Indiana Wild (Spirit Pass Book 1) (8 page)

“
Mr. Tucker,” Indy said slowly to the man. “He told me to meet him in his office.”

“
Yes. Yes. You follow Wally,” Wally said looking and grinning at Indy. “You not a boy. That is good you are not a boy.”

Indy let out a small chuckle.
“Yes, I guess so,” she responded, taking off her gloves and shoving them into the pocket of her jacket before she reached up and removed her hat. She twisted the dark brown Stetson nervously between suddenly sweaty palms.

Indy followed the
him down the long hallway stopping to wait as Wally knocked on the door and introduced her. Wally turned and ushered Indy into the room bowing as he left saying it was a good thing she wasn’t a boy again. Indy looked bemused at the little man and thanked him for his help.

“
Is he always like that?” Indy asked with a small smile as the door closed behind her.

“
Yes. It can be quite entertaining at times,” Jonathan said, standing rigidly behind the desk.

He looked Indy over carefully. For the first time, he paid really close attention to the way she was dressed. She was wearing dark blue trousers covered by a pair of finely made leather chaps. He couldn’t see what she was wearing under her coat but the coat itself was made of very high quality material. It
was stitched like he had never seen before. It was obvious she probably had it for a while but it was in excellent condition. She had removed her gloves which were sticking out of one pocket while she held her hat tightly with both hands. He could tell by the way she was twisting it that she was nervous, as if she was waiting for him to say something else. He let his gaze run over her neatly braided hair before noticing she was wearing what appeared to be large diamond studs in her earlobes. Everything about her screamed she came from money yet she appeared unaware of it.

“
Indy, where are you from?” Jonathan asked quietly watching her expression harden as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

Indy stiffened at his question.
“Since I am no longer employed by you I think that is a moot point. If you have my paycheck ready I’ll take it and leave,” Indy said trying to keep the tremor out of her voice.

She couldn’t help but think in the back of her mind that she would have been better just heading to the mountains instead of giving in to her own desires.
God, he was so damn good looking it hurt to look at him. Not in a pretty boy way but in a real man way. Why did he have to ruin my last few minutes with him by asking questions I can’t answer?
She thought in despair.

“
Who are you running from? Why are those men looking for you?” Jonathan asked point blank.

Indy jerked back
a step as if she had been hit, paling. “Who told…. Jake,” Indy took a deep breath before replying. “It doesn’t matter. As soon as you give me my pay I’m out of your hair and off your ranch. You don’t have to worry about anyone coming to bother you,” she assured him coolly.

Jonathan watched the fear flash through Indy’s eyes and her face turned a deathly white at his questions. Jake had been telling the truth when he said she was afraid of the men looking for her. Jonathan felt a rush of fury at the men who would cause her such distress.

Moving around his desk, Jonathan walked over until he stood in front of her. He gently raised her chin, softly asking her to tell him the information he needed to know. “Tell me who they are, Indy. What do they want with you? Who are they to you?” He pressed, refusing to let her look away from him.

Indy tried to jerk her
chin away from Jonathan’s grasp but he refused to let her. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought he might betray her to Hayden, Gus, and Matt. Firming her lips, she stubbornly shook her head.

“
I don’t know what you are talking about,” she insisted.

Jonathan’s fingers tightened on her chin at the blatant lie.
“I’ll find out sooner or later. I won’t let them hurt you, Indy,” he quietly promised her.

“
Why should you give a damn? If you would just give me my paycheck I’ll be out of your hair and you won’t have to worry about what happens to me,” Indy declared huskily, silently begging him to let the subject die.

“
I’ll pay you when you answer my question. Who are the men who are after you and why do they want you?” Jonathan demanded again roughly.

Indy jerked away from Jonathan
and moved several steps back to put some distance between them. She had a hard time thinking straight when he was touching her. She stood staring at him for several long minutes. What could she say? Her oldest brother wanted total control over every aspect of her life? Her other two brothers just wanted the money? That they had taken almost everything she had ever loved away from her and would if they ever caught her?

