My Cherished Enemy

She lowered her lashes and backed away. Kane evidently thought she was being coy. A half-smile of satisfaction curled his lips. One strap of her gown slipped down her arm. She made no effort to retrieve it. All the while she retreated, she prayed she wouldn't give herself away. Kane was not a man to toy with, and what she was about to do was unthinkable.

When she reached the chair in the corner, she turned and presented him with her back. Her palms grew damp as she extended her hand toward the chair. She could feel his stare digging like tiny needles into her and knew he watched her still.

And indeed Kane could scarcely take his eyes off her. He hadn't realized it until now, but her insistence on staying was a soothing balm to his ego. Lord knew he'd been feeling lower than a snake's belly lately. His eyes riveted on the tempting view she presented him. His mind began to run rampant with fantasies. First he intended to find out if those luscious breasts of hers fit his palms the way he hoped. Then he would fill his hands with that enticing little behind. So she was a virgin, eh? He wanted her to enjoy things, too, he realized. He'd make her as hot for him as he was for her, by God. He'd toy with her silken channel, stroking soft, velvet furrows and making her hot and wet. Then he would ease a finger—maybe two if she could take it—inside her. Yes, he thought. God, yes. Then later—

He got up and walked to the window, thinking she meant to undress and willing to give her what little privacy was available. The thought of the hours to come made him shift, the swelling of his rod straining beneath his pants. A crooked little smile on his lips, he promised himself that little problem would soon be taken care of.

"Kane."

He turned, thinking to find her naked and eager and waiting ...

Instead he found a revolver—his revolver—leveled at his stomach.

"Son of a bitch."

Even while he mouthed the curse, he was sorely tempted to laugh. This—this girl—had done what every lawman in New Mexico and half the West hadn't been able to do.

His head had begun to ache again. For the first time, Kane wished he hadn't consumed so much of that damned rotgut. In the cobwebbed recesses of his mind, he tried to gauge the distance between them. It wasn't more than a couple of yards. If he edged forward just a little, he might be able to grab the gun ...

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Her voice cracked sharp as a bullet. 'Take my word for it, Kane. I know how to use this."

The glint in her eyes carried a warning he wasn't inclined to ignore. Besides, the revolver was loaded, and drunk as he was, he could see that she handled it with an ease that spoke of long familiarity.

"What the hell is this?" he asked hoarsely.

Her chin lifted. "We're taking a little trip, you and I, Kane. And since I've wasted enough time as it is, I think it's time we got moving." With one hand she nudged his saddlebag from the chair, then shoved it toward him with the toe of her slipper.

"Pick it up," she ordered.

Kane did as she said, gritting his teeth against the pounding in his head as he bent and slowly straightened, then looped the bag over his shoulder.

"Very good, Kane." She nodded her satisfaction. "Now open the window. We're going out that way."

He blinked. His gaze slid reflexively toward the window, where a small overhang jutted out over the alley. From there it was perhaps ten feet to the ground below.

He didn't move. "What the hell's wrong with going out the front door?"

"So you can get lost in that crowd?" Her voice reflected her scorn. "Oh, no, Kane. I want you where I can see you." She gestured toward the window. "Open it," she repeated curtly. "Then get yourself outside before I decide to help you along."

An eerie chill ran down his spine. The revolver swung back, and this time it was level with his heart. He shoved the window up, thrust his legs through, and did the same thing any other drunken idiot facing down the barrel of a gun would do.

He jumped.

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Table of Contents

Title

Synopsis

Copyright

Letter to My Readers

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

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