No part of this work may be reproduced in any fashion without the express, written consent of the copyright holder. Wild Texas Rose is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed herein are fictitious and are not based on any real persons living or dead. TEXAS, 1882 CHAPTER ONE “IT’S OUR dance, Rose.” Seated in a chair against the wall of the ballroom, Rose Laura Corey froze. That voice. That insolent, laughing male voice. How long since she’d heard it last? How many years had it haunted her guilty dreams? You’re going to be mine someday. Thorn Maxwell hadn’t said it aloud, but the vitality of that promise made nine years ago had never diminished. Her hand holding the plate of barbequed ribs trembled briefly, but she steadied it. Her heart raced in an unseemly manner, but she calmed it. Pinning a fixed smile to her lips, she raised her formal gaze to her nemesis. He was not noticeably discouraged, aggressively looming his six-foot-four inch body over her seated figure with all the arrogance of a man sure of his welcome.