Shaking her head back and forth, a silent tear slid a path down her cheek. Indy looked up into Jonathan’s eyes in resignation. There was nothing to say just - goodbye.

“Keep your money, where I’m going I won’t need it anyway,” she responded in a quiet, firm voice. Slamming her hat back on her head, she turned and started to yank the door to the office open. “Goodbye, boss man,” she muttered hoarsely.

Jonathan was stunned by the look of utter hopelessness that flashed through Indy’s eyes. A fierce anger swept through him. Striding over, he slammed his hand on the door shutting it with a loud bang. Indy turned startled only to find herself trapped between Jonathan’s hard body and the door. Jonathan slid his other hand up
, removing Indy’s hat and tossing it towards the long sofa sitting across the room near a fireplace. Running his hand along her jaw, he murmured something she didn’t quite catch before he claimed her lips with his own.

Indy was lost. She was drowning in his kiss. Never had she felt the emotions swirling through her like they did when he was close to her.
She kissed him back with a passion she never knew she had inside her. She didn’t fight as he carefully slid her thick coat off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor at their feet. Her body felt like it was too warm all of a sudden and she relished the feel of her breasts pressing up against his broad chest. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, moaning as she arched into his hard body.

Jonathan had no intention of ever letting Indy go. Right now he was fighting the urge to take her right there on the floor of his office, claiming her forever as his. The only thing stopping him was the knowledge she deserved better and she would be his legal wife before the night was over. Wrapping his large hands around her wrists, he pulled them down so he could hold them in one hand. He quickly wrapped a soft rope around them, tying them together.

“What are you doing?” Indy asked huskily, staring at her wrists in confusion as he tied them.

She was so lost in the aftermath of his kiss it didn’t register he was tying her hands together until she felt him jerk the rope tighter. Pulling back, she tried to push him away from her. She began to panic when he jerked her closer and pulled on the rope to make sure it was tight.

“What are you doing?” Indy repeated, panicking. She began struggling against him in earnest. “Stop it. Let me go. You have no right to do this,” her voice rose as she felt his hands tighten on her.

Jonathan’s mouth firmed to a straight line as he finished tying the rope. Picking her up, he had to hold on to her tightly as she began hitting him with her fists. Indy began crying as she wiggled, trying to get out of his arms. When he laid her on the sofa she tried to roll off only to find him holding her down by pressing one hand into her chest while he pulled another length of rope out of his pocket. Kicking her feet, she found herself turned over onto her stomach and a knee in the center of her back. Jonathan caught
her flailing feet in his large hands. He quickly tied them, effectively keeping her from escaping. He turned her over gently and brushed her hair out of her eyes.

Indy jerked her head away from his touch, flinching. She glared at him before forcing out the words that were choking her.
“I hope you enjoy the money you’ll get for me. Hayden must have offered you a large amount for turning me over. You are just as underhanded and devious as he is. I hope you both rot in hell.”

“
Who is Hayden?” Jonathan asked softly. He could tell Indy was trying to hide her fear behind a mask of anger.

She just turned her head into the back of the sofa and closed her eyes. Jonathan ran his hand over her face again ignoring the way she shrank away from his touch. Once he had risen, Indy rolled over onto her side and tried to curl up into as small a ball as she could on the long sofa.

Jonathan watched as her small shoulders shook with the force of her silent tears. It was tearing him apart watching her. He needed to tell Jake to put her horses in the paddock away from the ranch house and to keep the dogs with him in the bunkhouse for a couple of days. He didn’t want to take a chance of her escaping or setting the dogs on him. He wasn’t about to leave her alone for long. He had discovered she was very resourceful. He had a feeling if he took his eyes off her she would be gone in a heartbeat and he would never find her.

Opening the door to the office, Jake yelled for Wally. He ignored Wally’s wide eyes as the little Chinaman took in Indy’s tied condition. He told him to get Jake
immediately. Shutting the door, he walked over to where Indy was lying on the sofa. Kneeling down next to it, he ran his hand over her hair again. It hurt like hell the way she tried to jerk away from his touch.

