Free Nuworld: Claiming Tara by Laurie Fitzgerald

to hurt
you, and here you are ready to hurt me. I daresay you’re a
wild one.” The man laughed and started to grab the
clippers from Tara.
Submissive be damned. She wasn’t about to let this
brute maul her. That wasn’t how she planned to experience
Gothman. “I said stay back,” she repeated and pulled the
clippers back, then punched the man hard in the stomach
with her other hand.
The man was packed with muscle. He doubled over for
just a second but then stood again, the grin still on his
face.
“Ah, nothing like a frisky one.” The man lunged forward,
sending Tara to the ground.
He was heavy and the ground was hard beneath her.
Tara moved faster than he anticipated, managing to
avoid his full bulk on top of her. When he pushed to his
knees, she brought her knee up hard in his groin and he
howled loudly.
Tara rushed to put distance between them when he
grabbed her foot and pulled hard enough for her to fall flat.
The garden gloves protected her hands as they slapped the
ground, but she groaned, knowing her rear end would be
bruised later.
He crawled toward her and she turned around, nailing
her fist against his jaw. The stunned man didn’t move as
she jumped up.
“You leave me alone,” she growled through clenched
teeth.
The man sat staring at her as she walked away. Tara
was satisfied with his dumbfounded expression, although
she hoped no one saw her act out of character. If she was
lucky,
the
man had
been
so
humiliated he wouldn’t
comment on her ability to fight.
Tara headed toward to the house, then paused. She
turned and grabbed the cut flowers lying on the ground
where she’d dropped them. The women would question if
she returned without the roses. And if they hadn’t seen her
escapade, she didn’t want to have to tell them about it.
As she walked back to the house, she noticed Lord
Darius staring through an opened upstairs window on the
second floor. Adrenaline already pumped through her, but
sudden panic made her heart race painfully. Her mouth
went dry. The lord wasn’t stupid, like she’d originally
thought. She didn’t regret putting the jerk in his place, but
if she didn’t watch herself around Lord Darius, it would
cost her life.
He
was definitely watching
her,
and Tara wouldn’t
pretend not to notice his appraisal of her. She stopped and
studied him in return, wondering what he thought. Tara
was sure she saw him grin when she finally looked away to
return to the women.
Lord Darius turned from his bedroom window. A sudden
thought hit him like a punch to the gut, but he had to be
wrong. His walkntalk chirped and he turned to grab it.
“Your Runner bike is secure, my lord,” one of his guards
said.
Darius growled his response and tossed the black box
on his bed. It chirped again. He ignored it. Someone tapped
on his door. Darius stalked across the room to open it.
“Darius, would you like your guests to join you for lunch
today?”
His mama stood in the doorway, and he forced a blank
expression so as not to unnerve her. “You need to hire
more help.” He tried to sound calm. It wouldn’t do to upset
his mama. The last thing he needed right now was one of
her fits. “You don’t need to be climbing those stairs to find
out how many people you’ll serve.”
His mama beamed. “Funny you should mention that. We
were just talking about some more help.”
Darius waited for the woman to continue.
“Reena has brought her niece today for a visit.”
“You want Reena’s niece to help you around the house?”
“We had talked about it.”
“Have her start tomorrow.” Darius thought about the
scene he had just witnessed in the yard. Reena’s niece,
Tara, needed some
serious training. And damn if the
thought of doing it himself didn’t have its strong appeal.
“And it’ll be just the guards and me that will be eating.”
His mama looked very pleased with herself as she left
the doorway and shuffled toward the steps. The woman
was obviously plotting. It’s what women did and