But she quickly pulled her head away from his grip, and the tenderness in her expression was replaced with hard determination and pragmatism.

“Enough of that,” she chastened. “Grab the rope. We g-gotta get out of this water before this branch g-gives way.”

He jerked a nod, and clinging awkwardly to the tree trunk with one arm, he began tugging at the knots in the rope. “That was a foolish risk to take, babe—” he huffed a sigh “—but thanks.”

Her brow furrowed. “Like I’d stand by and watch you drown? I had no choice!”

He cut a wry glance at her. “You’re killing me with your sentimentality.”

Growling under her breath, she said, “I just meant—” She shook her head and batted his hands away from the knot at her waist. “Can we save the argument for later?”

“I have no desire to argue with you, Kara.” Undeterred by her swat, he slid his fingers along the rope, feeling for the configuration she’d devised to secure it around her.

She gasped as his hand moved between her legs.

“Brady, stop it!” She pushed again at his arm, sputtering when the wind blew a wave into her face.

“Used to be, you’d say, ‘Don’t stop.’ Remember those days, babe?” He sure did, and the memory stirred a heat low in his belly. “Tangled up in the sheets rather than some old rope?”

Her answering glare said she wasn’t amused. “Not the time, Sheriff.”

He pressed his mouth in a grim line. He missed the sense of humor she used to share freely with him. The easy camaraderie that helped them through difficult times and filled their quiet moments alone with laughter. Resigned to her all-business mode, he addressed the situation with a similar efficiency. “You did a great job with the sling you made. No point untying it.” He fumbled one-handed to unfasten his belt buckle, and her eyes widened and grew smoky. So she wasn’t immune to him, after all.

“Brady...” Her tone held a warning.

“Settle down, babe. You’ve made your point. But rather than undo your sling, I’m going to fasten my belt through the loop at your waist.”

Her tense expression eased, and she bobbed a nod. With shaking hands, Kara helped him poke the leather belt under the rope. When he cinched it more tightly, her hips were tugged more snugly against his.

Kara gave a breathy little gasp as he settled into the intimate position and wrapped an arm around her to bring her chest against his.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Her eyes narrowed with accusation, but he didn’t miss the ragged flutter of her breath against his cheek. Or the throbbing pulse in her neck. Or the widening of her pupils. She was as aroused by the contact of their bodies as he was.

“So sue me. I won’t apologize for the fact that you turn me on, even in the worst of circumstances.” He arched an eyebrow, adding, “At least I’m honest with myself about what I’m feeling and what I want.”

Her jaw dropped in affront, but muddy water splashed in her face, making her cough and gasp for a breath.

“Okay, babe, hold on to me. Tight. This could get dicey.” Without waiting for her to follow his instruction, he shifted his free hand’s grip to the rope. They dipped lower in the water, and she threw her arms around him, curling her fingers into his shirt.

Before releasing his hold on the tree branch that had saved him, he smacked another quick kiss on Kara’s lips. “For luck! Now hang on!”

With a silent prayer, he let go of the cottonwood and seized the rope with both hands.

* * *

Kara clenched her teeth, both to keep them from chattering in the desperately cold water and to keep from getting more of the muddy runoff in her mouth. Tense with fear, she clung to Brady and repeated a silent chant in her head. Please, please, please, pleasepleasepleaseplease!

At first she fixed her eyes on the opposite side of the arroyo, to the rocky incline they’d have to scale after crossing the water. If they got across the water...

No! No negative thoughts! They could do this. Brady could do this. He was strong and capable and determined...

She shifted her attention to his slow hand-over-hand progress as he pulled them against the current. His biceps and shoulder muscles flexed and bulged as he fought the swift water. She tried to help by scissor-kicking, but the chill had seeped deep into her muscles, leaving her legs numb and weak. Seeing how far they had to go to reach safety discouraged her, so after a few minutes, she focused only on what was right in front of her—the next few inches of rope they needed to travel. Brady’s heroic efforts to pull them through the water. His rugged face, scrunched in exertion. The fire of dogged determination bright in his eyes.

She curled her lips in, still feeling the warm tingle of his kiss there...and dancing in her veins like sparks rising from a campfire and swirling in the night sky.

He’d come out in this horrible storm to look for her. And as she’d predicted, he’d found her. She didn’t try to name the warm feeling that swelled inside her.

When Brady grunted with effort, she glanced again to his grip on the rope, the slow hand-over-hand progress as he pulled them against the waves. Sympathy twisted in her chest. His palms had to be raw from the wet hemp rope. Under the best of circumstances, ranchers wore gloves when working. She needed to help him, had to lend him whatever strength she could muster.

She reached for the rope, just below his grip and pulled for all she was worth.

“Kara! D—” He choked on a mouthful of water, but the anxiety in his tone spoke for him.

She answered with a defiant look and continued to squeeze the rope, tugging and inching hand-over-hand with him. Her muscles quivered, but pulling together, they moved more quickly toward the far side of the ravine. Soon they were hoisting themselves up, out of the water, feet scrabbling to climb the clay stone wall.

