Honoring Freedom (Cowboys of Sagebrush Rose #3)

Prologue

The man stayed in the shadows.

He practically salivated as he watched her brush down the horse, her slender hands moving gracefully over the firm, lean muscles of Requiem. She touched him lovingly, with such great care. He was her prized horse.

Feeling a surge of jealousy, the man clenched his hands into tight fists and shoved them deep into his front pockets. Thinking of all the ways he wanted to touch her made him shudder and his body hardened.

His desire for her ran deep—so deep that he nearly despised her for making him want her so desperately.

Freedom. Freedom. Freedom. Freedom Rose.

He couldn't stop thinking about her. She was on his mind all day and kept popping up in his dreams. Right from the start, he knew she was the one for him. The first time he saw her he wanted to tangle his fingers in her hair and never let go.

Yet, she pretended she didn’t feel the same—pretended she didn’t want him.

Just today he greeted her. He’d swiped off his Stetson and offered her what he knew was his best James Dean smile. She acted like she didn’t see him.

He didn’t like being ignored.

She thought she was better than him.

Freedom thought she could have any man she desired.

She looked up from her task, scanning the tree line. Did she sense his presence? When she stared in his direction, his chest tightened. Could she see him? She turned away and he knew he was safe.

He dragged his hands out of his pockets, wanting to pummel something. Anything. He had to be careful though. Recently there was trouble between one of Freedom’s sisters and a hand, and since then every member of the crew took extra care to walk a fine line. He overheard some guys in the bunkhouse talking about how Sam Rose was letting people go left and right, so everyone was focused on their work.

The man didn’t care what others did. Never had.

Born Pok Malikan, thirty-two years ago, he grew up with his grandparents who had a loveless marriage yet punished each other by staying married until Pok’s grandfather died on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. The very day. He made a deal with the devil thinking Hell would be better than living another minute with the bitch he promised to love, honor, and cherish. His grandmother liked to yell…at Pok especially. His curly hair never laid straight. His nails were never cut short enough. He didn’t walk right. She enjoyed calling him names too. He didn’t have one memory during his childhood that didn’t include her screeching around that cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth, her hacking cough, and those hideous plastic earrings sagging from stretched holes. Pok blamed her for pushing him into doing bad things like stealing cars and breaking into homes which eventually landed him in prison.

After serving three years and granted parole early for good behavior, he met a girl. Swan was her name. She didn’t like him much, but he loved her. She had to ruin things by getting him arrested for breaking into her house and setting fire to her bed after her fuckbuddy slithered out at dark.

He hated women, except for Freedom, of course.

For now, he’d play along with her cat-and-mouse game.

Retrieving the small piece of fabric from his back pocket, he lifted it to his nose and breathed in Freedom’s fragrance. Just two days prior, during her sunset ride, she had snagged herself on a branch. Her shirt tore, leaving behind a fragment of the cloth. He regarded it as a cherished memento from her.

He closed his eyes and imagined how good they could be together. How he wanted to push her against the tree and—

“Jinx!” Her voice broke through Pok’s fantasy.

He flicked his eyes open and gritted his teeth. Jinx had joined Freedom. Hatred spiraled through Pok like a dust devil sweeping through the plains. Out of habit he took out his lighter and rolled the smooth metal around his fingers.

Jinx laughed at something she said.

Envy coursed through Pok's veins. How could Jinx dare overstep boundaries with Freedom?

Pok imagined the immense suffering he wished to inflict on Jinx. The cowboy strutted about with an air of superiority. He probably grew up as a town hero, the favorite jock, the boy voted most handsome. Pok loathed all the cowboys at Sagebrush Rose Ranch who sat around guffawing at bad jokes and farting and burping like they were a group of immature cavemen.

None of them had a clue who Pok was before he came to work as a hand. It had been quite easy to hide his past, to change his name.

He chuckled. Eleven years in lock up made him a new man. During his first year serving his sentence in “Alcatraz of the Rockies”, he’d been a scrawny, shy boy that was innocent and thrown to the wolves to learn to survive. He’d been weak, shoved around like a pussy. One morning, he lost his temper when another inmate came up and shoved him, causing him to stumble and fall. Everyone’s laughter had quickly turned to surprise when he got back up and beat the older inmate to a pulp. The stunt had earned Pok a trip to the hole but what doesn’t kill a man only makes him stronger. He swore when he saw the light of day again, he’d walk like a lion, not a deer. He’d crush anyone who dared cross his path and looked his way too long.

