Page 14 of Captured Desires

Pearl had wondered why they had selected her too. “I was the closest,” she said, which was the reason she came up with.

She needed to get dressed and get out of here so she could think clearly. Part of her wanted to go over to Maverick and climb on top of him and ride him to another earth-shaking, life-changing orgasm. Surreptitiously, she checked herself for a tattoo. “What’s the tattoo look like?”

“It’s different for everyone.”

Pearl quickly got dressed and realized she had no idea how to get out of the mine from here. “I don’t think I should be here right now.”

“Aren’t you wondering if I’m going to join the Pinkertons?” He stood up and walked over to her.

“Are you?” Her throat was dry. She wasn’t ready for his answer, if it meant she’d have to attack him.

"Not yet.”

“I took a crossbow bolt for you,” Pearl said in exasperation. “How much more trustworthy do I have to be?”

He gave her a grim smile. “It’s not you anymore. It’s me.” Maverick took a deep breath, his eyes shadowed with memory. "When I was still human, I was a lawman.”

Pearl scoffed, but then saw he was serious. “Go on.”

“I was turned during the Revolutionary War by a British soldier. My first hundred years are a blur, but I did awful things to survive and barely managed to escape and make my way back home. Everyone I ever knew was dead.”

“I’m sorry,” Pearl said.

“Time marched on without me. I tried to be a part of the community again, start anew as a sheriff. But my fangs are hard to hide when I’m in a fight, and I was kicked out of town.”

“That doesn’t seem fair.”

“It doesn’t, and that’s why I turned to being an outlaw. I met Clyde, Esmerelda, and Harlan along my way across the states. They became my home and my family. I made them a promise that we’d do one big score and retire to live the good life.”

“I can make them the same offer I made you. The Pinkertons needs vampires.”

“Why?” Maverick tilted his head at her.

“I haven’t been told exactly why yet, but I believe it’s along the lines of we need to fight fire with fire or humanity is at risk.”

Maverick snorted. “Am I supposed to care about humanity?”

“I think they made the offer because you care about being hunted as an outlaw.”

“Fair point. Anyway, I need to do one last job before I join the Pinkertons.”

Pearl narrowed her eyes. “What kind of job?”

“My gang and I are tracking a stolen shipment of gold from the US Mint. Most of the outlaws who pulled the job were killed in a shootout, but the gold was never recovered. Rumor has it that the only survivor hid the treasure somewhere in this area before succumbing to his wounds.”

Pearl's brow furrowed. "And you think you know where the gold is?"

Maverick nodded. "I have a lead from a dead deputy who had also been looking for the gold.”

“Did you kill him?” she blurted out.

He gave her a disappointed look. “No, but he was murdered. I was too late to save him, but I found his notes hidden in the floorboards of the boardinghouse he was staying in. I promised the gold to my gang. Once we have it, I'll go with you to the Pinkertons. But not before."

Pearl's mind raced, torn between her duty and her growing feelings for Maverick. "The gold belongs to the Mint. It needs to be returned."

"No.”

She gritted her teeth. “What do you meanno?”

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