In Danger's Shadow: Cassandra Wilde Western Adventure (Half Breed Haven Book 2)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
HALF BREED HAVEN WESTERN SHORT STORIES: IN DANGER’S SHADOW
AUTHOR’S NOTE
FOREWORD
PROLOGUE
PART ONE: The Dance Hall of Doom
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
PART TWO: Heartbreak
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
PART THREE: On the Run
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
HALF BREED HAVEN WESTERN SHORT STORIES:
IN DANGER’S SHADOW
A CASSANDRA WILDE ADULT WESTERN ADVENTURE
Copyright © 2017
Cedar Ledge Publishing
All Rights Reserved
OTHER BOOKS IN THE WILDES OF THE WEST SERIES
NOW AVAILABLE
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #1: THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN
HALF BREED HAVEN #2: IN DANGER’S SHADOW
(A Cassandra Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN #3: DARK RIVALS
(A Lijuan Wilde adult western adventure)
ALL CAN BE FOUND AT THIS LINK
https://www.amazon.com/A.M.-Van-Dorn/e/B077GNX3GP/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
COMING SOON 2018
HALF BREED HAVEN: SILVER, GOLD, AND DECEPTION
(A Catalina Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: THE FORBIDDEN RANCH
(An Honor Elizabeth Wilde adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: SING THE DEATH SONG
(A Dutch Wilde & Bright Feather adult western adventure)
HALF BREED HAVEN: DISASTER AT DEVIL’S CANYON
(A Blue River Wilde adult western adventure)
AND
THE WILDES OF THE WEST #2: DANGER DOWN MEXICO WAY
******
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
* * *
Thank you for joining the Wilde sisters on one of their adventures. Just a quick note regarding what you are about to read
Please be advised the Wilde sisters are all grownups and therefore they engage in very adult escapades and situations that include their romantic encounters as well as the sudden violence that can occur in their continued fight against assorted bad guys of the Old West.
So, in short, these stories are recommended for mature readers of 18+ years of age.
With that said, it’s time to saddle up and dive into the world of Half Breed Haven!
A.M. VAN DORN
Contact Information can be found at:
WWW.THEWILDESOFTHEWEST.COM
From the Journal of Cassandra Wilde 1873
There sure as hell was no getting out the way I had come in! On the other side of that door that I had locked and barricaded shut with the criminal’s own desk, he was out there waiting for me with his stooges, their guns still smoking from their attempt to use my body to stop lead.
I remember looking around feeling that window was my only chance. Throwing it open, that option bit the dust almost immediately as a bunch of Driscoll’s thugs were charging up the very alley that I had hoped to use as my avenue of escape. At least I had the satisfaction of sending a number of them to Boot Hill.
It wasn’t long, though, after they tasted my lead that the moment came when I literally went from the frying pan into the fire. Even now as I write this I can hear the ignorant-sounding voice of who I am now sure was Driscoll’s chief henchman shouting.
“Driscoll says that blonde bitch can’t escape. Set fire to that end of the dance hall. Burn it down with her in it. There will be no evidence of how she died!”
I don’t know what was more chilling, the sound a few minutes later of the spare kerosene used to light the lamps in the dance hall splashing against the rear wall or the roar of the fire once one of them struck their Lucifer and set off the conflagration.
It really doesn’t matter I suppose. The office had just become a deathtrap, and I was about to burn to death inside this dance hall of doom.
I’d been in tight spots before, but this was as bad as it got. I’ll confess it sure didn’t seem fair. I was thinking of my new dark-haired lover who only a short time ago had left me quaking with pleasure as he explored my body with his hands, his lips … everything. In just the few hours that I had known Chris, he had been both a gentleman and the most accomplished of lovers, and someone I had grown to care for very much.
The passion he had shown me while at the same time being as tender as any woman would hope a lover could be even now as I write this it fills me with a longing for him that no outlet can ever assuage.
At the time though it seemed as if he was going to be the one mourning me when he returned to the town with the sheriff only to find that I was nothing more than a charred husk amid the ruins. The smoke pouring through the wall boards and the heat that was building before me did little to give me any confidence that I was ever to see my new lover again, let alone my father along with my two beloved brothers and, of course, my three sisters whom I loved more than life itself, and I knew my death would shatter them beyond all repair.
I couldn’t do that to them. I COULDN’T! There had to be a way out. I just had to find it!
FOREWORD
* * *
My name is Allie Mastluehr and in the spring of 1913, I stumbled upon some of the most remarkable but forgotten tales of the American Old West. These accounts were narrated to me in the desolate ruins of Cedar Ledge—a once mighty Arizona ranch—and I promise that everything I was told wasn’t the stuff of legend; it was one remarkable family’s real history, almost lost to the unforgiving winds of time.
