Shadow's Stand Read Free Page B

an artery.
As hard as she could, she pulled the blade toward her. The thief didn’t move. The rope didn’t give. His color took on an alarming blue hue. Maybe his neck was broken. What did she know? She jerked the knife upward and the rope separated under the sharp blade. The uncontrolled movement cut her breast. She cried out. The men around her swarmed in. She didn’t fool herself that it was out of concern. They were like vultures, these men. Brandishing the knife, she ordered, “Stay back.”
They laughed, but at least they stopped. The thief just lay there, not kicking, not moving. She thought he’d slid too slowly off the horse to break his neck, but he was certainly injured. She stood there, brandishing the knife, blood running down her chest, her voice far from the well-modulated tones her father insisted she always use as was proper for a woman of her station. “Do not come closer.”
“You think you scare us, little girl?”
Shaking from head to toe, the knife clutched in front of her, bloody blade thrust out, she stepped down hard in the middle of the thief’s broad chest to get his attention. He sucked in a wheezing breath and coughed.
“We must leave,” she informed him.
His gaze met hers. There was no denying that he was a handsome man. It was an odd moment to notice such a thing, but with danger all about, her senses seemed sharper. She wasn’t surprised that he didn’t immediately answer. He rolled to his side displaying his hands and the thin rope binding them. A quick, harsh slash removed the bond. Pressing his hand up to his throat, he checked the blood. “You rescuing me or killing me?”
His voice was rough, masculine with a pleasant rasp. A shiver went down her spine.
“I have yet to decide.” The men pressed in. This time she shivered for a different reason.
“Get away from him, Fei.”
“No.” She couldn’t back down. Couldn’t go forward.
The thief looked around. “Make up your mind.”
“I have. You are not listening.”
One cock of his eyebrow and she was suddenly reminded that dragons had long memories and couldn’t always be trusted.
“You don’t need a man as bad as that, Fei,” Barney said. “I’ll be glad to take care of your needs.”
“Hell, if we’re getting in line, I’ve got first dibs. I’ve had my eyes on this sweet thing for months,” Damon said, licking his lips.
Fear leaped inside her. This was not good. The thief just watched her, waiting. For what?
I want her to ask me.
For her to make a choice, she realized. The circle around her got tighter. Dragon or vultures? There was not much of a decision to make. Barney stepped in. The sheriff laughed. Herbert swore and turned away. The padre spat. Damon reached out.
“Marry me,” she gasped.
“I thought you’d never ask.”
With a speed that left her blinking, the thief was on his feet, the knife she’d been holding now in his hand, redder now with Damon’s blood. Before her Damon was screaming and holding his hand. Barney was on the ground, clutching at his face from the thief’s kick, and everyone was backing up while he just stood there, the slightest smile on his lips.
Dragon.
The sheriff slid his hand down toward his guns.
“I wouldn’t.” It was a warning given with lethal softness. The sheriff didn’t complete the reach for his gun, but his bluster continued. “What do you think you’re doing, injun?”
The thief snagged her hand. With disconcerting ease, he tugged her into his side. When she looked up, it was to find him looking down. She couldn’t read his expression, couldn’t read his eyes and didn’t know what he was trying to tell her as he squeezed her waist.
“By the looks of things, getting married.”

CHAPTER TWO
     
H IS NEW WIFE WASN ’ T MUCH of a talker. She’d been silent ever since their “wedding.” Shadow wasn’t sure the procedure they’d gone through was actually legal—hell, he wasn’t even sure the drunken fool who’d married them was really a