Protectors (11 page)

the backside of the property, they stopped to water the horses at the lake that Gage had mentioned the day before.

“It sure is beautiful out here.”

“I fell in love with it the first moment I saw it,” Tyler agreed. “I

was so happy when Gage agreed to buy it with me. I always wanted a

place like this.”

“In some ways I guess I grew up in a place like this, but our farm

never really felt peaceful like yours does. We only had about ten acres anyway, so it was more of an overgrown vegetable garden than a

farm,” Sara admitted.

“Well, I want this to be a refuge for you. I’m hoping that you’ll

never see fit to leave Gage and me, and we certainly aren’t going to

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let you go without a fight, but no matter what happens, I want you to know that you are always welcome here. You’ll always be safe here.”

“You don’t know how much that means to me.”

They lay in the soft grass together, feeling the morning sun on

their faces, and for a brief moment, Sara felt as if she didn’t have a care in the world. They kissed and made out like a couple of teenagers rolling around in the grass together.

* * * *

“Why do you let him hit you?” Sara asked, out of the blue.

“I’m sorry?”

“Gage. Why do you let him hit you like he did last night? While

we were, uh…”

Tyler laughed. “Oh that.” He rolled over to face her. “I like it.”

“You do?” The surprise was evident in her voice.

“Yeah. I mean, I asked him for it. Didn’t you hear me?”

“Yes, sort of, but who asks to be smacked around? I don’t really

understand that.”

“It’s not the same kind of pain, Sara. What Gage does to me is

nothing like what Jeremy did to you. Gage is my Dominant, well,

informally I guess. We don’t really put a label on it, but for all intents and purposes, he controls the sexual part of our relationship, and I

willingly submit to him. Sometimes that means accepting pain from

him where appropriate. It’s erotic. He’s not abusing me.”

“I just don’t see how pain is ever appropriate or erotic for that

matter.” Sara’s tone was clipped. It was clear that her experiences had taught her to fear pain, and it was difficult for her to see it any other way.

“Last night is a good example. I was on the verge of orgasm. Your

pussy just felt far too good, but I didn’t want to finish too soon. So Gage gave me a little bit of pain to help pull me back from the edge.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Sara conceded.

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“It’s like second nature to me, after so many years with him, but I

did rebel against some of it at first. I grew up in a very wealthy

family, and I was given pretty much everything that I ever wanted.

Truth is it made me spoiled in a lot of ways.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Sara said.

Tyler smiled at her faith in him. “It’s true. Gage has really helped

me to be more disciplined. I destroyed a lot of relationships because I was always determined to get my own way all of the time. He helped

me to see that I needed to give once in a while, instead of always

taking, taught me to compromise. When I learned to let him lead, I

found that I was much happier. There is a lot of freedom in

submission. It’s always worth it in the end.”

Tyler laughed, recalling a happy memory. “He’s tanned my hide

more than a couple of times over the years, but I always deserved it, and I always enjoyed it, too.”

Sara shuddered softly beside him, and he pulled her into his arms.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Tyler soothed. “Neither one of us

would ever hurt you. I’m not saying that Gage wouldn’t bend you

over his knee if he thought you’d done something really stupid—like

put yourself in danger—but he’d always do it with your best interest

in mind. And, he probably wouldn’t do it at all, knowing your history.

He’s really a big teddy bear inside, but he wants to keep you safe, just like he keeps me safe. Gage is a protector by nature. He’ll do

whatever he feels is necessary to keep you out of harm’s way.”

Sara swallowed hard and looked into Tyler’s eyes. “I trust you,

both of you, but the hitting is just a little hard for me to take.”

“I can understand that. We’ll try to take it easy for a while. Just

know that I enjoy it. If Gage ever did something that I didn’t like, I would just tell him, and he would stop. We both would. Everything

that we do is consensual. Always.”

Sara nodded thoughtfully and then laid her head back down to

look at the clouds.

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“I suppose,” Tyler continued, “that a lot of people might find

Gage and my relationship odd. Probably even more so when you add

a female into the mix, but the truth is, this is what I’ve always

wanted—a dominant male and a loveable female to share with him. I

really hope you’ll stay, Sara. I want you to be with us long term.”

“We should get back before Gage starts to worry,” Sara said as

she placed her hat back on her head. “I’d like to spend some time with him before he leaves for work.”

They were resettled and trotting back toward the barn in no time.

Johnny Cash, the horse Sara was riding, spooked just as they were

coming over the last hill along the wood line, only about fifty yards from the house. The horse made a quick circle and headed back in the

other direction, nearly throwing Sara with the abrupt movement. Tyler reacted immediately, getting control of both horses and pulling her

reigns in his left hand.

“Easy there, Johnny. What spooked you, boy?”

“Maybe it was me,” Sara answered, readjusting herself on the

horse. “I haven’t been on a horse for a while. Did I do something

wrong?”

Tyler didn’t think it was her riding, but he didn’t have time to

answer her before the gunshot rang out. The ground exploded not

three feet from the horses’ hooves. Tyler tightened his grip on her

reins and took off into the cover of the nearby woods. A second shot

whizzed by close enough that Tyler could feel the wind from it. The

bullet pierced a tree, splitting the bark. Sara screamed as the splinters showered her left shoulder.

The horse, panicked by the gunshots and Sara’s screaming, took

off at a full gallop into the woods. Despite his best efforts, Tyler

couldn’t control both horses at once, and Sara couldn’t hold on.

Johnny Cash bucked her, and she hit the ground with a hard thud.

Tyler slid off his still-moving mare and dropped to the ground,

throwing his body over Sara’s. He heard the back door of the house

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slam and then a shot from a different gun. He was pretty sure that

Gage was shooting at the assailant.

