Read As the Cowboy Commands [Ecstasy in the Old West 2] (Siren Publishing Allure) for Free Online

job filled the ten-cent-a-night hotels. There weren’t any brothels, but the hotels kept numerous women who rented themselves, and their rooms, out by the hour. The saloons were poorly lighted, sparsely populated, and served whiskey that went down the throat as gently as a hacksaw blade.
    The decent citizens of Whitetail Creek knew better than to be in this neighborhood at night, or even to unlock their doors. Jared could hear, in the emptiness of the streets, the outlaw gang running about, shouting to each other, searching for the man in black who had already caused so many of their vicious but close-knit clan to end up screaming in agony or silently dead.
    Jared turned toward Helen, and the moment he did, he wished he hadn’t. Or, rather, he felt as though he’d been struck with a lightning bolt. She was standing sideways to him, bent at the waist with her hands on her knees as she gulped in air. In that position, with her dress and camisole torn apart, and gravity playing its vital role in this visual moment that would forever be burned into Jared’s brain, he was given a view of extravagant feminine charms. Even under the duress of knowing that he would be instantly killed if he was caught by the gunmen pursuing him, and despite his own long and profligate history with women that left very little room for new experiences in the realm of sensuality, Jared considered the charms now exposed to him to be beyond earthly splendor. Helen was, in his eyes and at that moment, heavenly and angelic. Again his brain corrected itself, searching for clarity and precision in a world and at a time when clarity and precision were almost nonexistent. No, she wasn’t heavenly—she was incarnate eroticism. She was sexy as hell.
    He turned his back to Helen. Self-control of his libidinous impulses had never been particularly strong with Jared, and in Helen’s presence he discovered it was nearly nonexistent. Since his late teenage years, Jared had realized that he possessed steely willpower regarding almost all facets of life. However, when he looked at his reflection in the mirror and stripped away the flesh until he got down to the very bones of his existence, he also knew that where women were concerned, he was weak-willed and intemperate in the extreme. How many times had he promised himself that he would never again be in bed with this rich young belle or that flirtatious debutante? And how many times had he promised himself that he would never again listen to their empty chatter or let himself get tugged into their bedrooms to give them the satisfaction that their other lovers could not provide?
    The answer to the question he didn’t want to ask himself, but couldn’t avoid, was too many times.
    With a conscious effort, Jared forced Helen’s magnetic, voluptuous allure—and his own shortcomings—from his thoughts. He looked around the alleyway and considered his predicament. Earlier he had replaced the spent cartridges in his Colt with fresh ones, which meant that he now had six rounds in his pistol and three additional rounds in his jacket pocket. That would be sufficient if he found himself in a duel but woefully inadequate should he get into a protracted gunfight. And with Helen with him, he couldn’t run or attack as he otherwise would have.
    He said, “How much farther can you go?”
    “Not…far,” was the gasping response. “Leave. Go without me. I’ll hide somewhere until morning. I’ll be fine.”
    “I won’t leave you.” He spoke the words softly but with a finality that left no room for ambiguity.
    “But—”
    “My decision has been made, so save your breath,” he said sharply, cutting off her protests.
    He looked up and down the alley. There was nothing that would provide reasonable protection, a permanent safe haven from the outlaw gang searching for them. Then he spotted the fire escape ladder on the redbrick building at the opposite side of the alley.
    “I’ve got an idea,” Jared said, turning