Free Until You by Jennifer McNare Page A

equestrian, he feared for her safety nonetheless.  She was riding sidesaddle for Christ’s sake!  It was one thing to ride with such fervor when astride, but to do so sidesaddle was insane!  Her stubbornness and over-confidence were a dangerous combination.  Impulsively, he reached out and grabbed hold of her horse’s reins, quickly slowing the horses and ultimately bringing both to a plunging, rearing halt, nearly unseating himself and Ashleigh in the process.  “Are you trying to get yourself killed,” he roared once they had gotten the horses under control, his face a mask of fury.
    “I was doing just fine, until now,” Ashleigh shouted back defiantly, her chest heaving in offense and outrage at his rash, highhanded maneuver.  “If anyone is going to get me killed, it is you!  What on earth were you thinking?”
    Nicholas couldn't believe the little spitfire had the nerve to shout back at him.  Keeping a tight rein on his mounting anger, and an even tighter grip on her horse’s reins, he turned to the north and then urged his mount forward; leading them into a wooded area away from the direction the hunting party had taken.  The barking of the dogs and the thunder of racing hoof-beats grew fainter with each passing second as they traveled deeper and deeper into the woods.  When they came upon a small clearing at the edge of a narrow stream he stopped, and then immediately dismounted.  Walking to a nearby tree, he tied both horses' reins to a low hanging branch. 
    Abruptly, and before Ashleigh had time to protest or even to react, the duke turned and hauled her from her horse.  She temporarily forgot her anger though as he pulled her against his rigid torso, just before lowering her to the ground.  He looked deeply into her eyes for one brief moment and then grabbed her wrist in an unbreakable grasp, pulling her in the direction of the slow-moving brook.  She was so shocked by the suddenness of his actions that she could scarcely find her voice.  “Just what do you think you are doing?” she gasped, twisting her body as she tried to break free from his viselike hold.
    Unexpectedly he stopped dead, causing her to stumble into him.  Before she knew what he intended, he turned, grabbed her and then pulled her across his lap as he sat down heavily upon a large tree stump.  Suddenly and without warning, her face was mere inches from the grass-covered banks of the stream.  Sucking in a deep, outraged breath, she was rewarded with the pungent odor of grass and dirt, and helplessly watched as a small black insect scurried by directly under her nose.  Livid, she hurled every expletive she had ever heard at him as she struggled wildly to free herself from his unrelenting grasp.
    Nicholas ignored her cries of outrage as well as her futile efforts to escape as he sought to control his rioting emotions.  God what a temper she had, and a surprisingly explicit vocabulary too he noted with a derisive grin, his pulse pounding.  Despite his anger, he had to concede that Ashleigh St. John was like no other woman he had ever known, and dammed if she wasn’t affecting him more than he cared to acknowledge.  As she continued her useless struggles, her pelvis brushed enticingly against his groin and a surge of raw desire rushed through his body.  Although she wasn't wearing skintight breeches, he could clearly make out the shape of her rounded bottom through the material of her riding skirt and it was a tantalizing sight.
    Realizing that her wild thrashing was having absolutely no effect on the duke’s tight hold, Ashleigh ceased her useless struggles to gain her freedom.  It was then that she became aware of her breasts, pressed tightly against the firm muscles of his thigh and the rock hard bulge that now strained against her pelvis.  There was no mistaking his sudden arousal and it gave her pause.  He had intended on giving her a sound thrashing, she was sure of it, but was he still, or had his intention