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. I say you do. Look here, mister.Don t know what you heard  Heard you took some cattle didn t belong to you from an ailing old man andhis wife, Devin interrupted. Whatever yarn she wove is a lie.No one round here listens to a two-bitwhor  The knife slicing the top of his ear off halted the ending of his sentence.Instinctively, Hardin s hand went to what was left of his bloodied ear, and hegrunted. Speak out of line again, and the next will cut out your fool tongue. Devinspewed pure hatred, and Leroy Hardin s eyes widened as he swallowed harshly,blood gushing from the gash in his ear, spilling down his arm. Where s the cattle? Done drove  em to Louisiana. Mighty neighborly of you to go through the trouble.Mrs.Spawn willappreciate the money from the bill of sale you made on her behalf.126 Samantha Cruise Why, I  Hardin stammered. You have a problem with that? No.No, of course not.Don t have that kind of money lying around. Bank s open tomorrow.She ll wait till then. Look here, she doesn t know what s owed her.We can make some sort ofdeal.I like how you handle things.Ride for me.I ll pay you well. Wouldn t you like to know who you re hiring? Doesn t matter.I could use a fella like you  round. Hardin s tone grew inconfidence. Turn on the light, Devin instructed in a throaty whisper, smoldering in thedarkness.Steadily, Hardin reached for the oil sconce ensuring no moves weremisjudged.As the light filled the room, his face went pale when he faced Devin.Devin had leaned casually in the corner with a foot planted on the wall behindhim.He nudged the brim of his hat off his forehead to give Leroy a good, longlook. Name s Spawn& Devin Spawn, he drawled.Leroy Hardin s face turned a nasty shade of green, and his eyes bulged in theirsockets.No doubt, Leroy Hardin had heard a story or two.Within gun sight of thedevil himself, Hardin should be guessing right about now he was damned lucky tostill be alive.Across the room, Devin moved but kept his eyes on the other man.Heextracted the knife near the wall sconce.Hardin flinched. Seeing as how I own the ranch, Devin stated matter-of-factly in his deep,calculated tone as he reclaimed the knife near Hardin s hip and returned both totheir sheaths,  don t think I ll be able to take&  He pulled the blooded knife thatsliced through the man s ear from the door and wiped it on Hardin s upper arm. You up on your generous offer.Devin stepped back, and returned the bowie knife to the sheath strapped to hiswaist. You have till noon tomorrow to make amends.Devil s Pact 127Chapter 10Devin chose the cover of the pecan trees to the right of the ranch house, aposition to give him a clear view, unrestricted shot and cover from approachingriders from different angles.The small hill behind the barn and larger hills behindthe house meant riders had to travel over the hills, or take the dirt trail leading tothe house and risk detection.A bigger risk to anyone sneaking up tonight wouldbe to angle across the open land to the left of the house or cut through the pecantrees, where he could easily hear them.Whichever way they chose, he could seethem, yet they couldn t see him.Thanks to his Comanche friends, he was a masterat blending into his surroundings and moving about undetected.He didn t bother to go inside and inform Megan of the situation.She d findout soon enough when the fireworks began if Mr.Hardin didn t take kindly toDevin s suggestion.There was nothing else for him to do but wait.When the stars dimmed and the blackened sky turned to gentle hues of yellowand blue, he couldn t help but bemoan his annoyance.If Hardin started in on him,as Devin hoped he would, then he could finish off the no-account scum.Appears Mrs.Megan Spawn was coming into some money. Lucky bastard gets another day, he grumbled as he drifted silently into thehouse, bearing an armload of firewood for the hearth and a bucket of water tomake a pot of coffee before Megan woke up.Since he wasn t able to get anysleep, he needed the jolt a hot cup of black coffee supplied.His sense of hearing was acute.The squeak of the mattress told him she dclimbed out of bed.Moreover, the shuffling of tiny feet slipping into her houseslippers and rustle of clothing as she donned her robe lent an intimacy to hismind's eye.The light patter over the wooden planks moving toward the bedroom128 Samantha Cruisedoor made him more anxious than he had a right to be.He sat in the chairpositioned near the parlor window, his gaze focused on the landscape before him.He gathered from her startled gasp when she opened the bedroom door thatshe was very surprised to see him alive.With his back to her, she couldn t see thesmirk on his face. Morning, he offered quietly without turning around.She rushed to his side, a white eyelet robe wrapped tightly around her smallframe.Underneath, an oversized, long-sleeved eyelet nightgown buttoned to theneck dragged on the floor.Did none of her clothes fit properly? he wondered.Her long, honey-coloredringlets tousled down her back and over her shoulders.Her face was drawn, andthere were dark shadows under her eyes.From the looks of it, he could tell she dhad a rough night. Devin, she breathed.Her eyes seemed to absorb him like a veneratedapparition.As if requiring reassurance he was real and not a dream, she laid ahand on his shoulderHe stared at the dainty hand resting on his shoulder and followed it up to hereyes.The heat of that one little unexpected touch burned right through his clothesand stirred his groin.Covered from neck to her toes, she looked damned sexierthan any naked, sprawled-out, highfalutin whore he d ever laid eyes on. Made coffee, he offered, dropping his gaze once again to the small handsearing his flesh through his clothing because he couldn t bare to look at her amoment longer without touching her.* * * *Megan looked where he did, withdrawing her hand from his shoulder quickly.She tucked the robe tightly under her neck, suddenly feeling as exposed as lastnight when she stood in the washtub.The intensity of his silvery eyes washedover like heated waves, seeping through her pores and ignited what she could onlyname as forbidden arousal.The only fate worse than Devin Spawn s death would be his continuedexistence on the Reed Ranch.Devil s Pact 129Dear God, how would she manage to ignore this man when she could scarcelybreathe whenever he was near? What happened? she asked uneasily, afraid to acknowledge last night svexing exchange had truly transpired, but she had to know.She held her breath,and waited. Son-of-a-bitch is still alive. His voice weighed heavily with distaste. He llpony up.A miserable dread filled her soul at his declaration.Her tightening heartgripped her.Hardin is alive [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]