Free Dangerous by Sylvia McDaniel

mouth once more. Just the memory of his lips on hers had her body heating from the inside out. But kissing him again wasn’t going to happen. He was an outlaw, and she didn’t need that kind of heartache. She just needed the five hundred dollars reward money.
    “Yeah, it is,” she said, gazing at him in the sunshine. There was something deliciously incongruent about him.
    How many outlaws would have taken the time to fulfill the wishes of a dying man by burying his body and his son’s by his dead wife? And how many outlaws would have stopped after kissing her last night?
    Was there really honor among thieves or was Beau Samuel different?
    “Bow your head and let’s say a little prayer,” he said, looking at her with a sheepish look on his face, like he was afraid she’d say something about him praying over the dead man and his son.
    “Father, accept these souls into your loving arms and forgive them for any sins they may have committed. In your son’s name, amen.”
    Annabelle raised her head and didn’t say a word. An outlaw saying a prayer over the men his gang had killed? She shook her head. This man was very complex, but he was still an outlaw with a bounty on his head, which she intended to collect.
    “As soon as I finish covering the bodies, we need to get on the trail. We’ve already been here longer than we should have been.”
    “You don’t think they’ll come back, do you?”
    “No, but I’m not sticking around to find out. We need to get further down the trail before dark.”
    “Why are they searching for you?” she asked.
    He took his canteen and lifted it over his head, letting the water splash down over his face. Then he wiped the extra moisture away with his handkerchief.
    As he cleared the water droplets from his face, his gaze lingered on her. “I’m a member of the gang. After the hold-up in Wichita, I hid the bank money. They want their share.”
    A small piece of her heart hardened at the realization he was not a good guy. Whatever doubts she’d had about whether or not he was truly a wanted man and outlaw disappeared. The man had robbed a bank then hidden the money from the rest of the gang. No wonder there were five men chasing him. No wonder they wanted to kill him.
    “Do you want a share of the money?” he asked, with a teasing grin on his face.
    A part of her wanted to slap that silly smile right off his face. Farmers and ranchers had worked hard for that cash only to have it stolen. And he was acting like it was nothing. She took a deep breath and built a wall around her heart against this man. She smiled. “Not on your life. What I want is the bounty on your head and I aim to get it.”
    She turned and walked away from him, letting him stew on her goal. He may have thought she’d given up, but she hadn’t. And actually, she had him to thank for that. Because if he hadn’t given her that kiss last night, she might have returned home and sent her sister Ruby after him.
    But now it was personal. That kiss and his consequent rejection this morning had sealed her resolve to hand him over to the law. She wanted the first man who had ever kissed her to rot in jail, and she planned on helping him find his way there.
    *
    Back on the trail, the easy banter between them from yesterday had disappeared. There was a tense silence, and Annabelle knew they were both thinking about that poor farmer and his son. The Harris gang included some of the worst outlaws she’d ever heard of, not the usual longriders Meg and Ruby pursued. Silently, she prayed her sisters were on their way. They were almost two days ride from Zenith, and with any luck, her sisters had seen her tracks and would find her.
    Every time they stopped, she’d left her initials in the dirt or a scrap of her petticoat when Beau wasn’t looking, trusting her sisters would find the signs and know they were on the right trail.
    Annabelle raised up in the saddle, trying to give her bones a rest from the constant