Read Online Hunter's Woman by Kaitlyn O'Connor - Free Book Online Page A

Finally, in desperation, she turned and walked up to a cottage.  She rapped on the oak panel door, hoping the cottage was occupied and that someone would open the door.
    To her relief, she heard the shuffle of footsteps inside. 
    “Who’s there?” a gravelly voice called from within.
    Aslyn bit her lip.  It hadn’t occurred to her that the occupant might not open the door.  If she had to yell through it, she might just as well forget about any possibility of escaping the soldiers’ notice.  She leaned close to the door.  “I’m looking for Jomares and Enid McCraney.  Do you know them?”
    The latch clicked and the door opened inward a sliver.  “What’s yer business with them?”
    Aslyn stared at the old woman, taken aback.  “I wanted to check to see how Jomares was faring since his accident.”
    The old woman looked her up and down.  “Enid’d not take kindly to yer interest in ‘er man,” she said bluntly and slammed the door.
    Aslyn was left staring at the vibrating panel while color climbed into her cheeks, chasing the cold away.  “Thank you,” she mumbled.  “Would you mind very much if I cut across your yard to the next road over?”
    “Me grog’ll take a chunk outta yer arse if he gits a whiff of ye.”
    It took Aslyn a couple of moments to recover from that forthright statement.  Finally, deciding, just in case anyone could overhear her end of the conversation, that she should at least pretend she’d had a pleasant conversation with the old termagant, Aslyn forced a smile.  “Thank you very much.  I’ll be sure to tell them.”
    She had not heard the kirkins leave.  There was nothing for it, she was going to have to turn back toward home and pretend she’d only gone up the street to see the hateful old woman who’d slammed the door in her face and threatened her with her grog.
    As she turned to walk back to the road, however, she discovered Kale was propped against a tree at the edge of the road, not two yards from her.  She jumped in surprise, nearly dropping her pot. 
    A slow smile curled his lips.  “I take it she didn’t have any to spare.”
    Aslyn blinked at him.  “I beg your pardon?”
    He nodded toward the pot she held clutched in her hands. 
    Aslyn looked down at the pot, stared at it for several long, long moments trying to think of what she might say that wouldn’t sound like a lie.  Finally, she decided she might as well go along with his assumption since she could think of nothing else.  “No.  I thought it worth a try,” she said, trying to command her complexion to cease fluctuating in pulsing red and white.  She would almost have preferred to tell him the truth than to have to claim to have been begging.
    He stood away from the tree and walked toward her, his eyes gleaming in a way Aslyn didn’t quite like.  Taking the pot from her limp hands, he tucked one of her hands in the crook of his arm and guided her toward the road.  “It was just as well, I expect.”
    Aslyn, still too stunned to think very clearly, merely nodded.  It occurred to her quite suddenly to wonder where he was taking her and she glanced quickly around.  She didn’t know whether to be relieved, chagrined, or unnerved when she saw he was leading her toward the well.
    “I’ve not tried it myself, but I’ve been told the meat tends to be stringy.”
    “What?” Aslyn asked blankly.
    “Grog.”
    “Grog?”
    “I did hear the old woman mention her grog, didn’t I?”
    Aslyn glanced quickly at his face and then away, feeling blood flood her cheeks in a crimson tide.  “You heard…,” she said faintly.  She realized quite suddenly that he was teasing her, and, despite the fact that she had absolutely no desire to have Kale, of all men, flirting with her, she began to see the humor of the situation.  She bit back a chuckle, threw him a tentative smile, but it froze on her face as she saw Lord Algar bearing down upon them. 
    She made an abortive attempt to snatch