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

“Can I just ask one thing?” Leon said when they parted. He didn’t want to speak at all, but he knew there was too much that needed to be cleared up before he could go any further. “If the day comes you don’t want me around, or another bounty hunter wants to take me in, will you let me just walk away? Please?”


“Yes. On the condition that you never ask me to turn a blind eye to anything illegal.”


“Agreed.” His fingers toyed with the shirt, loving the feel of the hard muscles beneath the rough fabric. “It’s not going to make things hard for you? Having a wanted man underfoot?”


“Well, you’re not just a wanted man, are you? You’re my partner.”


He wanted to say that being partners didn’t take his name off posters. Or erase certain marshals’ memories. Or get rid of the bounty on his head if someone else got greedy. But Thomas didn’t look like he cared about any of that. He regarded Leon with the same level gaze he always did, assessing and—this time—not finding him lacking.


Chapter 38