Read Online The Outlaw Takes A Bride (The Burnett Brides) by Sylvia McDaniel - Free Book Online Page B

the apparent magnetism that had developed between them. Yes, he was an eye-catching man, and yes, she appreciated what he had done for her, but Tanner was not a man prone to settling down. And there was another man waiting for her in Fort Worth who wanted to settle down, who wanted a wife. Her future lay with him. She was thankful for Tanner’s help, but nothing could come of this temptation.
    Rising from the bed, she swung her feet over the side and slowly stood. Her legs felt wobbly and she swayed, surprised at her own weakness. She hadn’t felt this frail in bed. Holding on to the furniture in the room, she walked to where her satchel sat and found her corset. There was no way that she could put it on by herself, so she packed it in her bag. She tugged and pulled until she removed the nightgown. After resting for a few moments, she then tackled putting on her petticoat.
    The garment slipped over her head fairly easy, and she tied the string on each side. Letting go of the dresser, she took her dress in her hands, determined to get it on by herself. She glanced at her dress and knew it was going to be a struggle. She looked at her arm and the dress and wondered how she would get her sore shoulder in the garment without passing out from pain.
    Finally, she lifted her dress with her good left arm and almost cried at the pain that shot through her right shoulder. She managed to get the dress over her head. Her left arm was in the sleeve, but the right one still hung limp at her side. She knew it was going to hurt before she even attempted to squeeze her arm through the sleeve. With a deep breath, she bent her arm and tried to slip the dress over it. Pain shot through her shoulder, causing her to gasp and double over, almost incapacitating her.
    She stopped, leaned over the table, and took several deep breaths, trying to ease the ache so that she could continue. The sound of the door opening startled her, and she glanced up into the hot blue eyes of the man she was running from.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing out of bed?” he said, his voice rising as he strode into the room. “Are you trying to finish killing yourself?”
    “I ... I felt better and thought . . . thought I would try to go down to the telegraph office.” She didn’t have the courage to tell him that she was really trying to sneak out of town and leave him behind, that she was afraid of the feelings his nearness was beginning to evoke and how hopeless she knew they were.
    “You’re hardly healed, lady.” He lifted her dress off her shoulders and pulled her good arm back out through the sleeve.
    “What are you doing?” she questioned.
    “I’m putting you back in bed,” he snapped. “Whatever color you’d managed to put back in your cheeks is gone.”
    “No, really, I think I’ll be okay. I’ll keep the dress on,” she said. “I’m tired of being in that bed, in that nightgown.”
    He threw the dress on the bed. “Your shoulder is not ready.”
    “But I am,” she said stubbornly.
    She stood before him dressed in her chemise and petticoats, feeling exposed, almost naked. A flush started at the base of her neck and warmed its way past her cheekbones.
    He shook his head. “No.”
    “I’ve got to get to Fort Worth. I can’t spend another minute lying in that bed,” she said, her voice weak, tears dangerously close.
    She spun around and bumped her arm into the table. She gasped and stumbled, almost fainting from the pain.
    Tanner reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her up against his solid chest. She stood in his arms, half-dressed, a feeling of protection and shelter overwhelming her. The pain slowly subsided, until she relaxed and was able to take a deep breath.
    His hand reached up and smoothed back her tangled hair, and she laid her head against his shoulder. A feeling of warmth and safety stole over her. “I guess I’m not as strong as I thought I was.”
    “No,” he said, his voice a deep, husky tone that