With all the time in the world in his cell, he studied every book he could get his hands on. Worked out religiously. Learned charm. Once he transformed, inmates feared him. He became a god in the harsh dog-eat-dog society.

But he’d never forget that women were evil—just like his grandmother. The wicked witch of Texas.

The day he was released he found himself in a hole in the wall dive bar washing dishes. He knew then he had to make a choice. He could either beat the cook to death with his spatula for humming nonstop and return to prison, or Pok could find something that better suited him. That’s when he found Kent Downs by a stroke of luck.

And now here Pok was.

Little did he know that when he agreed to work for Downs, he’d find Freedom.

Too bad Downs was her family’s greatest enemy.

Pok was the eyes and ears for Downs. Giving him updates on the Roses and their business dealings. Sneaking into offices and stealing information. Pok had become a professional at breaking and entering.

Across the expanse of the pasture, Jinx patted Freedom’s shoulder and Pok flicked his lighter. He’d kill the man. All Pok needed was thirty seconds alone with the cocky cowboy.

Pok took one step and stopped. He was no longer alone.

“Hey! I’ve been looking for you,” came a shout from Cave. “What are you doing? Hiding?”

That was another cowboy Pok reviled. He’d been christening every spot on the property with that bitch Liberty Rose. Did they really believe that their secret affair was secret ?

Pok, quick on his feet, stepped out of the tree line pretending to zip his jeans. “I was just taking a leak.”

“I need your help unloading the feed delivery over at the north barn.”

“I’ll get right to it, boss.” Pok had the urge to salute the other man but thought better of it. Causing ripples wouldn’t help the agenda. Soon, Freedom would be his and she’d make up for all the months Pok had been stranded at the ranch, biding his time. He was quickly growing tired of being someone’s bitch.

*****

The soft hairs on her nape lifted and Freedom glanced up from where she brushed Requiem. For weeks now she felt like someone had been watching her from the shadows. There was just that feeling that she couldn’t shake.

Things had been tense at Sagebrush Rose for a while now. Since Daddy’s heart attack and some of the hands had been let go, the day-to-day operations were different.

She heard a noise and listened more closely.

Usually at this time of morning the hands were unloading delivery trucks, feeding livestock, and taking care of their designated chores on the other side of the ranch. She enjoyed this time alone taking care of her horses, Requiem and Midnight, her prized breeding horses. They were the two things at Sagebrush Rose that belonged only to her. If she wasn’t at the library, she was there, dealing with the crew and the horses. A member of the Rose family meant she had expectations that settled on her shoulders. While her other sisters liked to push boundaries, Freedom stayed focused. Growing up with strong, adventurous sisters, she’d found herself staying quiet at times and simply going with the flow.

Lately though, she’d started to find her voice.

“Need some help?”

She gave a jolt and watched Jinx approach. “I’m good. Thanks though.” She and the hand had become friends over the last few months. Sharing stories about their childhoods, she’d learned that he once lived quite a traumatic life, so the differences in their upbringings somehow made them closer.

“You okay?” He looked a bit concerned.

“Coffee jitters. I shouldn't have had that second cup.” She continued her task of brushing Requiem.

“I wanted to let you know that I had Billy take Brooks over to the clinic to see Doc Lafferty.”

She paused the brush mid-air. “Is he okay?”

“If you ask me, he drank too much moonshine last night at Vanhoose’s going away party at Mav’s. Probably needs an IV hydration and a clean pair of underwear.” The instant his words hit air, he groaned in regret. “Sorry, Freedom.”

She laughed. “I told you before, I’ve been around hands all my life, so I don’t get offended easily.”

“I had the privilege of meeting the new ranch vet. Seems like a great cowboy.”

“Really?” She’d been so busy she hadn’t had time to stay in the loop.

“From what I could gather he used to work here a long time ago. Grew up in the area, good friends with Vanhoose.”

Freedom looked at Jinx. “What’s his name?”

“Abbott. Keller Abbott.”

She dropped the brush and sucked oxygen into her lungs. That was a name she hadn’t heard in years. Her world spun like a tilt-a-whirl as memories came flooding back. That summer when she and Keller had fallen in love. The summer that she’d had her heart broken into a million pieces.

Betrayal loomed in her veins.

“Jinx, do me a favor and finish up with Requiem. I have something I need to take care of.”