Free Nicademus: The Wild Ones by Sienna Mynx Page A

grinned. “Ms. Kitty won’t send for me. We free to do as I please.”
    “You said I needed to stay hidden,” he reminded her. “What about our friend Jessiemae?”
    “Took care of her. She gon’ be squatting on the honey pot all day thanks to a little cayenne in her dinner last night.”
    Jeremiah roared with laughter.
    “Yep, I think we can manage a little fishin’,” she said taking his plate and hers. “What you say? The walk will do you some good. Walkin’ around this place ain’t no way ta stretch them legs, outlaw. You wanna go or not?”
    “Where’s my gold, Annabelle?” he asked when the laughter died down.
    She turned and smiled. “Is that all you think on?”
    She thought she detected a flicker of humor in those green eyes that she could seize upon. Recently she had discovered that having his attention excited her. And there were few men who gave her that warm feeling when she was around them.
    “I’m a bandit, a man on the run, remember? I think I’ve been pretty patient. Do you trust me or not? You got me staying in here with you. Keeping me fed and alive, but I can’t have my things?” he asked.
    “You’re my pet,” she said defiantly, crossing her arms.
    Jeremiah chuckled, and his smile reached her heart. He was getting stronger. And his attraction to her was growing as well. None of this went unnoticed by Annabelle. In fact, she was puzzled by her attachment to him. She even had the man sleeping next to her in bed. He was nothing like she’d imagined men like him to be. They talked with ease. She found him funny at times. Once he made her laugh so hard with a story about Randy, his horse, that she had a cramp in her stomach. Maybe he wasn’t to be trusted, especially with her feelings. But the forbidden game they played with words and sideways looks made her want to explore the attraction.
    “Well then, I guess you should have it,” she said matter-of-factly. She went into her room and fetched it. Of course she knew there was still a risk that once he had it he’d turn on her. But she felt Jeremiah was honorable. Like her pa, she could feel things too. Carrying his bag of gold and six irons, she put them on the table, minus the bullets.
    Jeremiah grabbed the gold first. He opened the bag and did a mental check. He looked up and saw her glaring at him with her hands to her hips.
    “Go head … count ‘em. I’m no thief!” she declared.
    “I know you ain’t.” He stood and took his things. Dropping the gold nuggets on the cot he checked his pistols, then frowned. “Where’s the bullets?”
    She cocked her head to the right and gave him a challenging stare. She had to be the most stubborn and most willful woman in her town. There was no bending her. Dropping the guns in the sheet he balled them up, then tucked them safely under the cot, hidden from view.
    “My hidin’ place was safer, but suit ya’self.” She shrugged.
    “Now about that fishin’?” he smiled.
    She studied him a moment longer before speaking. “Thought you was set to go?”
    He took a step toward her. He liked the defiant way she stood her ground. “I don’t think we done with each other yet. Besides, a man got to eat don’t he?”
    “Sure he do,” she grinned.
     
    **
      The smell of sweet grass, pine, and moist earth unfurled in her nostrils and filled her lungs. There was a risk of them being discovered at the creek, but she understood why they both ignored it. It was just the need for freedom.
    “You survived the war,” she said.
    “I did.”
    “How?” she asked.
    “How what?” he replied.
    “How was war?” she asked, stealing a look at him. He clenched his fists, the muscles in his forearms hardening beneath his sleeve. His eyes remained trained on the water of the creek ahead, never returning to hers. When he spoke there was such hollow emptiness in his voice.
    “It felt like slavery,” he replied. His answer floored her. She’d seen soldiers. Black and white soldiers full of