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

“So how much are they willing to give for me these days?” he said, striving for some sort of normal conversation.


“Last time I saw a poster, it was a thousand for the pair of you. I guess I’ll have to go after your other half after I take care of you.”


Leon’s blood ran cold. The last thing he needed was for Grady to go looking for Kenneth. “You’d be wasting your time.” The answer came smooth; when the lie mattered, he could sell it with the best of them. “He didn’t make it.”


“Really? I heard that he was the only reason you got away from Marshal Behan when he shot down your horse.”


“He was. But he pushed himself too hard, trying to get me someplace safe. The winter caught us out.” He held up his weaker foot, wiggling his ankle. “Why do you think I’m still gimpy? He would’ve broken himself in two to see me right if he could.” And he had, but Grady didn’t need to know that.


Chapter 16