Read Online From Kiss to Queen by Janet Chapman - Free Book Online Page A

waist, tossed her back on the bed, and came down on top of her again. They glared at each other in silence, then Mark gathered her hands, clasped them in front of her, and bound them back up with the length of cloth she’d worked so frantically to untie. Only this time he took off his belt and slipped it through her bound hands and then around her waist, buckling it at her back. His jaw tight and his eyes hard, he bound her feet in silence.
    She also remained silent, her glare accusing. That is, until she suddenly sneezed and her eyes started watering again.
    Mark grabbed the paper bag that had ripped in theirscuffle, held it up for her to see, and dumped its contents on top of her. “If I intended to kill you, would I have bought you all of these?” he said ever so softly, gesturing at the bags and bags of candy strewn over and around her. Some were opened, spilling M&M’s on her, the bed, and the floor.
    Jane watched the man she’d pulled from the lake turn and walk out of the cabin, then further spilled the candy when she rolled over, buried her face in the bed, and burst into tears.
    It was a good hour before he returned. The powerful boat they were in was speeding through the waves of the Gulf of Maine, headed for only the devil knew where. Her stomach rebelling at the sometimes rolling, sometimes jarring ride, Jane didn’t even look up when she felt his weight come to rest beside her hip. And she didn’t open her eyes, which were swollen shut from crying and a raging fever, when he cradled her head with one large, gentle hand.
    All she did was moan.
    â€œYou must drink something. You’re still burning up,” he softly petitioned, brushing her tangled hair away from her flushed face. “Come on, sweetheart. I’ve got cold Pepsi. Don’t go stubborn on me,” he said gruffly when she tried to roll away. “You need liquids.”
    He wasn’t going to leave until she drank. And she
was
parched. So Jane finally opened her eyes and tried to sit up. Mark helped, then had to hold her, since she couldn’t seem to stop shaking. Heaven help her, right now she wished he
would
throw her in the sea so she could die quickly instead of slowly burning to death—even as shewondered if this wasn’t what Sister Roberta’s purgatory would feel like.
    The boat lurched into a wave, spilling Pepsi over her face and chest and bed.
    â€œIt’s okay, I’ve got you. Drink what’s left.”
    It might have been easier if her hands were free, but she refused to ask the jerk for that concession. She didn’t trust him, and she didn’t believe his tender act now.
    But he bought you M&M’s,
her befuddled mind whispered.
    He likes them, too
.
It’s an act. He’s a criminal. You’re in trouble, Jane Abbot. Big, gonna-die trouble.
    I don’t care. I’m dying anyway.
    Jane tried to wipe her nose on her sleeve, but had to use her shoulder instead because her hands were bound.
    â€œChrist, I’ll be glad when I can get you to a doctor. If I untie you, will you behave?”
    She shook her head. If he untied her, she was throwing herself off the boat and taking him with her just on principle.
    Mark swore again, in English, for her benefit, she guessed. “I’ll cure your stubbornness someday, witch.” He cradled her head again, making her look at him. “Not long now. We’re almost there, Jane. Just try to hold on a little longer,” he added, gently lowering her down.
    Jane closed her eyes in exhaustion.
    *   *   *
    B asically, the submarine she was looking at blew her drug-runner theory to smithereens. Criminals didn’t have subs, did they? A person couldn’t just go out andbuy one, could they? So how had Mark-with-no-last-name gotten hold of such a large, deadly boat?
    Jane watched the underwater craft break the surface of the night-shrouded ocean like a giant, lumbering beast rising from