The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2

The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 Read Free Page A

Book: The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 Read Free
Author: Patricia Hagan
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prisoner.”
    “I know about your past,” she confessed. “I know about your mother. I know about the other woman in your life who used you. Sam told me. He thought I had a right to know. He saw what was happening between us, and he loved us both enough that he wanted to help us get together. But now I wonder if you could ever trust me, Travis. Perhaps your wounds are too deep.”
    “My mother didn’t actually betray me, Kitty.” His voice was bitter. He held her tightly, and she could feel his warm breath on her face. “She betrayed my father. He killed her and then himself, leaving me and my sister behind. I had that grief to bear. Then I went through the horror of having my sister kidnapped by slave traders who sold her into a life of hell as a captive prostitute. She could not endure it, and she killed herself. That was why I joined the Union Army when the war broke out, even though I was a Southerner. I would give my life to help stop the enslavement of human beings.
    “In my agony and loneliness, I turned to a woman of the streets, who found pleasure in any man’s arms. True, I have bitter memories of some women, but you’re different. I’ve seen you work as hard to save the life of a Union soldier as you would for a Confederate. I’ve seen you stand up under pressures that would have made another woman faint. You’re strong. You’re also the most hellish woman I’ve ever tried to contend with. But you’ve a way about you that goes deeper than beauty—and God, you’re beautiful! I want a future with you, Kitty Wright. I want to forget the past and build all my tomorrows with you.”
    She drew in her breath in wonder. Then she reached out to trail gentle fingertips down his stubbled face. “Oh, Travis, there’s so much pain to forget.”
    “We can overshadow that with happiness.”
    “Yes, yes, we can.” Their lips met, and they melted together.
    Gently he pulled her down to her knees and they sank to the ground. Then they were lying side by side, and he was slowly unbuttoning her shirt. She could feel the hardness of his manhood throbbing against her thigh, the pulsating strength that told her he wanted her.
    “How I have dreamed of this, darling,” he murmured.
    And so they soared together, climbing to the sun, drifting among the clouds, dancing in the wind and finally floating back to earth.
    For a moment, neither moved or spoke. They savored their closeness. Then Travis raised his head to gaze down upon her with a strange coldness in his gray eyes. “I love you, Kitty, but heed me well. I give you my heart, and if you ever trample upon it and deceive me, you will rue the day we met. For I will have my revenge, be assured.”
    A chill moved through her. He frightened her. Travis could be kind and loving, but he could also be absolutely ruthless. And this was the side of him that she feared, for when he was truly riled, he was a dangerous man.
    “Be good to me, Kitty, and I will worship you. But do me wrong, and you will suffer. This I swear.”
    “I…I don’t think I like being threatened.” Her voice was braver than she felt. But she was not about to be intimidated. “And if you think I’m one of those dizzy women who will be content to sit in the parlor and tat and embroider and make idle chatter with other scatterbrained females, you are wrong, sir. Nor will I be content to sit at home and have a baby every year while you have adventure and excitement. I have a spirit of my own. It is a free spirit, and no man will ever possess me completely.”
    He laughed then, that smug laugh that she had always hated. It was infuriating, as though he knew he possessed the upper hand and only humored her when she talked independence. “I already do possess you, little one, and don’t you forget it. Now enough of this grim talk. We must leave here and go to Goldsboro and find a room for you while Sam and I rejoin our men. There will be time later to talk about what to do with you.”
    He got to

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