Free A Sister's Quest by Jo Ann Ferguson Page B

as she struggled to release the breath imprisoned in her lungs and gasp for another. Blackness surrounded her.
    Nothing mattered.
    Not the questions that plagued her. Not Alexei and his strange ways. Not this man who reeked of beer and was stroking her legs boldly. None of it mattered. She was nothing. She was—
    Fresh air struck Michelle like a blow. She choked, rolling on her side and pressing her hand to her throat. She heard a fist striking someone and a grunt of pain. She sucked in deep breaths. A door slammed somewhere. Voices shouted. She paid no attention. Breathing was enough.
    â€œMichelle? Liebchen , are you hurt?”
    Hands settled on her shoulders. She screamed. When she was pulled against an unyielding body, she fought for only the second it took her to realize Alexei held her.
    â€œAlexei,” she whispered. “Alexei, it was horrible. He … He—”
    â€œHush, Liebchen . He will not hurt you again.” His hand tilted her face up to his intense gaze. Only now did she realize that someone had relit the candle.
    Looking across the room, she saw Rusak by the door. Rage twisted his lips, but, for once, it was not aimed at her. Compassion softened his rigid mouth as he looked at her.
    â€œHow did that man get in here?” she asked.
    Alexei’s smile was honed with fury. “As with everything else tonight, it was my fault. After I left you here, I went outside.”
    â€œOutside?”
    â€œFor personal reasons.” His eyes twinkled for a moment before they darkened with fury. “Your caller got another key somehow. He bragged to his comrade. They thought Rusak was deaf as well as mute. When he overheard their plans for one to keep me busy while you entertained the other, Rusak found me. We have settled our accounts with our innkeeper and his allies.”
    She rose as far as her knees, but gripped the headboard to keep from falling. “Thank you, Rusak.”
    Grudgingly he nodded. He seemed grateful when Alexei asked him to bring the carriage from the rickety barn behind the Gasthaus . Picking up Michelle’s satchel and flinging her dress over his arm, Rusak hurried away.
    â€œLet’s go,” Alexei commanded. “I have had enough of this place.”
    â€œYou are hurt!” She touched the scarlet mark along the sharp ridge of his left cheekbone.
    His smile became malevolent. Rubbing his reddened knuckles, he laughed. “Not as much as your caller. He shall be sporting at least one black eye on the morrow. If I had not been afraid of killing you, he would have met my pistol instead of my fist.”
    â€œAlexei!”
    â€œDo not scold me,” he said, framing her face with his hands. His eyes drilled her. “I was not there when Sophie could have used my help, and I will be damned before I let you get hurt, too.”
    â€œIt was not your fault Maman died,” she whispered, wanting to comfort him for this raw wound.
    â€œBe careful what assumptions you make, Liebchen .”
    She inched back. “Are you saying it was your fault?”
    â€œI am saying,” he murmured as he held her lips close to his, “that things might have been different if I had been there.”
    â€œYou might be dead, too.”
    â€œOr she might be alive.”
    â€œAlexei, you cannot fault yourself for something that is not your fault.”
    â€œI am glad you feel that way, Liebchen , because it is not my fault that I want to kiss you so much. ’Tis yours.” His smile warmed as he tipped her lips beneath his.
    She breathed his name in anticipation of rapture, then gasped as he turned her face and kissed her lightly on the cheek. With a laugh, he draped the blanket over her shoulders and scooped her into his arms.
    â€œWrap the covers around your legs, Liebchen . ’Tis cold out.”
    â€œI cannot go out in my nightgown!”
    â€œIt covers you well enough.” All amusement left his face. “Michelle, we