page42 (2/2)

Her mouth went dry He h the odds first One man, one pistol, versus one woman Later, who kne many cutthroats, or how soon she’d be in their midst? It must be now

Delilah slowed the carriage, ostensibly for the turn, then pulled hard on the reins As the horses reared in protest, she threw herself at the robber

The sudden attack took him by surprise, and the pistol fell out of his hand to the floor of the carriage Delilah lunged for it, but was taken up short when he grasped the hair dangling at her neck and yanked her back

He tore the reins from her hands “Damn you,” he rasped as the horses settled down “Are you out of your mind?”

Somewhere in the periphery of her consciousness was a jolt of recognition, but Delilah was in too violent a state to pay attention Her fist swung towards his face, only to be grabbed and wrenched aside Then a hard chest pressed upon her, pushing her back hard against the carriage seat She could scarcely breathe, but hat little breath she had she infor relationship between a ca beetle

As she tried to twist away froht she heard him snicker

Startled, she looked at hi eyes In an instant, the glitter turned to darkness as his mouth descended upon hers

Though she twisted and struggled, she found herself slowly, inexorably sinking back onto the seat under the relentless pressure of her attacker’s body Unable to budge hiidly unresponsive That much control she had at least

Unfortunately, her position ard and painful to begin with Maintaining a stiff posture made it more so Her body ached horribly, and she was badly winded Even her as rapidly deserting her Struggling had done nothing, evidently, but drain all her strength, for her stupid body eakening, war kiss Sick andbecause she simply couldn’t continue Later, she promised herself later she would kill him

In the next instant, to her astonishht was lifted off her She opened stunned eyes to aze Serious? It could not be, she thought hysterically

He’d started to ht hold of the scarf covering his face and yanked it down, un him

“You,” she gasped “Good God, Jack, I nearly killed you Why didn’t you say right off it was you?” Joy, relief, welled up inside her, and she was about to hug hiave the weary cattle leave to start

“I was about to,” he answered irritably, “when you attacked ht have both been killed If the horses hadn’t been so tired, they ht have taken off and overturned us”

Miss Desht I was being abducted by a highway for patience “What did you expecta mask Hoas I

to knoas you?” Her lower lip quivered “I think you’re monstrous unfair to scold htened , instead of—of assaulting me”

“As I recollect, it was you struck first,” he shot back “Since I could not hit back, I tried to restrain you When that didn’t work, I resorted to the only response that ever does seehtened you, but really, you left me no choice”

She threw hi stonily ahead, his posture rigid She could not comprehend how a man could kiss one so passionately one moment and be so coldly indifferent in the next

Yet she did understand He’d only wanted to subdue her, and he’d succeeded because, as he’d said, that way always seeaze to the trees that lined the road She heard a bird cry so it She wanted to cry out too

They rode on in tense silence for a few ,” he said, his voice gentler

She pulled the rug up over her

Mr Langdon drew a long breath “Miss Desmond, have I o aith him?”

“I don’t know if you’ve don You still have not told ed

“Why I caht he’d made off with you I couldn’t believe ht surely to find you trussed up and unconscious I could not believe you’d go aith him of your own free will”