Pure Sin by Susan Johnson Read Free Book Online

attention."
    "Our pleasure," the earl graciously replied. "She reminds me of Flora at that age. We were in Venice once when—"
    "Don't begin one of those embarrassing stories now, Papa…" Flora warned lightly. "I'm sure no one's interested."
    "I expect you were a handful," Adam said, more interested than he wished to be in the beautiful Lady Flora.
    "I was simply curious as a child. Like Lucie. In feet, we spent some time today in your library perusing the Montana maps, checking possible directions you may have taken. She's been waiting for your return since morning."
    "It shouldn't have taken us so long." Adam rubbed his forehead briefly with his palm and then reached out for the liquor decanter on the table beside his chair.
    "You look tired," Flora said, surprised to hear herself sound like a wife.
    Adam looked up swiftly as he poured his drink, the tenor of her voice not sounding wifely to him but bewitchingly intimate. "There's not much time to sleep on the trail," he replied, schooling his voice to a mild neutrality, forcing his thoughts away from contemplation of intimacy with Flora Bonham. "And we've been traveling for three days," he added. Lifting the glass to his mouth, he drank a long draught of bourbon, feeling suddenly as if he needed fortification.
    "Did the Blackfeet take your horses?" George Bonham inquired.
    Adam nodded. "They're consistent marauders of our herds, but they decided to abandon the horses when we overtook them." He made it sound casual and benign, unlike the running skirmish contested over thirty miles of rough terrain. "Have you had a chance to look at our stud?" he inquired, not wishing to discuss the raid; white women invariably asked questions he didn't care to answer.
    "I think we've seen it all," the earl answered. "You've built an impressive operation here. The question is," he went on, "which of your beauties we can come to an agreement on. Flora particularly likes the big bay jumper."
    She hunts, then, Adam thought, adding another fragment to his picture of the intriguing Miss Bonham.
    "And Papa dunks he might be able to give the Earl of Huntley a run for his money at Ascot with that sleek black racer you have. Harry won last year and Papa is out for revenge."
    "We've clocked that black at one forty-six for a mile," Adam said. "He's damned fast."
    "Lucie told us," Flora's father said. "She knows most of the racers' times."
    "That's because she handles the stopwatch at the trials," Adam explained, as if it were normal for three-year-olds to understand stopwatches. "You're not thinking of Ascot this year, are you? Arrangements for shipping the horse would be tight."
    "No. We'll be here in the Yellowstone valley most of the summer. Provided the clans don't become annoyed with my constant inquiries and scrutiny."
    Adam shrugged. "I think you'll find the majority of Absarokee cooperative. Our culture has a long tradition of contact with whites."
    "With your own history a case in point," the earl remarked with a smile.
    "Exactly. My father was here with Prince Maximilian in the early 1830's. 2 But he wasn't the first by any means. The smaller population of the Absarokee in relation to the large tribes surrounding them has always made it prudent for them to attempt an amiable relationship with the whites and government. 3 A matter of necessity, though neither can be trusted when it comes to land. Against the possibility of future treaty negotiations, my father saw that he had title to this area by act of Congress. Not that I don't have to convince intruders on occasion that this entire valley is mine," he added.
    "The new cattlemen, no doubt," George Bonham noted.
    "The new cattlemen," Adam agreed with a minute sigh. "They see this Indian land as free range, regardless that the treaty last year to bring roads up the Yellowstone was never ratified, and this country is all within the limits of Absarokee tribal lands. 4 "
    "Do they see you as an Indian as well?" Flora asked. "Forgive me if it's