A Wolf in the Desert Read Online Free PDF Page A

heard. She could trust no one, would trust no one. In a resurgence of angry desperation she clawed at his chest and kicked his shins, taking bitter satisfaction in his nearly silent grunt of pain.
    â€œDammit, wildcat.” He caught her in a rib-crushing hold. To take a deep breath would crack bones. “Do you want me to give you back to the others?”
    Patience couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, still she wouldn’t surrender. Lifting her head, she glared up at her captor. In moonlight he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. But even evil could be pretty. “Let me go,” she demanded. “You’re hurting me.”
    â€œOnly because you make me hurt you.” He bent nearer, eyes that could only be black bored into hers. “Listen to me, believe me. I mean you no harm.” He searched her face. “Will you believe me?”
    She was off-balance, unsure. “I don’t know.”
    â€œIf I let you go, will you not fight me?”
    Patience didn’t answer. She looked at Blue Doggie lying in the dirt, at the others squabbling over her possessions. What choice did she have but to give a conditional agreement. “Let me go, I won’t fight you.”
    He didn’t release her. “Tell me your name.”
    â€œMy name?” She looked once more into the handsome face. “What does it matter?”
    â€œTell me your name,” he insisted softly.
    â€œPatience,” she snapped. “Patience O’Hara.”
    â€œGive me your word you won’t fight me, Patience O’Hara.”
    â€œWhat is this? Honor among scum?”
    â€œHonor, yes, between you and me.” His gaze was a black laser, leaving no hint of expression undiscovered. “Your word, Patience?”
    Her ribs hurt, she couldn’t catch a deep breath. In another minute she would be swooning in his arms. Even a stubborn O’Hara knew when she’d lost. Patience shrugged and agreed. “You have my word.”
    Once again the dark eyes searched her face, seeking the lie. “Good,” he said, and released her. “I think you’re a woman who keeps her word.”
    She stumbled away from him, folding her arms around her ribs as she sucked in hungry breaths. He made a concerned move toward her. When she jerked away he stepped back, murmuring, “I’m sorry I hurt you.”
    â€œThink nothing of it,” she flared. “I knew there were snakes in the desert, until now I didn’t realize one was an anaconda.”
    He didn’t smile. She hadn’t meant it as a joke. For a long moment he stared at her, his arms hanging at his sides. A trick of the moon painted his face in sadness. “I won’t hurt you again.”
    Patience straightened, her breathing an even rhythm. Her head was back, her chin tilted at an angle. “Do you have a name?”
    â€œI am called Indian.”
    â€œWhat kind of name is that?”
    â€œMine.”
    â€œIndian and what else?”
    â€œJust Indian, no more.”
    It wasn’t his real name, she realized, nor his only name. But, perhaps, it was enough. Certainly it was fitting, even too fitting among this cabal who found anonymity in flamboyant and garish aliases. Custer was no soldier, and Snake no reptile that crawled. Blue Doggie was an animal, but not blue until she’d battered his larynx. This man, who walked the desert as if it were his home, looked the part of his name. With silvery black hair clubbed at his nape and his chiseled features, he could have stepped out of the pages of history.
    â€œAll right,” she said when her study of him was done. “If that’s all there is, it will have to do.” Her eyes narrowed, her gaze locked with his. “Give me your word, Just Indian.”
    He smiled then, a smile that did wonderful things to his striking features even in the garish shadows of the moon. Another time, another place, another person, Patience