When at last she heaved herself over the top edge of the ravine wall, Kara flopped on the muddy ground, completely spent.

But Brady had other ideas. Still attached to the rope at the waist, he fumbled to undo his belt. When he was unhooked from her, he rose on his hands and knees beside her, and he tugged at her arm. “Come on. Get up. You’re losing body heat, lying in those puddles.”

“I’m...s-so tired.” She used every bit of restraint left in her not to sound whiny when she voiced her objection. The simple truth was, her energy was sapped, and hypothermia was settling in...quickly.

Brady staggered to his feet, and with strength he found God knew where, he lifted her in his trembling arms. Carrying her, he stumbled to the ATV and sat on the ground with her on his lap. He chafed her aching arms, though his hands were as cold as hers. Covering one of his hands with hers, she turned his palm up to examine it. As she’d expected, his skin was red and blistered, scraped by the rough rope. Her hands were raw, too, but Brady’s were much worse.

“Oh, Brady...” She touched the abraded skin gently with her fingers.

“I’m fine.” He tugged his hand from her grasp and wrapped his arms around her again.

She curled against him, savoring the security of being out of the water, safe on high ground. Brady had saved her life.

Gratitude tugged at her, deep in her core. No...more than gratitude. A deeply poignant sense of reassurance and affection that brought tears to her eyes and stole her breath. “Y-you came after m-me.”

Brady’s hands stilled for a moment. “Of course I did. Why would that even be a question for you?”

“I—”

He cut her off with a kiss that burrowed deep into her, warming her from the inside and reviving feelings she’d worked hard to bury in the past several months. A bittersweet pang wrenched in her chest. Good Lord, she’d missed him, missed his kiss.

The brush with death, the biting cold and her staggering fatigue conspired to strip away pretenses and protective intentions. She was emotionally raw and vulnerable, and she needed what only Brady had ever given her. Lifting her arms to circle his neck, she angled her head to deepen the kiss, greedy for more. But even as she clung to him and took refuge in the caress of his mouth on hers, a stubborn voice in her head warned her of the danger she would be in if she opened her heart to him again.

With his hands splayed on either side of her face, Brady nudged her head back and looked deep into her eyes. “Babe, when you bolted out of that barn and took off, you were my highest priority. When I heard the gunfire, I’d thought you’d been shot, and when you rode off like that, hell for leather—”

“The sh-shooter...” She paused as a chill sent a shudder through her. “Has he been c-caught?”

Brady’s chest heaved as he sighed. “Not last I heard. But I’m guessing my phone is dead, thanks to our swim.” He coughed and shook from the cold, too. “We’ll have to wait until we get back for an update.”

She tipped her head to gaze up at him in confusion. “You didn’t s-stay to l-look for him? B-but you’re the sheriff. Wh-why—”

“Well, I could hardly be two places at once, could I?”

“But...”

“I left Wilhite in charge of securing the scene and tracking down the shooter. He and Anderson are more than competent in handling things until we get back.”

“B-but...”

“Hey—” He cupped the side of her face and pinned her with his gaze. “I made my choice. You’ll always be my first priority.” He pressed warm lips to her forehead. “So...don’t make me regret my choice by badgering me about it. Okay?” He flashed her a crooked grin, and she scoffed a soft laugh.

Despite his current teasing, she hadn’t missed what he’d said. His first priority? The sentiment touched her. And yet...

Brady’s earlier choices contradicted his claims about her place in his life. She squeezed her eyes shut as she burrowed closer to his body heat. Wherever she truly stood with him, he was here now. He had rescued her. And she wouldn’t take that for granted.

“Th-thank you...for coming. For finding me...”

He hugged her more tightly and chuckled. “Just doing my job. You are my key witness, after all. I need you to identify the shooter when we get back to town.”

She raised her chin again and scowled. “That’s why you came after me? Because it was your job?”

He looked startled by her tone. “It was a factor. Not the only factor, or even the main one, but part of the reason. Yes.”

She hunched her shoulders and glared at him.

He shook his head and dragged her close again, wrapping his arms around her. “What? You scold me for not doing my job by staying to look for the sniper, and when I say finding you was part of my job, that’s wrong, too?”

She groaned, and her teeth chattered as another blast of chilly wind buffeted them. “I didn’t say that. I just... I d-don’t want to fight.” She was too cold, too tired to think straight.

He sighed. “I don’t want to fight either.” A tremor rolled through him as well, and he bit out a curse. “We have to get warm somehow.”

“Any ideas?”

He scooted her off his lap and moved to the back of the ATV. “I think I saw a first-aid kit in here. Maybe there’s an emergency blanket in it.”

She rose to her feet and watched him rummage in the cargo box and extract a red kit. He cracked open the seal and rifled the contents.

“Bingo!” he said, his face brightening. Tossing the remaining first-aid items back in the cargo box, he opened the tightly folded emergency blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

The thin metallic-looking plastic sheet was cold at first, but as designed, it trapped what little body heat she created. Soon she felt a pocket of warmth growing around her.

