Free The Gambler by Lois Greiman Page B

thousand fingers of flame. Shifting sideways slightly, he skimmed his hand beneath the dark silk of her hair to cup her neck as his tongue caressed her upper lip.
    There was so little warning. One minute she was soft and warm and yielding beneath him, and the next she was gone, simply gone. His hands were empty, his groin ached, and he was lying on his back, feeling sick to his stomach and looking up the ugly barrel of a sawed-off shotgun.
     

Chapter 6
    It was not unheard of to hang a woman molester—not in these backwater western towns. Of course, New Eden wasn't a town in the technical sense. It was a mining camp, ravenously short of women, manners, and entertainment. Lynchings were considered damn good amusement.
    Raven stumbled down the muddy street, not feeling particularly amused or amusing. An unknown man was behind him. Henri and the other two grizzlies had either gotten themselves lost in the woods or had passed out somewhere near at hand. But it mattered little for it seemed every other able-bodied man had turned out for the festivities.
    "Charm!" Jude's voice was no more than a croak as he hurried from the saloon toward them. "You all right, gal?"
    She didn't answer, Raven noticed as he watched their meeting. The old man's face was pale but no more so than the girl's.
    "Did he..." Jude's words faltered momentarily as his gaze swept up his daughter's disheveled person to light on her dirt-streaked face. "Did he touch you?"
    Her lips parted slightly, as though she were searching for words. Raven held his breath and remained motionless. Now might be a damn good time to learn to pray.
    Blood infused Jude's face in a sweep of angry color, and his fists clenched at his sides, where, with great effort, he kept them as he went on, his voice low and raspy. "Did he disgrace you, child?"
    Her full mouth formed soundless words, her shoulders lifted, and her head moved, but whether it was a nod of affirmation or a shake of denial, even Raven couldn't tell. But now he saw that her face, too, had reddened, and that her gaze dropped from Jude's to the ground.
    Raven swore mentally just as Jude erupted into action.
    "I'll kill you!" he roared, charging toward Raven. But someone caught the old man's arm, dragging him to a halt before ducking beneath his fist and catching him about the middle. Jude struggled wildly, throwing punches and curses and trying to break free, but now two others were on him, holding him back with obvious difficulty.
    "There now, mister," said a man who had just joined the fray. "We ain't savages here in Eden. We got us some rules."
    "He disgraced my daughter!" Jude snarled. The veins in his neck were throbbing with rage, but his thrashing had subsided. "I'll kill him if it's the last goddamn thing I do."
    "There now. Just you simmer down," said the newcomer. "I didn't say we wouldn't be just. We'll have us a fair trial first." He nodded perfunctorily. "Then we'll hang 'im."
    Charm stood wordlessly at the edge of the crowd. Somehow she'd expected a trial to be different. Perhaps she'd even thought it might take place indoors or on another day. But tempers had been at the boiling point, heated up by Jude's ravenous oaths. There had been no delay. It all happened so fast. One moment she was trying to meet her father's gaze, and the next a lanky man called Judge was firing questions at her.
    Had Raven hurt her? Had he touched her? Had he shamed her?
    She'd stood like a mindless fish, trying to think, trying to gasp an answer. But there were men on all sides. Angry men, who crowded in and made it impossible to breathe, much less sort her scrambled thoughts, or proclaim the truth.
    And what was the truth? He had hurt her. Touched her. Shamed her. For, indeed, she was ashamed—so deeply humiliated that she felt surely she would die from it.
    Hadn't Jude told her a thousand times that men were not to be trusted? Still, she'd allowed the kiss. Fear coursed through her, for she'd not only allowed it, but for the