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

He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t like the idea of being left alone at the tree, standing around helpless. He bent and pulled up his pants. Riding was going to be miserable. His ass would be sore. He’d feel the fucking every step of the way.


He ducked his head to hide his smile. Running away had been worth it.


Besides, he could escape just as easily from the U.S. Marshals in Sacramento anyway.6


As soon as they reached Sacramento, Thomas felt torn. He knew he should turn Leon in, but that meant he’d have to lose the warm pressure of Leon’s chest against his back. That meant never seeing Leon again. That meant going back on his promise to give Leon a decent meal, and though he knew he didn’t owe Leon shit, he also knew he wasn’t the sort of man to go back on his word. But he wasn’t even sure what his word meant when Leon was sporting vibrant bruises on his throat, neck, and jaw, and could barely sit on the back of Max without wincing.


Chapter 21