Read Online Judith E French by Morgan's Woman - Free Book Online

could get without scorching herself. “I’d appreciate it if you could take this handcuff off me.”
    “Cuffs on both wrists or the rope. Your choice.”
    “You’re no gentleman.”
    “And you’re obviously no lady or we wouldn’t be here, would we?” He tied the end of the rope to a tree.
    “What if I have to run from another cougar?”
    He shook his head. “No need. Not with me standing guard.”
    She wanted to remind him that he hadn’t been quite so vigilant when she’d spied on him and taken his supplies. Morgan stood between her and freedom, and she couldn’t afford to antagonize him.
    Instead, she lay down, her back to the fire. There would be little sleep for her that night. As weary and sore as she was, she couldn’t forget the mountain lion’s scream or those terrifying green eyes.
    Sometime in the night, Dancer returned to camp. He sniffed Ash’s gelding, snorted a warning, and trotted over to lean his head against Fancy’s.
    Overhead, glittering stars appeared one by one until the sky seemed strewn with diamonds. The temperature dropped and Tamsin curled tighter in her blanket. Every forest sound became ominous, and it took all of her willpower not to show how frightened she was.
    Each time Tamsin opened her eyes, she saw Ash keeping watch. Occasionally, he stood and walked around the perimeter of the camp, then returned to his resting spot without making a sound.
    The twittering of birds announced the day long before the darkness gave way to light. One after another, small creatures began to stir. First a squirrel scampered down the tree Ash was leaning on; then a mouse peered out of a heap of pine needles not three feet from where Tamsin lay.
    She sat up and stretched. The insides of her eyelids were scratchy and her head ached. She had never done well without sleep, and the night that had just passed was no exception.
    “Morning,” Ash said. She hadn’t heard him leave the camp, but the coffeepot he was propping on the coals was full of water. “I’d offer you bread and cheese,” he said, “but someone stole my provisions.” He reached down and unlocked her handcuff.
    Rubbing her wrist, she got to her feet and tried to comb the twigs out of her hair with her fingers. “Is the cougar gone?”
    He nodded. “Horses been quiet since about two o’clock.”
    “How can you tell the time? Do you have a watch?”
    “Not on me. I broke the crystal in a little tussle. I left it in Sweetwater to be repaired.”
    “Then how do you know the time?”
    “I swear, woman. You’re the talkingest prisoner I’ve ever had.” He grinned at her, and his smile was as bright as the sun breaking through a storm cloud. His teeth were white and even. Smiling made him look younger and not nearly so forbidding. “You can tell time by the stars if you spend enough time sleeping under them.”
    “I don’t need constellations to tell me that I’m ready for breakfast,” she replied. “I’ve fishing line in my pack. If you let me go to the creek for an hour, I’ll catch us the main course.”
    He studied her for a minute, then smiled. “Don’t suppose it will do any harm to let you try. I’ll just walk along with you, so you don’t get lost.”
    “So I don’t run away, you mean.” She shrugged. “That’s fine, so long as you’re gentleman enough to allow me …” She felt a flush rise up her throat. “I have personal needs.”
    “By rights I shouldn’t give you any privacy after you got an eyeful of my assets.”
    “Oh, I …” Embarrassment made her speechless. How could he have known that she’d seen him in the altogether?
    His obsidian eyes glittered with mischief. “Your tracks told the story, Tamsin. I was careless and let you sneak up on me. Had you been a rogue Cheyenne, my scalp would be waving from a tepee pole.” He dusted his hands on his coat. “Hope you enjoyed the sight.”
    “It wasn’t what you think,” she protested.
    “Hard to think anything but the worst,”