Saved by the Rancher Read Online Free

reflection in the shabby motel’s cracked mirror over the rust-stained sink, not far from Jenna’s most recent hiding place. He wrinkled his nose against the smell of stale beer, sweat, and moldy carpet. She’d brought him to this dilapidated place and it pissed him off. Already shaking from the adrenaline wearing off, he fisted his hands, blood dripping into the sink from the cut on his palm.
    He moved his hand through the air, imagined cutting Jenna’s thigh again, and felt the rush of power and satisfaction that line of blood down her pale skin had invoked.
    David inhaled deeply to settle the charge of energy memories of making Jenna pay unleashed in him. He smelled the blood, tasted its coppery scent on his tongue, and smiled at himself in the mirror.
    No doubt Jenna was on the run again. Good. He so enjoyed finding her.

 
    Chapter Three
----
    J ENNA SAT IN her car outside a diner in Hidden Springs, Colorado. The last four days a haze of highways and back roads. She exhausted herself zigzagging all over the south before heading west toward Colorado. She changed rental cars three times, finally buying a new SUV in Kentucky. Ben arranged for the vehicle using one of her many trusts.
    The trusts hid her name behind company after company. At this point, she didn’t know which were real companies, or just on paper. Ben hid her name and whereabouts, using the millions from her divorce settlement. Funny how the money she used to hide came from the very man who hunted her. The irony wasn’t lost on her.
    In the last four days, she’d slept about ten hours. When she had to, she slept an hour or two in the car at truck stops, having stopped at only one fleabag no-tell-motel the first night to tend her wounds as best she could with her limited first aid kit. She would buy fresh bandages in town before heading to the cabin. She longed to be at the ranch, relatively safe, able to relax and rest.
    The welts on her back and legs throbbed after sitting in car after car. The cut on her thigh pulsed with heat and pain, probably infected; no amount of ibuprofen took the edge off. She’d been eating it like candy. To top it off, she had a fever.
    Jenna eased out of the car, careful not to move too quickly and send her back muscles into spasm again. Stiff, she limped on her right leg because of the cut. She slid on her sunglasses to hide the dark circles and bruises. She didn’t have anything to cover the cut above her temple, or hide the dark bruise along her jaw where he slugged her. She made her way across the street to the local grocery store. For the first time, she noticed the quiet street and picturesque town. She inhaled deeply the crisp clean air, hoping to revive her tired body and mind.
    Surrounded by beautiful mountains, the town had an old west quality. The buildings weren’t large, but small storefronts lining the main street. In addition to the diner, the quaint storefronts offered a jewelry store, bank, ice cream parlor, hair salon, clothing stores, and antique shops. Just what you’d expect to find on Main Street in a small town. Benches and pots of red and white flowers sat in front of some of the stores and several people window-shopped.
    The grocery store was the largest, most modern building with a big parking lot on the side. She shopped for bandages, medicine, and a few essential food items for the cabin. In a few days, she would come back and stock up. For now, the most important thing on her mind was mending her leg and getting some sleep.
    The teenage checkout girl stared at her face, unable to hide her curiosity. She knew the picture she made; everyone she passed gawked. After all the times she had been bloodied and bruised, she expected the stares. In a small town like this, people would talk about the battered woman who came into the store, but they wouldn’t get involved.
    She just didn’t care anymore. Not today. Her nerves were shot, and she wanted to get to the cabin before she really lost it.