Read Online Mountain Wild (Harlequin Historical Series) by Stacey Kayne - Free Book Online

question.”
    She crossed her arms, her pointed little chin raising a few notches. “Are you suggesting I should have left you in the snow for the sake of propriety?”
    Her crisp speech carried a hint of formality that reminded him of Amanda’s. This woman’s sharp gaze and graceful mannerisms belayed her odd attire. She’d been properly schooled. Must have been a sweet-talking sonuvagun who’d convinced her to come all the way out here.
    “No, ma’am,” he said. “I’m grateful for your help. But your husband may not appreciate—”
    “I don’t have a husband, so you can relax.”
    Relax? With the thoughts that were filtering through his mind. Not likely. Why the hell didn’t she have a husband? “You live way up here alone?”
    “You should be focusing on getting your strength back. You’ll be leaving as soon as the weather allows.”
    Her hostility and evasiveness gnawed at him. He was obviously making her nervous. Hell, he was making himself nervous!
    “I know for certain I wasn’t near any homestead when the storm hit,” he said, hoping a less invasive question would get him some answers. “At least none that I’m aware of. I’ve lived in this area for nearly nine years.”
    “Do you really think you’re on a homestead?”
    She wasn’t buying any of it.
    “No, ma’am. More of a miner’s claim, I suppose.”
    Her single arched eyebrow wasn’t a denial or a confirmation. The sheer challenge in her gaze caused a discomforting stir in his britches. He was starting to think he had a thing for sassy women. Sassy, stern and pretty beyond measure.
    Her cheeks flushed to a soft pink before she hooded those blue eyes with thick lashes.
    And passionate, his mind added. She’d been hesitant at first but had quickly turned to sweet fire in his arms.
    Garret dropped his spoon, the provocative images in his mind driving him to the brink of insanity.
    “Did I bed you?”
    Her gaze snapped up, pinning him with those vibrant blue eyes.
    Well hell, that hadn’t been the smooth delivery he’d hoped for.

Chapter Five
    “N o, you didn’t!”
    Garret heaved a sigh of relief and shoved his hands through his hair. Oh, thank God.
    Her angry glare cut his relief short.
    “I didn’t mean to insult you. I’m a little…out of sorts.”
    “I dragged your sorry hide two miles through the snow,” she raged, her crossed arms locked tight over her chest. “I was tired!”
    Garret’s breath stalled, the tremble in her voice confirming his fear—he hadn’t been dreaming.
    “Had I known you’d awaken with such intensions, I can assure you I’d have left you in the—”
    “I’m sorry,” he said, lunging to his feet. “Honest to God, I wouldn’t have—”
    “Sit! Down!”
    He obeyed the command only because he recognized her fear. Beneath the anger in her gaze, he saw panic.
    “I took advantage,” he said quickly. “I wasn’t in my right mind.”
    “Neither was I.”
    The stain of embarrassment on her cheeks stabbed at hisconscience. He hadn’t given her a chance to refuse him, having coaxed her body into passion while she slept. “It was all my fault,” he said. “You were sound asleep. Your body was on my side before you even woke up and I—”
    “Enough!” she shouted, her fingers clamping over the hilt of her blade. Garret carefully regarded the hostility in her posture poised to strike.
    “I swear I’d never force myself on you.” Holy hell. He wasn’t rightly sure what he’d done before he’d passed out. He knew what he’d wanted to do.
    “Oh God,” he groaned, horrified at the thought of shaming the woman who’d saved his life. “Did I hurt you?”
    The concern in his soft tone caught Maggie off guard.
    Did he hurt her? She’d never felt anything so exquisite in all her life. “Ma’am? If I—”
    “You kissed me,” she said. “And then you blacked out with fever.”
    “That’s all?”
    That’s all? “That was enough!”
    “I was afraid…the thought of forcing