Fleeing the clutches of her disreputable relatives, Sera Livingston has made her escape to Australia's Outback. Disguised as a boy, sharp-tongued Sera searches for her sister but is attacked by bushrangers. Thievery becomes her only chance at surviv...
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At first, she thought her uncle had just punched her hard, then the pain started, growing so intense Sera could scarcely breath and everything around her became hazy.
Curse, Roman Remington, Sera thought.
He had hesitated, and in that hesitation, he had betrayed her trust completely.
Panic had started to claw at Sera's throat, when she saw the amount of blood soaking her hands. She wasn't afraid of death, but of something far worse... leaving her sister for good.
When she stood and revealed her wound, Remington shot her uncle, a bullet right through his skull. Bits and pieces were splayed on the sand, but Sera had no time to take in her torturer's death.
Remington reached for her, his cold face changing. "Sera."
"No!" She pushed wildly at his arms and backed away from him, her chest heaving and her pain intensifying as she did her best to keep pressure on her wound. "You were going to agree. You lied! You were going to hand us over to him." She began to beat his chest with one fist, putting as much power as she could in each swing of her arm. "You arrogant, despicable—"
Remington grabbed her arm and pulled her into him, whispering in her ear as she lost all the fight in her and fell against him. "There was no way in hell I was giving you to him. You need to calm down. You're making the wound worse."
"I don't believe you," she croaked out, sweating profusely. A cloth was pressed against her side where the knife had sailed into her skin, making her shudder, whimper, and gasp all at the same time.
"Someone, send for the doctor!" Remington roared and wasted no time as he slid a strong arm underneath her knees and gathered her to his chest like an infant while she winced and clawed at his neck. She buried her face into his swarthy throat as he carried her with quick, long strides to her home. "August tend to Ana, take her to the infirmary and get the doctor over here."
Remington stormed in and laid Sera down on the bed. Sera fought with everything she had to stay conscious even though her body was being drained of all her energy, limbs weak and frail. Glancing down she noted how the sheets were already soaked with her blood and her vision began to blur. She could here drawers being opened and slammed shut, as Remington sifted through them and hustled around the little house.
"Don't worry, I refuse to die." Sera's head fell back, and she licked her dry lips, sucking in shallow breath after shallow breath. "How fortunate for you it will be too, to be able to keep using me." She grunted in pain, the air to her lungs being cut off from the sharp spasm in her chest. "Do you need me that desperately in order to get your revenge?"
Remington's gaze was cool, but urgent as he strode over to her cloths and other things in his hands. He knelt down and used one of the clothes to press down on the seeping wound, her blood beginning to formulate on his hands. "Yes. Now stop talking before you do more damage. You're losing too much blood."
