backward-strained

Updated: May 23, 2025

Had his torturer been Cochise, there might have been no room for hope. But Slade was a white man. He might prefer gold to the lust of torture. The death of his victim would mean the loss of the ransom money. Lennon's tense nerves and rigid muscles relaxed. He allowed his upward and backward-strained head to sink down until one cheek rested upon the hot sand.

Robert Ames Bennet - Bloom of Cactus