I experienced a countless series of shocks as the ranch’s last inhabitant, old Cattie Wilde, relayed to me the true story of the heroics of her most improbable of mixed race families. She quickly immersed me in all the action, adventure, romance and family drama that came with being one quarter of the formidable foursome known to friends and foes alike as THE DAUGHTERS OF HALF BREED HAVEN. In short, I learned of this stunning multiracial quartet whose bravery, thirst for justice, and love for each other were matched only by their unbridled appetite for the most casual and sizzling encounters with the opposite (or in Catalina's case, the same) sex.
The fair skinned blonde Cassandra, along with the Mexican Catalina, mulatto Honor Elizabeth and Asian Lijuan, all half-sisters, were the proud daughters of Judge William Henry “Whip” Wilde. Along with their sibling, cavalry officer Dutch and his Indian love Bright Feather, and their youngest brother, the Yavapai brave Blue River, the WILDES OF THE WEST upheld the law and aided those in need amidst the pristine beauty and natural wonders that was their corner of 1870's Arizona and beyond.
Catalina has graciously made available to me all her family’s writing so that I may pen the definitive tale of this unique and exceptional family and the adversity they faced. The more I read of them, the greater my amazement and respect for them grows as I follow their adventures in vanquishing villains and bedding whatever conquest happen to come their way.
Though I have only had the privilege of knowing
Catalina, through her stories and the significant volume of diaries and journals mercifully saved by Cattie, the rest of the Wildes have become as alive to me as if they were standing before me as I write this. With the pages before me I turn my attention to …
Cassandra Wilde—The oldest and brilliant leader of as “tough as nails” group of women you would ever find. Once she had been the protégé of the first ever female Pinkerton. When needed most Cassie returned to the West with her two guns strapped to her waist. Using everything she had learned from her time with the fabled detective agency, she trained her younger sisters into being some of the most competent and dangerous women the West would ever know.
Together, the Wilde sisters could be nearly unstoppable, but whenever alone or in pairs, they still proved to be a force to be reckoned with.
This is one such story from the journal of Cassandra Wilde in which several unscrupulous villains would learn just how dangerous a lone Wilde sister could be as they faced off against Cassie when she placed her life and liberty …
IN DANGER’S SHADOW
PROLOGUE
* * *
Tucson
Arizona Territory
1873
Cassandra Wilde stretched her arms catlike and through her still sleepy eyes looked down at the man’s head resting comfortably between her pair of well-endowed naked breasts. She slowly drew one of her hands back and used it to rub the sleep from her eyes while allowing her right arm to dangle over the side of the bed. With her vision cleared she once again cast her gaze down at her companion.
The man was handsome, no question about that. His hair was a shaggy mop that was accompanied by a full beard of the same rich brown color. She remembered his eyes were a twinkling green, not as deep a shade as her own but they had been most inviting. In the throes of their passion all the sheets and blankets now lay strewn on the floor around the bed affording Cassandra a full view of the man’s nude body as he laid partially draped across her own. His muscles were everywhere, hard and firm and his thighs bulged with thickness while showing off contours that were pleasing to her eyes. Her lover’s endowment was hidden under him but she remembered it well. To borrow a phrase her sister Honor Elizabeth might have used, it had been “most impressive.”
Gently she pushed her head back into the pillow that it had been propped up on and took a deep breath to savor the moment. The memories of the night before danced through her head, the flashes of the pleasure both had enjoyed coming as rapidly as fire from a Gatling gun. Gently she brought one of her hands down on his head and ran her fingers through the thicket as the corners of her mouth turned upward. She could remember every bit of his performance that had sent her body quivering in waves of pleasure. There was one thing however that did giver her pause. Here she was, Cassandra Wilde, one time personal protégé of Kate Warne, the first ever female Pinkerton and of late a special undercover lawman for her uncle, the territorial governor and, with all her analytic detective skills for gathering every shred of information, she had not pursued getting the man’s name!
Upon her arrival last night, she had checked into the best hotel in the Arizona capital. Following the long ride from her family’s ranch she had unpacked her bag, drawn a nice hot bath and then had hurried off to get something to eat. At a local dining establishment making a bold claim through its name “Best In Barbecue,” she had enjoyed a fine meal of spareribs. They were delicious and she amused herself, for all she knew these could have come from cattle from the family ranch Cedar Ledge. As she ate she still felt a little guilty. Cassandra always had an open invitation to stay with her aunt and uncle, but when arriving for her assignments she rarely ever did.
She loved her father’s sister Constance, but she also knew what a proper woman Connie was, and she knew her aunt didn’t always approve of her and her sisters’ antics when it came to their drop-of-the-hat dalliances with the opposite sex. God knew she was dreading the day when Connie finally found out that her youngest sister Catalina’s casual encounters also extended to women.
