Free Cowboy & the Captive by Lora Leigh Page B

watching him carefully, she moved for the tenuous sanctuary of the bathroom and hopefully a locked door. She needed time to still the dark shadows that chased through her mind, time to repair the fragile control he had destroyed so easily.

Chapter Ten
     
    He was shaking. Luc stared down at his hands as though they belonged to someone else, wondering at the trembling extensions. Suspicion coursed through him like a tidal wave, and he didn’t like the conclusions he was drawing.
    Catarina was like a light, fluid and bright whether she was angry or teasing, and hot as a damned firecracker. Until he had let the anger simmer to the surface. Until she had realized she would be in his bed—naked, at his mercy. And terror had swamped her. And there was but one reason for such overriding fear.
    Had she been raped? Of course she had. He shook his head, fighting the rage that began to burn in his chest. There was no other excuse for it. No other way to explain her reaction to him.
    If it hadn’t been for Lobo, he feared he would have missed the sheer terror in her eyes as he fought her defiance of him. He had seen her beauty, his sudden arousal for her, but only at Lobo’s warning growl had he understood the true cause of the desperation. The animal had sensed what he had been too stupid to overlook.
    “Fuck,” he whispered as he pushed his fingers restlessly through his hair.
    His arousal had slammed to a stop the minute he realized how truly frightened she was. He knew the fear didn’t come from his confrontation with her two years before. There had been no fear in her then, only anger. And something that didn’t make sense. Confusion. He remembered that now. She had been confused, wary, but resigned.
    What the hell was going on? Joe wouldn’t lie to him, he assured himself. He had spent enough time with the man to know he wouldn’t willingly place his sister in danger. And he sure as hell wouldn’t place an innocent sister in the line of fire.
    He moved quickly to his feet as the doorknob turned slowly long minutes later and then opened. She left the bathroom, her shoulders straight, her head held high as she faced him, dressed in his T-shirt. Damn. He envied that shirt in ways he couldn’t name. It fell over full, luscious breasts and ended mid-thigh. Her legs were shapely, well toned, and so tempting he could have spent hours touching them. Her eyes blazed, though. Green fire sparking with anger and the remnants of her fear.
    “Lobo, keep her in here,” he ordered the wolf as he watched Catarina carefully. “Get in the bed. I’m worn to the bone and don’t feel like fighting with you anymore, Cat. We’ll talk in the morning.”
    “I’m going home in the morning,” she stated quietly. “And my name is Melina, not Catarina, not Cat, not Maria. I am Melina.”
    Luc sighed roughly. “You’re acting more like that damned spoiled cat than you are anything. And you’re not going anywhere tomorrow. Now get in the bed before I have to tie you in it. I’m not in the mood for theatrics or temperaments. I’ve had enough for the day.”
    He stalked to the bathroom before he did something stupid. Something like pulling her into his arms, holding her to his chest and swearing he’d never hurt her, never let anyone else hurt her. Making promises he knew she would never believe.
    As he slammed the bathroom door he came to a startling, horrifying realization. He was starting to care for her, and that just would not do. He couldn’t afford to care for this little wild cat. Not and survive with his heart intact. But damn, if it hadn’t already happened.
    Shaking his head at his own foolishness, Luc prepared for bed. He stripped to his briefs, washed the dust from his face, hands and arms and quickly brushed his teeth. Weariness dragged at him, as well as arousal, and he wondered at the sanity of having her sleep in his bed.
    He could have set Lobo to guard her. Had actually considered doing it until he watched how the