The sequel of tires followed a loud truck engine roar, and then it

was all over.

* * * *

“Sara? Sara? Can you hear me?” Sara barely registered Tyler’s

voice. “I think she’s coming around.”

Sara blinked up into the sunlight, squinting into the worried faces

of Gage and Tyler.

“Thank God. She’s conscious. Don’t move, honey. We’ve got to

make sure you don’t have any broken bones. Does anything hurt? Can

you feel your toes?”

“I think I’m fine,” she groaned. “What happened?” Sara moved

her fingers and toes, making sure that everything was still intact.

“Apparently Jeremy found you and saw fit to take a couple of

shots at you. I don’t think you were hit, and neither were the horses, but Johnny threw you pretty good.”

Sara sat up slowly. Her head spun.

“You should stay on the ground,” Tyler instructed. “The

ambulance is on its way. You shouldn’t move without a neck brace.”

“I’m fine,” Sara protested. “Where’s Jeremy? Did you catch him?

Is anyone hurt?”

“No one got hurt, except you, of course. Gage came out after him

with a shotgun, but Jeremy was already getting in his truck by the

time we realized what was happening. He took off.”

“Shit,” Sara swore.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gage said. “We’ll get him. The detectives

are already out after him. Just worry about you for now.”

Sara reluctantly let the ambulance take her to the hospital where a

doctor checked her over and then released her back into their care.

She was lucky. There were no broken bones and no concussion, just a

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bump to the back of the head and some splinters embedded in her

shoulder from where the tree bark had split apart.

Hungry and rattled, the three of them went back to the house.

Gage immediately set the alarm and made sure that both of their rifles were loaded and ready. He would not be taken by surprise again.

Tyler made sandwiches and homemade vegetable soup for lunch.

Sara blew on the hot soup on her spoon and considered her options.

She was endangering them with her presence, just as she knew she

would. Jeremy was running now, and she wasn’t sure that they would

catch him. He was as smart as he was mean. He wouldn’t stop until

she was dead. She was sure of it.

“Maybe I should go hide out in a hotel somewhere for a while,”

she quietly suggested. “I don’t want to keep endangering the two of

you.”

“Absolutely not,” Gage growled. “You’re staying right here with

us, where you belong.”

“What did I tell you about his protective instincts?” Tyler asked.

“You’re not leaving our sight until that asshole is behind bars.”

Knowing that she was fighting a losing battle, Sara wisely kept

the remainder of her thoughts to herself.

“The one thing that I just can’t figure out is how he knew you

were here,” Gage said. “No one has been back here since you came,

and I’m quite sure that he didn’t see our truck that first night. If he had, he probably would have come yesterday. It doesn’t make sense

that he would wait if he knew where you were. Do you think he went

through the whole town looking for you?”

“Someone
was
here, though,” Tyler interjected. “We had that pizza delivered. I didn’t really think about it at the time, but the pizza boy kept trying to look in the windows. I thought it was just because the two of you were half dressed and all over each other, but maybe

he recognized Sara.”

“Do you know who it was? What did he look like?”

“He was young, dark hair, kinda scrawny.”

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“Billy Barack, maybe?” Sara asked. “He just graduated from high

school. Curly hair? Clothes probably didn’t match?”

“That sounds right,” Ty agreed.

“He worships the ground that my ex-boyfriend walks on. Police

academy wannabe. He probably ran straight to Jeremy the minute he

saw me here. I am so stupid! Why didn’t I think to stay out of sight?

If I’d just waited in the bedroom…”

“It’s not your fault,” Tyler said, lifting her from her chair and

pulling her into his arms. “None of this is your fault.”

“Well, the fact remains that he knows you’re with us now. We’re

going to have to be on high alert until he’s caught. I want you with Ty or me at all times until they catch him.”

Sara sighed. “I’m so sick of this. Why can’t he just let me go?”

“I’m not sure, baby,” Tyler answered, pressing his lips to her

forehead. “But you are ours now, and we’re not letting you go either.”

The phone interrupted their discussion. Gage picked it up, and

then paced by the windows, listening to the voice on the other side of the line.

“Who was it?” Sara asked as soon as he’d disconnected the phone.

“It was Detective Ryder. Jeremy used his credit card at a store

down in Sheridan. If he left from here and headed south, it would

make sense for him to be arriving down there about now, if he was in

a hurry. The purchase was a couple boxes of hunting shells and a

high-end sleeping bag. It had to be ordered. The order was placed the day you left him. They think he’s making preparations to come after

you again.”

“Why would he put that on a credit card? He’s smart. He has to

know that they are tracking his purchases.”

“Maybe he didn’t have another choice. He might not have cash.”

“Yeah, but he has plenty of ammunition at home, and we have

camping gear. Even if he doesn’t have any cash, I don’t think those

supplies would be at the top of his list.”

“So you think it’s a diversion?” Tyler asked.

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“I’m not sure. It just doesn’t sound right to me. Did you see what

kind of gun he was shooting? Is the ammo even for the same gun?”

The two men looked at each other and shrugged.

“I’ll call the police back and let them know what you said. They

should know everything that we know, and just to be on the safe side, you’re not leaving the house until we hear back.”

“We can’t hide out in here forever,” Sara protested.

“It won’t be forever,” Gage argued. “Couple of days at the most. I

will take you out if you need to go somewhere. I just don’t want you

to be alone. I already emailed about the barn project, and they are

going to put the whole thing on hold for another week. Right now,

none of us needs to go any farther than our own corral. That proved

dangerous enough in itself this morning. We’re staying put.”

“Oh no!” Tyler remarked sarcastically, throwing his hand up to