Free Comanche Cowboy (The Durango Family) by Georgina Gentry

them!
    Lightning rent the sky and he saw Tom caught in the herd to one side, his paint horse carried along by the momentum. And Cayenne! Dammit! What was she doing out here? The light reflected off her fiery hair and he realized she was trying to work her way through the herd to reach Tom. Then Tom’s paint stumbled and went down.
    Maverick saw the cowboy’s startled, terrified face in the flashing light, then horse and rider went under a brown wave of moving cattle. Without thinking, he said a prayer to his spirit animal, the eagle, although he knew it was too late for Tom. But they had the herd milling now!
    It seemed a scene right out of hell, hooves flashing, the roaring thunder of cattle galloping, slowing, stumbling. He smelt the heat and stink of the herd, felt the cold rain driving against his face. The cattle slowed and began milling to the right the way longhorns always did. The night was as black as the devil’s heart and Maverick might as well have been blind.
    Cayenne! Where was Cayenne? He reined in sharply, causing the big gray to rear. The lightning cut a jagged path across the sky and he saw her caught now among the milling cattle, her frightened bay horse staggering and stumbling to stay on its feet.
    He saw her pale lips form the word “Maverick,” but if she cried out, he couldn’t hear her over the thundering, milling cattle. The rain plastered her long hair against her as it did her shirt, outlining those small, proud breasts.
    He would be risking death to fight his way through all those tons of beef. His enemy’s daughter. His own shirt plastered wetly to his back as he urged his gallant mount forward. “Hang on, baby, I’m coming!”
    The bay stumbled again and Cayenne grabbed the cantle to keep from falling. She turned her face toward him and her eyes reflected the terror she must feel as the cattle jostled and pushed.
    Using his quirt, Maverick slashed a path through the longhorns toward her. “Hang on, Reb, I’m coming for you!”
    He rode close enough to hear her call his name now. “Maverick! Hurry! I—I can’t keep the bay on his feet! ”
    Even as she said it, the tons of beef shifted again and her horse struggled to keep its balance as Maverick reached her. Leaning from his saddle, he lifted her even as the bay went down beneath the bellowing, stamping cattle. Maverick held her against him while the gray whinnied and reared.
    Could Dust Devil keep his feet? Maverick felt the big horse stagger beneath him, and he moved expertly to shift his weight, helping the giant horse retain its footing. He had a better chance if he’d turn loose of the dead weight of the girl. But even as the thought crossed his mind, he pulled her tightly against his chest. Her heart pounded against him through their wet clothes and she clung to him. “Maverick! Oh, Maverick!”
    We’re all three going down together, he thought as the stallion struggled against the longhorns pushing from all directions. Maybe he could shield her with his body as they fell. Maybe if he did, the cowboys could save her at least. He felt the tons of sweating beef push against his legs, bruising them in the crush. Maverick swore as only a Texan can swear, great oaths of fear and fury.
    Then Dust Devil caught his balance and pushed for the edge of the giant herd. On the outskirts of it, he saw Sanchez and the others with their quirts, trying to clear a path through to him.
    He held her very close against him, aware of the way her heart pounded, aware of her warm breasts pressing against his chest through their wet, clinging clothing. “It’s okay, baby,” he murmured without thinking, pressing her face protectively against his wide chest. “It’s okay, we’ll make it!”
    He still wasn’t sure they would. It seemed like a million miles through the milling cattle to the safety of the perimeter, but the big gray pushed forward valiantly as Sanchez quirted a path clear for him.
    Sanchez crossed himself anxiously as Maverick