Runaway by Bobbi Smith

doorknob turn and the door slowly start to open.
    Lane fully expected his unannounced visitor to be someone connected to the Cooper Gang, and he knew if it was, he would have to shoot first and ask questions later. He tensed as he saw the intruder’s shadow on the floor, and his finger tightened on the trigger.
    Dolly was frightened as she tried to slip into Lane’s room undetected, but she knew she had to do this. She couldn’t just knock on his door; she couldn’t risk the possibility that someone else might hear her and the word would get out that she’d gone there to see him. She was moving as quietly as she could, for she didn’t want anyone else in the hotel to know what she was doing. She had just about made it inside the door and was ready to whisper his name when she was suddenly grabbed by the arm and jerked bodily into the room.
    “Don’t! Bryce—stop!” Destiny exclaimed, pushing against his chest with all her might, trying to break away.
    “I always knew you were a woman with spirit,” he said, yanking her back tightly against him to kiss her again.
    Destiny had been kissed by several of her suitors, but none of their embraces had been so forceful or so unwelcome. She continued to squirm, to try to get away from him, but his hold on her was too powerful, too controlling. Destiny knew in that moment what being married to Bryce would be like, and she knew she had to find a way to flee. When he touched her breast in a most inappropriate manner, she was startled, and she did something she’d never done before—she jerked one arm free and slapped him in the face as hard as she could.
    “I said stop it!”
    Bryce had believed her resistance was just a ploy to make him desire her even more, but when she slapped him, he’d had enough. No woman ever hit him and got away with it.
    “So—you want to play rough, do you?” he ground out, drawing back to look down at her.
    “What are you talking about? I want to go home!”
    “This is what I’m talking about,” he snarled.
    Viciously, he backhanded her, and she cried out and collapsed on the sofa, stunned. Bryce pulled her fully beneath him then and ground his body suggestively against hers to let her know just how much he wanted her and what he planned to do to her.
    “You’re disgusting! Let me go!” Destiny recovered from the shock of his abuse and started to fight him again.
    “Oh, no.” He laughed. “We’ve only just begun.”
    “You’re horrible! I’m not going to marry you!” she protested.
    “Oh, yes, you are—” he sneered, reaching up to tear the neckline of her dress.
    She gasped as he bared the tops of her breasts, and she continued to struggle to free herself from his vile touch.
    “You’re mine—your stepfather’s sold you to me. You’re not getting away from me—ever—” He bent his head and began to press hot, wet kisses across the tops of her breasts.
    Destiny had never been touched this way before. Somehow she knew if she didn’t escape from him now, she never would get away. Battling against his superior strength, she reached out to the table beside the sofa, groping around, hoping to find something—anything—she could use as a weapon.
    Bryce was so intent on bringing Destiny to his will that she caught him totally by surprise when she managed to grab the vase that was on the table and bring it crashing down on the side of his head. The vase shattered on impact, and Bryce collapsed on top of her.
    The struggle had only lasted a minute or so. Now Lane stood over his assailant, his gun trained on the dark figure as he quickly shut the door, locking it this time to make sure no one else could get in.
    “Don’t shoot!” Dolly begged him in a strangled voice as she found herself staring up at the barrel of his six-gun. In that instant, she knew what it was like to face death.
    “What the—” Lane swore under his breath as he realized it was one of the saloon girls who was sprawled on the floor and not a member