Free Bound by Honor by Diana Palmer Page A

“Will you be all right?”
    â€œYes.” She hesitated with her hand on the doorknob. “Eb, is it always like that?”
    He frowned. “What?”
    She looked up into his eyes. “Physical violence. Do you ever get to the point that it doesn’t make you sick inside?”
    â€œI never have,” he said flatly. “I remember every face, every sound, every sick minute of what I’ve done in my life.” He looked at her, but he seemed to go far away. “You’d better go inside. I’ll take you and Stevieout to the ranch Thursday and Saturday and we’ll put in some more time.”
    â€œFor all the good it will do me,” she managed to say nervously.
    â€œDon’t be like that,” he chided. “You got overpowered. People do, even ‘big, strong’ men. There’s no shame in losing a fight when you’ve given it all you’ve got.”
    She smiled. “Think so?”
    â€œI know so.” He touched her disheveled French knot. “You wore your hair down that spring afternoon,” he murmured softly. “I remember how it felt on my bare chest, loose and smelling of flowers.”
    Her breath seemed to stick in her throat as she recalled the same memory. They had both been bare to the waist. She could close her eyes and feel the hair-roughened muscles of his chest against her own softness as he kissed her and kissed her…
    â€œSometimes,” he continued, “we get second chances.”
    â€œDo we?” she whispered.
    He touched her mouth gently. “Try not to dwell on what happened tonight,” he said. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, Sally.”
    That felt nice. She wished she could give him the same guarantee, but it seemed pretty ridiculous after her poor performance.
    He seemed to read the thought right in her mind, and he burst out laughing. “Listen, lady, when I get through with you, you’ll be eating bad men raw,” he promised. “You’re just a beginner.”
    â€œYou aren’t.”
    â€œThat’s true. And not only in self-defense,” he added dryly. “You’d better go in.”
    â€œI suppose so.” She picked at the buttons of the shirt he’d loaned her. “I’ll give it back. Eventually.”
    â€œYou look nice in it,” he had to admit. “You can keep it. We’ll try some more of my clothes on you and see how they look.”
    She made a face at him as she opened the door. “Eb, do I have to go and see the sheriff?”
    â€œYou do. I’ll pick you up after school. Don’t worry,” he said quietly. “He won’t eat you. He’s a nice man. But you must see that we can’t let Lopez’s people get away with this.”
    She felt a chill go down her arms as she remembered who Lopez was. “What will he do if I testify against his men?”
    â€œYou let me worry about that,” Eb told her, and his eyes were like green steel. “Nobody touches you without going through me.”
    Her heart jumped right up into her throat as she stared at him. She was a modern woman, and she probably shouldn’t have enjoyed that passionate remark. But she did. Eb was a strong, assertive man who would want a woman to match him. Sally hadn’t been that woman at seventeen. But she was now. She could stand up to him and meet him on his own ground. It gave her a sense of pride.
    â€œDebating if it’s proper for a modern woman to like being protected?” he chided with a wicked grin.
    â€œYou said yourself that none of us are invincible,” shepointed out. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to admire a man’s strength, especially when it’s just saved my neck.”
    He made her feel confident, he gave her joy. It had been years since she’d laughed so much, enjoyed life so much. Odd that a man whose adult years had been imbued with such violence could be so