Page 43 of The Runaway and the Rugged (Dusty Meadows #1)

“You’re not leaving me,” he seethed, yanking me forcefully back until my back was close to his front. Winnie’s grip had fallen, but she came swinging at him in full force.

And that’s when I heard him, my savior, my protector, shouting with an urgency that settled deep into my bones, filling my stomach until it was no longer sinking.

“Emelia, baby!” He tore past the mess of a picnic and stormed up the stairs with a ferociousness that tinged the air around us. Even Nathaniel wasn’t immune to his effect as he spun his head around and with a low snarl, found Garth.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded, tightening his hold as I whimpered from the sting of it. Garth’s wild eyes never left mine. Stopping just shy of where we stood, he looked like a man ready to kill.

“None of your damn business. Now, let her go of her and we can settle this man-to-man,” Garth ordered, but Nathaniel scoffed in return, but then as if realization had smacked him in the face his body went still.

“This guy, Emelia? Really? You’ve been fucking him, haven’t you?” He yanked me back hard, his breath falling over me like an unwanted infection crawling over my skin.

He was hurting me.

“I let you off easy the last time you were here, and I’ll give you that opportunity again if you let her go and stop hurtin’ her.” He sounded desperate, but I knew what anger laid beneath his words.

Then unexpectedly, the air had thickened as the ominous sound of impending footsteps echoed nearby. Shadows appeared and converged as four figures, Greta, Griffin, Beau, and Clarke all stormed up the steps with gravity.

Clarke?

They all wore expressions of raw fury, their glowers heavy and unwavering, each one focused on Nathaniel. Clarke’s glare burned the brightest, glowing with an intensity that could set a room ablaze.

“You stupid motherfucker, what do you think you’re doing?

” Clarke charged toward him with a determination stretched across her face.

She didn’t get far, because Griffin, the person I least expected to manhandle her, reached his arm out and pulled her back with a firm tug.

She sent him a fierce look, but he didn’t back down.

Instead, he wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from making things worse.

Nathaniel chuckled against my ear, the sound sending a chill down my back.

“Best let her go before she handles you herself,” Beau announced, his voice steady and lacking any doubt. He was referring to me.

“Who? Emelia?” Nathaniel snorted dismissively. “She’ll always be weak, being here on the ranch won’t change that.”

Something inside me ignited. Like a wildfire that began to spread and intensify until all I felt was unshakable anger. How dare he say that? How dare he come here and demand that I go back?

Garth sensed the shift, his frantic eyes flickering with relief, although I could still feel the undercurrent of worry. He knew what I was about to do, and with a final, low exhale, I drew my elbow in close, poised and ready.

“Nathaniel?” I said softly, catching his attention.

Moments later, without warning, I was swinging my elbow back, slamming it directly into his gut, causing him to double over and release my arm.

“I’m not weak, and never was, asshole,” I snapped, the words like pouring salt onto an open wound, and without missing a beat, I quickly shot off toward Garth and jumped into his awaiting arms.

“Fuck!” Nathaniel groaned, but I was too busy wrapping my arms around my savior, soaking in his warmth and everything else that made him the man I adored.

“You okay, baby?” With a hand laced through my hair, he pulled me from the curve of his neck to get a good look at me. Searching, inspecting, he swept a thumb beneath my eye to wipe away tears.

“Now I am.” I leaned in and pressed my forehead against his.

Griffin, Beau, and with reluctance from them, Greta and Clarke, yanked Nathaniel to his feet.

“Stay with them.” He nudged me in the direction of all the women who were watching it all unfold before their eyes. Winnie pulled me in close to her.

With eyes ablaze as if ready to face anything, he strode purposely in the direction of Nathaniel. Just before he reached him, he halted, stopping just shy where they were not eye to eye.

“I want my ring back,” Nathaniel sneered, his eyes coming to me, but Garth shifted his body, making sure Nathaniel had no way of looking at me.

