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Licking flames were building dangerous fires within Runner. He ground his mouth into Stephanie’s lips. His hands made a slow, sensuous descent along her spine. His hands clasped her rounded bottom through her skirt and molded her slender, sweet body against him. His breath quickened with a yearning. He wanted her fiercely.
Then his heart made a wild jump and he drew quickly away from her as someone nearby cleared his throat to reveal their presence.
Trembling, left shaken with desire, Stephanie tried to control her breathing as she stared wild-eyed at Damon standing close by in the darkness with a mocking smile on his lips.
Her face flamed with embarrassment, and then an intense anger swept through her. She wanted to slap him, but stood her ground, for her knees were still too weak to move, even in defense of herself.
She looked over at Runner, expecting him to say or do something. When she saw the utter hate in his eyes as he stared at Damon, she realized just how much Runner detested the rancher.
She gasped and took a step backward as Runner brushed suddenly past her, loosened his stallion’s reins from the hitching rail and swung himself into his saddle. She wanted to cry out for him not to leave, but her words seemed frozen in her throat while he rode off in a hard gallop.
“He ain’t fit for the likes of you,” Damon said, drawing Stephanie’s gaze quickly back to him. “Now, for example, take me. I’m more your kind. I live by the rules of the white people. When I take you to bed, you won’t have to worry about what Injun wench I may have been with the night before. I don’t like the savages, so’s I don’t touch ’em.”
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you are ever going to take me to your bed,” Stephanie said, inching away from him. “I don’t know why Adam has made your acquaintance. I see you as nothing but vile.”
Damon took a quick step toward her and grabbed her by a slim wrist. He yanked her against him and glowered down at her. “I don’t like being talked to like that, especially by a woman,” he said between clenched teeth. “I think you need to be taught a lesson or two, and I’m just the gent to do it.”
Damon crushed his mouth to Stephanie’s, in a wet, slobbering kiss, and her insides grew cold with disgust. She tried to wrench herself free, but he tightened his grip.
Panic seized her when he started lowering her to the ground.
She pushed at his chest. She kicked at him. But none of this stopped his attack.
He threw her to the ground and then loomed over her, leering.
She struggled to get back to her feet, but he was too quick, spreading himself atop her, his mouth again assaulting hers with hard, bruising kisses, one of his hands groping beneath her skirt.
Her one wrist left free, Stephanie saw no other choice than to draw her derringer from its small holster and hold its barrel against Damon’s chest.
“What the—?” Damon gasped, recoiling at the feel of the gun. He moved to his knees and stared blankly at the derringer, stunned that Stephanie had the nerve to pull it on him.
“Put that thing away,” Damon said guardedly, moving slowly to his feet.
“Get out of here and leave me alone,” Stephanie said, slowly standing, though wobbly.
When Damon did not venture to make a move away from her, Stephanie leveled the derringer at him. “Now, Damon, or by God I will pull the trigger,” she said, her voice a low hiss.
“I think you would,” Damon said. He took slow steps away from her. He held his arms out away from himself, as a way to show her that she had gotten her message across. “Just lower that thing, Stephanie. I meant you no harm. I was just havin’ a little fun.”
“You call that fun?” Stephanie said tersely. She motioned with the firearm. “Go on. I’ll take my leave only once I know you are back inside your house. I can see now why Runner shows such little trust in you. You have surely given him and the Navaho many reasons not to.”
“What I do ain’t no
ne of your business,” Damon said, stopping to leer at her. “And don’t you go tellin’ Adam what happened here. We’re partners. We’ve got things to do.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Adam said as he ran toward Stephanie. “Is this why you asked me to stay in your house while you had something to get done in the corral?” He gasped as he discovered the derringer being held at Stephanie’s side. He gave it a lingering look, then gazed at his sister and saw the fear and anger in her eyes as she stared over at Damon, then he turned toward Damon himself. “Is my sister that business you spoke about? She’d not have her gun drawn on you if you hadn’t caused her trouble.”
“Like I told her,” Damon said, shrugging, “I was just havin’ a little fun. I see now that she ain’t got no sense of humor.”
“Sense of humor?” Stephanie said, her voice breaking. “Adam, he would have raped me if I hadn’t drawn the gun on him. His . . . his . . . filthy hand was already up my skirt. He . . . forced . . . me to kiss him. He even forced me to the ground.”
“It’s only because I found her kissin’ the Injun,” Damon said, again shrugging. “I just thought she might share some of that lovin’ with me after Runner left.”
Adam looked quickly over at Stephanie. “You were kissing Runner?” he asked, slowly smiling.
Stephanie lowered her eyes, her cheeks hot with a blush. “Well, yes,” she murmured. Then she raised angry eyes at Damon again. “Runner and I were kissing because I allowed it. As for Damon . . .”
Adam’s heart was hammering inside his chest, but not because of being repelled over Damon having taken advantage of his sister. Adam saw that his plan to see Stephanie and Runner together had begun to happen. He wanted to shout hallelujah, but instead had to pull himself together and give Damon the scolding that was expected of him.
