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

Thomas ushered Leon inside, shutting and locking the door behind him. Steam rose from the tub, and Thomas’s muscles cried out for the soothing water. But that wasn’t why he ordered the bath to be set up. Thomas had a more pressing matter in mind as he unbuckled his belt.


Leon glanced at him quizzically, but obeyed without fail. He sat on the edge of the bed to tug off his boots, tossing them carelessly to the side, followed quickly by his socks. It was the first real chance Thomas had to see the gimpy ankle, the crooked little toe, the odd angle of some of the bones. It was a wonder he ever got his boots actually on, but Leon didn’t flinch under the inspection. He just continued to strip until his clothes rested in a heap on the floor.


Chapter 23