of a male holding women in benign contempt. “Obviously, I could have spared you further suffering.”
“That’s quite a generous offer. Considering.”
“Considering what?” she couldn’t keep from asking.
“Considering that I’m your prisoner and you think you’re taking me to Trinity Falls to stand some kind of trial.”
She’d momentarily forgotten about that. “I don’t think I’m taking you there for that reason. I know I am.” Forgetting her earlier reservations about talking to the man eye-toeye, she turned to him. “It’s very important to accept responsibility for your actions. When you do something wrong, you must pay your debt to society. Otherwise, our country would be in anarchy.”
His stare was as intense as she recalled, but she didn’t glance away. He looked as if he had something important to say. Was he about to confess to his crimes? She prepared herself to hear anything. She promised herself that, no matter how depraved or violent his misdeeds, she would remain calm.
“You don’t believe any of the things I’ve told you, do you?”
“That you were falsely imprisoned after carrying a warning to the fort and not revealing the whereabouts of a tribe of friendly Indians?” she said dubiously.
His features tightened into a scowl. “It’s pointless for me to keep protesting my innocence, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe soldiers of the United States Army would do anything as reprehensible as imprisoning an innocent man.”
He returned his attention to the trail. “There’s something you should think about.”
She didn’t trust the subtle deepening of his already husky voice. “What’s that?”
“If I’m such a terrible miscreant, why are you still alive?”
Her throat muscles constricted. “Wh-what?”
“If I’m as bad as you think, I would have had my way with your delectable body, hacked you up with your own ax,roasted you over a vigorous fire and made a hot meal of your tender flesh.”
Her heart pounded. That he could envision such deviltry proved he was dangerous. All her sympathetic thoughts about him rose to reproach her. She’d been a fool to release him from the stockade. And a greater fool not to arm herself with a knife.
Logan flicked a quick glance at his traveling companion. Damnation, she was as white as a ghost. It infuriated him that his careless words, words intended to reassure her, could actually terrify her. He didn’t know who he was angrier at, himself for uttering such hogwash or her for being so gullible.
I should have been the one to cut the trees.
Her gentle comment cut through his thoughts. She’d been concerned about him. And he’d repaid her generosity with a nasty remark about raping, dismembering and cannibalizing her!
“You can start breathing again. I won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t need you to tell me to breathe.”
Her bravado sparked a tug of admiration. The woman might be scared, but she wasn’t going to let him know it. The best way to deal with her so that she didn’t run screaming into the forest was to establish a rapport with her. Which meant he would have to learn more about her. He had to foster a degree of trust in this Eastern woman, because both their lives might come down to her obeying his orders without question. But he knew she wasn’t ready to hear that he was the temporary mayor of Trinity Falls and owned a bank. She’d think he was lying and become even more difficult to deal with.
“Why are you traveling alone?”
“You don’t recall?”
Her vivid green eyes looked.bewildered and, he thought with repugnance, filled with pity. Hell, she was back to treating him like a half-wit.
“Recall what?”
“I—I already explained that the wagon master was unwilling to slow his pace. And remember my books? The ones you wanted to leave behind at the fort—that large wooden structure with the big gate?”
He gritted his teeth so hard that his already aching jaw shot new waves of pam through
“That’s quite a generous offer. Considering.”
“Considering what?” she couldn’t keep from asking.
“Considering that I’m your prisoner and you think you’re taking me to Trinity Falls to stand some kind of trial.”
She’d momentarily forgotten about that. “I don’t think I’m taking you there for that reason. I know I am.” Forgetting her earlier reservations about talking to the man eye-toeye, she turned to him. “It’s very important to accept responsibility for your actions. When you do something wrong, you must pay your debt to society. Otherwise, our country would be in anarchy.”
His stare was as intense as she recalled, but she didn’t glance away. He looked as if he had something important to say. Was he about to confess to his crimes? She prepared herself to hear anything. She promised herself that, no matter how depraved or violent his misdeeds, she would remain calm.
“You don’t believe any of the things I’ve told you, do you?”
“That you were falsely imprisoned after carrying a warning to the fort and not revealing the whereabouts of a tribe of friendly Indians?” she said dubiously.
His features tightened into a scowl. “It’s pointless for me to keep protesting my innocence, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe soldiers of the United States Army would do anything as reprehensible as imprisoning an innocent man.”
He returned his attention to the trail. “There’s something you should think about.”
She didn’t trust the subtle deepening of his already husky voice. “What’s that?”
“If I’m such a terrible miscreant, why are you still alive?”
Her throat muscles constricted. “Wh-what?”
“If I’m as bad as you think, I would have had my way with your delectable body, hacked you up with your own ax,roasted you over a vigorous fire and made a hot meal of your tender flesh.”
Her heart pounded. That he could envision such deviltry proved he was dangerous. All her sympathetic thoughts about him rose to reproach her. She’d been a fool to release him from the stockade. And a greater fool not to arm herself with a knife.
Logan flicked a quick glance at his traveling companion. Damnation, she was as white as a ghost. It infuriated him that his careless words, words intended to reassure her, could actually terrify her. He didn’t know who he was angrier at, himself for uttering such hogwash or her for being so gullible.
I should have been the one to cut the trees.
Her gentle comment cut through his thoughts. She’d been concerned about him. And he’d repaid her generosity with a nasty remark about raping, dismembering and cannibalizing her!
“You can start breathing again. I won’t hurt you.”
“I don’t need you to tell me to breathe.”
Her bravado sparked a tug of admiration. The woman might be scared, but she wasn’t going to let him know it. The best way to deal with her so that she didn’t run screaming into the forest was to establish a rapport with her. Which meant he would have to learn more about her. He had to foster a degree of trust in this Eastern woman, because both their lives might come down to her obeying his orders without question. But he knew she wasn’t ready to hear that he was the temporary mayor of Trinity Falls and owned a bank. She’d think he was lying and become even more difficult to deal with.
“Why are you traveling alone?”
“You don’t recall?”
Her vivid green eyes looked.bewildered and, he thought with repugnance, filled with pity. Hell, she was back to treating him like a half-wit.
“Recall what?”
“I—I already explained that the wagon master was unwilling to slow his pace. And remember my books? The ones you wanted to leave behind at the fort—that large wooden structure with the big gate?”
He gritted his teeth so hard that his already aching jaw shot new waves of pam through
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