Taming Talia by Marie-Nicole Ryan Read Free Book Online

storm. Natalia crossed herself, saying a quiet prayer for Sarita and Jared both.

Chapter Five
    Never seen such a storm. Not like this . One step at a time, Jared trudged through snow that drifted higher and higher, by the second, it seemed. Unable to see more than a foot in front of his face, was he heading anywhere near the stables? Straight ahead , she’d said.
    Sure thing, if his lids weren’t trying to freeze shut. He swiped at the ice clinging to his lashes and sucked in a lungful of blistering-cold air. The wool scarf over his mouth and nose helped some, but it couldn’t overcome the wind and the nut-freezing cold. He tugged on the strip of sheeting. Still plenty of slack in this lifeline of his.
    But what he wouldn’t give for a pair of snowshoes.
    More interminable steps. A hundred yards was nothing unless one was in a blizzard to end all blizzards. Damned impossible to tell how far he’d come or how much farther he had to go.
    Without warning, he stepped into a hole. His arms flailed as he attempted to maintain his balance, but there was nothing to grab or hold on to. Crashing down, he tumbled into a waist-high drift. Snow covered his head, swathed his face with its icy wetness. Using one end of the scarf, he wiped it away, then rolled over to his knees before rising to stand.
    He tugged his wrist. He’d lost the strip of cloth tethering him to the ranch house.
    Damnation.
    Frustration cut through his gut as he removed his gloves, stuffed them in his pockets, then ran his hands through the piles of snow. Couldn’t keep that up forever. Frostbite. Worse, the fall had disoriented him. Unable to tell which direction he originally was headed, he circled slowly. Behind him, the snow fell so hard it obliterated his trail from the house. First, find the damned line. Without it, he’d never find his way back.
    Down on his knees, he began a systematic search. Ignoring the biting chill, he kept searching for the tether until his fingers grew numb and clumsy, feeling like thick sausages. Wouldn’t work. Couldn’t keep this up. He stopped, removed the gloves from his pockets, and slipped his freezing fingers into the lined leather gloves. While not exactly warm, the gloves were a hell of a lot better than nothing.
    Back on his feet, he attempted once more to get his bearings. Had to move forward, back…whatever. Staying in one spot wasn’t an option. When he’d left Natalia, the snow was blowing from the northeast. That meant he could keep moving straight ahead by keeping the blowing snow to his right…as long as the wind hadn’t changed direction without his noticing.
    He waded through the deepening drifts, fighting the urge to say to hell with it. But death lay with that decision. Step by never-ending step, he continued what he’d already decided was a fool’s journey.
    He had no warning. One second there was nothing but snow; the next, he ran smack into the stables. At least he hoped it was the stables. It had taken them so long to make the guideline, the snow was waist-high. Now to find the entrance and clear away enough to get inside.
    He found the stable doors without any problem. Fortunately, the wind and snow were coming from the opposite direction, resulting in a huge drift at the rear of the stable. After knocking away the ice and snow, he raised the bar on the stable door, then pried the door open, just enough to squeeze through. He heard a nervous whinny from one of the horses. “Easy,” he said to calm the animal.
    Out of the blowing wind. Finally . He leaned against the wall to catch his breath, then stomped his boots and brushed the snow from Montrose’s coat. Removing his Stetson, he slapped it against his thigh, then set it back on his head.
    Okay. The smell of horse, manure, and feed grain wafted upward. His nose wrinkled, but it was the normal smell of a stable. He waited until his eyes adjusted to the dark. Using the bit of light filtering through the door, he surveyed the interior of the