Part 8 (2/2)

”Out here you don't know who will come to your rescue.”

He smiled at her logic. ”Carlisle might come for you.”

Her gaze darted upward, tangling with his. Oh, she didn't want that.

His smile grew. ”It seems you're in a difficult situation.”

She pulled her chin from his hand. ”What do you want? To rape me? Kill me? Torture me? Turn me over to your brother for imprisonment?”

”Hmm... They all sound good. You choose.”

She stopped struggling and looked up at him. Her throat worked as she swallowed. Even dressed as a boy he wanted her. Her tongue darted out, small and pink, wetting her lips. ”If I... give you what you want, will you let me go?”

Alex's breath stilled. He could see the moon in her dark eyes. Her hair curled wildly around her shoulders, the soft breeze disturbing it, sending a ringlet fluttering across her parted lips. He saw his hand reach up and push it away. His fingers shook. She didn't flinch.

”Will you?” she asked, her voice soft as the air.

She was playing games with him again. But then so was he. He could never have her-not the way he wanted. He knew this and yet still, he hesitated. His cheek stung. He touched the wound and looked at his fingers. Blood smeared them.

”What do I want?” He still held the front of her tunic, crumpled in his fist. It looked so harsh, his enormous hand, grabbing at her.

She took a step closer, placed her small hand on the leather that covered his belly. ”You want me... willing.”

His knuckles touched her chest and though there was coa.r.s.e homespun between his skin and hers, his imagination was a living thing. It was another trick. But what could she do? No jug of whisky was present for her to smash over his head. If she possessed a weapon hidden on her person she'd have used it by now. Perhaps she planned to take one of his weapons, or scratch his eyes out. None of these things would be easy for her, small as she was.

And, of course, he could not let her go. So much depended on her value to others that he had no choice but to use her. To pretend he would release her simply to satisfy his base l.u.s.t was disgusting. And yet his body was perfectly willing to be disgusting and more.

He unbuckled his sword belt, tossing the weapons in the gra.s.s several feet away. He had a dagger strapped to his thigh and another in his boot. He discarded them both. Bear, his horse, had finished drinking and wandered over to nose at his weapons.

She had stepped away while he did this, her eyes sweeping the landscape.

”Hoping for rescue?”

Her gaze inspected him from head to foot, an eyebrow raised in derision. ”I'm wondering how long this will take and thinking you won't delay me overmuch.”

He laughed softly at her insult. Could she truly be so worldly or was it an act? He suspected a great deal about Fayth Graham was a facade. ”You're a slow learner, la.s.sie. I tend to take insults as challenges to prove myself.”

She blanched slightly, the sarcasm draining from her expression. ”Will you let me go?”

He slid his arm around her waist, pulling her against his body. He closed his eyes, inhaling the scent of her hair. Her smell had haunted him. That and the taste of her mouth. She rested her hands on his arms. He ran one hand up her back, to her neck. She was so small, so fragile. She trembled, but she turned her face up, her eyes large pools of darkness.

”Will you let me go?”

”Mayhap. If I find you pleasing.” Another lie. He tried not to be repulsed by what he was doing. After all, she was an expert deceiver. Why should he feel a shred of guilt for playing her game?

Her eyelids fluttered shut. Her lashes fanned against her cheeks. Her skin was not the pure white that most women coveted, but lightly tanned. Pale freckles cl.u.s.tered across the bridge of her nose. She was no wh.o.r.e, though he'd called her that and worse in the past month. He hesitated between desire and conscience. She was not truly willing. She was bartering her body for her life.

His father wouldn't have hesitated. He'd have nailed her to the ground by now, screaming for mercy. He'd see her brutally punished for all she'd done and hope she lived through it so he could ransom her.

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