“
Indy, I’m doing this for your own good,” Jonathan began. Indy’s shoulders just shook harder as she cried. She could no longer keep the sobs quiet.

A soft knock on the door sounded and Jonathan let out a sigh as he rose to answer it. Opening the door, he saw Jake standing there nervously twisting his old hat.

“You wanted to see me, boss?” Jake asked. His eyes widened in concern when he saw Indy’s tied up body lying on the sofa. His gaze jerked back up to Jonathan, silently questioning him.

Jonathan nodded for Jake to move back out the door. Closing the door to the office, Jonathan turned to Jake before answering him. He didn’t want Indy to know where her animals were
to be taken. He had a feeling she wouldn’t leave without them. If it meant using them to keep her here, he would.

“
Jake, I want you to unsaddle Indy’s two horses and take them to the east paddock away from the ranch house. I don’t want Indy to be able to see them or call for them. Put the dogs in the bunkhouse and keep them there until I give you further instructions,” Jonathan ordered briskly.

“
Boss, you ain’t going to turn Indy over to those men, are you?” Jake asked suddenly worried he had made a mistake telling Jonathan about Indy’s troubles.

“
Rest easy, Jake. I mean to marry Indy today. I sent Carl for the preacher and his wife to come to the ranch. They should be here by shortly. I plan to marry her to keep her safe. She won’t tell me anything but I have a feeling if she gets loose she’ll disappear faster than a fox from the hen house,” Jonathan assured the old cowpuncher. “Jacob should be back anytime with Ed and the others. Let him know I’m in the office.”

“
Sure thing, boss,” Jake said relieved.

He liked that Indy was marrying one of the Tucker boys. They would keep her safe. Putting his hat back on, Jake touched it and headed out to do the boss’ orders. He felt better already.

*.*.*

Indy waited until she heard the door close. As soon as the door clicked, she grabbed for the knife she had tucked inside her boot. Sawing as fast as she could, she quickly cut through the rope around her ankles. She flipped the knife around, holding it between her knees and cut through the rope around her wrists. Rolling, she sat up and grabbed her hat off the floor
while impatiently wiping at her damp cheeks. She moved as fast as she could to the window of the office and pushed it open. She was half way through it when the door to the office started opening behind her.

“
Shit!” Jonathan exclaimed as his glance went from the empty sofa to Indy’s backside disappearing through the window. “Damn it, get back here,” he yelled, rushing to the open window.

Indy flung herself out the window landing hard on the ground. She lay for a second, looking up into Jonathan’s furious face before rolling over and jumping to her feet. She was running as fast as she could across the yard whistling frantically. She could hear the dogs barking and Midnight neighing. Rounding the house, she slid to a stop as she watched Jake and another man fighting with
Kahlua and Midnight. Kahlua was moving around and around in circles kicking out her back legs while Midnight was rearing up kicking out with his front legs trying to get away from the grip the men had on their reins. Tweed and Chester were fighting against ropes around their necks where they were tied to a post.

“
No!” Indy screamed in horror. She was afraid one of her four-legged friends would get hurt in all the commotion. “Leave them alone. Don’t you touch them!” She cried out as she ran toward the dogs.

Jonathan burst out the front of the house just as Indy rounded it. He jumped off the porch tackling her before she could get to the dogs, knocking her down to the ground. Indy threw a punch
, hitting Jonathan in the chin and knocking him backwards giving her a chance to roll out from under him. Jonathan grabbed her by the ankle as she tried to get back up, pulling her down again. Indy brought her booted foot up to kick Jonathan in the jaw but missed as he rolled to the side where she hit his shoulder instead. She heard a grunt of pain as he worked his way up her body, trying to trap her. He blocked another punch grabbing her wrist in his large hand while trying to protect his lower body from her knee. They ended up rolling over and over as Jonathan tried to get high enough up her body to hold her still. He ended up taking a blow to the nose when she head-butted him.