“With amazing suspense, and hot, dominant lovin’ this cowboy and his high school sweetheart take the reader on an amazing emotional journey… Once again, thank you, Ms. Devlin, for stealing my heart with complex and witty characters, hot sex and riveting suspense!” ~5/5 Books, Reviews by Molly

“Devlin has done it again! I pretty much gobble up anything she writes and “Laying Down the Law” is another hit… Fun and fast, “Laying down the Law” is great for fans of western romances or someone looking for that great next “hot” read!” The Brunette Librarian

“I LOVED it! …Sexy heroic intelligent somewhat domineering man (preferably a cowboy) rescues a sexy, smart and sassy heroine… and she rescues him right back! How can you beat that? And Ms.Delilah is the Queen of Smart and Sexy…a win-win-win!” ~SnifferWalk

Seeking sanctuary could be the hottest mistake she ever made.

The TripleHorn Brand, Book 1

A lifetime ago, Zuri Prescott kicked the dirt off her boots and ditched her small-time small town for the glam city life—and lived to regret it. When she’s framed for a bank job, she lights out for home, seeking refuge with her old high school sweetheart while she figures out her next steps. Only she discovers that the boy she left behind is the last man she should trust.

Sheriff Colt Triplehorn knows trouble when he sees it, especially when it comes in the form of a familiar trespasser, caught naked between an angry bull and her underwear. Sure she’s up to her usual no good, he grants her sanctuary at his ranch—the better to keep an eye on her, and purge her from his system once and for all.

Reconnection is sweet and hot, but the heat can’t hide the truth. When Colt inevitably finds out what Zuri’s running from, it’s too late to put the fire out, and he’s got a career-compromising choice on his hands. Follow the letter of the law, or follow his heart.

Product Warnings: When a sheriff captures the girl who got away, expect revenge so hot it leaves brands on two lonely hearts…

Colt jammed the truck into park in the middle of the road and yanked open his door. Two more county trucks pulled in, spitting gravel from beneath their tires, forming a barrier at the highway intersection. He’d used graveled ranch roads and a cutoff to get here quickly. He’d planned for just such an eventuality, coordinating with the sheriff from the next town over.

Wade stepped down from his truck. “If he makes it through this road block there’s another forming on down the road.”

The radio squawked. “Colt? Colt?”

Colt cussed under his breath. Gabe had never got the hang of the police radio.

“Got his taillights in front of me now. We’re about a quarter mile from you. Get ready.”

Colt clamped his hat on head, pulled out his rifle and opened his truck door to rest the barrel against the bottom of the window frame. In the distance, he saw the glint of metal in the early morning sunlight.

Wade clapped his shoulder. “We’ve got him boxed-in tight. No place he can go. We knew it was a diversion the second the barn went up.”

“Didn’t count on the fact he was already inside the damn house,” Colt ground out. “We were watchin’ the pastures, the roads.”

Gabe had seen him and Zuri slip across the pasture, but the bastard had a gun on her, and his brother had to hold back so Satterly wouldn’t spook and kill her on the spot. “Gabe’s been followin’ with lights off so he wouldn’t know he was bein’ trailed while I called in support. Should’ve arrested his ass the moment he nosed around the Roy’s garage.”

“Didn’t have cause,” Wade said from where he stood, rifle braced in the window on the other side of his truck.

Colt gave him a glance across the cab. “Wouldn’t have mattered. Zuri’d be safe. I should’ve been there. Should’ve stuck to her like glue.”

“You’re the law. It was your duty to alert the feds. When Satterly moved out of his hotel room, the deputies scrambled me. Had to call you, boss. It’s what you’ve been waitin’ for.”

Colt narrowed his gaze on the car approaching at a fast clip. The glint was Satterly’s sedan. He reached into the dash and flipped the switch to set the blue lights strobing. The other trucks followed suit.

The sedan slowed. Colt bent his head and stared through his rifle sight. It was Satterly behind the wheel all right. Beside him sat Zuri, her hand hanging from a set of cuffs. His gut tightened. She looked scared.

The car weaved then swerved, running off the road as the wheels turned and Satterly began to make a U-turn but discovered his way was blocked by another set of vehicles coming from the direction of the ranch.

Gabe slowed and flashed his headlights. Behind him were three more trucks, all from the ranch, ranch hands crammed in the cabs and tail beds, all armed.

