***Interracial Historical Romance**
The snow may have stopped for the time being, but the cold wind coming down off the mountain was dangerous enough to freeze a person to their core. Anna sensed the storm coming and was thankful her intuitions paid off about preparing for it ahead of time. She was also happy that she got supplies before they ran out as the town sheriff assembled a posse to hunt down the gang that was close by. With the storm passed, she was now just happy to be home hunkered down, staying nice and warm in her place.
Anna figured that she would most likely see the posse come back to town as her place was on the far outskirts of the town and in the direction they were heading towards the gang. Justice Timmons was always generous with money when it came to those who helped as she knew helping the posse stable their horses and feeding the men would bring in some very much needed money.
Since she had one of the largest barns in the town, it helped every so often when a traveler needed to stable their horse in exchange for a small stable fee. She even dealt with traveler's comments about paying a stable fee to a negro woman who lived alone. Although it was from travelers going into town, but she still felt the staring eyes and the careless whispers about her being negro in an all white town.
With the sky turning a cool grey and the howling winds picking up, Anna retreated to the warmth of her home after putting her chickens in the barn with her horse. The fire was already warming up her supper as she figured it was going to be a cold night. She did a quick look at the barn hoping her only horse Rose was warm for the time being.
Looking at the barn still reminded her of her dead husband George though. He insisted on build-ing a barn larger than their needs in hopes that they would raise horses. Spending money to make money he said as his pay from the railroad was just enough to cover the move. Now it stood mostly dormant and to Anna, a symbol of better times when she had a husband. Anna never dreamed or wanted to raise horses like George did. She now relied on selling her hand-made quilts at the town store as her main source of income and an occasional stable fee during the spring.
Once inside the warm confines of her home, she threw off her overcoat and tended to the fire in her kitchen. Her meal was almost done but she knew the fire needed to keep going to add warmth to her home. Colorado Territory did not have the warm temperatures of the South and she added more wood knowing she was spoiled with better winters before she went out West.
Anna thought that after she ate, she would put on her nightgown and read by the fire. She smiled knowing that it was her favorite thing to do as it brought back memories of when she used to hold her son by the warm fire. The sensation of the heat from the fire brought back a flood of good memories and reading by it at night in her nightgown was as close to reliving the past as she could get.
With her place being cozy and multiple fires going, Anna knew she was spoiling herself with wearing her nice thin nightgown. She only needed the one fireplace going but she wanted to enjoy feeling the silky material of the nightgown on her skin. It was her favorite and most expen-sive piece of clothing she had and wearing it made her feel like she was doing something wrong and yet erotic at the same time. It was something she wore when nobody would be around or coming around as the thin white material did nothing to hide her long dark nipples that jutted out from her large chest.
The food was almost done as Anna put on her nightgown preparing for the rest of her night by the fire. Her caramel skin tone contrasted perfectly with the pure white gown she had on making her body almost seen right through the fine material of the gown. Her slim hourglass features highlighted by her full and ample chest that made her the envy of most of the town's women she thought as she knew a few men would stare. Her tight waist was made for a corset while her hips flared out just right for a man to love on.
The sound of her horse rearing was loud enough to snap her out of her daydream about better times though. She looked outside quickly to see her barn door cracked open. Remembering that she secured it meant that someone had to have opened it. Not having a neighbor within shouting range and living out in the middle of God's Country meant she knew a weapon was going to be needed before investigating.
She put her coat on over her nightgown not caring about anything else other than making sure her only horse Rose was alright and not absconded with. Losing Rose would be devastating as it was her only horse and in this cold weather would leave her stranded. Her last stallion died just a few weeks ago and now Rose was her only horse left.
With her shotgun in her hands and a lantern hanging from her wrist, Anna closed within halfway of the front barn door and her house. She put down the lantern to get a better grip when she saw the door move again. She figured there had to be someone in there and most likely waiting for her as the light from her lantern was the only light around.
Knowing that her horse Rose was the only way of getting into town, she was not about to let a horse thief get away with her. She walked in the back of the barn knowing that there was a small door there to get in. She left the light on the ground and walked carefully in the dark to where the door was.
Even though it was dark, it was not so dark that she could not make out the back door to the barn. She carefully opened it and then heard Rose rear up again. Using this as a distraction to cover the noise of her entering, she moved in quickly. Once she heard the sound of her saddle being prepared on her, Anna swooped in. With her shotgun at the ready, she moved quickly to-wards the dark figure that was trying to make off with her Rose.
"Don't move. I will kill you as you stand," she hissed as she trained the barrel of the gun right in his back and was ready to fire.
"Not here for you Ma'am," the male sounding voice responded.
She knew once he said it that he gave away his southern roots. She spent her lifetime in the South and could easily pick up a southerner speak even in a crowded room. With the town look-ing for the Sullivan Gang, she knew that he had to be one of them since the group was made up of former Confederates.
"Best you leave now. Don't want to shoot you, but you ain't taking my horse," she commanded as she felt her heart pounding hard from knowing that a bank robber and outlaw was at the end of her shotgun.
"You sending me out in that cold?" he inquired calmly as he turned around before limping back-wards.
She looked down to see blood coming from his right leg right below his gun belt. He was about in his late twenties or early thirties and had about a week's worth of facial hair on his chiseled strong looking face. He had a strong build like he worked in the fields but wore clothes that matched that of a man with some wealth.
"If I be taking you inside, you gonna be my prisoner till the posse comes back. You go now and you can get away. I ain't taking in no bank robber in my home. Best you git outta here," Anna said again even though she knew there was a reward for any member of the Sullivan Gang. In her mind, she knew that there was still a danger to bringing him in and it might not be worth her life for the bounty offered.
Anna knew she was hard up for money, but not that down where she needed to put her life on the line. She always ran from danger and enjoyed knowing she lived through certain times when she could have died. She just thought about the stories about how deadly the Sullivan Gang was and how they were known to kill those who tried to bring them in.
"You really putting me on the spot here," he replied as he stepped back again only to fall down against the barn door.
Anna knew that there was no chance of him making it the night in the cold and that was even if his leg was not wounded. She knew there was other options other than to take him in as her prisoner.
"Drop the gun belt," she commanded using the end of her shotgun as a motioning device to em-phasis her strength that she was in charge.
With him disarmed, she bound his hands and helped him into the house making sure he would not fall down. Once inside the warm shelter of her house, she tied his hands and then tied one hand to the chair to keep him in one place. She figured with him tied she could tend to his wound and keep him from gaining advantage over her.
With the light of the kitchen fire and her gas lantern going, she finally got a good look at her new captive. Even in the dark she could tell his clothes were nice, and in the light, it only confirmed he was not a vagabond or dirty simple ruffian. His stark blue eyes were almost piercing in their brilliance too and his face was that of a man who had a good lineage she thought.
