I've finished it and sent it off for review and editing. All that's done now and Amazon has given it the go ahead.
So I'm proud to announce that Save a Horse, Dive a Cowboy is now live and ready for download on Amazon Kindle.
I really enjoyed researching the Native American legends about Coyote for this story.
Excerpt:
They turned west, riding into the sunset. Well, soon enough
it would be a sunset. Right now it was just really bright sunlight boring into
Charlie's eyes and obscuring his vision. He'd have to focus on the trail to
avoid laming himself. Good thing he could rely on Shep to guide him around any
real dangers.
Dust puffed under his feet and settled on his legs. That and
his dried sweat made him itch. He couldn't wait to get in the shower.
A sharp pain on his rump startled him into bucking and
kicking.
Shep shifted his weight forward and followed his every move.
"Whoa, Hoss!"
Charlie stopped so suddenly, he felt the horseshoe shift
again.
Just a deerfly. Now he felt like an idiot. Fortunately,
horses couldn't blush; although, he'd heard that rabbits could.
He turned his head and met Shep's eye, hoping to convey his
apology, earning him another pat on the shoulder.
"I'm okay. But it was good practice for saddle bronc
riding. Should I enter this year?"
He tossed his head and crow hopped, but didn't budge Shep.
He could have tried a little harder, really bucked; after all, his partner had
a good seat. The horseshoe thumped against his hoof and he stopped. This
business with the shoe was getting worrisome.
A fly buzzed behind him again and this time he settled for
swishing his tail. He hated the damn things. At least it wasn't a horsefly.
Those things were vicious.
"Maybe you should use more of that fly repellant you
call aftershave."
Haha... Charlie
snorted and considered making Shep walk home.
Shep shifted his weight forward. Charlie took the hint and
set off. Clip, clop, clip, clop... The trip home always seemed to take longer
than reaching their goal.
Something dust-colored darted across his path. He threw his
head up and reared, startling like some green-broke colt. His hooves struck the
ground on either side of a quivering jackrabbit. The poor animal screamed and
brushed against his fetlock as it made a dash for the scrub bordering the trail.
A fluffy little bunny. How flipping embarrassing.
He stood with legs braced, still snorting. His rib cage
expanded and contracted spastically under the girth.
"That was close. You didn't hurt yourself, did
you?" Shep slung a leg over and dismounted. He smoothed gentle fingers
over Charlie's legs and examined his hooves. "Other than the horseshoe, I
think you're fine."
Shep picked up a stone and tried to pound one of the nails
back in. A partial success, but they both knew it would work its way back out again.
His breathing slowed, but he could still feel the adrenaline
burning in his veins. Maybe a lope would take the edge off.
"Feeling better?" Shep scratched between his ears,
calming them both.
He nodded and gave a breathy sigh, nuzzling against Shep's chest.
Shep uncapped the canteen and took a few swallows. Then he
took his hat off and smacked it against his leg, sending up a puff of dust. He
poured water into his sweat-stained Stetson and held it up for Charlie.
He drank the salty water in a few quick draws.
Clapping the hat back on his head, Shep mounted. Once he had
settled, Charlie took off at a lope.
"In a rush to get home?"
Charlie snorted and stretched out. He still had some
relatively smooth flatlands before he reached the outcroppings. When the last
of the frantic energy began to ebb, he dropped down to a jog, and then a walk.
He felt a little better.
More rocks littered the ground. Soon boulders took their
place. He could see the stone outcroppings ahead. Shep's deft hands on the
reins helped him make his way through the maze where a stone bruise could leave
him lame.
Before they reached the outcroppings, a snake slithered out
in front of him. The unmistakable buzz of a rattlesnake filled the air. Heat
flushed his skin and then a chill filled his veins. What. The. Hell?
He didn't have room to jump the rattler. Once more he rose
in the air, pivoted and came down outside the irate serpent's strike range.
"Back! Get away from it!" Shep shouted.
Charlie agreed with him whole-heartedly. He started backing,
ears flicking forward and then to his rider, trusting Shep to guide him with
little movements of the reins.
"Just like we practiced it for that reining
class," Shep encouraged.
Yeah, they'd done this before. Nothing difficult, just
tighter quarters and the risk of being lamed if he stepped wrong.
"I've got you. I won't let anything happen." Shep
spoke slowly and evenly, soothing the disquiet in Charlie's soul.
When they finally left the boulders behind, Charlie stood
trembling.
Shep dropped from his back and pulled his head into a hug.
"I'm really starting to hate today." He glanced around. "We'll
take the long way. I don't want to risk anything else jumping out at us at this
point."
Charlie sighed, but Shep was right. If they stayed in the
open, nothing else should happen. If something did while they were cutting
through the rocks, they could get hurt. Good thing Shep was a bronc rider or
they'd have been in trouble today.
"Thirsty?" When he nodded, Shep gave him the last
of the water.
They walked for a while, side-by-side, until Charlie stopped
and looked pointedly at the saddle.
"Are you saying I'm too slow?"
He nudged the stirrup with his nose. If they kept on at this
rate, it would be dark before they reached the ranch.
Charlie hadn't gone two strides when a roadrunner darted in
front of him with... a coyote on its tail. Seriously?!
I thought that shit only happened in cartoons.
The coyote slowed and winked at him. Actually winked. Could
this day get any weirder?
"You've got to be shitting me!"
The coyote circled Charlie and came up behind them, much
closer than he liked. Coyotes usually left larger animals alone, but this one
was acting strange. Could it be rabid?
The slinking shadow took another step closer and Charlie
cow-kicked. His horseshoe went flying.
"Finally!" A voice he didn't recognize shouted in
triumph. The coyote snatched the glittering curve of metal out of the air and
ran away.
"Hey! We need that!" Shep tugged on the hackamore,
whirling Charlie, and set heels to his flanks.
Charlie didn't even think about it, he jolted into a gallop.
He had to have that horseshoe or he'd spend the rest of his life as a horse,
slowly losing his humanity.
Burdened with a rider, he couldn't seem to catch up with the
coyote. But stopping to offload Shep would only insure he wouldn't overtake the
damn thing. At least, this way he could keep the mangy beast within sight and
see what it did with his horseshoe.
He did manage to slowly gain on the coyote. If this went on
long enough, he might catch up.
Ahead, he could see the cenote coming into view. Was the
coyote headed toward the sinkhole?
He caught up with the coyote in time to watch his horseshoe
arc into the air and splash into the water. The coyote grinned and disappeared
into the brush with a flick of its tail.
Abso-fucking-lutely unbelievable.
Blurb: Shep's just your
average all-American cowboy. He runs his own ranch and rides the occasional
saddle bronc. Nothing special there. Unless you look too closely at his
boyfriend.
Descended from a long line of Native American mustang
shifters, Charlie "Hoss" Running Horse is anything but average.
When Coyote takes a shine to Shep, he decides that Hoss has
got to go. With the theft of the medicine horseshoe that allows Hoss to shift
from mustang to human, Coyote sets his evil plan to have his way with Shep in
motion.
Will Shep be able to save Hoss before it's too late? Or will
Coyote's plan come to fruition?
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