Heart of Thunder by Johanna Lindsey

His arms wrapped around her, and she raised herself to take him, taking him all at once and with only a moment’s pain before the fire began all over again, building and building.There was a feeling of exquisite torment, and then a wave washed over her, through her, and she cried out. Whatever had been building in her burst.
    She had been told it would be magnificent, but no one had told her that it could be better than magnificent. She had never imagined the wondrous pleasure of it.
    It was several long moments before the exquisite throbbing stopped and Samantha was aware of her surroundings once again. Hank was lying beside her, breathing heavily.
    He got up without a word, quickly buckled his pants, then began tucking in his shirt without even buttoning it. Samantha moved only to draw on her skirt. She didn’t try to cover her breasts. She felt languorous, more relaxed than she had felt in a long time.
    Hank strapped on his gunbelt, then picked up his hat. He was standing at her feet, brisk and businesslike again.
    “What’s the matter, Hank?” Samantha asked sarcastically, suddenly angry all over again. “Do you expect me to cry? Would that make your triumph complete?”
    He turned away from her stiffly and stalked to his horse. But before he mounted, he called back to her, “If you convince your Adrien to marry you, he will never know you are not a virgin. You needn’t worry about that.”
    She grimaced. “Damn you, of course he will know!”
    “No, chica , for he will never come to your bed,” Hank taunted, wanting to hurt her. “If you marry Adrien Allston, you will have a fine time trying to keep him away from your lovers.”
    “What are you talking about?” she gasped.
    Hank laughed shortly as he mounted his horse and walked the beast to her side. He bent over, whispering with deliberate calm. “The man you love prefers men in his bed, querida .”

    The shock of his words made her scream before she really understood what he was saying. “You’re lying! Bastard! How I hate you! Get out of here! And when you go, you’d better keep right on riding!”
    He chuckled. “Will you send a posse after me, Samina? I have run from posses before. One more will make no difference. They never catch me.”
    “If I ever see you again, I’m going to kill you,” she said with furious calm.
    He shrugged, unconcerned. “We will not meet again. Adiós , Samantha Blackstone.” He tipped his hat.
    Hank walked his horse back into the stream, leaving Samantha shaking with fury. Her hair had tumbled down, and she pushed it out of the way impatiently. Just then a thought struck her, and she jumped up, looking for her purse.
    Hank stopped once to look back. Anger and bitterness were still eating at him, making it impossible for him to regret the manner of his leaving, or the cruel way he had told her about Adrien.
    When he looked back, he saw first the fiery hair tumbling about her shoulders and then the gun, which she was raising slowly and pointing directly at him.
    A memory flashed through his mind, and Hank spurred his horse, hunching down over its neck. Madre de Dios! It was she! The girl from Denver! With her hair tumbling down like that, the sun shining on her, and a gun in her hand, it was the same girl! Dios!
    Quickly, Samantha fired her only two shots, one right after the other. She didn’t know whether she had hit her target, for he was out of sight. Her hands were shaking with anger as she threw the gun down, cursing it for not being her six-shooter. Then she slumped onto the bank, beating her fists on the damp earth.
    “Damn you, Hank, for the devil you are! Liar! Filthy liar!”
    She began sobbing. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’thave been fooled by Adrien, not for so long. She would never believe Hank. Never!
    How she hated that bastard, hated him more for his lies than for seducing her. She would go and see Adrien, prove Hank was wrong. Then she would be able to forget this day, and forget that she