Steel Coleman sinned in his heart the day he saw fifteen-year-old Riley Spencer. Driven by lust he couldn't acknowledge or control, he encourages his mother to marry Riley's father, joining the two families and creating a living hell for Steel in the process. In an attempt to spare his sanity, he goes for long rides from the family ranch, and he's not home to protect the family when bandits strike. Riley survives but their parents are murdered. Haunted by grief and guilt, Steel flees to catch the men responsible, promising his younger stepbrother he would return. He never does. When they meet again ten years later, Riley is a far cry from the boy Steel left behind. And he needs his former stepbrother to pay for the very real sin of abandoning him when he needed Steel the most. But their fateful meeting sends Riley running. Leaving Steel is the hardest thing he's ever done, but Riley understands what Steel knew all along -- it's too dangerous to stay. Will he be prepared to face the consequences when Steel inevitably catches up with him? Can forgiveness be possible?

Steel's Redemption

Sometimes, though, he’d get lucky and find a girl who could talk to him, who remembered civilization, and who appreciated having a man she could converse with. He’d rutted with those girls, too, and always found the experience enjoyable. Sometimes he entertained thoughts of marrying one, settling down in Denver or San Francisco and raising a family, hanging up the guns and making a living as the lawyer his mother had groomed him to be.


But none of those girls ever stimulated him like Riley did.


Chapter 5