Only 03 - Only You

in a clipped voice, “the ring was taken at gunpoint from a dying man.”
    Reno gave her a disgusted look and went back to rummaging in the saddlebag.
    “If you don’t believe me—” she began.
    “Oh, I believe you, all right,” he interrupted. “I just didn’t think you’d be so proud of outright robbery.”
    “I wasn’t the one holding the gun!”
    “Had a partner, did you?”
    “Damn you, why won’t you listen to me?” Eve demanded, furious that Reno thought her a thief.
    “I’m listening. I’m just not hearing anything worth believing.”
    “Try shutting up. You might be amazed at the things you learn with your mouth closed.”
    The corner of Reno’s mouth lifted slightly, but it was the only sign he gave that he had heard Eve. Almost absently he groped in the saddlebag,searching for the ring. The cool, unmistakable feel of a gold coin brought his full attention back to his search.
    “Didn’t think you had time to spend anything,” Reno said with satisfaction. “Old Jericho didn’t let any grass grow under his feet before he—”
    The words ended abruptly as Reno tossed aside the saddlebag and uncoiled in a swift lunge that ended with the shotgun being yanked from Eve’s fingers.
    The next thing Eve knew, she had been jerked from beneath the covers and was dangling from Reno’s powerful hands like a sack of flour. Fear shot through her. Without thinking, she brought her knee up fast and hard between Reno’s legs as Donna had taught her to do.
    Reno blocked the blow before it could do any damage. When Eve went for his eyes, he buried his face against her throat and took her down to the ground.
    Before Eve knew what had happened, she was stretched out flat on her back, unable to fight, unable to defend herself, unable to move at all except to take tiny, shallow breaths. Reno’s big body covered every bit of hers, driving the air from her lungs and the fight from her body. The bedroll’s thickness did little to cushion her from the hard ground beneath her.
    “Let me go,” she gasped.
    “Do I look like a fool?” he asked dryly. “God only knows what other nasty little tricks your mama taught you.”
    “My mama died before I ever knew her face.”
    “Uh-huh,” Reno said, obviously unmoved. “I suppose you’re a poor little orphan child with no one to look after you.”
    Eve gritted her teeth and tried to get a grip onher temper. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
    “Poor little gata ,” Reno said coolly. “Stop telling me sad stories or I’ll cloud up and cry all over you.”
    “I’d settle for you getting off of me.”
    “Why?”
    “You’re crushing me. I can’t even breathe.”
    “Really?”
    Reno looked at the flushed, beautiful, furious face that was only inches from his own.
    “Odd,” he said deeply, “you’re not having a bit of trouble talking at thirty to the dozen.”
    “Listen, you overgrown, overbearing gunfighter,” Eve said icily. Then she corrected herself. “No, you’re not a gunfighter. You’re a thief who makes his living robbing people who are too weak to—mmph!”
    Eve’s words had been effectively cut off by Reno’s mouth closing over hers.
    For an instant she was too shocked to do anything but lie rigid beneath his warm, overwhelming weight. Then she felt the sure thrust of his tongue between her teeth and panicked. Twisting, kicking, trying to throw him off, she fought with every bit of strength in her body.
    Reno laughed without releasing Eve’s mouth and deliberately let himself sink down over her, pinning her to the ground with his much greater weight, absorbing her struggles without in the least stopping the sensual probing of his tongue within her mouth.
    Eve’s wild, futile fighting did nothing but wear her out and make her desperate for air. Yet when she tried to breathe, she couldn’t, for Reno’s weight was too great to shift from her chest even the bare inch she needed.
    The world began to go gray, then black, receding from her in a rush, spinning away.
    The small, frightened sound Eve made as she felt herself fainting did what none of her struggles had accomplished. Reno lifted his head and body just enough to allow her to breathe.
    “That’s your second lesson,” Reno said calmly when Eve’s dazed gold eyes focused on him once more.
    “What—what do—you mean?” she gasped.
    “I’m faster than you are. That was your first lesson. I’m stronger than you are. That was your second lesson. And the third