Free Samantha James by Outlaw Heart

and set off down the deserted street. The blast of gunfire shattered the early-morning air, whizzing over his left shoulder.
    Horse and rider never slowed their pace.
    The next shot took the hat right off his head.
    The pair stopped. Kane flung his leg over the pommel and leaped to the ground. His long legs breached the distance between them. Hands on his hips, he ground to a halt with the gun mere inches away from his chest. A fierce scowl blackened his expression. “Do you really think that’s going to make me change my mind?” he demanded.
    Abby stared up into those dark, hard features, quaking from head to toe. In that instant, she cast pride and dignity to the wind. Later there might be regrets—for now, there were none.
    She swallowed painfully, her throat clogged tight with fear and desperation. When she spoke, her voice was little more than a thread of sound. “I—I need you, Kane. You’re the only one who can help me find Dillon, the only one.” The barrel of the gun wavered. “I’ll give you anything, Kane, anything you want. Please help me,” she whispered. “ Please .”
    That one word was his undoing. Kane went utterly still, his gaze locked on the glitter of tears she tried to hide but couldn’t. Her eyes were huge, her soft mouth tremulous. The hopelessness of that look clamped tight around his heart and doggedly refused to let go.
    He swore silently, disgusted with both himself and her. He’d thought himself immune to all that was decent and caring—that he was so hardened and embittered that not even tears could sway him.
    He was wrong.
    A bitter ache scored his gut. All at once he couldn’t forget the words she had flung at him earlier. You’ll be saving a man’s life. Maybe it’ll ease your conscience a little .
    Kane had long ago convinced himself his conscience had died along with Lorelei—yet wasn’t his damnable conscience why he’d come here in the first place? Why he’d decided to leave his life of lawlessness behind and start over?
    Hell, he thought disgustedly. He was a fool, even contemplating something as foolish as this … If he had any brains, he’d turn around, ride out of town and forget he’d ever set eyes on this stubborn little beauty.
    He couldn’t. Damn her blasted angelic face and helpless feminine ploys to hell and back, but he couldn’t.
    In one fluid motion he knocked the gun from her grasp and hauled her up against him. “You’re pretty damned determined to shoot me,” he said tightly. “But tell me this, Abigail . Who the hell’s gonna take you to Stringer Sam if you do?”
    At first Abby didn’t comprehend, but then she realized … she’d won. She didn’t know how she knew, but somehow she did.
    She stared up into that rough, lean face. His mouth was a grim slash, his jaw prickly and dark with a day’s growth of beard. At that moment, no one had ever looked dearer. “You—you’ll help me?”
    His gaze scoured her from head to toe. “It’s no trip for a woman,” he stated. “You’d be better off staying here and letting me go find your precious Dillon.”
    And take the chance he’d ride off and never come back? “No!” Her objection was immediate and strenuous.
    His tone was as harsh as his expression. “I don’t have time to coddle a spoiled brat who can’t stand the thought of not having her way. You’re better off staying here.”
    His insult slipped right by her. Panic leaped riotously within her; he looked and sounded utterly unyielding.
    Her protest was as vehement as his. “You’ve never even seen Dillon! How could you possibly find him?”
    “I can handle it, don’t worry. If you tell me what he looks like—I’ll find him. Besides, you said Sam’s almost a day ahead of us. Having you along will just slow me down.”
    Abby bristled at his high-handed arrogance. It was just like a man to think that simply by virtue of his sex, he was both mentally and physically superior. She had grown up with a brother who treated her