rolled onto her side and brought her knees up. She still couldn’t fathom that she’d actually shot him or understand why he hadn’t taken her to task for it.
He stretched out beside her and placed his arm around her. He tucked something beneath her hand. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as some of the loneliness receded. Closing her fingers around her deck of cards, she pressed them against her chest. “Why didn’t you get mad when I shot you?” she dared to ask.
“I was furious, but I understand your desire to escape. Besides, a man does not take his anger out on a woman.”
The night enveloped them in the intimacy of darkness, bringing him into a world she’d inhabited for too many years. Tonight the moon was but a sliver in the sky. She knew because each evening she took a mental note of its phase. She might be blind, but she refused to be ignorant of the world around her. She’d have an advantage tonight if she decided to slip away after Raven fell asleep.
“This friend of your father’s,” he said quietly, startling her from her reverie. “This Christian Montgomery. Have you ever met him?”
“Of course,” she replied, wondering why he would bring up this subject now.
“I know this man. Not personally, of course, but I read his story. The Texas Ranger Who Didn’t Wear a Gun . He is amazing.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Did you know that at one time he was a marshal? Many, many years ago, they wrote a book about him called The Marshal Who Didn’t Wear a Gun . I could never find it.”
Angela opened her mouth slightly. The notorious Lee Raven sought out books?
“Is there someone in Fortune besides your father who will be worried about you?” he asked after several long moments of silence.
“My mother, my sisters.”
His chest rumbled against her back as he chuckled.
“I meant a man.”
Her father’s friend Grayson Rhodes would be livid. He’d probably come in search of her, but she didn’t think he was referring to him. He was asking if she had a beau. She contemplated lying, but saw no advantage to it. “No.”
“Good.”
Within that one word, he’d managed to wrap an undeniable sense of possession. She didn’t know why the realization made forbidden sensations swirl through her.
Or why, when she finally managed to drift off to sleep, she dreamt of him. He stood within a thick mist. She couldn’t see his face, and yet, she knew him so well that it was frightening.
Chapter 6
L ee’s left arm ached unmercifully, while his right arm felt nothing at all, not even the heavenly softness of the woman whose head had managed to make his arm numb while she used it as a pillow. An incredible shame, he thought, as he cautiously, slowly, pulled what he hoped was the last pin from her hair. He tossed it into the darkness, to join the others he’d painstakingly located and removed. Her hair was incredibly thick, amazingly silky, and very abundant. Long. He was certain it would reach past the small dip in her lower back.
She snuggled closer against him. He suppressed a groan and balled his hand into a fist to stop it from cradling her face. He did not want to wake her because the moment she became aware of the way she’d burrowed into him as she slept,she would move away from him with the speed of a bullet fired from a gun.
She looked peaceful, her soft features limned by the pale, forgiving light of the moon and a million stars. While she was blissfully unaware of the way her body betrayed her, he relished the gentle swells flattened against the planes of his hard chest. He’d barely breathed when she’d first turned into him, fearful of disturbing her, of losing this moment of holding a woman close.
Five years ago, he’d made the decision to travel a lonely path in the name of retribution, but until now, the loneliness had never seemed so deep, the sacrifice so great. During all the long, solitary nights of imagining, he’d never dreamed that embracing a woman while she
He stretched out beside her and placed his arm around her. He tucked something beneath her hand. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as some of the loneliness receded. Closing her fingers around her deck of cards, she pressed them against her chest. “Why didn’t you get mad when I shot you?” she dared to ask.
“I was furious, but I understand your desire to escape. Besides, a man does not take his anger out on a woman.”
The night enveloped them in the intimacy of darkness, bringing him into a world she’d inhabited for too many years. Tonight the moon was but a sliver in the sky. She knew because each evening she took a mental note of its phase. She might be blind, but she refused to be ignorant of the world around her. She’d have an advantage tonight if she decided to slip away after Raven fell asleep.
“This friend of your father’s,” he said quietly, startling her from her reverie. “This Christian Montgomery. Have you ever met him?”
“Of course,” she replied, wondering why he would bring up this subject now.
“I know this man. Not personally, of course, but I read his story. The Texas Ranger Who Didn’t Wear a Gun . He is amazing.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Did you know that at one time he was a marshal? Many, many years ago, they wrote a book about him called The Marshal Who Didn’t Wear a Gun . I could never find it.”
Angela opened her mouth slightly. The notorious Lee Raven sought out books?
“Is there someone in Fortune besides your father who will be worried about you?” he asked after several long moments of silence.
“My mother, my sisters.”
His chest rumbled against her back as he chuckled.
“I meant a man.”
Her father’s friend Grayson Rhodes would be livid. He’d probably come in search of her, but she didn’t think he was referring to him. He was asking if she had a beau. She contemplated lying, but saw no advantage to it. “No.”
“Good.”
Within that one word, he’d managed to wrap an undeniable sense of possession. She didn’t know why the realization made forbidden sensations swirl through her.
Or why, when she finally managed to drift off to sleep, she dreamt of him. He stood within a thick mist. She couldn’t see his face, and yet, she knew him so well that it was frightening.
Chapter 6
L ee’s left arm ached unmercifully, while his right arm felt nothing at all, not even the heavenly softness of the woman whose head had managed to make his arm numb while she used it as a pillow. An incredible shame, he thought, as he cautiously, slowly, pulled what he hoped was the last pin from her hair. He tossed it into the darkness, to join the others he’d painstakingly located and removed. Her hair was incredibly thick, amazingly silky, and very abundant. Long. He was certain it would reach past the small dip in her lower back.
She snuggled closer against him. He suppressed a groan and balled his hand into a fist to stop it from cradling her face. He did not want to wake her because the moment she became aware of the way she’d burrowed into him as she slept,she would move away from him with the speed of a bullet fired from a gun.
She looked peaceful, her soft features limned by the pale, forgiving light of the moon and a million stars. While she was blissfully unaware of the way her body betrayed her, he relished the gentle swells flattened against the planes of his hard chest. He’d barely breathed when she’d first turned into him, fearful of disturbing her, of losing this moment of holding a woman close.
Five years ago, he’d made the decision to travel a lonely path in the name of retribution, but until now, the loneliness had never seemed so deep, the sacrifice so great. During all the long, solitary nights of imagining, he’d never dreamed that embracing a woman while she
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