Free Six White Horses by Janet Dailey

curious glance slid to Patty's less than pleased countenance, as the blonde nodded her agreement.
    As soon as the new trio were several yards away, Patty no longer tried to conceal her efforts to twist free of his hand.
    "I don't know what you have to say to me," she said in a low, angry voice, "but you don't need to cut the circulation off in my hand to say it!"
    The grip slackened to allow the blood to pound in her fingers again, but he didn't release her. The mask of politeness vanished with the disappearance of the newspaper people as Morgan turned the harshness of his gaze on Patty.
    "I want to clear up this nonsense about you riding any bucking stock!" he snapped.
    "Nonsense?" Patty frowned in startled anger.
    "Yes, nonsense!" Morgan affirmed, an intimidating hardness to the set of his jaw. "You can get that ridiculous notion out of your head, because you are not climbing aboard any saddle bronc."
    "Don't give me orders, Morgan Kincaid," she warned. "You're not my keeper."
    "I'll give you any damned order I please and you'll obey it!"
    He towered above her, black hair springing from beneath his hat while his brows were drawn together in a solid, threatening black line.
    "Don't count on it," she hissed in return. "If I decide that I want to ride a bucking horse, you're not going to be able to stop me from doing it, Morgan!"
    "Oh, Annie Oakley, do you have a surprise in store for you!" Morgan breathed in deeply to control his temper, blue eyes glittering with complacent triumph. "That rodeo stock in those pens belongs to the Kincaid Rodeo Company. No amateur is going to get on board any of them. They're restricted to card-carrying professional riders."
    "I'm hardly an amateur!" protested Patty vigorously, refusing to give in though his point had been made. "I can ride as well as any man on this circuit!"
    "Maybe you can, but you're not going to break your foolish neck while I'm around."
    "Maybe?" Her voice squeaked in indignant anger. "Did you say 'maybe I can'?" Her free hand struck a defiant pose on her hip.
    "Listen, you pint-sized little witch," Morgan growled. "I'm not going to argue over every word with you! I don't care if you can ride every animal in the string. I am not going to give you permission to try! Have you got that?"
    "You've made your point. Now, let me go!" she demanded as she glowered at the unrelenting expression on his face.
    "Not until I have your word."
    "You can go to—" The rest of her sentence was lost in an outcry of pain as he sharply twisted her wrist behind her back, forcing her against the granite wall of his chest.
    "Your word, Patty," he repeated.
    "You're a bully and a brute. Do you know that?" She gasped at the shooting pains that were still traveling up her arm.
    The nearness of his uncompromising face was unnerving, nearly as disturbing as the firm outline of his body pressed against hers.
    His gaze narrowed on her trembling mouth. "I swear there's only one way to stop your insults!" he muttered savagely.
    Her head was already tilted back to glare into his face. The fingers that twined punishingly into her hair jerked it back even farther. Patty's brown eyes widened; she knew that masculine mouth was about to capture hers and realized that she had not the strength to prevent it. Her pulse accelerated its pace to pound in her ears as a betraying weakness flowed into her legs.
    "Hey, Morgan! Do you need any help?"
    The amused laughter from a pair of on looking rodeo hands stopped the slow descent of Morgan's mouth. It also brought a surge of renewed strength to Patty's limbs as she struggled wildly against his hold.
    "Your grandfather must be the only one who has the patience to deal with you," he declared, swearing beneath his breath.
    Blatantly disregarding her flailing arms and kicking feet, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. The blood rushed with throbbing intensity to her head as she beat at his back with her fists.
    "Put me down! Do you hear? Put me down!" Her