Read Online Come Spring by Jill Marie Landis - Free Book Online

jerked her up against him and she reacted immediately by trying to pull away. She continued to babble about her brother. He was determined to ignore it.
    “My brother’s twice the man you are. It won’t take him long to find you, even if you plan on riding to the ends of the earth.”
    Thinking of the secluded cabin in Blue Creek Valley hidden beyond the pass in the Laramies, Buck nearly told her that the end of the earth was exactly where they were headed.
    “... Kase Storm’s no coward,” she was saying. “No, sir.”
    The ground beneath them flew past as the big bay horse thundered northwestward. Somehow her words finally registered. Finally he concentrated on the name she threatened him with. Buck eased his hold a bit. “What did you just say?” he asked.
    “I said you had better release me this minute, or—”
    He shook her. “Not that. Who’d you say your brother was?”
    He felt her gloating even though he could not see her face.
    “Kase Storm!” she shouted over the pounding hoofbeats.
    “The Kase Storm, the one who used to be the marshal of Busted Heel?”
    “Exactly. The Kase Storm who is a crack shot, the man who wiped out the Dawson gang six years ago.”
    Even Buck had heard of Kase Storm. If this woman’s claim was true, Buck knew he was in worse trouble than he could ever imagine.
    He nearly believed her. He almost stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, but then he recalled one pertinent fact—Kase Storm was a half-breed.
    This striking blonde with the wide blue eyes could not possibly be the man’s sister.
    Buck smiled smugly to himself and urged his horse on. “My guess is that you heard stories about Kase Storm on the train and now you’re using his name to get me to let you go.”
    “That’s not true. He is my brother and when he finds you he’s going to beat you to death and shoot you between the eyes, skin you alive, and slowly roast you over hot coals!”
    She was really worked up now.
    “Jesus, lady. Just pick one, will you?”
    She pounded on his thigh with her balled fist. “I’m not joking. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn around and take me back.”
    “Not a chance, Alice.”
    “I’m not Alice!” she screamed.
    He detected a hoarseness in her voice and was pleased. Anything that might give him some relief from her constant protestations would be welcome.
    “You had better shut your mouth, Alice. This cold wind will give you a sore throat if you get it down your windpipe.”
    She groaned in frustration and then pouted in silence for a while before she said, “I have to relieve myself.”
    “Sure you do.”
    “Damn you!”
    “Shut up, Alice.”
    Buck stared up at the base of the mountains looming before them. Even riding double they had made good time, but he knew he would wear his mount into the ground if he didn’t put Alice on the mare soon. He glanced over his shoulder. There was no sign of anyone following; nothing but open plain stretched behind them for miles. He decided he had better ride a mile farther before he stopped and tied her to the other horse.

   4   
    A NNIKA clung to the pommel of the saddle, her hands numb with cold, and wondered how she would ever escape from this wild man. She ached all over. Her shoulders screamed with pain. He had tied her wrists together and then anchored the rope to the saddle. They raced over the uneven, barren ground against the biting cold wind, heading for the mountain range that lay to the north and west, judging by the position of the late afternoon sun.
    Fingers of clouds reached over the ragged mountaintops. Barely streaking the sky, the gathering wisps did not appear to pose a threat to them yet, but Annika knew by the harsh pace the man had set for himself and the way he kept glancing up at the sky that he was certain his earlier prediction of a storm would come to pass.
    She was freezing, her satin opera cape little comfort against the sharp wind. Thankful that she had worn her