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lips and before she could say anything, he captured her mouth again, this time with more urgency.
    The starlit night, the fragrance of pine and earth, the wash of the cool autumn breeze…it all faded away under the influence of something she’d never experienced.
    Desire.
    To her consternation, Laurel felt her breasts tingle, the puckered peaks of her nipples against his chest. His teasing tongue dueled with hers, demanding a response, and she 30
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    Lawless
    sank the fingers of her free hand into the thickness of his hair, marveling at how soft it was when everything else about him was hard and unrelenting.
    It was Cal who finally tore his mouth away and she felt the scorching wisp of his breath on her cheek. Eyes closed, he simply held her and finally let out a short laugh.
    “That was the mistake of a lifetime, I have a hunch. I’m a damn fool.”
    The words sparked an awareness of her enthusiastic participation. She struggled to catch her breath. “That makes two of us. I haven’t even let Wes kiss me like that.”
    The man holding her went very still. “I take it you’re talking about your fiancé?”
    “I lied. We aren’t officially engaged but he’s asked.”
    “It was a bit naïve of you, if you don’t mind me saying, Miss Daniels, to think the idea of an outraged prospective husband would stop me if I had intended on doing what you thought I was going to do last night.” His voice once again assumed that easy, slow drawl and he disengaged their fingers. “It sure as hell wouldn’t have stopped Norton or any of the others from entertaining themselves.”
    The thought of that was so horrible she pushed it away.
    “Forgive me if I was feeling a little panicked and couldn’t come up with anything else.” She was embarrassed—at least a little bit—at her response to his kiss and the reply came out more tartly than she intended.
    His brows rose in amusement and his slow smile was devastating in the way it changed his handsome face. “You were actually pretty cool considering your circumstances. I’ve got to hand that to you. Even now, you’re really not scared, are you?”
    She was, but probably not in the way he meant. “Like I said before, I’m not afraid you’ll hurt me.”
    “Most of the people who have any prolonged contact with me get hurt in one way or another, Laurel. You might want to remember that.”
    The bleak note in his voice touched her. At a loss for a response, she simply stared at him.
    He said quietly, “Let’s get some rest.”
    All she could manage was a nod.

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    Emma Wildes

Chapter Four
    The whiskey was good, but he wasn’t sure about the company. To say Weston Harper was upset was the truth, but then again, who wouldn’t be? Will Daniels accepted the glass and could not think of one single reassuring thing to say to the man who sat across from him.
    Tall, dark-haired, his face set and grim as he poured another shot, Harper’s voice was raspy. “You know damn good and well what they’re doing with her.”
    Will tossed off his drink before answering. Thinking about what might be happening, or already had happened, to his sister would just drive him crazy. “My father is organizing a search party. We know where they took her off the train. Maybe the River Bend Outfit made the mistake of a lifetime. If we can track them, they’re all dead men.”
    “Dead doesn’t exactly fix this situation.”
    “If we get her back it does.”
    “Yeah, I suppose.” Wes shoved his hand into his normally immaculate hair and stared at his half-full glass. “I didn’t want her to go to Boston, much less travel back by herself. She’s just damned stubborn.”
    Well, it was true Laurel could be strong-willed, but what had happened was hardly predictable. She was nearly twenty years old and able to travel alone if she wanted.
    “Keep that in mind. She isn’t easily intimidated or bullied.”
    “Seven rough men to one slender