An Officer but No Gentleman Read Free Page A

her traveling case to good use those last two hours to ensure she captured the captain’s eye. A tired and mussed appearance drew no one’s eye. He was over by the horses, holding their heads and talking with the driver. Ah, good, he saw her. She had his attention now. It was time for step two, a little harmless revenge.
    Elowyn marshaled her troops with a gesture of her hand, the merest tilt of her head, issuing orders that left no misunderstanding as to who was in charge of this little expedition. “I’ll need those two trunks. Annie, follow them up so I know the trunks get to my room. Then I’ll need a bath set up right away and my sheets on the bed.” She turned to the driver, “Christopher, see that the horses are rubbed down and have an extra ration tonight. We want to leave early in the morning.”
    That did the trick. Orders about the horses had infringed on his territory directly. The captain was by her side immediately. His hand took up proprietary residence at the small of her back, sending hot spears of excitement through her, his quick-silver eyes glinting with displeasure, but not entirely. Not too far off limits then, Elowyn thought smugly. He could be swayed with the right inducements.
    He propelled her toward the common room, his head bent toward her, his mouth close to her ear in a way that suggested familiarity and intimacy to onlookers, a lover’s gesture, his words for her alone. But his words were not lover’s words. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
    Elowyn gave him a coy smile. “That is the burning question of the day, isn’t it?”

Chapter Four
    Grahame knew very well what she was doing. He had no doubt her show was for his benefit, a payback for usurping her authority this morning. But payback or not, it was garnering the wrong kind of attention from the wrong kind of men as they made their way across the crowded inn yard, and it made Grahame uneasy. Not every eye in the place belonged to a gentleman he’d classify as reputable, or even as a gentleman, for that matter. “You’re a bit spoiled, I’d say.”
    “You’re a little close, I’d say.” Elowyn tossed her head and tried to move away but he held fast. He knew what these men were thinking. A man who couldn’t stand up to a woman wasn’t a man at all. If he backed down, it would be nothing short of blood in the water. Elowyn would be fair game for any man there. He knew what Elowyn was thinking, too; she could handle them. She’d be wrong.
    He ushered her through the door to the public room, regretting his decision to pass up the inn in the town an hour back in lieu of this one. This inn was well positioned for staging tomorrow’s journey and it was an inn he knew, at least he thought he did. He didn’t recall it having such a rough clientele the last few times he’d stayed here.
    “Two trunks? Is such excess really necessary?” He kept his voice low at her ear, hoping to prove to those about them she belonged to him. She smelled good, like lemongrass and wildflowers, even after a long day in a coach. Grahame shot a hard look at the two men lounging near the door who hadn’t quite taken the hint yet. Lucifer’s balls, crossing that yard had been nothing short of charging through a battlefield facing enemy fire. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim interior only to discover it was very much a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” The room was noisy and crowded, full of rough working men, not all of whom, Grahame guessed, were legally employed. “We’ll hardly be here twelve hours.”
    “One is for bedding,” Elowyn said as if that excused the need for two trunks.
    “In case you didn’t know, one usually uses a man for that.”
    “Are you always this audacious?” She snapped.
    “Me? I’m not the one announcing to all and sundry I will be naked in my room shortly.”
    Emerald eyes met his, burning with green fire. “I have done no such thing.”
    “You most certainly