Lean Stroud is wanted for robbery and a murder he didn't commit. On the run to California with his partner-in-crime, Kenneth, he spots the relentless bounty hunter, Thomas Grady, on the train. The only way to protect Kenneth is to create a distraction, and that's what he does when he flees the train at the top of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He forces Thomas to chase him, but nothing can prepare him for what it means to be caught.<br><br>Thomas Grady always gets his man, and Leon Stroud is no exception to that rule. But almost from the moment Thomas touches Leon, he wants the outlaw for something besides his bounty. Driven by desire he doesn't understand, he repeatedly claims Leon's body on the long journey from Soda Springs to San Francisco -- and Leon only begs for more. An even bigger threat, with a larger bounty, could be the very thing they need to drive them together. Or tear them apart.

Stealing West

The man stiffened at first. He was considerably shorter than Thomas, fitting against his length. Leon’s hair tickled his chin, his bound hands between their bodies stopping them from curving more naturally together. Thomas waited until Leon exhaled, but it was the stretching of his fingers that came rather than a shift elsewhere. The knuckles brushed over Grady’s coat. Then brushed over it again.


“Yeah, I bet they are. Can’t untie you, though.”


“I’m not going anywhere.” He paused. “I wouldn’t get ten yards on this foot.”


“I noticed you were favoring it on the train. What did you do to it?”


“Broke it. Then was too stubborn to get it set soon enough.” He chuckled, though if it wasn’t from the sound, Thomas would’ve thought it was more shivering. “That probably doesn’t surprise you.”


“Not in the least. Sounds like you’re going to be lamed up for a while. Does it always hurt?”


Chapter 11