«Again,» Caleb whispered. «Again, Willow. Until there is nothing else but you and me. No brothers. No sisters. No yesterday. No tomorrow. Just us and the kind of pleasure you can die of.»

Willow’s eyes opened as a sweet violence consumed her. She tried to speak but could not. She had no voice, no thought, no yesterday, no tomorrow, nothing but Caleb and the kind of pleasure she could die of.

Willow stirred, awakened from her dreams by the absence of Caleb’s warmth. Sleepily, she sat up. Just as she was going to call his name, she heard his voice from the direction of the campfire where her brother had made his bed. Reno’s voice answered. Neither man sounded friendly.

Adrenaline went through Willow in a wild rush, sweeping away all chance of going back to sleep. She began dressing quickly, fearful of the argument that might develop if she left Caleb and her brother alone.

«You took your damned time,» Reno said.

«I wanted to be sure.»

«I’ll bet.» Reno’s voice was sarcastic. «Is she finally asleep?»

«Keep your voice down if you want her to stay that way.»

«Don’t tell me what to do, you son of a bitch. I don’t take orders from the likes of you.»

«When it comes to Willow, you do,» Caleb said, his voice as hard as Reno’s had been.

Reno moved abruptly, a man composed of midnight and the slicing silver light of the moon. Every muscle in his body was poised to strike at Caleb.

«You better plan on getting Willow to a preacher real quick,» Reno snarled. «If you don’t like that idea, you can reach for that six-gun you’re wearing. Frankly, I’d rather you went for the gun.»

«Don’t be a damned fool,» Caleb said coldly. «At the first shot, Slater’s bunch would be all over us like a rash. Even if we’re quiet as stone, we’ve left tracks from here to Hell and back. Slater’s no fool. He’s getting closer to us all the time. It’s going to take at least two of us to shoot our way free of him.»

«That will be my problem, not yours. You’ll be dead.»

«What about Willow?» Caleb demanded. «Do you know what Slater’s bunch would do to her?»

«Same thing you did.»

Fury snaked through Caleb’s body, testing his self-control. «I didn’t rape Willow. She wanted it just as much as I did.»

Reno’s breath came in hard and fast. «Shut your foul mouth.»

«No,» Caleb said in a flat voice. «I’m tired of listening to you carry on as though you never lay with a girl.»

«I never seduced a virgin!»

«Liar.»

Caleb took a single, predatory step toward the other man before he brought himself under control once more.

«My sister was just as innocent as Willow,» Caleb said in a low, savage voice. «You seduced my sister, you left her, and she spent her days crying and watching the road, waiting for the man who said he loved her and would come and marry her. He didn’t come back and he sure as hell didn’t love her. All he loved was the pleasure he got between her legs, and any woman could give him that. When gold fever called, he left her and never looked back.»

Ten feet away from the men, Willow stood frozen in darkness, her hand jammed in her mouth so that she wouldn’t cry out from the pain that grew greater with every word she overheard.

You seduced my sister, you left her….

He sure as hell didn’t love her. All he loved was the pleasure he got between her legs, and any woman could give him that.

«My sister died after giving birth to your bastard,» Caleb said, and his eyes promised vengeance for that death.

Reno saw the barely controlled rage in Caleb and had no doubt that the other man was telling what he believed to be the truth.

Reno also had no doubt that it wasn’t the truth.

«When?» he asked flatly.

«Last year.»

«Where?»

«Listen, you —»

«Where?» demanded Reno, cutting Caleb off.

What Reno really wanted to know was the girl’s name, but he knew if he asked, Caleb would reach for his gun. A minute ago, Reno would have been glad to provoke the fight.

But not now.

Caleb was right. As long as Slater and his men were around, the real loser in any fight would be Willow.

«Arizona Territory,» Caleb said, biting off each word.

Reno’s eyes widened in surprise as he put facts together. «You’re the Man from Yuma.»

«Dead right, Reno. I’ve been hunting you for a long time.»

Willow flinched at the hatred in Caleb’s voice. She remembered something Eddy had said, something about letting Caleb know if he heard anything about a man called Reno. A new fear grew in Willow, a fear so great she could barely breathe.

Had Caleb known all along that her brother was called Reno? Was that why Caleb had seduced her? Eye for eye…

The thought went through Willow with an agony as great as her love. She prayed that Caleb hadn’t known her brother’s nickname before tonight.

«You’re dead wrong, Yuma man. I never touched your sister. Marty did, though. He was crazy for her.»

There was a taut silence as the two men measured each other across the ashes of a dead campfire. The temptation to believe Reno was so great that it shook Caleb, telling him how much he didn’t want to kill Willow’s brother.

«Who,» Caleb asked softly, «is Marty?»

«MartinBusher, my partner. At least he was until he met Becky Black. I saw the way things were going and drifted.»

«Where is he now?»

«Dead.»

The breath came out of Caleb in a long sigh. «Are you certain?»

«He was supposed to meet up with me here about eight months ago,» Reno said. «We were going prospecting. He never showed up. I waited two weeks, then went prospecting on my own. I figured he got married and settled down.» Reno’s expression changed, hardening. «One day I heard shots. I went to take a look. When I got there, the fight was over. Marty was dead.»

«Utes?»

«Probably. None of the horses wore shoes.»

Caleb hesitated before he very slowly reached into his pocket with his left hand, making certain that every motion was illuminated by moonlight.

«Don’t get edgy, Reno. This isn’t my shooting hand. I’ve got something I want you to look at.»

Reputation and observation had told Reno that Caleb was indeed a right-handed shooter, but Reno watched very carefully just the same. More than one man had died watching the wrong hand.

All that came from Caleb’s pocket was a gold locket. He flicked it open, using his left thumbnail.

«Strike a match,» Caleb said.

Reno did, using his right hand, for he was a left-handed shooter.

Gold metal shone brightly, reflecting the flare of the match. Willow saw the locket, remembered Caleb showing it to her, asking her if the people inside were her «husband’s» parents. Fear filled her, choking her. With a tiny sound, she did what she had done during the war when she had hidden and men had drawn so near that fear threatened to overwhelm her; she bit into her hand until physical pain restored her self-control.

«Recognize them?» Caleb asked.

A quick glance was all Reno spared. It was all he needed. «Must be Marty’s folks.»

«Must be? Why?»

«Ears,» Reno said succinctly. «Marty could put a milk pitcher to shame.»

A muffled sound that was part laughter and part relief came from Caleb, but he still didn’t understand what had happened to put him on the trail of the wrong man.

«When I asked Becky who the father was,» Caleb said slowly, «she told me a man called Reno, a man whose real name was Matthew Moran.»

The words echoed in Willow’s head, her worst fears calmly spoken by the man she loved.

The man who didn’t love her.

The man who had been hunting Matthew Moran, nicknamed Reno. But Caleb hadn’t found Reno. So Caleb used what he did find, which was a girl who could lead him to Reno.

A chill shook Willow as she understood that Caleb was indeed what he had seemed in Denver, a dark angel of retribution.