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

Per their prior arrangement, they split up outside the Birdcage, Thomas slipping into the shadows while Leon went around the back. It didn’t take much to find Sue’s dressing room, but a man who made Thomas look tiny sat outside her door, clearly meant to be a deterrent. For a second, Leon thought it might be this Phoenix guy, but when one of the serving girls came waltzing down the corridor and addressed the guard, he realized he was just an employee.


He had to wait nearly an hour before the man got up to take a leak. Only then could Leon slip inside.


Susie sat at a dressing table, her back to the door as she brushed out her long brown hair. Her reflection in the mirror showed the vague blue eyes, off focus like he had always known them. Scarlet fever had stolen her sight as a child, but it had done nothing to mar her simple beauty or taint her vocal talents. She sang like an angel, and she had the porcelain complexion and bow mouth to go with the image.


Chapter 32