All Her Men (The Queen's Men Book 1) by Brina Cary Read Free Book Online

beg for you to touch me.” Her words laced with venom. Clutching the fabric to her throat as if it would protect her, she glared at him. His words hurt more than she conceived possible. They stung her pride. “I wouldn’t beg, even if you were the last man on Earth. I wouldn’t beg, even if you… made all my bells whistle.” She wanted to smack herself for using that phrase, but it was hard to find the words when her temper was involved.
    “I have waited for ye.” He licked his lips. “And sooner or later, I will make all of yer bells whistle, Amelia.”
    She sputtered in astonishment at him. “How dare… I can’t believe…” Her mouth opened and closed. Her blood boiled. He was so arrogant, so ridiculously sure of himself. “Get out.”
    “That ‘tis what yer going with?”
    The amused smile on his face made her even angrier. “I said, get out. I mean it. You can take me away from my home. You can take me away from my family. You can take me away from everything I care about, but that doesn’t mean I will let you insult me.” She had her pride, even if it was dwindling by a thread. Had she really let him touch her? Was she losing her mind?
    “What family?”
    The sound of flesh hitting flesh bounced off of the walls and reverberated back to her. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide. She had punched him. Right smack in the nose.
    “Fuck.”
    Fear spread throughout her. He glared at her and stepped forward, blood trickling from his nose.
    Slowly she stepped back. “Look, I’m sorry. I was mad. I didn’t mean to. I have a bit of a temper…” Her back hit the wall. There was nowhere to go. He kept coming forward. Jacob slowly put his hands on each side of her head. “I didn’t mean it… Please don’t hurt me.” At the flash of confusion that crossed his face before being masked by hurt, she knew she had underestimated him.
    “Lass, I dinnae know why ye fear me. If ye had hit me a thousand times I would not hit ye once.” He leaned forward and she closed her eyes. The light brush of his lips on her cheek surprised her. “Not once, Amelia. Not once.” She opened her eyes and he stepped back from her. “Now, sleep. Ye can try to escape again tomorrow.”
    “I…”
    “’Tis fine. I expected it.” He reached out and bopped her on the nose with his forefinger. “Try during shopping. Ye might learn a thing or two.” With a grin he turned and walked away.
    As the door closed behind him, Amelia crumpled to the ground. “I am so screwed.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 11
     
    “Lass, ye may enter any shop ye like. Remember that if ye run, ye should be prepared for us to chase.”
    “Yeah, good luck with that one.”
    “Queen, I would prefer it if ye tried to escape. There may be a time when tis needed for ye to know how.”
    Images of being tied naked to a bed flooded her mind.
    “Och, why so red, Queen?” The grin on his face told her that he knew exactly what she was thinking about.
    “You’re a bastard.”
    “Aye, that I am.” He winked. She felt butterflies floating delicately in her stomach as he winked at her. Was Jacob flirting with her? “Ye have a temper, Queen. Tis expected to show at times. I am waiting patiently to see it again.”
    Regret assaulted her, tearing through the layers of ragged ice that people suspected covered her heart. “Yeah… I try to hide that. I’m sorry I punched you.”
    “Ye punched Jacob?”
    Amelia spun around, not realizing that Darren had come up behind her. “Um…”
    His laughter startled her. Why was he laughing?
    “Darren, if ye value yer life t’would be agreeable for ye to pretend ye never heard the queen say anything…”
     
    ****
     
    Amelia slipped through the tiny open window and out onto the rickety gutter. “Thank you, diet,” she whispered. Clinging to the window frame, she looked down. The distance to the cobblestone street below was about six feet. “Deep breath and go.” She hesitated. “All right, now.” She