Read Online Archer's Lady: Bloodhounds, Book 3 by Moira Rogers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Moira Rogers
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wrapped in smug pleasure. You like that, honey? When I fuck you right— there …
She pulled away before her trembling hand could betray her, and nudged the tray in front of him. “Cook prepared this just for you. Cecil might become jealous.”
“I’m not hungry.” He pushed the chair back from the desk. “Come here.”
Two steps brought her close enough for her skirts to brush his leg. “You need to eat.”
“In a minute.” Archer patted his thigh. “Sit, honey.”
She flicked her gaze from his face to his leg and back, torn between relief and exasperation. He looked like a man bent on soothing and stroking, which was as foolish an idea as she’d ever heard. Another hard ride—that was a bad idea worth pursuing. He could bend her over the desk this time, take her with her skirts over her back and her screams muffled against her arms.
Sliding onto his leg was asking for a broken heart. Maybe not tonight or even tomorrow, but soon enough he’d decipher the code and save Crystal Springs…and then he’d ride away, and she’d be where she’d started all those years ago. Alone, all of her masks stripped away and her life in pieces.
Still, he could hardly work on deciphering while she was perched on his knee. She’d never met a man whose mind didn’t drift to carnal pursuits once a woman crawled into his lap. And if she did so quickly enough, she wouldn’t have time to consider the flimsy state of her rationalizations.
He was sprawled in the chair like a man who owned every bit of space in the room, so she stepped between his knees and slid onto his leg. “Better?”
He stroked her hair instead of answering. “I’m dangerous, Grace, but I’d never harm you.”
“I know that.” Meeting his gaze over such a short distance would be too intimate, so she smoothed out a wrinkle in his shirt. “It was never about you. I spent a lot of time around dangerous men who might well have harmed me. Some instincts are difficult to unlearn.”
“Yes, they are.” Archer stilled her hand. “You lied to me out at Doc’s place. You were scared, and you told me you were fine. You lied…and I had started to let myself believe that wasn’t something we had to do with each other. That, whatever else, we were going to be honest.”
She had to bite back a smile. “I told you I’d be fine once I caught my breath,” she corrected gently. “It wasn’t the time or place for complicated truths, and I didn’t want to hurt you with simplified ones.”
“Still.” His fingers kept combing through the tendrils of her hair that had escaped from her twist. “It made me wonder.”
“Then I owe you honesty.” Even the memory of the wrinkle had been smoothed from his shirt, so she lifted her gaze to his. “Ask me anything.”
His eyes were locked onto hers. “Why are you in Crystal Springs?”
She wished she had a good answer. A real answer, something less depressing than the truth. “This is where I happened to be when I grew weary of running. Well, in the next town over, but I heard they had need of a schoolteacher here, and I thought it might be a good place to catch my breath.”
He didn’t ask what—or who—she’d been running from, only nodded. “I joined the Guild because I thought I had no choice. No better one, anyway.”
“Because you were on the wrong side of the law?” Perhaps the Guild preyed on desperation to remake men with useful skills.
He took a deep breath. “Because I’d been on the wrong side of a dynamite explosion. I’d lost half my face, both my eyes. They told me I was dying, and I have every reason to believe it was the truth.”
His face bore scars, was rough and weathered, but whole. Grace lifted a hand and traced his cheekbone. Up, curving around his eye until his eyebrow tickled her finger, then down the crooked length of his nose. “They offered you a miracle.”
“At a price I couldn’t have possibly understood. Not at the time.”
Just the way Clyde Howland had
She pulled away before her trembling hand could betray her, and nudged the tray in front of him. “Cook prepared this just for you. Cecil might become jealous.”
“I’m not hungry.” He pushed the chair back from the desk. “Come here.”
Two steps brought her close enough for her skirts to brush his leg. “You need to eat.”
“In a minute.” Archer patted his thigh. “Sit, honey.”
She flicked her gaze from his face to his leg and back, torn between relief and exasperation. He looked like a man bent on soothing and stroking, which was as foolish an idea as she’d ever heard. Another hard ride—that was a bad idea worth pursuing. He could bend her over the desk this time, take her with her skirts over her back and her screams muffled against her arms.
Sliding onto his leg was asking for a broken heart. Maybe not tonight or even tomorrow, but soon enough he’d decipher the code and save Crystal Springs…and then he’d ride away, and she’d be where she’d started all those years ago. Alone, all of her masks stripped away and her life in pieces.
Still, he could hardly work on deciphering while she was perched on his knee. She’d never met a man whose mind didn’t drift to carnal pursuits once a woman crawled into his lap. And if she did so quickly enough, she wouldn’t have time to consider the flimsy state of her rationalizations.
He was sprawled in the chair like a man who owned every bit of space in the room, so she stepped between his knees and slid onto his leg. “Better?”
He stroked her hair instead of answering. “I’m dangerous, Grace, but I’d never harm you.”
“I know that.” Meeting his gaze over such a short distance would be too intimate, so she smoothed out a wrinkle in his shirt. “It was never about you. I spent a lot of time around dangerous men who might well have harmed me. Some instincts are difficult to unlearn.”
“Yes, they are.” Archer stilled her hand. “You lied to me out at Doc’s place. You were scared, and you told me you were fine. You lied…and I had started to let myself believe that wasn’t something we had to do with each other. That, whatever else, we were going to be honest.”
She had to bite back a smile. “I told you I’d be fine once I caught my breath,” she corrected gently. “It wasn’t the time or place for complicated truths, and I didn’t want to hurt you with simplified ones.”
“Still.” His fingers kept combing through the tendrils of her hair that had escaped from her twist. “It made me wonder.”
“Then I owe you honesty.” Even the memory of the wrinkle had been smoothed from his shirt, so she lifted her gaze to his. “Ask me anything.”
His eyes were locked onto hers. “Why are you in Crystal Springs?”
She wished she had a good answer. A real answer, something less depressing than the truth. “This is where I happened to be when I grew weary of running. Well, in the next town over, but I heard they had need of a schoolteacher here, and I thought it might be a good place to catch my breath.”
He didn’t ask what—or who—she’d been running from, only nodded. “I joined the Guild because I thought I had no choice. No better one, anyway.”
“Because you were on the wrong side of the law?” Perhaps the Guild preyed on desperation to remake men with useful skills.
He took a deep breath. “Because I’d been on the wrong side of a dynamite explosion. I’d lost half my face, both my eyes. They told me I was dying, and I have every reason to believe it was the truth.”
His face bore scars, was rough and weathered, but whole. Grace lifted a hand and traced his cheekbone. Up, curving around his eye until his eyebrow tickled her finger, then down the crooked length of his nose. “They offered you a miracle.”
“At a price I couldn’t have possibly understood. Not at the time.”
Just the way Clyde Howland had
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