A Royal Ryde

Greed overpowers natural affection

The girl's lids flickered a couple times before sliding painfully open. Her blurry vision slowly cleared as she tried to comprehend where she was. She turned her head towards a window and there she saw a large male frame folded into a chair. "Wh-who are you?" She tried to croak. Her throat felt like a thousand nails were poking it from the outside in.

Dom's eyes opened. He leaned forward and took the girl's hand in his own. "Hello, Sweetheart. " He spoke softly, sure that she had a headache after last night. "My name is Dom. You got a bit roughed up last night at at saloon, so I brought you to the Doc."

"Roughed up?" She whispered.

"Yes, a couple of guys pulled you into their fight. Doc says nothing's broken except your nose but you do have a lot of bruising. You're gonna be sore for quite some time, Darling."

The girl nodded. She could feel the truth of that statement. She felt like she had fallen down a mile high staircase. Wait. Did he say she was at the Doc's? She struggled to sit up as worry clouded her thinking.

"Hey. Hey." Dom said as he clasped her shoulder struggling to hold the girl down. She was gonna hurt herself if she kept this up. "Hold up, Darling. What's the matter?"

"I-I." The girl fell silent and relaxed beneath Dom's grip.

Dom didn't remove his hands as he fully expected her to start struggling again. "What was that about?" The girl remained silent. "Come on now, you might have hurt yourself. Tell me. What upset you?" Removing one hand from her shoulder Dom gently brushed his fingers over the dark purple bruising marring her soft features. "You could've been killed." He murmured more to himself then to her.

"I can't- I can't afford a doctor. I can't stay here." The girl whispered, her eyes downcast.

"Hey." Dom moved his fingers to under her chin, gently he raised it until she met his eyes. "Don't you worry about paying her. I've already taken care of it."

" I can't be beholden to you." The girl whispered as a single tear slid down her cheek.

Dom moved his fingered to brush it away. "You're not beholden to me." He met her beautiful brown eyes. "The way I figure it, I'm beholden to you."

The girl frowned, then relaxed her features when she felt the stiff pain that facial expression brought her. "How?"

"I haven't done a good deed since I left my childhood home. It's way past time for me to help someone."

"That is..." The girl closed her eyes before she finished her sentence. "That is terrible reasoning."

Dom chuckled softly as he brushed some loose hair away from her face. "Maybe, but that's the kind of reasoning I live by and it's done me good so far."

He watched the girl as she lay with her eyes closed. The Doc had washed the blood and face paint off of her last night. She was a stunning girl. Her blonde hair fell in loose curls past her shoulders. When her eyes were opened they were a dark chocolate brown, full of life and amusement. She hadn't had the joy of life snatched from her yet. "What's your name, honey?"

"Hope." She whispered, eyes still closed.

Dom leaned down and softly pressed his lips to her forehead. "You just relax and recover. Let me worry about things."

Hope barely managed a nod. She was so tired. Her entire body felt like it had been run over by the stage coach. As unconsciousness fell over her, the sun rose to mid-sky.

Dom sat by the bed, watching Hope as she slept. She looked like a bruised angel. Nobody had the right to treat her that way. They had no right to treat any woman that way. Dom felt anger burning through his veins as he replayed last nights events through his mind. He kept seeing the cold man using Hope to shield himself from the man in the red shirt.It made him angrier and angrier the more he thought about it. He had half a notion to go track then men down and finish them off. The town was not a better place while men like them roamed free.