Cordinas Crown Jewel Read Online Free

metal—front-first in a ditch.
    For the next few minutes, there was no sound but the hard drum of rain and her own ragged breathing. Then a flash of lightning slapped her clear of shock.
    She drew in breath slowly, released it again. Repeating this three times usually served to calm her. But this time that third breath came out with an oath. She slapped the wheel, gritted her teeth, then slammed the car in reverse.
    When she hit the gas, her wheels spun and dug their way deeper. She tried rocking the car—forward, reverse, forward, reverse. For every inch she gained, she lost two.
    Giving up, muttering insults at herself, she climbed out in the pouring rain to take stock.
    She couldn’t see any body damage beyond a scraped fender—but it was dark. Darker yet, she noted, as one of her headlights was smashed. The car was not only half on, half off the road, but the front tires were sunk deep.
    Shivering now as the rain soaked through her shirt, she climbed back into the car and dug out her cell phone. She’d need to call a tow truck, and hadn’t a clue how to go about it. But she imagined the operator would be able to connect her.
    Camilla turned on the phone, then stared at the display.
No Service.
    Perfect, she thought in disgust. Just perfect. I drive into the middle of nowhere because the trees are pretty, sing my way into a vicious summer storm, and end up getting run off the road and into a ditch by an idiotic deer in the one place in the world where there’s no damn mobile phone service.
    It appeared the next part of her adventure would be to spend the night, soaking wet, in her car.
    After ten minutes, the discomfort sent her back into the rain and around to the trunk for her suitcase.
    Next adventure: changing into dry clothes in a car on the side of the road.
    As she started to drag the case out, she caught the faint gleam of headlights piercing through the rain. She didn’t hesitate, but rushed back around to the driver’s side, reached in and blasted the horn three times. She slipped, nearly ended up facedown in the ditch, then scrambled back up to the road where she waved her arms frantically.
    No white charger had ever looked as magnificent as the battered truck that rumbled up, and eased to a stop beside her. No knight in shining armor had ever looked as heroic as the dark figure who rolled down the window and stared out at her.
    She couldn’t see the color of his eyes, or even gauge his age in the poor light and drenching rain. She saw only the vague shape of his face, a tousled head of hair as she ran over.
    “I had some trouble,” she began.
    “No kidding.”
    She saw his eyes now—they were green as glass, and sharply annoyed under dark brows that were knitted together in a scowl. They passed over her as if she were a minor inconvenience—a fact that had her hackles rising even as she straggled to be grateful—and studied the car.
    “You should’ve pulled
onto
the shoulder during a storm like this,” he shouted over the wind, “not driven your car off it.”
    “That’s certainly helpful advice.” Her tone went frigid, and horribly polite—a skill that had goaded her brothers into dubbing her Princess Prissy.
    His eyes flicked back to her with a gleam that might have been humor. Or temper. “I’d very much appreciate it if you’d help me get it back on the road.”
    “Bet you would.” His voice was deep, rough and just a little weary. “But since I left my super power suit on Krypton, I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”
    She sent him one long stare. He had a strong face, she could see that now. It was raw boned and shadowed by what seemed to be two or three days’ worth of beard. His mouth was hard and set in stern lines. Professorial lines, she thought. The kind that might just lecture.
    She was hardly in the mood.
    She fought off a shudder from the chill, fought to maintain her dignity. “There must be something that can be done.”
    “Yeah.” His sigh told her he wasn’t