Tags:
Fiction,
Suspense,
adventure,
Romance,
Historical,
Saga,
Adult,
series,
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Western,
Prison,
19th century,
multicultural,
father,
secrets,
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HUNTER'S MOON,
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Spice
for his strength.
He held her easily.
"I like feisty women." He laughed in her ear.
"Come on, honey, fight me some more."
His words chilled Crystal. He tore the blanket
from her grip and pawed at her breasts through her
nightgown. She began to tremble as he crushed her
tightly against him.
"Stop it! Let me go or I'll scream! My brother
would never send you here!"
"Go ahead and scream. Ain't no one going to hear
you," he breathed in her ear.
His mouth covered hers, and his tongue plunged
into her mouth in a vile kiss.
"No!" Crystal shrieked, jerking her head away to
avoid his nauseating assault.
Again Hall laughed at her. "Yeah, you're going to
be fun to ride."
He pushed her.
The side of the bed hit her at the backs of her
knees, and Crystal fell backward. Moments before,
she'd thought the bed was her safe haven, but now it
had become an instrument of this man's terror.
Hall loomed over her. He stripped off his shirt
and started to unbutton his pants.
"Let's find out if Dan was telling me the truth
about you." His voice was filled with lust, and drool
slicked his lips as he leaned down toward her. "I
think one night with you ought to pay some of his
debt to me-if you make it worth my while."
Hall grabbed the neckline of her gown. In one
harsh pull he tore the soft garment down
the front, baring her lovely body to his gaze. He
started to unfasten his pants. He was
ready for her and determined to have his
pleasure.
Crystal had never been so frightened in all her life.
She twisted to the side just as he would have fallen
upon her. She couldn't believe her own brother had
done this to her!
Reaching out, Crystal groped in the darkness,
searching for something-anything-she could use
as a weapon. Her hand touched the lamp on the
nightstand beside the bed, and she knew what she
had to do. Crystal grabbed it just as he snared her
other arm.
Hall had been ready to throw Crystal back down
on the bed. He was thinking only of parting her
thighs and thrusting deep within her. He was hard
with wanting her, and nothing was going to stop
him from having her. He jerked her toward him.
Crystal swung out at him with all her might and
brought the lamp crashing down in his face. The
glass chimney shattered on contact, and Hall
collapsed. He lay half on top of her, a deadweight.
Frantic and frightened, Crystal fought to escape.
She shoved at him with all her might, and he slid,
facedown, to the floor. She scrambled off the bed
and then cowered, frozen, on the far side of the
room, clutching her torn gown together, fearing that
at any moment he would get back up and come after
her.
But Hall didn't move. Crystal waited, expecting
the worst. Still, he didn't move. Terror of a different
kind filled her. Had she killed him? Was he dead?
Horror ate at her as she crept toward where he
lay. She tried to see if Hall was still breathing, but in
the darkness she could discern no movement of his
chest. Blood covered his face and pooled beneath his
head.
Crystal knew in that moment what she had to do.
She had to flee.
There was no one she could turn to for help. Dan
wanted to make her a whore. He had sent this man
to her to settle his own debts. Her only brother had
betrayed her in the most horrible way.
Crystal knew she could never trust Dan again.
She knew, too, that no one in town would believe
she'd killed Hall in self-defense. Hall was an
influential man in these parts, and she was only a
dance-hall girl. If she were going to save herself, she
had to run away that very night. She was on her own
now, and she was a wanted woman.
She stripped off the remnants of her ruined
nightgown, then quickly dressed. She stuffed what
clothing she could fit into one bag. Then she
grabbed up her mother's jewelry and the little cash
she had kept hidden from Dan in her room. It
wasn't much, but she hoped it would get her out of
town.
She had only a few hours until dawn.
She had to
The Marquess Takes a Fall