Reaper's Justice Read Online Free Page A

her head to the side, meeting his gaze. “And here I thought you needed to deliver me alive to get your payment.”
    “Alive don’t mean happy.”
    “No, but I imagine well fed means more money, and since your companions look like the greedy type, I imagine I will be fed regularly, which means your threat was not a very well-thought-out one, rendering it rather pathetic when it comes to persuasion.”
    The men nearest, having heard the exchange, laughed. Squint-eye’s face turned red. “You think you’re too good for the likes of me?”
    She bit back an “absolutely,” a cold, hard surge of pride giving her the control to keep the quaver out of her speech. “I’m merely pointing out that your threat lacks logic.”
    His face contorted into an ugly caricature. Before she even gathered his intent, he slapped her, his “Fuck you” joining the ringing in her ears as her head connected with the rough bark of the tree. A distant growl joined the rumble in her head. Lights flashed before her eyes and then the pain hit. She moaned. A shadow came between her and the firelight, rendering everything except the stars streaking across the inside of her lids black. A hand came under her chin, roughly jerking her jaw from side to side. “Damn it, Bob, if you broke her jaw, I’m going to cut your pecker off. A woman that can’t suck ain’t worth shit.”
    She didn’t want to know what those words referred to. The right side of her face throbbed a protest as José manipulated her jaw up and down. She tucked squint-eye’s real name away for future reference.
    “I didn’t break her damn jaw, just taught her some manners.”
    Adelaide opened her eyes and found the men staring at her with varying degrees of inquiry. José’s gaze dropped away from her face as abruptly as he had grabbed it. José’s profile was hard as he said, “Then next time choose a better way.”
    “Maybe he needs teaching on how best to discipline a woman,” a voice she didn’t recognize suggested.
    José glanced over at Bob, disgust on his face. “You might be right. Pay attention, boy.”
    As if it were nothing more than brushing a crumb off his shirt, Jose’s fingers closed on her nipple through her dress. She didn’t have time to absorb the shock of being so intimately touched before agony seared up from her chest, driving a scream from her throat. If she hadn’t been tied to the tree, she would have doubled over. Men laughed as she jerked upright. José merely continued his lesson. “You don’t need to mark a woman, boy, to make your point. Just grab hold of her teats and twist a bit.” Satisfaction edged the cold smile on his lips. “Works every time.”
    He let go, but the pain continued. As Adelaide reeled with the residual agony, she heard it again, that deep, unearthly growl that echoed in her mind. José’s head came up. “You all hear that?”
    Oh, dear Lord, it wasn’t in her head. There was a wild animal somewhere behind her growling, and she was tied.
    “Hear what?” someone asked.
    “A growl.”
    “Probably wolves drawn by the food,” Billings offered, rolling another smoke. “Winter’s been a hard one.”
    José drew his gun. “I fucking hate wolves.”
    Adelaide yanked at her hands.
    Bob pulled his revolver, too. “I’m not afraid of wolves.”
    Her estimation of his mental capacity dropped another notch. Wolf packs killed cattle, sheep, horses, and people when times got very tough. At the end of winter, times were their toughest. He crossed to the small fire and grabbed a stick, the slight swagger in his step telegraphing what he intended to do before he said it. “I’ll check things out.”
    “You do that, boy, and when you get your frozen ass back here, you can tell us all about the wolves you didn’t see.”
    Bob shot the speaker, the man she’d classified as “fancy-man” from his shiny vest and ornate spurs, a disgusted look. “Fuck you, Dempsey. If it’s close, I’ll find it.”
    “Don’t no