Taken and Seduced Read Online Free Page B

away from her and rose to his feet all in one smooth motion. The rope binding them together gave a tug, lifting her arm.
    “Arise, Lady Florence,” he said, looking down on her from his great height. “We must depart.”
    “Where are we going?”
    “You will see.”
    She grumbled as she arose stiffly from the ground, cold now without his warmth. “Why is it a secret? Whom will I tell?”
    “Whom might you tell?” he countered. “After all, I will not give you such a chance. Now, shall we refresh ourselves this morn? Robert says there is a stream nearby.”
    She held out her wrist, but he ignored her, only turning away and tugging her along with him. Frantically, she looked behind her for help, but Sir Michael was only folding up their blanket, and Sir Robert was wearing that same silly smile. How could he find amusement in this terrible situation?
    She heard the stream before she saw it, and she came up short when Sir Adam stopped right infront of her. She was forced to catch his elbow or fall. She cursed the uneven ground. But her captor didn’t berate her.
    “Shall I have a moment of privacy first,” he said, “or will you?”
    She held up her bound wrist, but again he ignored her.
    “Very well, I will.”
    To her horror, he stepped behind a tree, and the rope gave gentle tugs as he unfastened the necessary clothing. Florrie was so embarrassed that even the tops of her ears burned.
    When he emerged a moment later, he didn’t even seem bothered by such intimacy.
    “We’ll find you another tree,” he said.
    She was so upset, so beside herself with mortification, that she only groaned and gave him a push. He didn’t budge, only looked down at her with puzzlement.
    “Was there some purpose in that?” he asked coldly. “After your foolish escape last night, I could very well stand over you while you—”
    “Enough!” She covered her ears. “I have never been treated so horribly in my life!”
    He gripped her wrists, pulled her hands away from her ears, then bent down so that he was speaking directly into her face. “This situation will not change, Lady Florence. The sooner you accept and submit, the easier this will be on all of us.”
    “I am supposed to make this easier on you ?” she cried, aghast.
    “Then easier on yourself. Your behavior this morn will determine whether I gag you for the day. I cannot have you screaming for help.”
    Her mouth sagged open. “ Gag me? Will that not look suspicious?”
    “’Tis amazing what the hood of a cloak will hide,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.
    “Ooh, you—” But she broke off when he only arched one of his devilish eyebrows.
    Marching around him, she found her own tree and did what she had to, grumbling and cursing at her awkward skirts. When she emerged, she marched right past him, knowing she was spoiling the effect of her outrage by limping. He could have remained still, yanking her to a halt, but he followed her silently. At the stream, which bubbled over rocks on its way downhill, she dropped to her knees, plunged her hands into its icy coldness, then splashed her face, hoping to scrub away her exhaustion. She would need all her wits about her this day.
    Sir Adam knelt beside her and did the same, then took several deep gulps from his cupped hands. She could not help staring at him with bemusement. How was he connected to her father? She’d never seen him before. He seemed to have the manners and speech of a wellborn man, but there was something…different about him. Besides being a kidnapper, of course. Though he was gruff, and she was embarrassed at how close they had to remain, he was treating her with a modicum of civility. He could have terrorized her, attacked her—anything, since she was at his mercy. Little did he know, her father probably wouldn’t care.
    But Sir Adam’s entire focus seemed to be to challenge her father—not kill him, just challenging him as a noble knight would. But there was something in Sir