Free Samantha James by His Wicked Ways Page B

sufficient to keep her in check.
    He scowled. Settling his hands on the narrowness of her waist, he lifted her to Fortune’s back, then followed her upward.
    He felt the way her spine went rigid, the way she strained to avoid his touch. His mouth tightened. Hisarms came hard about her body; deliberately he pulled her back against him.
    Even as she tried his patience and his temper as no other, he couldn’t quite banish a twinge of reluctant admiration.
    Thrice now she had invited him to kill her. The night of her abduction, she had neither cried nor screamed nor wept. Nor had she begged for mercy. Instead she’d stepped forward, and silently awaited what she had believed might be her own demise.
    She did not shrink from him, as she could have…as she should have! Instead, her bravery rivaled that of any man—and exceeded that of many.
    What was it she’d said? Do not move, else I will give you a wound to match the other . Why, if the idea were not so preposterous, he’d have laughed! Had the wench only realized she’d held his dagger as long as she had because he allowed it! Only now did he find her heartfelt declaration so amusing. At the time, the bend of his mood had not been so inclined.
    The hours passed. It was well into the afternoon when her spine finally slackened. Cameron knew she was unused to the hours in the saddle; he suspected she ached to the very bone. He was given to wonder: Would he have stopped if she had asked? Cameron didn’t know. He knew only that she did not ask, and after her trick of this morning, he was not disposed to offer.
    The day was gloriously warm and sunny. It was then he spied a crofter and several young lads in the distance gathering stones from a field, a stocky cottage in the distance. As they neared, Cameron looked on with a faint smile as the pile at the edge of the field grew. From there the crofter and the lads carried them over to join another stone fence that climbedhigh into the hills. The sight hurtled him back many a year to his boyhood, for his father had often sent him and his brothers to complete just such a task.
    They continued on, but a nagging restlessness brewed within him. He was anxious to be home, and yet the thought tore at his very heart. For his father and all his brothers were no more…
    And the responsibility for the safety and well-being of his clansmen now resided with him.
    It was a sobering thought.
    A wave of greeting roused him from his reverie. It was the crofter.
    Cameron raised a hand and gave a shout in return. Meredith’s gaze had strayed as well—he felt the way her lungs filled with air, her flare of sudden awareness.
    His smile withered. Briefly he entertained the thought of clamping her breast with the palm of his hand. Ah, now that would surely divert any intent she might have.
    He leaned forward. His breath stirred the fine reddish blond hairs at her temple; his lips brushed skin that was incredibly soft. Even as the awareness rushed through his mind, he was furious that he should even notice.
    “Do not,” was all he growled.
    Her lips compressed. Again her posture grew rigidly erect. The silence that had reigned supreme throughout the day continued.
    Above the deep green of the treetops, sunset flamed across the horizon, lighting the twilit sky a misty pink and gold. Ever atuned to his prisoner, he felt her body relax. Was she asleep? Even as it crossed his mind, her body began to droop, only to jerk upright.
    Cameron took pity on her. When they came to thecool rushing waters of a stream and long, fragrant grass where Fortune could graze, he called a halt.
    “We will stay here for the night.”
    He dismounted, then turned to offer her a hand. She had already slipped to the ground. His expression turned grim as she winced, but he said nothing. His gaze ever vigilant, he watched as she hobbled toward the shade beneath a tree. But she did not rest, as he thought she would.
    She dropped to her knees on the mossy ground, clasped her