Cowboy Delirium. Joanna Wayne

captive? I’m nobody’s fool, princess.”

      “I never said you were.” She walked over and sat down beside him. He smelled of garlic and sweat, making her stomach churn.

      He laid a hand on her thigh. “Now you’re getting smart, sweetheart. I’m the real man here. You be good to me, and I’ll be good to you.”

      “How good?” She forced a sultry tone to her voice and fought off another wave of nausea. The impulse to stare at the gun was almost overpowering, but she couldn’t do anything to make Luke suspicious.

      He pressed his lips against hers. Fighting revulsion and the urge to clock him, she kissed him back. When his hands groped beneath her dress, she reached out and closed her hand around the gun.

      “Hands over your head or I’ll shoot,” she ordered as she broke the kiss.

      Curses fired from Luke’s mouth, but he raised his hands above his head. She took a deep breath, working to get her wits about her. Then with one quick move, Luke battered his head into her chest. She fell backward, but didn’t let go of the gun.

      Her finger circled the trigger, but before she could pull it, Luke kicked the pistol from her hands. She fell on top of it, but he yanked her back up by her hair. The pain was so intense, she felt as if she were being scalped. She kept fighting for the gun, but Luke was too strong for her. The weapon slipped from her grasp.

      She tried to break away and run. Her foot slipped.

      Gunfire exploded in her brain and blood splattered over her like crimson rain.