No Other Man Read Online Free Page B

right to accost me like this.
You've no right to make any judgments about me. You want to talk about not
caring? Well, I don't know who— or what!—you are anymore, but do you know what?
I don't care! I'm an American citizen. I don't have to sit here and lake this
from you or anyone!"
    She stood purposefully. She slammed her mug down on the table
before the hearth, staring at him with daggers in her eyes. With her chin high
and her heart hammering, only the whiskey giving her the courage she needed at
the moment, she strode smoothly toward the door, determined that her manner
alone would set her free.
    But then she heard his voice. "Oh, Lady Douglas! I don't
think so!" And even as she opened the door, his hand reached over her
shoulder, slamming it shut again. She spun against the door, only to find
herself blocked there, the imposing size and strength of his body before her, a
hand on either side of her head, his bronzed arms caging her in.
    She stared at him with all the cool authority she could
muster. "I grow weary of this game!" she insisted.
    "You think it a game?" he inquired softly.
    "I think you need to let me out of here!"
    "I think not!" His hand upon her arm drew her back
into the room and sent her spinning toward the bed once again. She caught
herself before she could fall against it. The robe was slipping off her. She
drew it back together, drawing the belt tighter. She placed a hand against the
poster at the foot of the bed for support.
    "The army is in residence out
here!" she cried. "And when they finally come, I swear I'll see to it
that you are hanged!"
    "They might just hang you."
    "What?"
    "For murder. The murder of Lord Douglas."
    The night was insane; it was all insanity. Perhaps that's
what caused her to snap and, in a moment of sheer madness, pit herself at him
again. Instead of running, sensibly keeping her distance, she flew across the
floor, raising a hand to slap him. When he caught her right hand, she was ready
with her left. When she was deterred from his face, she did her best to beat
against his chest. Sobs shook her body. She was only barely aware that she was
lifted from the floor. Her head was spinning now. He must have poured half the
bottle of whiskey into her cup the second time he filled it. It had given her
courage and strength. Now she was paying for that false bravado.
    "Stop it!"
    She dimly heard his voice. No matter how rough the command,
it didn't seem to penetrate to her mind. She couldn't stop fighting or sobbing,
hysterically pummeling him with a strength born of raw fear and rage.
    "Stop it!"
    Her feet were off the ground. She was lifted, flying— and
suddenly on the bed again. He was straddling her hips, pinning her wrists high
above her head to keep her from hitting him. She inhaled raggedly, trying to
get a grip on herself. She could barely breathe. Her robe had fallen open. So
had his. The ridiculous intimacy of their situation fueled her hysteria.
    "Please, please... !" she gasped out. She tossed
and writhed, twisting against him, trying to throw him off her.
    The fur
bedcover and the sheets became tangled beneath her. His bare flesh pressed
against her, as hers did against his. The pounding of her heart was growing
louder and louder, along with the desperate sounds of struggling that escaped
from her.
    The
pounding ... it wasn't her heart. It was a knocking at the cabin door.
    The door .. .
    It was suddenly thrown open.
    "Hawk?" said a worried, masculine voice.
    The man
atop Skylar twisted at the sound of his name being called. Skylar stared past
him to see that there were two men standing in the doorway.
    Two men in uniform.
    Uniform!
    One was
young with sandy hair and a clean-shaven face; the other man was older, with a
graying set of whiskers, the mustache perfectly waxed and groomed.
    Oh, God! The cavalry had come.
    She let out a shriek.
    "Oh,
sweet Jesu, sorry, Hawk!" the older man said. He punched the other, his
face turning beet red. "He's—occupied! With a