Read Deserves to Die for Free Online

amusement.
    His grin widened, showing off white teeth against his bronzed skin. Like Blackwater, he had more than a trace of Native American blood in his veins, visible in his high, bladed cheekbones, ink-black hair and dark eyes, the kind of eyes that seemed to sear to her soul, eyes that were twinkling with that sexy kind of mischief that she found impossible to ignore.
    What had started out as a white-hot attraction and equally hot affair hadn’t flamed out as she’d expected. No, she thought, petting Nikita’s furry head before heading into the house, that first spark of interest had burned through all her barriers to the engagement and, she hoped, marital bliss.
    “Third time’s the charm,” she told herself as, with the dog on her heels, she walked through the open door and found her way up the stairs that would remain open, offering a view through the glass walls of the living room to the lake visible between each free floating step.
    The staircase had been designed before she had any inkling that she would get pregnant, or that in the not-so-distant future a toddler would be trying to climb up and down the steps. At that thought, she paused, imagining a child with Santana’s dark hair running through the hallways.
    She almost smiled and decided the staircase would need to be boxed in, at least for the next few years.
    Sooner, rather than later, she’d have to break the news to Santana.
    But not today.
    She just wasn’t in the mood.
     
     
    Eli O’Halleran couldn’t believe his good luck. Though his father, Trace, had always taken him with him when there were chores to be done around the farm, until today he had never said, “Yeah, son, come with me. You can be the lead dog on this one. Let’s see if we can find any other holes in the fence.”
    “All right!” Eli had said, thrilled. Within a matter of minutes, he’d ignored his breakfast, run to the barn and, with his dad’s help, saddled and bridled Jetfire, his black gelding.
    While his dad was still cinching his bay mare’s saddle, Eli rode Jet through the barn’s big roller door and into a back paddock. Both dogs, Dad’s shepherd and Bonzi, Kacey’s dog, which was at least part pit bull and probably yellow lab, were milling around, anxious to be a part of the action.
    “Hold up!” Trace called, but Eli kept going through a series of corrals as the snow fell, all the while feeling like a real cowboy, though he was not quite nine years old.
    “Come on,” he urged the horse as they reached the open gate to the final field. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse of his father leading Mocha from the barn and swinging into the saddle. The dogs, of course, had already escaped the barn and were sniffing and running in the fallen snow, while a cold wind was blowing, snowflakes falling from the gray Montana sky.
    “Eli!” his father called, just as Eli leaned forward, eased up on the reins and let the horse go.
    Jet surged forward, speeding into a full gallop and tearing down the long, tractor lane covered in snow. Eli’s hat blew off, but he didn’t care, loving the feel of the wind slapping his face and blowing his hair as he caught sight of the dogs bounding through the drifts and giving chase. Jetfire, after being cooped up in the barn, was eager to run. As Eli hung on, Jet tore up the field, a black blur streaking toward the foothills.
    Breathless, Eli didn’t care that his dad would probably be mad at him for taking off. It just felt right.
    The ground sloped up to a small rise and the gelding ran eagerly upward, breathing hard, racing toward the crest. Eli clung like a burr, his nose running and feeling numb in the cold.
    On the far side, the ground dropped off, sloping downward to the creek where the fence separated O’Halleran land from that of the federal government. It was where the problem had started, his dad had told him, a broken spot in the fence where five calves had found the break and gotten through. The strays had