Boot Hill Bride Read Online Free

he one of
    the customers from Danny J's? Had he followed her last
    night?
    All of a sudden the blanket was snatched from her face.
    She caught the edges before they fell below her chin and
    exposed her lack of clothing.
    "Randilynn, how dare you!" Belinda screeched, reaching
    for another handful of the covers.
    Mid-air, the man caught Belinda's hand, kept it from
    yanking the blanket away. His eyes narrowed as he gave her
    step-mother a menacing stare while his other hand tugged
    the wool from Belinda's fingers.
    Startled, Belinda took a step back and twisted her neck
    about. "Thurston!"
    The man resettled the covers below Randi's chin, and his
    arm, still looped around her shoulders, tightened a touch. The
    friendly gesture made her want to fold into his shelter. Randi
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    Boot Hill Bride
    by Lauri Robinson
    fought the urge and glanced to her father. His angry frown
    made tears well in her eyes. She hung her head, wished again
    she could just disappear.
    "Thurston, this is terrible. Absolutely the worst thing
    possible," Belinda said. "It's all your fault."
    "My fault?" Aunt Corrine questioned with disbelief.
    Randi glanced up to see the two women furiously flaying
    their index fingers at each other.
    "I'd say it's all your fault. You're the reason she has no
    home." Corrine took a step closer, poked Belinda in the chest
    with her finger.
    Belinda thrust her finger below Corrine's nose. "We've
    given her everything! Everything!" Belinda screeched, as she
    twisted her long neck. "Thurston!"
    Corrine didn't miss a beat. She turned her gaze and finger
    to her father. "And you! You know what I think of you. You
    slimy—"
    Her father's voice mingled with Corrine's and Belinda's and
    soon shouts filled the tent. The man's hold on her shoulder
    tightened. No longer able to control her urge, and as if it was
    the most natural thing in the world, she turned and buried her
    face in his shoulder. His cool flesh felt heavenly to her
    burning skin.
    The yelling increased, and she quit listening, stopped
    trying to decipher who said what to whom, until, above the
    rest, a deep rumbling voice growled, "Get out! All of you get
    the hell out of here."
    An invisible board jutted up her spine, made her head snap
    up when she realized it had been the man who shouted.
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    Boot Hill Bride
    by Lauri Robinson
    The tent went silent for a moment before her father said,
    "I will not get out! That's my daughter in bed beside you."
    "We need to get the sheriff, Thurston," Belinda said.
    "No need for the sheriff, I got the preacher coming," the
    woman named Stephanie Quinter insisted.
    "The preacher?" Aunt Corrine twisted about to stare at the
    bed.
    Shocked? Embarrassed? Randi had no idea what she felt
    and gave up trying to decipher it. Bowing her head, she
    moaned.
    "This is my tent, and I'm telling you all to get the hell out
    of here," the man insisted.
    She tugged up the blankets, used them to cover both ears
    as the shouts renewed. They came from all directions. Male,
    female, screeches, sobs. Her mind swirled. There were so
    many topics, not one settled long enough to form a solid
    thought. The bellowing and bawling was enough to wake the
    dead. She squeezed her lids shut again, blocked out red faces
    and crying eyes, and wished she could do the same with her
    ears.
    A loud blast ripped through the chaos.
    Instinctually trying to hide from the gunshot, her body
    jolted, and her fingers searched to grab something solid. They
    latched onto warm muscled flesh, and she twisted, burrowing
    into the body beside her.
    Silence hung in the air. After a few quiet seconds, Randi
    realized the bare flesh of her breasts was pressed against
    something warm and solid. She lifted her head from the crook
    of the man's neck and peeked down.
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    Boot Hill Bride
    by Lauri Robinson
    Lord! She was sitting on his lap, well almost on his lap,
    and her hands were wrapped around his bare torso. One of
    his hands held the blanket snugly across her shoulders,