His Abductor's Desire Read Online Free Page B

takes to get your ransom. I’m sure the Davenports will be anxious to get back one of their own.”
    “And then what? You don’t think you’ll get away, do you?”
    “From the law? Yes, I think I’ll be fine.” They could be in Canada or San Francisco in less than a week with new names.
    “From me.”
    Charity met his gaze again and saw that the thin veneer of chivalry he had worn like a shield had been cast away. He looked far more savage now, like the way he’d looked back at the bank. There was no doubt that he meant to get retribution for her crime.
    “Too late to turn back now. I’ll take my chances.”
    “If you think being female will save you from hanging if the law finds you first, you’re delusional.”
    “They won’t find us. Haven’t so far.”
    “So far?” He clearly looked confused and Charity knew she had said too much. “So you are the gang plaguing our banks. I didn’t want to believe it. Yes, that makes sense from the description. A man—Elle, I presume, since she is so tall and gave such a convincing performance. A boy—that has to be our own petite Dew. And a young man—you. You have them looking for a family of bank robbers. Your father would be so proud of your success.”
    She slapped him. It happened so fast she couldn’t have stopped herself had she wanted to. “Never speak of my father! Your family stole his livelihood, his very life. I’m only taking what belongs to me.”
    Brent lunged for her and although he was already at the end of his chains, she dropped the bucket and took a few involuntary steps back. He radiated fury.
    “And do I belong to you?” She thought he would yell but he spoke with a quiet intensity that scared her and, almost as quickly as it disappeared, the mocking smile was back. “There’s no need for chains. I can still take you until you’re begging for more.”

    “Don’t be vulgar. I’m only interested in the money stolen from me.” But her skin had flushed at his crudity and the mental image his words evoked caused her breasts to tighten in awareness.
    “You want me.” His eyes were cold, confident.
    The truth of that statement hit home with Charity. It had been her mistake to assume her infatuation with him had been a girlish inclination, something that would vanish with the clarity and logic that came with experience and adulthood. She wanted him. Her desire had not dampened in all the years that had passed. It had evolved, certainly, from the maidenly wishes of a seventeen-year-old girl with visions of white and lace and kisses that left her cheeks hot to the mad, unquenched desire of a woman who knew now exactly what she wanted from the powerful male restrained in her barn.
    “Only for your money,” she lied as she bent to retrieve the bucket.
    But she strayed too close. Her agitation had made her oblivious to the fact that he was not at the end of his chains and in the space of a heartbeat, he held her pinned against the wall of the stall between the iron rings that held his chains. Each of his hands held a wrist in an unforgiving grip while his body held hers immobile.
    “You’re a horrible captor, darling.” His whisper caressed her cheek.
    The endearment was almost her undoing. He’d said it the night of the house party, the night he had finally kissed her on that dark terrace. “You can kill me, but it won’t get you released.” Charity bravely met his gaze.
    “I don’t plan to kill you.”
    She swallowed hard and fought a wave of desire. For a moment she wanted him to do what his words seemed to promise and that scared her.
    “Let me go!” She attempted to bring her knee up to his groin, but his heavy thigh shifted and blocked her.
    He laughed and shifted both of her wrists high above her head and held them with one hand. With his other he attempted to grab her leg at the bend of her knee, but she fought for all she was worth. They struggled for a solid minute before his superior strength won out and he managed to