Immortal Cowboy
Haunted by desire. . .When Rayanne’s favourite uncle leaves her a secluded mountain cabin in his will, she feels an instinctive pull to the place – and the ghost town nearby – drawn there by the memory of the mysterious stranger who has haunted her dreams since she was a girl.Rayanne soon discovers that her destiny and the brooding gunslinger’s are intertwined. Wyatt carries the burden of a dark past and Rayanne is the only woman who can bring him peace. But to give him release, she may need to sacrifice the most powerful love she’s ever known.
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Time slowed as Rayanneâs mind scrambled to make sense of what she was seeing.
She made a grab for the wall as her knees gave way. Surely this was some kind of joke.
âWho are you?â
Her question was little more than a whisper, but the man heard it all right. There was no mistaking the temper in those ice-blue eyes. His outfit matched the one heâd worn in the picture he held clutched in his fist: scuffed boots, a faded shirt, dark trousers and a worn duster. It couldnât really be him, but every cell in her body screamed that it was.
âWyatt McCain?â
His name was the last thing she said as the floor rushed up to meet her.
ALEXIS MORGAN grew up in St Louis, Missouri, graduating from the University of Missouri, St Louis, with a BA in English, cum laude. She met her future husband sitting outside one of her classes in her freshman year. Eventually her husbandâs job took them to the Pacific Northwest, where theyâve now lived for close to thirty years.
Author of more than nineteen full-length books, short stories and novellas, Alexis began her career writing contemporary romances and then moved on to Western historicals. However, beginning in 2006, she crossed over to the dark side. She really loves writing paranormal romances, finding world-building and developing her own mythology for characters especially satisfying.
She loves to hear from fans and can be reached at www.alexismorgan.com.
I want to dedicate this story to the memory of one of my favorite uncles, who shared his love of Zane Grey with me. I blame him for my lifelong love of stories about gamblers, cowboys, lawmen, and gunslingers with hearts of gold.
Contents
Prologue
No one was ever alone on the mountain. Sometimes voices whispered in the mists, uttering words too faint to be understood. Eyes watched from the shadows, the weight of their gaze sitting heavily on those few brave enough to venture far up the slopes. The most sensitive of the visitors might feel the fleeting touch of hands without substance, leaving a chill on their soul. Smart folks didnât linger for long.
Chapter 1
Rayanne charged into the dappled shadows under the trees, following the narrow path that led toward town, the dense growth making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead.
Where was he?
Her breath came in fits and jerks as she broke into a run down the game trail. A few feet in, her shoe caught on a root, sending her sprawling forward to land on her hands and knees. Ignoring the warm trickle of blood down her shin, Rayanne lurched back to her feet, wishing sheâd taken the time to exchange her flip-flops for running shoes. But there hadnât been time for practical matters, not when Uncle Ray needed her.
The trees thinned out ahead, affording her a better view of the town. There wasnât much left of Blessing, but that was no surprise. The last residents had abandoned the place over a hundred years ago, leaving behind only the few buildings too stubborn to fall down.
No sign of her uncle in any direction. What would she do if he didnât come back soon? At thirteen, she could take care of herself for a while, but the mountain was a scary place to be all alone. She yelled Rayâs name several times with no answer except the soft rustle of leaves.
Should she go back to the cabin and call the authorities for help in finding him? No, heâd never forgive her. Uncle Ray wanted nothing at all to do with the government that had taught him how to kill and then did nothing to repair the damage it had done to his soul.
So that left it up to her. As his namesake, she took her uncleâs well-being very seriously.
Ignoring the pain in her side, she sprinted toward the old church, the one place that would give her the best vantage point. It sat right smack in the middle of Blessing, directly across from the saloon. Inside the sanctuary, she waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior before making her way to the staircase that led up to the belfry. Out of habit, she avoided the missing second step, using the banister to pull herself up directly to the third. The rest of the stairs were sound enough, allowing her to reach the roof quickly.
The hinges on the door creaked in protest when she pushed it open and stepped out onto the narrow confines of the belfry. She carefully skirted the hole where a bell used to hang. It had probably been sold off for scrap metal by one of the former residents, but that was old history. Right now, all Rayanne cared about was finding her uncle.
She hated heights, and each step across the rough wood floor took all the courage she could muster. Dread made her feet heavy as she crossed the short distance to the front edge of the roof. She latched on to the worn wooden railing in relief. But the second she touched it, the air around her rippled and blurred. Her stomach heaved as she clutched the railing and waited for the world to quit rocking.
