A Bewitching Bride by Elizabeth Thornton Page A

in the opposite direction from Mrs. Cardno’s, she said, “I thought you sent Macduff to bed?”
    “I did, but of course, the door to my room is locked. As I told you, Macduff can’t open doors.”
    “Your room?”
    He had her by the elbow and was propelling her along the corridor. “I thought it best to be close at hand. I did mention, did I not, that you are probably still a target of some deranged killer? We have a lot to talk about, and we’ll be private in my room.”
    He released her and unlocked the door to his room. It seemed ridiculous to protest. Shrugging negligently, she brushed by him and crossed the threshold. Macduff followed and made straight for the tall dresser and squeezed himself underneath it as though he wanted to hide.
    Preoccupied with the dog’s strange behavior, she barely registered the key turning in the lock, and she gave a startled cry when she found herself grabbed by strong hands. Her eyes flew up to meet Gavin’s furious expression. She was so shocked, she could only stutter.

Eight

    “What?” Her hands balled into fists. “What do you think you’re doing, Hepburn?”
    Between his teeth, he replied, “I’m thinking how satisfying it would be to give you a good shaking. You did not obey my instructions, Kate.”
    She dragged herself free and retreated, rubbing her arms where his fingers had dug in. She wasn’t afraid. Her temper was the equal of his, but her breathing was far more audible.
    “You arrogant ass! I am not your dog to run and fetch on your command. I am my own mistress. I come and go as I please!” She continued to give ground as he pursued her. “I’m warning you, Hepburn. My Fraser cousins will break you into little pieces if you harm a hair on my head.”
    She had retreated to the bed. It was too undignified to crawl over it, so she stood her ground and tried to stare him down.
    “Your Fraser cousins,” he said pleasantly, “are not here. In their absence, I have appointed myself as your guardian until someone more suitable turns up to fill the slot.”
    “Guardian!” she flung at him. “I came of age a long time ago!” Inch by slow inch, she edged away from the bed. If only she could reach the door, she would be home and free. “Unlock the door,” she commanded stridently, “or I shall scream the house down.”
    Her threat made no impression on him. With the same pitiless stride, he closed the distance between them. Her hand lashed out, but he easily deflected the movement. Clamping his arms around her, he used his weight to flatten her against the wall. Despite her prodigious experience in ministering to the sick and drunks at the clinic, she realized that she was abysmally ignorant of male anatomy, at least when the male was aroused. His body ground into hers. His lips moved on hers in a sensual caress that betrayed a wealth of experience that she did not possess. His hands circled her throat, holding her head up to prolong the kiss. Against her lips, he whispered, “I’ve been dreaming of this from the moment I first saw you.” He increased the pressure of his lips, and the sudden surge of emotion staggered her. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the leap of awareness of everything that was feminine in her nature. She felt like the bewitched beauty in the children’s fable, the girl who had been awakened by a kiss.
    He pulled back slightly, his brow puckered in a frown. He was staring at her as though he had fallen off a horse and landed on his head. She knew the feeling. He was stupefied. And she was stupid.
    She wrenched herself free and swung away from him, then swung back again. The angry words bubbled up and spilled over. “If you’re looking for a night of debauchery, go find Janet Mayberry. Or is one woman a day not enough for a man of your prodigious appetites?”
    His mouth tightened. “How do you know about Janet?”
    Her mind froze, then thawed when a way out of her dilemma opened before her. She felt quite smug. How did