Bobbi Smith - Captive Pride

Noah thought the youth’s voice sounded familiar, but his thoughts were too filled with anticipating the rebels’ decision to give it much consideration. Perhaps, he thought distractedly, the boy worked at the inn and he’d met him there at some other time.

“You! You lowlife swine!” CC’s volatile temper flared to full fury as she glared at him through the night’s enveloping gloom. She didn’t bother to wonder why his duplicity annoyed her so much. She had disliked him from the first, and this discovery of his true character only built on that initial aversion.

“I beg your pardon?” Noah glanced at the short youngster with mild amusement.

“You’re despicable! You think that if you play both sides against the middle, you’ll come out a winner either way, don’t you?” she seethed self-righteously.

The challenge in her words was unmistakable, and Noah pivoted to face her, keeping his expression carefully blank.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, son. And besides, aren’t you a little young to be involved in such goings on?” he questioned derisively, hoping to shut the boy up and put him in his place.

“You’re a double-dealing coward!” CC couldn’t believe his audacity. He was amoral and two-faced. He claimed to be a loyal Englishman, and yet he showed no hesitation in turning around and selling the arms to the very people who would use those weapons against the British.

Her words hit her mark. The last man who had referred to a Kincade as a coward was dead. Noah instinctively reacted to the insult, his hands snaking out to viciously grab her by her upper arms and drag her forcefully closer. CC had meant to berate him, but she had never expected him to respond with physical violence. She struggled against his overpowering strength, twisting and tugging in her need to be free of his bruising hold.

“Let me go, you bloody English dog!” With all her might, she kicked out at his shins, and she knew a moment of pure, triumphant pleasure as her foot connected and he grunted in pain.

“You little guttersnipe!” Noah growled threateningly.

CC’s moment of victory was lost as Kincade snatched her to him by her shirtfront, popping several buttons off. He paid little attention to the damage to her garments as he almost lifted her from her feet to shake her in anger, the action knocking her hat from her head. Released from its bondage beneath the tricorn, CC’s glorious mane of thick auburn curls fell in riotous satiny waves to her slim shoulders, revealing to Noah for the first time her true gender and, after a stunned moment, her real identity.

Noah went still as he stared down at her in disbelief. Cecelia Demorest? How could it be? What was she doing dressed as a lad? And, more important, what was she doing involved in this group?

“Let me go!” CC demanded, her breasts heaving in agitation. She ached all over from the mauling she’d just received at his hands, and she was very aware of the firm grip he had on her now ruined shirt, for his clenched knuckles were pressing firmly against the softness of her disguised bosom. The contact created an unfamiliar stirring deep within her loins, and she twisted, trying to pull herself free and get away from the pressure.

“Oh no, Miss Demorest.” Noah smiled wolfishly as he studied her closely. “I’ve suffered enough of your insults. It’s time I demanded and received some satisfaction from you.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Her words were a breathless whisper as she stilled and stared up at him, emerald eyes wide with fright. CC had felt no fear in attacking him before, but now something new pulsed through her, and the strength of the unknown emotion frightened her. Her expressive features mirrored her terror, and Noah read her perfectly. It pleased him, oddly enough, to think that he had her at a disadvantage.

“Then I will show you what I mean…” he growled, his head dipping to allow his lips to claim hers.

It was a dominating kiss-a kiss designed to humiliate and conquer. CC again began to struggle, wanting-no, needing-to be away from him, but Noah would have none of it. His free hand reached up to tangle in her hair firmly and hold her immobile. With masterful intent, Noah possessed her mouth, his tongue penetrating and pillaging the inner honeyed sweetness.

Had CC remained passive, Noah would have soon tired of the game, but she refused to submit gracefully to his attempt to overpower her. With all her might she fought against his hold, until in a moment of desperate desire, she tried to yank free. The cloth of her shirt gave way, revealing in the night’s deep shadows the full, round perfection of her breasts.

The sound of the tearing cloth penetrated Noah’s thoughts, and he drew back sharply to look down at the ragged piece of material he clutched in his hand, and then at her. Cecelia Demorest, Noah decided rather distractedly, had a beautiful body. Her hair…her eyes…and, bare for him to see for the first time, her breasts. Pale-hued and pink-crested, they rose and fell with the uneven tenor of her rapid breathing, and Noah could not stop himself from dropping the shred of cloth and reaching out to touch their creamy, hard-tipped perfection.

CC stood still, watching dazedly as he reached out to touch, ever so lightly, the swelling, taut fullness of her breast before moving to tease the pert, aching peak. The thrill of those practiced fingers caressing her most sensitive flesh was so unbearably erotic that CC felt her knees weaken, and she began to shiver. It was only with the sound of a low moan, one she realized later had come from her own throat, that reality intruded. Jerking quickly away from his questing, arousing touch, she desperately attempted to cover herself with the frayed material.

“No! Get away from me, Kincade!”

Noah, not used to being denied, was not about to let her put him off. She had been playing with fire, and it was time she learned that he was the one in control.

“Oh no, my little hellcat…” He leered at her appreciatively as he took hold of her shoulders, and the shirt once again gaped open. With slow, torturing precision, he drew her inexorably to him. “You started this, and by God, you’re going to finish it!”

“I hate you!”

“I know.” His mouth curved in an almost demonic slant as he bent to her. “You’ve hated me from the first…”

Why not? Noah thought as the need for release pulsed hungrily within him. Obviously the chit had the morals of a streetwalker if she was dressing up like a boy and involving herself in such volatile, masculine matters as the political underground. Noah felt certain he wouldn’t be the first to taste of her lovely charms, and he knew he surely wouldn’t be the last.

Crushing her to his chest, he kissed her hungrily. He wanted a woman, she was there, and despite her protests, Noah could tell by the response of her body that she was not as averse to his touch as she wanted him to believe.

CC was scared, more scared than she’d ever been in her life. Kincade’s hands were everywhere, touching, probing, exploring, and yet all the while preventing her from escaping his dastardly clutches. Her breasts, bare and sensitive, were throbbing as his fingers worked their magic on their pink crests. When his mouth left hers, moving lower to suckle one hardened peak, her legs buckled. Only Noah’s strong arm about her waist supported her, and she was unable to fight…unable to flee. She was mindless in her need. Never before had a man touched her so, and never in her wildest dreams had she ever considered that a man’s caress could bring such physical ecstasy.

As his lips and tongue continued their mesmerizing play, Noah slipped one hand lower to cover the sweetness of her heat. Suddenly he wanted more from CC than just to ease his manly need in the depths of her body. She was a flame of excitement to him…the feel of her…the scent of her. His senses were enraptured by her nearness. The desire for a passionate union with this woman surged through him, and Noah knew he would settle for no less.