AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Wade stopped to growl back at his lead hand, “You ever pull a stunt like this again, you can find yourself new work.”
She heard Joe muffle a curse of his own before Wade marched away from the corral and toward a secluded spot around a building furthest from the competitions. There he dropped her legs and reached up to unclamp her arms from around his neck. This time she relented and slid them back down to her side. She dropped her chin and waited for her own verbal lashing.
“Why the hell would you agree to ride a bull?”
She didn’t respond and he sighed with frustration. “I ought to whip your bottom for that stupid stunt. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
He was right and she knew it. She knew very well the consequences of climbing on the back of that animal. Yet, she was willing to take the chance. She just didn’t know why.
“This charade of yours is going to get you into far worse trouble than if you had remained a girl.” He placed his hands on his hips and took a deep and steady breath. “I fear I’m going to spend the rest of my life watching your backside.”
Anna’s brows dipped toward her nose, reminded of the nuisance she had become since entering his life. He tilted her chin up with one large finger, forcing her to look into his eyes. They were soft and gentle and had a small teasing light to them.
“If you took the effort to look into someone’s eyes, you’d be surprised what you can read there.” His blue eyes had the ability to make her feel as if she were being stroked like a kitten. “Come on, let’s go and enjoy the rest of the show.”
As he led her away and back toward the bleachers, unknown and unseen to both of them, the constable stood only a yard away.
Chapter 18
It was unusually hot that spring day a week after their return from the cattle drive. The sun was high and burning brightly in a cloudless sky. The air was thick with humidity and not a single breeze could be felt to help relieve the stickiness. It was Sunday morning and the wranglers had decided to head into Lantern where it was tradition for them to spend the holy day. Not in a Christian way, but rather to celebrate the day in their own manner. With drinking and ladies.
Prescott had joined the group as well as he intended to visit with Elizabeth and Wade had every intention of also going along. Anna was safely back at the ranch where no harm could come to her and he was free to fulfill his own earthly needs at the saloon. However, at the very last minute a nagging feeling he couldn’t explain had him deciding to stay behind.
He had allowed her to plant a huge vegetable garden at the back of the house, and it was there that she spent most of her days. That Sunday morning, was no exception and as the ranch hands rode off toward town, she was none the wiser that he had elected to stay behind. He decided to leave her be and went into the house to take a cold shower to cool off. Ten minutes later he was toweling himself dry and returned to his bedroom to change into something cool.
He had just walked by his window that overlooked the back of the house and the river and mountain beyond when something caught his attention. Stopping he looked closer and realized it was a naked woman standing ankle deep in the river. With a start, he realized it was Anna.
Proper upbringing demanded he immediately look away, but something much deeper had him standing there transfixed to the scene. It was a vision like none other he had ever seen before, and if ever an image needed to be painted, it was this one. The river lay quietly at her feet, not a trickle of movement and the warm sun twinkled and sparkled off its calm surface. Her naked form was exquisite. Smooth and ivory white where the heated sun had yet to touch. She walked slowly deeper into the water, her fingertips caressing the river’s surface as she did, and Wade felt his member jerk to life.
Cursing, he turned from the window. It took a few minutes, but he was able to get his body under control. Not that the image permanently stamped in his mind was any help. With forced grit, he turned from the celestial vision and walked away while a question entered his head. When had Anna lost her fear of water?
* * *
It began as a warm and beautiful day. Anna felt a sense of freedom for the first time since arriving at the Circle H. All the men had gone into town and if she did not allow her mind to think about Wade with the saloon woman, then her spirits would remain high all morning.
The air was hot and sticky and no wind could be felt. All around her the earth lay still and the calm waters of the river shimmered beneath the burning sun. Knowing all the men were gone, she slipped out of her clothing and stood naked in the river’s edge. It felt so cool and refreshing, and it had been far too long since Anna had enjoyed a dip in the water.
When she first showed up at the ranch, she refused to bathe for obvious reasons. There was the fear she would be caught and her female identity exposed. She learned early how to best bath herself with a bowl of warm water and soap. It had been the men who had presumed her dislike for baths was a result of a fear of water. Since it suited her needs, she went along. However, Anna loved the river and the surrounding lakes dotted along the foot of the mountain. She had learned to swim at an early age and became a fish in the warm seasons, hardly ever leaving the water.
Today, the water felt extra wonderful as she knelt down and emerged her body completely from the scorching sun. It lay calm around her and Anna formed a small game which tested her skill to move with little effort so as not to cause any ripples in the water. Rolling onto her back, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun as it touched her body.
What happened next, Anna later would recall the events in painstakingly slow motion. Time seemed to hover in space and in that instant became her enemy. Nothing moved and an eerie hush fell over the valley. Then the silence was shattered when the water around her erupted and she felt her legs snatched in a vice-like grip. Her eyes flew open, but the hands dragged her through the water and Anna fell beneath the surface.
She gagged and spluttered swallowing mouthfuls of water and used her hands in a desperate effort to resurface. However, she was not long beneath when she was violently pulled from the river and tossed unmercifully onto the riverbank.
Anna coughed hard, still choking on water lodged in her throat. She heard men snickering nearby and raised her head to see her assailants. There were two men who looked unfamiliar to Anna, but she didn’t need to recognize them to know the evil that lurked in their eyes. She scrambled backwards trying desperately to get away.
“Hey, looks like we got ourselves a real treat here,” one of them said and a familiar chill rippled down her spine. It was the same voice she had heard in the saloon.
He loomed over her with his huge form and bared both yellow and crooked teeth as he sneered, “Kinda looks like a boy but female everywhere else.”
“Let me have a go at her.” The other man who stood further behind was unbuttoning his pants.
Anna’s fears intensified.
“Keep your dick in your pants,” the man leaning over her scoffed. “I dragged her out, I get first rights.”
He licked his lips and reached for his pants and Anna knew she had to escape. Fully naked, she scrambled up the muddy riverbank and just reached the grassy field between the river and the house when she felt a huge form hit her square in the back and knocking her back down to the ground. It was the body of the man who had every intention of raping her and Anna felt the terror in her veins resurge.