“You ain’t lookin’ at her, you ain't speakin’ to her anymore, got me?

You’re lucky I’m lettin’ you breathe the same as her right now,” Garth seethed, his voice low.

“You’ll get the ring, the dress, anything she has that you bought, then you’re leaving and never comin’ back here.

She ain’t yours, and never will be again.

And if I ever catch you on my property, I won’t hesitate to fuckin’ kill you. ”

His threat should have terrified me, but it had the opposite effect. This man would protect me till the ends of the earth. He’d protect his family and all those he loved because that’s who he was.

Our savior.

“You hear that, bitch? He said he’d kill me. You picked a keeper, didn’t you?” Before he had a chance to finish, Garth was driving his fist into Nathaniel’s face, hard and unyielding.

Blood spattered onto the wood deck as he groaned with his head hung low in defeat.

“What did I say? Don’t fuckin’ speak to her, never again.” Garth flexed his hand and motioned with his head for Beau and Griffin to get him out of here.

“Try that stupid shit again, and Griff here’s got a hundred and one ways to tie up a man with rope, and I doubt he’d hesitate to test one of ’em out on you.” Beau grinned wide where all Griffin seemed to respond with was a grunt.

Griffin gave him a hard shove, forcing a grunt as he staggered down the steps and toward the front of the house where his car was parked. When he was finally out of sight, a massive amount of relief filled me as though I could finally breathe again.

It was only a matter of seconds until I was enveloped once again in comforting, familiar arms.

“Fuck,” he rasped, letting out a long, trembling sigh of relief onto the crown of my head. “I’m sorry you had to see all that.”

Shaking my head, I dug my fingers into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him in close.

“I don’t care, I love you,” I confessed, a cascade of tears falling down. “I love you so much, Garth, more than you’ll ever know.”

He drew himself back with a fierceness in his gaze I’d never seen before.

“You love me?” he stammered in shock, all the while his eyes searched mine as if trying to read my soul.

“So much.”

He groaned in satisfaction and pressed his lips to my forehead, then onto my lips. “I love you, Outlaw, with everythin’ I am and everythin’ I have.”

He kissed me. Hard, firm, and with so much passion, I nearly melted into his hold. He withdrew quicker than I would have liked, but only because everyone was watching us with broad, amused smiles.

“Didn’t I tell you he was going to fall madly in love with you?” Clarke teased. “Now the real question is, how many little ranch wranglers do you think he’s planning on havin’ with you?”

Oh my god, kill me now.

My ex just showed up unannounced, and here Clarke was bringing up Garth and me having kids. Why was I not surprised in the slightest?

Burying my face into his shirt to hide my embarrassment, Garth encircled his arm around me as a low rumble of laughter spilled from his mouth.

“As many as she wants,” he confessed. “Whenever she’s ready, of course.”

My heart fluctuated as I peered up into his handsome face.

“Really?” I questioned softly as the thought of having his child one day softly settled within me and a feeling of hope and wonder began to blossom.

“Really, Outlaw.” He grinned.

I smiled and swept my gaze over to Clarke again. “When did you get here anyway?” I questioned. “You didn't tell me you were visiting.”

Abruptly, the sound of the back door opening caused our heads to turn and soon, a frantic Grace was flying in our direction.

“Emelia!” she shouted and, in a flash, we were all wrapped in a tight embrace, Garth, me, and her. “Are you okay?” Her voice shook with fear as her arms squeezed us closer.

My heart clenched.

“I’m okay, honey. Everything’s okay now,” I reassured her as gently as I could.

She nodded as our hug lasted for what seemed like forever.

And I was okay with that—forever. Because forever with them felt like I had finally discovered who I was, who I longed to be, and where I felt like I belonged. A nearly twelve-hundred-acre horse ranch where the skies were vast, the nature was wild, and the possibilities were endless.

And a rancher, his adorable daughter, and the rest of his family who became more than just a group of people who had taken in a runaway bride.

They became family.

My true family.