A Heart So Wild by Johanna Lindsey

screaming.”
    â€œI—I have.”
    â€œThen spell it out for me. Now.”
    â€œYou’re going to rape me.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œAnd—and I can’t stop you.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œI—I don’t know what else there is for me to say.”
    â€œThere’s a hell of a lot more, lady. Rape is the least of your worries. You’ve put yourself at my mercy. That was stupid, because now I can do any goddamn thing I want with you. Do I make myself clear? I can slit your throat and leave you where your bones will never be found by anything human.”
    Courtney was trembling violently. She hadn’t understood any of this when she should have, and now it was too late.
    When she didn’t stop shaking, Chandos bent over and slapped her. She promptly burst into a loud torrent of tears, and he swore. Perhaps he was being too hard on her, but she had needed the lesson.
    He had been prepared to do more than justfrighten her, if more was what it took. But that wasn’t necessary. She frightened easily enough.
    He put a hand over her mouth to silence her. “You can stop crying. I’m not going to hurt you now.”
    He could see she didn’t believe him, and he sighed. He’d done a better job than he meant to.
    â€œListen to me, cateyes,” he said, his voice deliberately gentle. “Pain is remembered. That’s why I used it. I don’t want you to forget what you learned today. Another man would have raped you, robbed you, then probably killed you to hide his crime. You can’t put your life in the hands of a stranger, not in this part of the country, not ever. I tried to tell you that, but you wouldn’t listen to me. There are too many dangerous men riding this trail.”
    She had stopped crying and he took his hand away from her mouth. He watched her run her small, pink tongue over her lips. Then he stood up and turned his back on her.
    â€œWe might as well make camp here for the night,” he said without looking at her again. “In the morning, I’ll take you back to Rockley.”

Chapter 13
    C OURTNEY lay there watching the stars for several hours. Then she turned over and stared at the dying fire. It was nearing midnight, she guessed, not knowing for certain.
    She had calmed down. Chandos hadn’t touched her again, hadn’t even come near her except to hand her a plate of food. He hadn’t spoken either, but he undoubtedly figured he didn’t need to say any more.
    The bastard! What right did he have to appoint himself her teacher? What right to raise her hopes so high, then destroy them? Still, she didn’t quite have the nerve to risk provoking him by telling him what she thought of his “lesson.”
    The tears began, tears born of misery. They were silent tears for the most part, with only a few sniffles and an occasional ragged breath to give her away. But that was enough. Chandos heard.
    He had not been sleeping. He had his own troubled thoughts keeping him awake. Not the same thoughts, for he felt no remorse over what he’d done. His intentions had been good, even if the execution had been a bit drastic. Betterthe girl suffer a fright now than end up in some unmarked grave on the prairie later on. Talking wouldn’t have done any good, he knew that, because she wouldn’t have listened.
    Trouble was, he hadn’t expected her pain to have such an effect on him. It was almost the same as that other time, when he’d held her life in his hands. Some protective instinct had risen in him, and he wanted only to comfort her, soothe her. Knowing she was crying was ripping away at him. He couldn’t stand it.
    His first thought was to take off until she settled down, but he knew damn well that she would think he was leaving her, and he didn’t want to frighten her any more. Damn her! Women’s tears had never bothered him before. What was so different about these