Free Earth Angel by Linda Cajio Page B

you.”
    She set her lips together and just gazed at him, silent.
    “How lovely to have you with me for an extended stay, Catherine. I’m hungry. Catching earth angels sure works up an appetite. Want something?”
    She shook her head, privately deciding to go on a hunger strike until he let her go. A day of watching her starve ought to send him into a panic. He’d release her in no time.
    “Okay,” he said, and got up.
    “I want my own room,” she said.
    He grinned wickedly. “Only if it’s mine.”
    “Miles!” she screeched at him, but he calmly walked out of the room.
    This was only supposed to happen in pirate stories, she thought, frustration and panic running through her. She felt too much like a heroine helplessly trussed to a pirate king’s bed. So when did Errol Flynn come crashing through the window to rescue her? No time soon, she bet. Instead, she was at the mercy of Miles Kitteridge.
    She closed her eyes and shuddered. He was just trying to scare her with this prisoner business, she told herself. He really didn’t mean to keep her until she confessed. He couldn’t. He would probably only keep her until the morning to put the fear of Miles into her.
    She leaned her head back, weary from the lack of sleep, weary from wrestling in the dirt with him, and weary from the aftermath of tension. She was worried about her car too. That wasn’t the best place to abandon a vehicle for any length of time.
    What frightened her the most was being alone with Miles. Turning her in to the family wasn’t the worst thing he could do to her. Sitting close to her, touching her, that was the worst he could do. She knew all of her anger would melt away if he showed her the slightest tenderness, gave her the lightest kiss. She was simply much too vulnerable with him.
    She would just have to stay awake, she vowed. Very awake.
    •     •     •
    Miles walked back into the study, carefully balancing a loaded tray.
    “I brought you some cheese and crackers,” he began, then looked up. Catherine was sound asleep, her head back between her arms. “But I guess you’re not hungry.”
    He set the tray on a small table, then picked up a bottle of beer and an apple. Settling onto the sofa, he said, “You’re missing one heck of a snack.”
    A very faint, very genuine snore answered him.
    “Thank you for that editorial comment.”
    He took a sip of beer, then a bite of the apple, the bitter and the tastes clashing in his mouth.
    Just like Catherine, he thought.
    Catherine slowly surfaced from a black void.
    Soft sweet kisses brushed along her cheek, her jaw. Enticing lips grazed hers, strayed away, then returned, teasing and tormenting. She sighed as the kiss deepened, those wonderful lips moving over hers in a rhythm that swirled through her senses. Tongues mated in a slow, sensual dance. Strong hands caressed her back, the curve of her hip. She tried to reach up and embrace her dream lover, but she couldn’t move her hands …
    The night came back with a vengeance.
    Her eyes snapped open to meet Miles’s amused gaze. She scooted away from the warm hard body next to hers, but she didn’t scoot far.
    Her tied wrists jerked her back. She was no longer tied to the file cabinet. Instead, she was tied to Miles, her two wrists to one of his. They werelying together, pressed disconcertingly close, on his couch.
    “Good morning,” he said cheerfully.
    “Miles, you son of a—”
    “Tsk, Catherine. Such language.”
    She glared at him. “I didn’t get to say it yet.”
    “But you will.”
    “You bet.” Her head was full and pounding as if she had a bad hangover. She desperately wanted to yell and scream her frustrations at him, but she refused to appear anything but calm and cool in front of him. “Miles, I cannot believe you are doing this.”
    He ran his forefinger down her cheek. “I know. Brilliance comes along only once in a lifetime. Maybe twice. Do you remember when I asked you into my bed?”
    She