It was for certain that Connie would not have approved of the marathon of sex she had just completed with the man nestled up next to her at this moment. She had met him just as she was leaving after finishing her ribs. He had been at another table and they had bumped in each other. The man apologized profusely and she had told him not to worry. He was adamant though saying he had been hurrying and should have watched where he was going. Again, she had told him to think nothing of it. Still he was apologetic explaining that he had been hurrying because he wanted to get down to the Texas Tornado before they closed the doors.
That had gotten Cassie’s attention. Everyone in the Tucson area knew of the Texas Tornado. It had been founded by two brothers and their sister who had moved from the bar’s namesake, and their operation was one of the most popular saloons in the town. It catered to a far more upscale crowd, than the usual rough and tumble types of the West. The beer was always cold, the liquor top shelf and the whores were labeled as “Ladies of the Evening” and were a cut above the rest recruited from across the southwest by the sister, so she had heard. To keep the atmosphere enjoyable only a certain number of people were allowed in at a given time and that dovetailed with what the man had been saying about hurrying.
Cassie was fully aware that her meeting with the governor of the territory, who also happened to be her uncle Nathanial, was in late morning, still she thought she should probably get some rest but on a whim, she asked if he would like some company. Why not she had asked inwardly? He appeared to be alone, there was no wedding band on his finger, and his dashing good looks accompanied by his wide shoulders and tall, six-foot frame enticed her.
The man’s eyes instantly took on their sparkle and gleamed with interest as he quickly agreed. It wasn’t a surprise to Cassie. She wasn’t being conceited, just honest. Like the rest of the Wilde sisters, she had a top-heavy hourglass figure that drew attention without fail. Her goldenrod hair and murky green eyes only cemented her beauty and increased her appeal to the men of the West. This man in the restaurant was no different. Cassie had introduced herself to him, and he had just been giving her his name when a waitress had an unfortunate accident a few tables away. The crash of her entire tray full of ribs drowned out the man as he was saying his name. The commotion following the mishap had sidetracked her from asking him to repeat his name as they hurried off towards the Texas Tornado.
The saloon had been as fun as she imagined. It crackled with an energy as the men and women in the bar enjoyed all it had to offer. Cards were played, whiskey was drunk, and men were properly laid in the upstairs above the bustling bar area. The pair was greatly enjoying themselves, and their flirting had only intensified. At her suggestion, they called it an early night and she invited him back to her room.
He, of course, had a look of surprise on his face. How could he understand that Cassie and the other Wildes, Lijuan, Honor Elizabeth, and Catalina, had long ago made a vow. If they wanted something or someone, they went for it! None of their mothers had lived past a young age to truly enjoy all life had to offer, and the quartet of half-sisters had pledged they would never let that happen to them. The handsome man that she had learned was a silver miner passing through Arizona on his way to Mexico after having made a successful strike up in Leadville, Colorado, may not have known her reasons, but he had leaned toward her, his eyes aglow saying he would be delighted.
Once back in the room the pair lost little time stripping each other down until they were as naked as the day they had come into the world. Cassie had tugged him toward the bed, looking over her shoulder with a wry smile as she watched his soldier rise to attention at its full nine-inch length. It was without a doubt going to be a good night.
It really had been she thought now as she lay there. Her eyes travelled over to the ornate clock on the mantle above the fireplace. There was still a good hour before her meeting with Nathanial Duvalier. There was time, she thought as a slow smile built upon her face
. Should she wake him? She was just about to use her hand that was still enmeshed in his hair to do just that when she halted.
As much fun as it would be, there was a part of her that gave her pause. She didn’t know this man’s name and deep in the throes of passion the night before as he was thrusting himself deep inside of her, he had shouted out her name as Kathy. It was pretty close she thought, but telling. They were both using each other, and there was nothing wrong with that, but it had been such a long time since she had been with a man where she actually had some type of genuine feeling for her playmate. That was not what she was going to get here, and she knew it. No, perhaps she should just send him on his way.
Yes, that is what she needed to do. It was time to start getting focused on why she was here. Her uncle had a new assignment for her. On the ride from Alamieda she felt certain she knew what it must be. The very capital itself had recently been under a reign of terror from a man who could only have pure evil in his heart and yet the press had given him the frothy nickname of the “Daylight Dandy.” This, she had learned, was because the man, while wearing a hood that concealed his features always was dressed in immaculate clothing while he carried out his heinous crimes of kidnapping young women in broad daylight from the streets and racing off with them only for them to turn up later, nude, battered, and dead. Surely her uncle had brought her here to help put a stop to the terror.
Cassie readied herself to wake the man and make her apologies for asking him to hurry up and leave when at that moment he shifted in his sleep and rolled over and she saw he was fully erect. Was he dreaming about her? It was possible. Oh, what the hell she thought imaging the grief Lijuan would have given her for ignoring such a clear invitation. With her hand in his hair she shook his head and reached down with the other and took a firm grip on his tool and slowly began to jerk it.