Free Raven's Prey by Jayne Ann Krentz

get me just as dead as if I went back and threw myself on Leo’s mercy,” she spat out. With a small, violent little twist she jerked herself out of his arms and stepped backward.
    “Honor, I’m trying to be reasonable about this,” he began grimly.
    “No, you’re not. You’re only trying to do things your way. Don’t ask for your brand of reasonableness from me. I’ll see you in hell before I get into that plane!”
    “Or in bed,” he amended speculatively.

Chapter 4
    “I feel like the Pied Piper,” Judd remarked laconically an hour later as he opened the door of Honor’s small cottage and stepped out into the street.
    From out of nowhere the children began to materialize behind him as Judd walked Honor toward the Cessna at the far end of the village. The little ones must have been waiting and watching ever since young Paco had spread the news about the promised treat. In spite of her own predicament Honor felt a tug on her emotions.
    “These children have so little,” she murmured as the youngsters flocked around. “Getting to sit inside an airplane will probably be the highlight of the year for a lot of them ”
    Judd eyed the two or three barefoot kids who were vying to catch hold of Honor’s hand. “I wish…” he began and then shrugged.
    “Wish what?” Honor prompted.
    “Oh, nothing. It would have been nice to have enough fuel to give them all a ride,” he concluded. “But I don’t, so that’s that.”
    “Feel free to use your fuel on these kids,” Honor shot back. “You won’t need it for me!”
    He gave her a slow, slanting glance. “Don’t you ever stop fighting?”
    “Not when my life is at stake! Would you?”
    “Honor, be reasonable. That’s the wildest story I’ve ever heard. Did you really expect me to believe it?”
    “No,” she admitted. “And I didn’t expect the authorities to believe it, either. That’s why I didn’t go to them with it.”
    “Very wise,” he drawled in mocking approval. “I’m sure you would have found the whole thing damned embarrassing.”
    Whatever Honor would have said next was cut off by the arrival of several adults. Some of the women hailed Honor with greetings that were half-sympathetic and half-amused.
    [_”Buenos dias, Honora,” _]Maria Lopez said cheer-rally, feminizing Honor’s name with an “a” on the end as did most of the people Honor had encountered in the village. “Your man is very generous to take the children to the airplane. My Paco is so excited!” Maria spoke in slow, careful Spanish so that Honor could understand. Everyone in that village was so polite and patient with her poor Spanish, Honor thought fleetingly. But when they spoke to Judd they slipped into a more natural speech pattern and she couldn’t always understand what was being said.
    It was quite clear, however, that the villagers firmly believed she belonged to Judd and that he had come to collect her. Given his greater fluency in the language there was very little chance she would be able to convince them otherwise. She didn’t even know the Mexican word for “kidnap!” Most of these people seemed to believe she was exactly what Judd had implied when he had asked about her the night before. She was his runaway woman.
    “Good morning, Maria,” Honor said, managing a small smile. “I hope Paco enjoys the plane.”
    [_”Sí, sí.” _]Maria nodded enthusiastically, her brown eyes smiling. Then she eyed Honor consideringly.
    Maria Lopez wasn’t the only woman in the small crowd who was peering speculatively at Honor. Lupe Martinez, Consuela Espinosa and several [_of _]the others were also casting interested gazes at the [_Norte Americana. _]But no one said anything until the cluster of men chatting with Judd effectively separated him from Honor by a few feet Then Maria leaned close.
    “You are okay, hmmm? You look sad but you do not seem…” She trailed off, searching for a word Honor would recognize. In the end she gave up and used one