Free Lynna's Rogue by Kitty Margo Page A

only stare at him, her feelings accurately mirrored in her sky blue gaze. He had performed the vacuous act of sex with her, plain and simple, just as Malcolm had tried to do. Just as any man would try, evidently. And she would suffer the consequences of his actions… alone.
                  Then a humorous thought struck her and she laughed aloud as she suddenly realized her father was sending her to Georgia to live. Yet, when she arrived she would not be allowed to linger for long. Not after her tante learned of her impossible to conceal condition. They would send her packing to avoid the shame, scandal, and malicious gossip , just as Miss Johnson's relatives had done with their daughter. Whose threshold would she eventually wind up on? She ceased laughing as a single t ear rolled down her cheek and she heard the door close behind him.
       
                  It was a pale and drawn Joshua who brought Lynna's dinner tray three weeks later. His haggard appearance v alidated the fact that he’ d had little sleep during the past few weeks. T his thrilled Lynna to the very core, almost making her giggle. Heaven knows she would laugh out loud at anything today. After a wretched night of painful cramps and discovering that she was not with child, she had longed to cavort across the deck, laughing, shouting, and singing praises to the high heavens.
                  She could not yield to the desire , however, for Joshua might witness her sudden merriment and guess the truth. That could not be permitted to happen. Not if she could help it. She faced the window to conceal the light she knew must be dancing in her eyes.
                  Her intent was to make him suffer as much as she had , if that was possible. Preferably for the remainder of his miserable life! F orce d several times to hide her smile behind her hand, s he knew she must be more careful and wipe all signs of merriment from her face, for Joshua was a very perceptive man and had been known to enter without knocking. Had he done so this tim e he would have caught her spinn ing gaily around the cabin without a care in the world.
                  “Lynna, I have decided to return to my cabin,” he announced immediately upon entering.
                  “ Non ! You will do no such thing!” she insisted, whirling to face him. With her hands on her hips and her breasts thr ust forward she made an alluring sight. “I fear I must decline the invitation of your company, sir, for I can assure you that you and I shall never again occupy the same living quarters.”
                  “Oh contraire, my pet.” He smiled wickedly. “I feel I must insist. Since you obviously carry my child, I find no logical reason for us to remain apart. The damage has been done, so we have naught else to fear. We can make love to our hearts ’ content. And you requested that we be wed, did you not?”
                  When she failed to answer , he continued, “I have come to grant your most fervent wish. When we arrive in Charleston we will be married and spend the remainder of our days as husband and wife. You, me, and our adorable offspring. Of a certainty, my parents have beseeched me for years to wed and present them with at least a dozen grandchildren.”
                  He burst out laughing at her look of stricken horror. “I can be very persistent, Lynna, and I assure you there will be no changing my mind on this point. I have give n the matter careful consid eration and decided that I cannot see my child raised without a father. I shall go now and have my belongings returned to my cabin.”
                  “ Non !” she almost screamed the word. She could not allow him to return to his cabin and risk a repeat performance of their first night together . “That will no t be necessary, as I have recently discovered that I am not enceinte.