Rachel Donnelly by Lady Broke

“Maybe you wouldn’t have been disowned.”
    “Can’t argue with you there.” That’s what his father called him — a stubborn bastard. Nat took another swig from his tin mug, then tossed the rest of the coffee on the fire. Yup, no doubt about it, it was going to be a long day. He hefted Diablo’s saddle over his shoulder, resisting the urge to groan. He hadn’t felt this stiff since they were pinned down all night behind that outhouse in Virginia City. He strode to the stand of pines where the horses stood munching grass, dreading the long day ahead.
    After a night spent sleeping on the hard floor of the abandoned shack, every muscle ached. Holt slept outside under a cottonwood. If he’d had any sense he would have joined him, instead of giving in to a sudden uncharacteristic urge to have a roof over his head. For once, Holt’s snoring would have been a welcome distraction. Nat usually did his thinking in the saddle, but last night his mind just wouldn’t rest.
    He had Christie Wallace to thank for that. If she’d stayed in Murdock and minded her own business, he’d have gotten a damn sight more sleep. Easterners! They were more trouble than they were worth.
    But he had to admire her pluck. She was a feisty bit of fluff, all cream and honey one minute and sharp claws the next. And she tasted as good as she looked.
    Damned if she didn’t.
    Just thinking about her made him go hard. He swung up into the saddle then shifted his position to accommodate the bulge in his trousers. He should have thrown her down in the grass and taught her what happened to unprotected virgins in the west. It would have made for a more comfortable ride this morning.
    A pretty thing like her wouldn’t last long around here — so slender and elegant, like a new stalk of wheat. But she had a way of looking down her perfectly straight nose at you, lips half parted, as though she was waiting for something — as though daring you to touch her. Then, when he did, she wanted to slap his face.
    The way she’d lifted her chin and looked him straight in the eye had stuck in his mind, robbing him of sleep — that, and the prospect of answering his father’s letter. He hated to put it off again. He’d like nothing better than to go home and have it out with the old man — put the past behind them once and for all. But that wasn’t possible right now.
    Well, there’d be plenty of time to think about it in the hours to come. At least he’d had a good breakfast — thick slices of bacon, eggs, and biscuits. He’d made a point of relishing every mouthful. It was the last hot meal he’d eat for days. Once they closed in on the Everetts, there’d be no more fires. With any luck, they’d have the Everetts in their sights come nightfall.
    Then, maybe the nightmares would finally end.
    “They’re headed north,” Holt said, bringing his mustang, Caliber, up beside him. “Tracks stop a mile up river.”
    “Their Aunt Bess runs a boarding house in Virginia City. My bet is they’re taking Hank there.”
    Holt lifted a brow. “If he makes it that far.”
    “I only winged him,” Nat said, attempting, but not quite succeeding, in keeping the irritation from his voice. “He’ll live.”
    Holt continued in the same bland tone. “What happened to bringing them in alive?”
    “Maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
    “Makes no difference to me how we collect the reward.” Holt shrugged. “But if you kill them, you won’t have the satisfaction of watching them hang.”
    Nat’s mouth flattened. “We tried that once before, remember? They killed the only witness we had left.”
    “Well, now we’ve got us another,” Holt drawled.
    Nat’s blood went hot. “I told you, she’s not testifying.”
    “She tell you that?”
    “No, I told her.”
    Holt grinned knowingly. “She doesn’t strike me as the type of lady you’d tell anything to. Besides, her snot-nosed cousin was yammering on about it all the way back to Murdock last night. Said