Moonfire

Lucas Bonner was hung [but not dead] for the murder of Molly [who continued to haunt him]but was there fowl play there? He took the chance to "steal" a horse, saddle and a Hawkins rifle from his ranch before heading out for Mexico. Luck was with Nah-leen, who landed in a nest of rattlesnakes as she was trying to escape the nasty Mescalero, Juanito. Nah-leen had spent nine years with the Mescalero Apaches in relative safety until Juanito decided he wanted her. Lucas found Nah-leen and decided that he couldn't leave her to die alone, he soon became aware of the Mescalero following them as he headed out for a canyon of safety. In saving Nah-leen, who he found out was Elena O'Toole, he wounded Juanito, who vows not to let the pindah live. Juanito savored the thoughts of the torture the pindah would have to endure before he killed him. Soon Nah-leen has to help rescue Lucas and their attraction just grows with each passing day. But Lucas is an honorable man. Elena O'Toole is promised the her beloved Bernardo in a childhood betrothel. Her dream is to make it back home to her father, Killian and Bernardo, yet she still feels a strong physical attraction to Lucas. An excellently written story and worth the read. Definitely recommended.

Lucas Bonner was a dead man-at least to the lynch mob that had left him swinging from a tree. But a faulty noose had literally saved his neck, and he fled to the desert, his soul embittered by betrayal...Until he found Elena, the beautiful white captive whose life he would save...and whose love he could never have. Elena O'Toole's nightmare was nearly over. Soon she would be reunited with her family and her betrothed after years of being an Apache slave. And she owed it all to Lucas Bonner, the moody, silent drifter whose face begun to fill her dreams.