Four Cowboys & a Witch (4 page)

“Good?” Rodney asked.

“So good. That’s a
sexual high.” She took a deep breath, letting the secure feeling center her.
The sting on her outer pussy lips sent a chill through her. Dani smiled.

Ben gently brought her
legs down to the bed. He softly kissed her bare slit. “We’ll get you higher.”

Dani believed it.

The power surge had
eased the pain in Sam’s leg. He almost felt like he did back in high school.
Riding now was relaxing and fun, not the thrill of competitive rodeo he’d once
aspired to.

As Dani sat staring at
herself in a mirror, trying to determine where the next attack would happen,
Sam went to pack up some supplies. Having her around felt better than right.
The guys were charged.

Rodney followed. Sam
tensed. “What? You should be watching Dani, trying to learn.”

“I’ve tried scrying
before. It never worked for me. What’s wrong? You were off all day. In bed…”
Rodney grabbed Sam’s arm.

“In bed what? I enjoyed
it. I have the same power jolt as everyone to fight an evil creature. Stop
trying to heal me. It’s an old non-paranormal injury. The scar won’t just
magically go away. The damage isn’t fixable. I don’t need it to be fixed. I
function. Save innocent people, that’s the goal.”

Stepping back, Rodney
shook his head. “So why can’t we help you too? Dani said there’s plenty of
energy. The more we practice, the better.”

“I don’t need to be your
guinea pig.” Sam checked a stun gun.

Trey entered to help
with the packing. Rodney went back to Dani. Sam took a deep breath.

“Trouble in paradise?”
Trey asked.

“No. I don’t want to be
the group project.” Sam loved all the guys, Rodney especially, but spells
couldn’t change history. “If Rodney is just working on that magic stuff to try
to abracadabra my leg, I don’t want it.”

“I don’t think he’s
doing that. Rodney isn’t into animals. He can fight, but he’s not a real
rancher. Even in high school, he loved his books. Hunky figure full of muscle
aside, he’s the brains. Magic is a natural move for him with this paranormal
crap.” Trey set out plenty of rope.

Sam knew that was true,
but would Rodney’s field of study be different if it weren’t for Sam’s injury?
Maybe Rod would’ve found the creature or the myth they were hunting if he
wasn’t distracted by Sam.

A rush of activity came
toward them. Ben marched through the kitchen. “She found it. Lawson’s ranch by
midnight. Let’s go.”

The men loaded the gear
into the bed of a pickup. Dani was on Sam’s heels when he turned.

“Dani should stay here,”
Sam said.

She stopped with a clearly
offended look on her face. “Not a chance in hell. I’ve got a feel for this
creature now. I’ll be able to sense it.”

He bit his tongue and
joined the group. She’d made such a fuss at the rodeo that day in high school.
Of course she was right. Sam was a star. People finding out he was gay hadn’t
hit rodeo circles yet. It wasn’t like today with instant info updates. Sam
wanted one last ride before scandal hit. If he was good enough, they’d let him
keep riding anyway. Dani wanted him not to ride that day. He’d learned not to
argue with Dani.

As Ben drove to Lawson’s
ranch, Sam reflected. He’d trusted Dani, but had wanted his senior year to go
out great. One last big ride before it got ugly with the gay stuff. Instead,
she’d sent out Trey and Ben to save him.

Dani’d shouted at the
officials to pull him out because of sabotage. Of course, she’d been right. The
second the gates had opened, when the horse put more stress on the ropes, it’d
been clear something was wrong.

Someone had messed with
Sam’s ropes. The last minute horse change wasn’t unusual, but it was a plan.
Sam saw it now. Falling off was nothing new in a rodeo. It would’ve simply been
a bad ride for Sam. Whoever had set Sam up got even more. When the horse went
down with him, Sam went down under him, crushing Sam’s leg.

At least it was just the
one, his father said. Honest bronco riding injury, true, but Dad expected him
to recover. But Sam’s ankle had been crushed. Now metal pins held him together.
He couldn’t ride rodeo again.

Trey patted Sam’s shoulder
once the truck stopped. Sam shook off the trip down memory lane in order to
focus on helping people now. It gave him purpose, even if he wasn’t the best
fighter around.

“The owners know we’re
coming?” Sam asked.

Ben nodded. “I called
earlier. Told them we’d be staking out the place, just in case. We don’t want
to get shot at.”

“Shoot first. That’s
good old Texas charm.” Dani chuckled.