“Is this the only one in there?”

Brady nodded. “Yeah. But you need it more than I do.”

“We can share.” She wobbled closer to him, raising the corner of the blanket to pull him in with her.

He huddled under the silver sheeting for a moment, holding her close, then edged back. “You take it. I need my arms free to drive the ATV. We have to get back before the temperature drops any more.”

“Yes! Please. I’d kill for dry clothes and a cup of hot coffee right now.”

Brady swung a leg over the ATV and turned the ignition key. The engine whined and sputtered. “Come on! Start, damn it!”

Kara’s chest tightened with dread. If the engine didn’t start...

She cast a wary eye to the sky. Though the rain had slowed considerably, the low-hanging silver clouds moving in promised sharply colder air. Already her breath formed a white cloud when she exhaled. Her exposed toes were red and numb, and she knew she was in danger of getting frostbite if they were still here when darkness fell.

She clenched her teeth to keep them from chattering. Please, God. Let the engine s— Before she finished her silent plea, the ATV roared to life, and Brady revved the engine to warm it up. Finally something had gone right!

Brady jerked his head toward the ATV seat, hurrying her. “Climb on. Let’s get outta here.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Straddling the seat behind him, she clutched the emergency blanket in her fists and put her arms around Brady’s chest, below his arms. He drew the loose ends of the blanket over his lap and tucked them under his legs.

With her chest nestled against his back and the blanket providing a barrier at her back, they set out. Despite the wind created as they sped across the rugged terrain, Kara savored a pocket of warmth under the emergency blanket. The cold air stung her eyes, so she buried her face in Brady’s neck. She couldn’t wait to get home and fix a fire in her fireplace. She’d drink a giant mug of peppermint hot chocolate with marshmallows, calories be damned, and cocoon herself in her grandmother’s old Christmas quilt. A grin tugged the corners of her mouth, her frozen cheeks twitching at the prospect of warmth and the sweet treat.

Several minutes into the ride home, she peeked up to gauge how far they had to go. She could see the red barn of the Wheeler Ranch still a good distance away, and when she scanned the surrounding terrain, she spotted something else that tugged her conscience. She squinted to make sure she was seeing what she thought. The gray mare was standing across the rolling plains about a mile from them.

“Brady!” She jostled him and aimed a finger in the opposite direction of the ranch. Shouting to be heard over the engine, she said, “I have to bring her back. Take me to her.”

He slowed to a stop so that they could talk over the noise of the ATV. “We can send someone out after her when we get back.”

“No.” She tightened her grip on him. “I took her. I need to bring her back.”

Brady glanced over his shoulder at her. “While I respect your sense of honor and responsibility, our priority needs to be getting to the sheriff’s department.”

“Brady—”

“Do you even have the strength to ride? You could barely stand a few minutes ago.”

“I’ve had time to rest, and I’ve warmed up a little bit.” She paused, considering the reality of his question. “If you help me get on her, I can ride her back to the ranch. It’s not that far.”

“Kara, we need to—”

“I can do it, Brady! I need to make this right. It’s my fault...” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “Please, just take me to her.”

He turned his gaze back to the mare and huffed a sigh. “All right. But I’m following you back to the ranch. As soon as we can turn her over to one of the Wheelers’ hands, you’re coming with me to the station to make a statement and give a description of the shooter.”

Brady turned the ATV and headed toward the horse. Once they’d untied the restless mare’s reins, Kara positioned herself beside the horse, one hand on the saddle horn. “Can I get a boost?”

Brady moved up behind her, stooping to lift her as she swung onto the saddle. Tired though she was, having his hands splayed on her, his intimate grip on her thighs and bottom, sent a prickle of lust to her core. Her leg muscles quivered as she mounted the mare, and not entirely because of fatigue and cold.

He frowned at her exposed legs and rubbed his palms briskly over her red, chapped skin. “Damn, Kara. Look at you! What happened to the rest of your dress? I could’ve sworn it was longer.”

“I made alterations before I swam over to get you. I didn’t want my legs getting tangled up in all that extra material.”

His face darkened, and he opened his mouth as if to comment on her alterations or her rescue but snapped his mouth closed. Instead he said, “I’ll be right behind you if you change your mind.”

With a nod, she snapped the reins and set off, guiding the mare back toward the Wheeler Ranch. She focused on the bright red barn with its Texas flag. The barn’s roof had been trimmed with white Christmas lights that glowed like a beacon in the gloomy weather.

But as she rode nearer the barn, a chest-constricting dread swamped her. Had they found the shooter? Would the man be lying in wait for her? She inhaled a shallow breath trying to calm the skittering of nerves. Brady said he’d left his deputies in charge of securing the scene. Even if the sniper hadn’t been caught, the man would have to be crazy to stick around the crime scene. Surely the shooter was long gone. Though that made her feel better about returning to the Wheeler Ranch, a suspect in the wind was bad for Brady as sheriff...and the community. A sniper loose in Rusted Spur? Her gut roiled. She hated the idea of Brady leading the search for a killer.