Cherished by Jill Gregory

Author:Jill Gregory
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: fiction, romance, adventure, historical romance, sensuous, western romance, jill gregory
Publisher: Jill Gregory

16

The questions came at her faster than pistol shots.

“Where are the Montgomery brothers hiding out?”

“What does Rawdon want from Mr. McCray?”

“Where’d the Montgomery gang stash the gold from the Sanders mine?”

“What’s Rawdon’s interest in Fire Mesa?”

“Is Wade Montgomery planning to rob the Renshaw freight payroll?”

“Is Tommy Montgomery still in Arizona?”

“How much is Rawdon planning to bid for Fire Mesa?”

Bruises covered her arms and neck. Her lip bled, dripping down to stain the frayed bodice of her gown.

Knife Jackson’s face loomed above her like a nightmare, smirking, snarling. His eyes—tar-black, monstrously cold, savage—glittered with the pleasure of inflicting pain.

Juliana knew she’d never forget those eyes. She’d see them forever after in her nightmares. If she survived ...

The other two held her. Knife did the beating.

After a while, she couldn’t even scream. She whimpered when Knife knocked her to the floor with the back of his hand. The room crashed in on her. So much pain. Blinding lights exploded behind her eyes. A clamorous pounding slammed through her ears, ringing again and again. Juliana heard Knife’s voice as if from very far away.

“Answer me this time. If you say you don’t know again, I swear I’ll take the bowie knife to you and cut your face so that your own mother won’t recognize it. What is Rawdon after?”

Rawdon. Through the salt of her own blood and the tears on her lips, through the agony crashing through her head and body, she saw a cool, handsome face, smelled his clean pine-and-leather scent, felt his lips on hers. The hard floor faded away. The boots of the men standing over her blurred.

Rawdon.

“Yeah, Rawdon.”

Knife Jackson’s fetid breath rushed into her face as he grabbed her by the hair and hauled her to her feet. The glint of his knife shone in one hand as Juliana stared at him through pain-dazed eyes.

“What is Rawdon after, damn you?”

Juliana struggled to draw breath through the pain in her ribs. Her cut lip bled anew as she formed the words.

“If I knew,” she whispered, fear making her teeth chatter, “I wouldn’t tell ... you.”

The knife streaked toward her.

Juliana passed out.

* * *

Cole came awake to find something wet and sticky soaking his face, neck, and shirt. He forced his eyes open, despite the pincer-needles of pain that pierced them. When he lifted his head, groaning, he saw the ruby stream winding its way across the sawdust floor. Blood. His own blood. He was lying in it.

Where? Through the torture of bruised ribs and muscles, memory oozed back. His mind was still groggy with whatever evil concoction Fred had put into his whiskey, and it hurt when he blinked, but at least he remembered what had happened to him. Or at least some of it. Fred. The saloon girl. His drink.

He tried to get up and flopped back down into the red, sticky puddle.

His hands were tied behind his back. His ankles were bound together tightly by rawhide. Fred had done a damned good job.

Cole gritted his teeth. Sheer determination got him to his knees.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.