Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 108382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Prudence's dander was up considerably. "Perhaps, Zac," she emphasized, "you would get more than you ever bargained for."
Zac leaned across the bed, keeping his eyes steady upon hers. His hand reached out slowly, so slowly that Prudence didn't think it would ever connect with her. But it did. He rested upon her hip, and then with a dare-tell-me-to-remove-it look in his eyes, he ran it down her thigh. He pressed the material of her skirt roughly against her leg, causing friction, causing heat, and causing warm moisture between her legs to embarrassingly appear, thankfully only to her knowledge.
Her eyes fluttered and her breath came in rapid spurts, but as soon as he spoke, her control returned full force. "Is that a promise, honey?"
Prudence stepped back. "You are—"
"Remember, you've already used despicable and contemptible. How about something original?"
"Scurrilous!"
Zac braced himself back against the headboard. "Showing off your education, Pru? That won't do around here. No one would understand you. I, myself, would have chosen depraved."
"A perfect choice," she agreed. "And meaning just the same."
"Only more common. And you aren't common, are you?"
Prudence was struck by his statement. Was he referring to her social standing or her looks? She wasn't certain, but either way she was sure he meant it as an insult. She raised her chin and gripped her skirt as best she could with her three good fingers. "I am who I am, and I make no apologies for it."
"Well, there must be something beneath that proper demeanor, especially since you made it this far on your own." An amazing feat to Zac.
"I told you I could survive out here."
Zac laughed and shook his head. "Honey, you haven't begun to taste the West yet."
"Then give me time," she pleaded, taking a step closer to the bed. "Give me a few days . . . just a few to make some inquiries about my mother."
Zac hesitated. He was tempted, very tempted, to keep her with him for a few days. To show her the real West and perhaps learn if it was a truth or a tale she was telling him. And to learn just how responsive she could be to his touch. But his senses returned with a sharp sting. "No!" he snapped.
Prudence stepped away from the force of his word. "I'm only asking for a few days."
"And I said no. The subject is closed. You can discuss it with your father when you return. Now get in this bed and get some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow."
"I cannot share a bed with you."
Zac sprung forward, grabbing Prudence by the wrist and tugging her down on top of him plastering her breasts flat against his naked chest and catching her legs snugly between his two large ones.
Prudence didn't know what to do. She raised her head and her lips were only a breath away from his. If she spoke, she would probably touch them, graze them with her own. Their eyes met and held for several seconds. She almost thought he waited for her to respond, to give him permission to do as he wished —or perhaps as they both wished.
Could he possibly want her? Desire her?
"You aren't exactly light." Zac's words were meant to tease, not to hurt.
Prudence scurried off him like a wounded animal ready for flight, the moment destroyed by the reality of his words.
"Hold it," he yelled, yanking her wrist. "You aren't going anyplace."
"I will not sleep with you!"
He pulled her down upon the bed once again. This time he went for her feet.
"What are you doing?" she demanded, trying to pull her foot, snugly secured in her walking boot, away from him.
"I intend to take your boots off," he explained, successful in forcing open her boot ties.
"You shall do no such thing!"
Zac held her ankle firmly in his one hand while he spoke slowly and clearly. "I am tired, very tired. And I want to get some sleep. I can't get any sleep if I have to worry about you running away from me. So I intend to make certain you can't escape me. And since I don't want bruised ankles, your boots come off.”
"You are going to tie me like a common prisoner?" she asked indignantly.
"Correct," he said, trying to remove her other boot.
Prudence began to struggle in earnest. "Stop! Don't dare remove my boots!"
"Why? Do you have big feet you want to keep hidden?" he asked, laughing while holding her ankle and trying desperately to rid her foot of its boot.
"You are not my husband. You have no business seeing my stocking feet."
"The hell with your stocking feet and proper sensibilities. All I want to do is sleep. Now be still!" he shouted, and with that demand her boot fell to the floor.
Prudence remained still upon the bed. Her arms folded across her midsection, with her hands tucked beneath each arm. He was an animal. Uncivilized. Uncouth. She hated him.