“Hope they know not to let off a shot while she’s inside,” Colt growled.

“Your brother Tommy might think he’s so good with that rifle of his that he could take him out where he sits.”

“I’d have his ass if he tried.”

Satterly’s car halted, half in the ditch, then lurched back onto the road and headed slowly toward Colt and his deputies’ cars.

“Come on, buddy, do the smart thing.”

The car kept coming, the engine building. No sign from the driver he was going to stop.

Colt shook his head, pulled his rifle from the window and slammed his door closed. With his rifle held against his thigh, he strode down the center of the highway toward the car.

Was he crazy? Zuri froze, watching Colt saunter like a gunfighter of old right down the center line. He was dressed for the role in his crisp blue shirt, a badge hanging from his pocket. His cream-colored cowboy hat sat square on his head. His expression was hard, his body held like an immovable mountain. Only she knew he was flesh and blood, vulnerable in the open.

“Sonofabitch,” David said, sweat beginning to drip down the side of his face. “Who does he think he is? Rambo?”

More like John Wayne. Zuri made a noise behind her gag and rattled her cuffs.

“Shut the hell up.” David reached sideways and slapped her with the back of his hand.

Her eyes watered but she blinked the moisture away. Through the windshield, she realized Colt must have seen the blow, because he flipped up his rifle and jammed the butt against his shoulder. Still walking down the center line, he took aim.

“Don’t guess he cares a damn about you, sweetie.” David jerked his steering wheel to the left, drove down into the ditch and up the other side, the car tilting sideways at a dangerous angle until he rode the edge of the fence line. It looked like he intended get around the vehicles parked nose to tail blocking the road.

A shot fired, pinging off the tarmac.

Her scared glance shot toward Colt, but he was pointing in front of them. The shot was just a warning.

David punched the gas pedal, and the car shot forward, dragging the steel cuff on her wrist, which was already swelling. She moaned and braced her feet on the floor, trying to take some of the abuse off her wrist.

Another shot rang out. And above the noise the squeaking shocks made, she heard a hiss.

David cursed. “Shot my damn tire.”

He ran down the ditch and back into the middle of the road, but he fought the steering as he aimed the car straight at Colt.

Colt stood firm.

Zuri couldn’t believe the two of them. Both stubborn as hell. David had to know there wasn’t any escape, but he wasn’t giving up. Colt was an even bigger idiot, standing right in the car’s path. His expression was hard as stone. His eyes narrowed with deadly intent.

No way was she leaving her fate in either of their hands. Zuri brought up her legs and jabbed her feet toward David.

He took one hand off the steering wheel and reached for her. The car careened right into the opposite ditch and came to a rest against a fence post.

Her airbag exploded, plastic and chemicals slapping her in the face, dazing her.

David’s never deployed. His hands scrabbled for a hold on her legs, but as the bag deflated, she roused, wriggling and kicking, catching him with the edge of her heel against his jaw.

His head whipped back and hit the window glass.

Zuri kept kicking even though he lay still. She grunted with exertion, tears streaming down her face.

The door beside her jerked opened. Arms reached inside. The cuff was released, and she fell sideways out the door, but someone caught her. She kicked out again, bucking her body to free herself, still half-crazed.

Colt dragged her out the door and into his arms to hold her against his shaking body. “I’ve got you, baby. It’s okay, Zuri. It’s over.”

Her breaths came in jagged sobs. He ripped away the tape across her mouth and removed the wad of material. She dragged in a deep breath and screamed.

Colt pressed his cheek against hers and squeezed her tight. “Shhh…shhh, baby. Take a deep breath.”

She did, hiccupping, then jerked inside his embrace until he loosened his grip and she could turn toward him. She slammed her mouth against his and kissed him, awkwardly, crying at the same time.

Colt cupped her head, digging his fingers in her scalp and kissed her back.

When they came up for air, she leaned away, lifted her arm and slapped him as hard as she could across his face.

He didn’t move a muscle, although his expression shuttered.

She reached back again, but his hand shot out and caught her forearm in a firm grip. “Sure you want to do that?”

Everything she’d held inside erupted in a blistering scream. “You asshole! Think you’re Superman? That his car would bounce right off you? You scared the shit out of me!”

* * * * *

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