“Shh!” Climbing out of
the truck, Sam grabbed a flashlight and listened. The rattle was unmistakable.
“Nobody move.”

“Damn, vamps were
easier.” Trey slowly reached for the snake box.

“I’ve got the tongs.”
Sam shone the light out in the center of the field and the snake struck. Sam
snatched it with the tongs. He couldn’t rodeo, but his reflexes were still
good. He could wrangle rattlers.

As he dropped the snake
in the box, Trey kicked the lid shut. They were safe. Sam did a sweep. No more
snakes in the open area they’d call home base. “We’re good. Tell Lawson he
might want to have someone do a snake roundup.”

“Yeah, guess we’re in
the right spot.” Ben shone his light on the horses. Sam looked. Only a few were
this far out on the property. They were perfect targets. They were close, but
it wouldn’t spook the human friendly horses. Hopefully, in the pitch dark, the
creature wouldn’t notice. The night vision gear was priceless.

“Recon, right?” Trey
slung a shotgun over his shoulder.

“Right. We don’t need to
get attacked.” Rodney set up a camera.

Ben had a digital
infrared handheld video camera. Sam held up night vision binoculars. Dani and
Trey sat in the bed of the pickup. She had a stun gun. He had the big guns.

“We won’t let the
creature near you, Dani,” Sam promised.

“I know. It’s for the
snakes,” she whispered.

“Just listen for the
rattle.” Rodney snapped a few test pictures.

“Hang on. I’m feeling
something. It’s coming from the north. I don’t like this. It’s starved, almost
manic.” Dani’s voice shook.

Sam looked at the
horses. They started acting twitchy. “Settle down. Just watch,” Sam said.

The three men advanced
slowly with their equipment. They held a position close enough to get good
pictures. They stayed still as something rustled in the tall grass as it
entered through Lawson’s fence.

Cameras caught it but
Sam stared. He moved closer. It made no sense. He couldn’t explain what he saw.
The creature stood up and approached the horses on two legs. The glowing red
eyes sent a chill through Sam.

“Getting it?” Sam asked.

“Oh yeah. This is
crazy,” Rodney replied.

“It’s going to attack.”
Sam moved in further. He stayed crouched down.

“Don’t. Stay here,” Ben
insisted.

When the animal leaped
for a horse, Sam saw huge fangs. Ben grabbed his pistol and fired into the soft
ground away from people or animals. Behind them, Trey sprayed buckshot in the
air. The noises sent the creature into a panic.

It darted. Before Sam
realized it was headed for him, the creature sped by, knocking Sam over. A stab
of pain hit his mangled ankle. Sam cursed his curiosity. Rodney and Ben rushed
over as Sam heard another shot.

“I’m fine. Is Dani
okay?” Sam asked.

If something happened to
her because of his poor reaction, he’d never forgive himself. He hated being
the weak link, but the men had learned to fight together as well as help each
other.

* * *

As Dani settled ice on Sam’s
ankle, she could feel his frustration. The feelings from him were always mixed.
Even during sex, he loved the group yet resented them a bit.

“It’s just a twisted
ankle.” Dani tried to downplay it.

Ben set a leg brace next
to the sofa. “Grabbed it from the attic. Just in case, for tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Sam nodded.

“Why would it dart at
humans?” Trey asked. “That goes against every animal instinct. Sam should’ve
been as safe as any of us. Why not run toward the rest of the animals, scatter
the herd?”

“You’re right. It makes
no sense. Not that what we saw fits any description of a normal animal. It
could’ve smelled the female in our group. The urge to mate may be stronger than
fear.” Sam shrugged.

“Yuck.” Dani sat on the
floor next to the sofa with a laptop.

Ben kissed her. “We’d
never let him touch you.”

“Damn right.” Trey sat
next to her and looked at the screen.

“Maybe it had friends?
It got separated and was running for its pack?” Rodney settled in with his own
computer. “I’ve got the movie footage. You’ve got the pics. Let’s see what we
have.”

Ben poured coffee as he
looked over Rodney’s shoulder. “Looks like a messed up coyote or wolf thing, if
you ask me.”

“Running on two legs?”
Trey shook his head.

“A shifter might be able
to. Looks sick for a shifter though -- no fur, the eyes are messed up… those
fangs.” Sam stared at the screen.

“Do you know the
shifters?” Dani asked.

“They’re peaceful. Hunt
little animals mostly. They’re coyote. This thing is bigger,” Rodney said.

