Wildfire in His Arms by Johanna Lindsey Page A

before giving her his full attention.
    â€œGet undressed.”
    â€œI don’t think so.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
    â€œI wasn’t giving you a choice.”
    Her heart began to pound in alarm as he stepped away from the door. He wanted her to bathe before he bedded her! That’s why he’d stripped off the covers, so there’d be no evidence on the bed after he . . .
    She made a desperate dash to the door only to feel his arm lock around her waist before she could reach it. She twisted around and started punching him, but fell back on the bed when he gave her a light push toward it.
    â€œIf you don’t take your clothes off, I’ll help you take them off, but one way or another, they’re coming off.”
    Blue eyes wide, she watched him lock the door, shrug out of his jacket, and lay it neatly over a chair, then start walking toward the bed.

Chapter Thirteen

    M AX ONLY HAD MOMENTS to decide her fate—if she could stop panicking long enough to think. Degan obviously wanted her, so why couldn’t she turn this to her advantage and make a deal with him, her virginity for her freedom? She scrambled over the bed to stand on the other side to give herself a few more seconds. Could she do it without his realizing how scared she was? She had to at least try.
    She took a deep breath. “I can undress myself,” she said with a flirtatious smile as she cocked her hip and began unbuttoning her shirt.
    He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re going to try that again?”
    Max froze and felt her cheeks turning red. She was so embarrassed she’d misinterpreted his intentions that she was actually speechless.
    â€œThe bath is for you,” he continued as if he hadn’t noticed how mortified she was. “You can get undressed behind the screen.”
    All this over a bath she would love to have? But he had to have a reason and not the one she’d mistakenly presumed. “Why do you want me cleaned up? Are you afraid you won’t get the reward if you turn me in dirty?”
    â€œHave you looked in a mirror?”
    She knew how filthy she was, but she wasn’t going to blush again. She lifted her chin stubbornly. “I’m not bathing with you in the room.”
    He started to come around the bed. She rolled across it again and ran for the screen in the corner. And gnashed her teeth when she heard him say, “Toss your clothes out here before you get in the tub.”
    She yanked her boots off, leaned around the screen, and threw them at him. Only one struck him in that wide chest of his. But she caught the frown before she ducked behind the screen again.
    â€œMaybe I need to check you for weapons again.”
    â€œNo! You don’t!”
    She’d never undressed so fast, tossing each piece of clothing over the screen, even her drawers, socks, and belts. She wasn’t going to give him an excuse to come back here to check that she’d done as he’d ordered. It had been over a year since she’d splurged on a room to get a decent bath. She was not going to fight him anymore over this one when she would have thanked him for it if she didn’t hate him so much. Actually, she didn’t hate him at all, she just hated that he’d caught her and was going to be the death of her.
    A short, narrow table was next to the little tub. It held towels and jars of creamy soap. No rough, homemade soap bars for this fine hotel. She opened one of the towels to see how big it was and snorted to herself. It was soft, but not even big enough to wrap around her.
    She heard the door close and then the distinct sound of a key turning in the lock. She peeked around the screen. He’d actually left her alone in the room. But glancing around the room, she saw that he’d taken everything with him, their saddlebags, her clothes, even his valise, leaving her nothing but tiny towels to cover herself with. But more to the