Free Seduced by His Target by Gail Barrett

that... If he’d caught you...” His voice was close to a shout. “I warned you not to do anything dumb.”
    Her own temper flared. “Dumb? What’s so dumb about trying to escape? What do you expect me to do? Just sit here like a helpless lump?”
    “I expect you to listen to me.”
    “Listen to you? After you kidnapped me?”
    “You don’t understand.” Exhaling roughly, he shoved his hand through his hair. “It’s not just you and Henry. The villagers... If you escape, they’re going to take the blame.”
    Her mouth went slack. She stared at him, so angry she could hardly speak. “You’d hurt them? You’d punish those poor people if I left?”
    He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The proof was in his eyes.
    And that was the final straw. He’d grabbed her from her tent. He’d tied her up and knocked her unconscious, hauling her across the mountain in the pouring rain. She was filthy and tired. Every part of her body ached. And if that wasn’t enough, at the end of this journey both she and Henry were going to die.
    “You people are something else,” she choked out. “Dragging those poor farmers into this. They’re just minding their own business and trying to get by. And Henry—he’s a good, kind man who was trying to make a difference in the world. But you don’t care about them, do you? It doesn’t bother you to have their deaths on your hands.”
    A flush climbed up his face. His jaw tightened to steel. And a warning sounded in her mind, the realization that she ought to be careful, that maybe she’d misjudged him since he’d rescued her from Amir. But she’d been pushed too far for restraint.
    “Men like you are selfish,” she continued, her voice trembling. “You think your stupid beliefs give you the right to take whatever you want. But you’re wrong. What you believe is wrong. And you’re not going to win.”
    Her chest heaved. Her eyes stung, but she blinked back the tears, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She would not show any weakness around this man.
    His eyes turned even blacker. He closed the distance between them, but she held her ground, refusing to budge. “Stay in the hut, Nadine. Don’t try to escape.”
    “Or what?” she taunted. “You’ll kill me?” She let out a high-pitched laugh.
    His big hands gripped her shoulders. He gave her a shake, fueling her temper even more.
    But then his mouth was on hers. She froze, utterly shocked, the feel of him slaying her senses—the warmth of his hard lips, the scrape of his sandpapery jaw, the strength in his massive hands. A thought sprang up, that she needed to resist this, but it vanished like smoke in the wind.
    Pleasure jolted her veins. Her knees wobbled, threatening to collapse. Sensations collided inside her, bursts of heat and need, and a raw, primal delirium more acute than anything she’d ever experienced, wiping every coherent thought from her head. Her body swayed into his, the intensity of her response overwhelming, sending thrills skipping and swirling through her veins.
    But just as abruptly, he broke away. Breathing hard, she stared into his eyes. They were hot, hungry, furious.
    Oh, God. What had she done? She’d just kissed her enemy. She’d responded to him with total abandon, with a frenzy she couldn’t contain. Even now she wanted those big, rough hands on every part of her. She spun around, appalled.
    “I’m warning you,” he rasped from behind her. “Don’t try to leave.”
    It took her several seconds to find her voice. “Or what?”
    “Just don’t, Nadine.”
    The door thudded closed. Still breathing hard, she turned around. But Rasheed was gone.

Chapter 5
    W hy had Rasheed kissed her?
    That question still ricocheted through Nadine’s mind the next day as they resumed their trek down the mountain, following a river toward the valley below. She’d spent half the night tossing and turning, reliving every thrilling moment of that shocking kiss, until she’d