Rainbows and Rapture by Rebecca Paisley Read Free Book Online

eggs in a small scrub oak nearby. The birds took wing, circling the tree and squawking loudly.
    Sneering, Wirt raised his revolver again and blasted the nest from the tree. It fell to the ground, spilling its eggs. Listening to the continued screeching of the sparrows, Wirt heaved himself off the rock and approached the eggs. With the heel of his boot, he crushed each of them, then looked up at the darting birds. “Now ya don’t got nothin’. Ya gotta start all over again, jist like me.”
    He stuffed his gun back into his belt, scratched at his groin, and took a small tin locket from his shirt pocket. A flick of his thumb opened it.
    Peering up at him was a face so beautiful to him, it was a moment before he could control his emotions. “Mine.” Touching a finger to the painted image’s long red-gold hair, he took a deep, shuddering breath. “Jist ain’t fair.”
    With misery still surging through him, he mounted his horse and headed for a speck on the horizon.
    The distant town of Hamlett.
     
    * * *
     
    The sky was pink, with swirls of orange and yellow streaming through it, when Santiago walked out of the Hamlett Hotel. Crossing the street, he cast a sideways glance at three men who were watching him from in front of the mercantile. When they slid their hats low over their eyes and looked at the ground, he shrugged and headed for the livery.
    What he saw there made him frown. Parked in front of the building was a small, bright purple cart. Red and yellow flowers were painted along its wood-planked sides, and a cluster of silvery bells hung suspended from its seat. An ancient ox was hitched to it. Santiago looked at it twice to make sure what he thought he saw was real.
    The animal was wearing a sombrero! Upon further inspection, Santiago saw that the hat was attached to the ox’s head by means of a long blue sash that was tied in a perfect bow around the beast’s thick neck.
    An exceedingly uncomfortable thought came to Santiago. Refusing to believe it, he shook his head. No, it couldn’t be, he decided. Russia had said she had a horse. Reassured, he sauntered into the stable and found Russia chatting with the stableboy.
    Though he made no sound at all, she felt his presence immediately. When she looked up and saw him, she nearly lost her breath. He filled the doorway completely. Dressed in black from head to toe, his shirt stretched tightly over his broad chest, guns gleaming in the waning light of dawn, he presented a formidable sight.
    Memories of last night drifted through her mind. Try as she did, she couldn’t stop remembering what he looked like without that black shirt. The recollection of his naked chest was so distinct, it seemed to her she was actually seeing it. His muscles. His smooth brown skin. The way his long ebony hair had looked as it brushed across his wide shoulders.
    She recalled the way his lips had felt on hers. The way he’d kissed her, with such urgency, such driving demand. And the way his mouth had felt on her breast…the way his tongue had circled, the way he’d suckled, and the way her body had reacted.
    Even now her body warmed, trembled, and yearned for something completely unknown to her. Her eyes stung with the need to blink, but she kept them open, half afraid Santiago would disappear from sight if she closed them. Blushing, she tried to smile at him, but couldn’t get her lips to do much more than quiver. “Mornin’,” she murmured.
    He didn’t bother to return her greeting, but studied her attire, noting all the patches on her faded blue-and-white gingham gown. Worn boots peeked out from beneath the hem of her skirt. One had a small hole in the toe. Perched on her head was a frayed straw bonnet. Multicolored flowers pointed skyward from the hat, and nestled among them was a bird made of crimson velvet. Santiago thought it the most ridiculous hat he’d ever seen.
    But as ragged as her outfit was, he couldn’t help noticing that it did nothing to detract from her