The Rancher's Rules by Dina Chapel Read Free Book Online Page A

covers – she was fast asleep. He headed for the back door.
    Just as he stepped out of the house, he saw it – the chestnut mare streaked across the field moving away from the house and outbuildings, the rider’s poncho and long braid a giveaway that made Rafe start for a second, but only a second.
    Rafe raced back inside and went directly to Annie’s room. Bursting through the door, he moved quickly to the bed and ripped the covers back. Damn! She had bunched up some quilts and a pillow under the covers to look like a sleeping form.
    When he caught up with her – and he would catch up with her, of that Rafe had no doubt whatsoever – she was gonna be one very sorry little lady, with one very sore behind. Rafe would see to that if it was the very last thing that he did. 
    He ran to the barn and saddled his horse faster than he ever had in his life. The feelings running through him were confusing him, to say the least. The anger was there, of course. Plenty of anger, aimed directly at one little lady named Annie Walters. She was messin’ with his time and his patience and Rafe was gonna be sure to make her fully aware of how much he didn’t appreciate that. But there was something else too. He was afraid for her. It was fear. Rafe wasn’t too familiar with that feeling; it took him a while to identify it. He didn’t like it one bit.
    He had to catch her and make sure that she was safe and then, hopefully, this feeling would go away. If he had to keep her tied to a post at the ranch all day just to make sure that she was safe from now on, that’s what he would do. Right after he spanked her little backside raw, of course.
    Rafe woke Zeke to fill him in quickly on what was happening. Depending on where they were when Rafe caught her and how bad the storm was by then, he might not make it back to Tom’s ranch. He would just head for his own instead and he and Annie could ride out the storm there. Zeke was a good man and could be trusted to be in charge of things at Tom’s ranch in Rafe’s absence, so Rafe knew that he needn’t worry on that. Instead, he focused all his worry now on Annie’s safety.
    * * * * *
    Rafe pushed the door shut behind them – no easy effort with the wind gusts fighting him – and put the steel bar in place across the door. He quickly shucked his coat and hat and set about doing the things that were of an immediate need in his mind. First, light an oil lamp so he could see what he was doing. Second, get a fire going. Third, get Annie by the fire and warmed up some. Lastly, bare Annie’s bottom and whup the daylights out of her for running off right before what was proving to be a very bad storm. She could have easily died out there tonight. Rafe didn’t want to dwell on that thought or try to figure out why it terrified him.
    He had managed to catch up to her faster than he had expected to, but at that point the snow was already making it difficult to see more than a few paces in front of them. Also, Rafe figured them to be slightly closer to his ranch than Tom’s and so had decided to head for his own. If he hadn’t woken when he did – well, it really didn’t bear thinking about. They wouldn’t have even found her body until spring thaw. The unnecessary scare angered Rafe more than he would have liked. He felt the need to get a little control over himself before dealing with her. 
    After the oil lamp was lit, Rafe set to building a nice fire that would warm the whole house. Annie watched him silently from where she stood by the door. He looked grim and determined and, for a moment, she almost wished she was still outside facing that storm rather than in this cabin facing Rafe Stanton. He noticed that Annie still stood by the door, trembling from cold or fear or both.
    “Take that blanket off,” Rafe ordered, “and your poncho, and come over here by the fire.”
    For once, Annie did exactly as she was told exactly when she was told to do it. Rafe knew he shouldn’t be