Ben sat back in the
recliner. “I think we need to pay them a visit tomorrow. Either they’ve got a
sick, messed up rogue, or it’s something else… That Mexican goat-sucker thing.”

“Why would a coyote
drink blood? This thing had fangs. If this is a rabid shifter, we’re putting it
down. Can’t let it infect the whole pack. We don’t let animals suffer with that
sort of disease.” Trey checked the pictures.

“If it belongs to a pack
of shifters, sentient beings, then we have to talk to them first. Maybe they
have some way of handling this. What disease or condition made it this way?
What if they have a cure but just can’t find the creature?” Dani grabbed her map
off the end table. Trey wanted to hunt the creature. She had to put a pause on
that plan for now. “It’s been all over Houston. We might be able to help them
track it.”

“Dani, I love you, but
sometimes we have to kill bad things.” Trey kissed her neck.

She rolled her eyes at
him. “I understand that. I’m a Texas girl, but we don’t know this is a heifer
with mad cow disease. This is new. I say tomorrow we talk to the shifters
before you guys form a hunting party.”

“She’s right. We’re not
even sure how to kill it. The thing runs fast -- supernaturally fast -- but if
it could infect us with something or wants to drink our blood instead of just
animal… It’s too dangerous without more research.” Sam eased himself off the
couch.

Dani and the other guys
moved out of the way. “You’re not sleeping here?” she asked.

“No way, it’d kill my
back. I want my bed.” He put weight on the leg, winced, but kept going.

She felt his pain and
looked at Rodney. His expression told Dani that Sam was as stubborn as ever.
The ache in her to heal Sam was hard to ignore, but she sensed that now it
would only cause a huge fight.

“You’re welcome to join
us.” Ben put away the mugs as she powered down her laptop.

“I don’t want to crowd
you guys, especially with Sam hurting.” She bit her lip. “I feel like I’m not
helping here.”

Ben stared at her. “You
found the creature. You made us all feel that power. You’ve got Rodney excited
about his work for a change. He loves it, but none of the rest of us
understands it. Our eyes just glaze over when he talks about spells. We’re in
for the good work. The goddess and pagan stuff is cool, but I’m an action kind
of guy. Trey too.”

“I know. That’s what
makes a great group -- different skills and specialties. I checked out the
online coven. It’s nothing harmful or weird. Looks good to me. I sent the other
women an email to ask how they juggle this.” Dani smiled.

“If we’re too pushy or
grabby, just smack us back in line like the strong Texas lady you are. We
haven’t had a woman around here ever.” Ben shrugged.

“If you’re all bisexual,
why?” she asked.

“They’re not you. What
works, works. What doesn’t, doesn’t.” Ben turned off the kitchen light.

A chill of love went
down her back. She couldn’t do this with any other men. “It wasn’t really the
sex part I was asking the witches about. So many relationships and feelings,
it’s a lot to manage.”

Ben chuckled. “You can’t
manage it. We’ve been a foursome for a few years now. It works because no one
tries to control it.”

“Come on, Ben. You’re
the leader.” She shook her head as they headed for the stairs.

“I own the ranch so for
the daily routine, yeah. For the paranormal crap, I’m not as eager to rush into
things. I’ll admit that I tend to trust my practical brain. It just sort of
happened. When it comes to the relationship stuff, I don’t lead or even try.”
He patted her back.

At the top of the
stairs, she didn’t know which way to go. “Things don’t always go smoothly.
Maybe I’m a complication you don’t really need or want?”

“You know that’s not
true. We’ve been waiting.” He hooked his thumbs in his jean pockets. “We all
have relationships with each other and as a group. It’s not easy, but we’d
rather be together than not. Don’t manage it, Dani. Don’t worry about anything
except if you and someone hit a rough patch. Then you spend the time together.
You work it out.”

“Jealousy is part of
being human. Possessiveness has to happen.” She frowned.

“Sure, but that’s just
someone needing more attention. It’s a family. Someone is sick or having a bad
time. Hell, it’s a ranch. The cow about to drop a calf needs more attention
than the rest. The one with an injury needs focus. Sam doesn’t like being
fussed over because of the old injury, but now he needs it. We do what’s right
for each other. Stick around. It’ll get easier.”

She looked in the
direction of her room.

“It’s a double king size
bed, plenty of room. You won’t be crowding anyone.” Ben held out a hand.

Dani hugged him tight.
“You’re a lot smarter than anyone ever gave you credit for in high school.”