Nicademus: The Wild Ones by Sienna Mynx Page A

and get it. She hunted down each one of those raiders in her Tennessee town and killed them. All six. Cora kissed her hands. “Take some time off. Work in the kitchen, or go away if you need to. This ain’t the place to be next week.”
    Honey nodded her head in agreement. Cora sighed. She stood. She removed the gun from the waistband of her dress and handed it to Honey. “I can’t have you threatening the men who come in here, Honey. I can’t heal what hurts you, but I can provide you shelter and keep you from the hangman’s noose. Only if you learn to live and let live.”
    “I understands,” Honey said.
    Cora smiled. “Scared the shit out of Ezekiel! But he’ll be back.”
    Honey looked up and smiled. “Yea, he always come back.”
     
    **
    “Cora,” Sheriff Ben Taylor said.
    She turned from the table of cowboys as he sauntered into her saloon, bringing the heat and dust of the day with him. The sheriff headed straight for her bottom floor office. Cora patted one of the men on the shoulder and winked at Mable. Her girl hurried over to keep the friendly banter going. Cora followed the sheriff inside. He took a seat on the edge of the desk.
    “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”
    “Honey? She a problem. Ezekiel said she tried to kill him today.”
    Cora smiled. “Now you know he has a tendency to exaggerate. She fired a gun into the ceiling and he took off running. No harm done.”
    The sheriff stood. Cora’s gaze stretched upward to meet his. He stared down at her with those smoky brown eyes of his. “I let her stay here, turn a blind eye, she had a tough go of things. I was with you when we found her. You said you could handle her.”
    “I can—” Cora interjected.
    “I’m here to tell you it’s going to be trouble coming down on Nicademus soon. We got an outlaw on the run. I’ll have all kinds of lawmen and bounty hunters riding through town. You get caught harboring her, I can’t protect you.”
    “You don’t need to. I can take care of my girls. I can take care of ma-self,” Cora said.
    “Even from Tyler Shepherd?” he asked.
    Shock yielded quickly to fury. There was one name no one evoked in her presence and thankfully only two men in town knew it. Now one of them stood before her saying the impossible.
    Ben knew of her past with Shepherd. He hated the railroad baron with a raging passion because of it. Almost as much as he hated that Indian for taking her away from him. He stepped closer and this time she didn’t run from him completely. Maybe evoking the name Shepherd was enough to soften her to him. He didn’t care. He just wanted to touch her. And he did. He pulled her in by easing his arm around her waist. Her hands went up to his chest in protest. “The outlaw stole from him. It’s serious, Cora. He’s hired a damn army to find the bandit. The 9 th Calvary say he’s been bringing havoc in the neighboring towns and the governor is growing impatient with him. That hasn’t stopped him though. Which makes him even more dangerous. I want Nicademus safe. I want you safe.”
    He held her to him and leaned in to kiss her. She turned her head. He brushed his knuckles across her cheek and moved her silky curls away to reveal her neck.
    “Let me go,” she insisted. He captured her chin and forced her to look at him. He brushed his lips over hers and she pushed at his chest. “I said let me go!”
    “I’m tired of this!” he shouted at her. He forced her to the wall. The smell of her, the feel of her, he couldn’t stop himself. He yanked up her dress and she didn’t fight him.
    “So you plan to rape me like Shep? Treat me like he did to prove you a man?” she asked.
    “Rape? Is that what you think I’d do to you? I love you! Damn it, woman, you aren’t blind. You know it!” He couldn’t release her. Being between her thighs with her pinned against him had been denied him for too long. Even her breath smelled sweet. “What is it, Cora? What keeps you turning from me and