Christmas Cowboys Volume 2
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Christmas is a special time on the Forbes Ranch on the Central Coast of California. In two MM Christmas Eve stories set on the ranch we find cowboy Grayson Forbes helping former Air Force pilot Mitch Caulfield get over his nightmares of being shot down in Afghanistan the previous Christmas and the entire Forbes/Abbott/Reston clan conspire to bring their friends, former lovers Steve Yarrow and Dalton Emory, back together in Cupid Christmas.
Lex Valentine
Lex Valentine is a bestselling, award winning author who writes across genres from contemporary to urban fantasy in both M/M and M/F. A native of Monterey County, California, Lex now lives in a canyon in Orange County, California with Rott, her long haired tattooed husband, and bunch of cats she calls “babies.” She loves loud rock and alternative music, builds her own computers, and works full-time at a cemetery as the network administrator. She also enjoys creating cover art with her daughter Nikki, a graphic arts student, as the award winning team of Winterheart Design. Lex is a member of Romance Writers of America and the PASIC, Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal, and Orange County California chapters of RWA. You’ll find her door always open to readers at lex at lexvalentine dot com.
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Christmas Cowboys Volume 2 - Lex Valentine
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Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Christmas Cowboys Volume 2
Copyright 2017 by Lex Valentine
ISBN: 978-1-68361-202-5
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC
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Dear Reader,
Growing up on the Central Coast of California in a town known as the home of the California Rodeo, gave me a healthy appreciation for cowboys. These short stories are heartwarming and infused with the spirit of Christmas along with a serious dose of sexy in the form of cowboys, Cupids and more love than you can shake a quirt at!
I love hearing from readers so please do send me an email at lex@lexvalentine.com .
Christmas Cowboys Volume 2
Christmas is a special time on the Forbes Ranch on the Central Coast of California. In two MM Christmas Eve stories set on the ranch we find cowboy Grayson Forbes helping former Air Force pilot Mitch Caulfield get over his nightmares of being shot down in Afghanistan the previous Christmas in Christmas Catch and the entire Forbes/Abbott/Reston clan conspire to bring their friends, former lovers Steve Yarrow and Dalton Emory, back together in Cupid Christmas.
Christmas Catch
By
Lex Valentine
Chapter One
Groans and Christmas music didn’t blend well together, Grayson Forbes discovered as he rolled out of bed and jerked on a pair of jeans. He started to switch off his radio to silence the carols then stopped himself. He wouldn’t be gone long. No need to turn off the tunes. Padding barefoot to the door, he opened it and listened for the groans. He knew who they were coming from, but he wanted to make sure the guy was still in bad shape before he went traipsing down the hall to see if he could help.
A loud cry of pain filtered down the corridor. With a sigh, Gray shut his bedroom door and headed for the guestroom next to his. The Forbes ranch boasted a huge two-story house with two sleeping wings. Gray’s cousin Riley, his wife Elle, and their infant son occupied the other wing so they probably couldn’t hear the noise at all. Since his room was next to their guest’s, Gray had gotten an earful of the gut-wrenching sounds.
He didn’t know much about the man Riley and Elle had brought home with them for Christmas. Mitchell Caulfield hadn’t been very forthcoming over the past two days, either. What little Gray knew, he’d gotten out of Elle. Even Riley hadn’t said much about the man he’d introduced as his new bodyguard.
Gray paused with his hand on the doorknob of Mitchell’s bedroom. Since his arrival, the bodyguard had disturbed Gray’s sleep, something most ranchers wouldn’t hold with since they tended to rise early. Gray could sleep through the moaning if he had to, but the sounds were so agonized, he felt bad for the guy. The former Air Force pilot had to be in the midst of some pretty gruesome nightmares for him to make that much racket.
Silently pushing the door open, Gray poked his head around the edge and peered into the dark bedroom. Mitch lay sprawled facedown on the king-sized bed, a sheet twisted around his lean hips. He had a pillow squished between arms, holding it tightly between his chest and the mattress. The other pillow and the comforter were tossed to the floor, probably kicked there by Mitch’s violent movements.
As Gray watched, Mitch thumped his head on the mattress, his guttural sounds the most heartbreaking Gray had ever heard. He slipped into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Waking people from nightmares could be tricky business, and Gray needed to figure out the best way to rouse Mitch from whatever horror held him in its grip.
He approached the side of the bed closest to Mitch’s head, figuring it would be best to steer clear of the pilot’s long, muscled legs. Sweat dampened the close-cropped dirty-blond hair, a lock spilling over onto Mitch’s forehead. Gray pressed a knee to the edge of the bed, hoping the dip in the mattress would wake the man. Instead, he moaned once more. Barely coherent words tumbled from his mouth, and Gray froze, filled with horror.
No, please! Don’t kill him! He’s just a boy! Please!
Gray knew the pilot had been shot down over Afghanistan. He’d been captured but rescued within the space of a day. However, it seemed that in that twenty-four hour span of captivity, he’d experienced more than any human should. Certainly, his experiences now seemed to translate into violent nightmares.
Mitch? Mitchell?
Gray leaned closer, hesitant to touch him.
Mitch rolled to his back, arms spread wide, his head thrashing on the pillow. God, noooo!
he moaned.
His words weren’t reaching the pilot. Tentatively, he reached out and lightly, in what he hoped was a soothing manner, brushed his fingers over the side of Mitch’s damp face. With the speed of a striking snake, Mitch grabbed Gray’s wrist in a vise-like grip..
Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me here to die.
Naked fear dripped from every word sending a wave of sympathy over