A Promise of Thunder

haircut. He couldn’t bring himself to shed everything about him that was Indian. He clung to his long hair with a tenacity that displayed his utter contempt for those who called him half-breed. Grady Stryker was proud of his Lakota blood and his Indian heritage.
    As Grady made his way to the bank he was unaware of the two men who followed his progress from the safety of a hotel room that overlooked the street.
    “That’s the bastard, Purdy. If not for him, I’d own a prime piece of land on the river.”
    Purdy nodded in commiseration. “Because of him my shootin’ arm is outta commission. I heard the renegade was fast with a gun, but I had no idea he’d be
that
fast. I ain’t through with him yet, not by a long shot.”
    “Me neither,” Lew Fork mumbled as he watched Grady enter the bank.
    “Break it off, you two,” Nat Turner advised. “I hired you for a purpose, and killing the half-breed isn’t what I’m paying you for. Later, maybe, if he don’t pull up stakes on his own, then we can face that obstacle. Right now you’re to concentrate on Widow Kennedy. She’s vulnerable at this time and more inclined to sellher land than any of the other settlers who have yet to face their first winter on the prairie.”
    “You want us to kill a woman?” Purdy asked. He’d never killed a woman before and didn’t know if he’d want to now.
    “Hell no, not kill her, just frighten her so she’ll come begging me to buy her land.”
    “What’s so damn valuable about her claim?” Fork wanted to know.
    “There’s a rich buyer from Texas interested in buying as much of the Cherokee Strip as he can lay his hands on. The closer to the river, the better. It’s my understanding he plans on running cattle into Oklahoma and Kansas.”
    “And you think the Kennedy woman will sell to you?” Fork asked.
    “If she does, I stand to make a tidy profit,” Turner revealed. “You two could share in it if you succeed in scaring her into selling. Once she leaves I don’t think the half-breed will want to stay and work his land. He’s hardly the kind to settle down. Instinct tells me he’s more interested in the young widow than he is in his land. If Storm Kennedy sells out, the half-breed will pull up stakes and sell me his land.”
    “I wouldn’t try to second guess the renegade if I were you,” Purdy advised. “Look what it got me. He coulda killed me.”
    “But he didn’t and now you’re working for me.”
    “Yeah, but it’s the Injun we really want,” Fork grumbled.
    “Tell you what,” Turner said in a conciliatorytone. “You boys do this job and I’ll help you in any way I can to bring down the breed. Plus you’ll be paid damn good wages for frightening Storm Kennedy off her claim.”
    Purdy and Fork exchanged pleased glances. “You got it, boss. You hired the right men for the job. In another week this damn arm will be as good as new.”
    “Another week it is,” Turner agreed, clasping each man’s hand to seal the bargain. “I don’t care what you have to do, just don’t kill the woman before she signs the bill of sale and turns the deed over to me.”
    “Do you care if we rough her up a bit?” Fork asked, nudging Purdy’s shoulder and grinning slyly. “The widow is a damn fine lookin’ woman. And young.”
    “Whatever it takes,” Turner said, grimacing with distaste. “Just don’t tell me about it once you’ve done your work.”
    Storm didn’t see Grady for a full week after the day he kissed her so thoroughly outside her cabin. She groaned mentally when she recalled the devastating eagerness with which she had responded to him, and how the liquid heat of his mouth had seared her very soul. The thought of his kisses sent a bolt of pure rebellion through her. How dare he look at her with his bold blue eyes and touch her with his searing lips. And his hands! Good Lord, his hands were everywhere. Wooing her with the strength of his caresses and making her forget everythingbut the need to press her body against his in a most carnal way. For her own peace of mind she hoped he’d never set foot on her land again.
    Unfortunately Storm’s wishes weren’t granted. Grady showed up at her door one brisk morning grinning from ear to ear. When he told her his cabin was finished she offered tentative congratulations.
    “You wouldn’t have any coffee on the stove, would you?” Grady asked as he glanced past her into the inviting interior of her cabin. His own place wasn’t furnished