Free Shadow's Stand by Sarah McCarty Page A

harsh. “No.” He set her on her feet. The distance between them yawned like a chasm. “So stop playing with fire and remember how close you are to your new start.”
Yes, she had to remember. She didn’t understand how she could have forgotten. Maybe it was because there was so much she had to remember that she wanted something that could make her forget. Or maybe it was just him. Licking her lips, she wrapped her arms around her chest, flinching at the pressure against her sensitive nipples. How did he do this to her? “I will.”
Walking over to the horses, Shadow took a canteen off Night’s saddle. Uncorking the top, he held it out to her. On shaky legs, she walked over and took it.
“You’ll thank me someday.”
Maybe, maybe not, but today she was not in the mood to be patronized. “I’m not a child who needs to be told what is right and what is wrong.”
“No, you’re a grown woman, and that’s the problem.”
She gave him back the canteen. “There will be no problem.”
“I’m not right for you, Fei.”
The pronouncement hit her like a blow. She took a step back and held up her hand, keeping him from coming any closer. He stood there, backlit by the sun, a broad-shouldered, lean-hipped fantasy that could never be hers, shining light on her foolishness.
“You’re a decent woman, Fei, and I owe you.”
“And you pay your debts.” He was just paying his debts. Somewhere, she found the strength to pretend it didn’t matter. Picking up the mare’s reins she led her toward the clearing on the right.
“Yes.” Taking his hat off, he ran his fingers through his hair. “It can’t be more than that.”
She didn’t look back. “I understand.”
From behind, she heard him mutter, “The hell you do.”
T HE WOMAN DIDN ’ T HAVE a lick of self-preservation. Shadow followed Fei across the clearing, admiring the swing of her hips as she strode silently along. His fingers curled into his palm, cradling the sensation of her firm little ass. He’d never wanted anything more than he’d wanted to give her the experience she was so curious about. To bury himself in that hot little body and pleasure them both until she came for him and he for her. He’d almost lost his head and given in to the primitive need to take her, make her his, but then she’d cried. And the enormity of what he was doing had crashed in on him.
You’ve got the stink of the devil about you, boy.
His father’s words echoed out of the past. Shadow shook his head and smiled the smile that absorbed the coldness he felt inside. If rumor was to be believed, he didn’t just have the devil in him now, he was the devil. The shadow of death, passing over the land. But he didn’t want to be the death of Fei. Fei was innocence and passion bonded together with a disconcerting honesty. She made him smile. She made him burn. She made him want to be better for her. And he didn’t like it.
There was no point in him trying to be better than he was. He was a wanted man with a hefty price on his head. The only thing he could bring Fei was death. He didn’t want to have to watch her die. Worse, he didn’t want her to die because of him. And as they were out in the territory, it was more likely than not. But he’d give a hell of a lot for one night in her arms. Fei was a woman who knew how to love. The closest he’d ever felt to belonging was during that kiss earlier, when she’d held him as if she’d die if he let her go. But he had to let her go.
She stopped before a thick copse of bushes growing up against an old rock slide. Looking over her shoulder, she sized him up. “It’ll be a tight fit.”
“How tight?”
“Tight enough that I should have brought some goose grease in case you get stuck.”
Goose grease stank to high heaven. “I won’t get stuck.”
Scooting back against the side of the rock slide she slid around behind a boulder that was half hidden by the brush. Son of a bitch, was it a cave? “Don’t tell me this gold is in a