Caged by Carolyn Faulkner Read Free Book Online

from where he was sitting—damned uncomfortably—on the edge of the bed.  “All right, but if you do something I don’t like, I will find you and I will beat your bottom good.”
    Pleased at having managed to get her way, Rachel reached for her clothes for the second time that morning, not at all expecting his firm, “No.”
    She met his eyes with her own wide, round ones.  “What do you mean, no?  I have to wear clothes to go out to the barn.”
    That smile of his was not at all comforting.  “No, you don’t.  And I think that being naked with make you much less likely to run.”
    She looked truly horrified at the prospect. “You can’t honestly mean to make me go out in public–”
    “What public? The animals aren’t going to care,” his eyes roamed boldly over her from head to toe, “and I’ve already seen you.”
    “But —”
    “Make up your mind.  Either you go naked or you don’t go.  I’m getting mighty uncomfortable sitting here like this, so decide quickly or I’ll remove the choice all together.”
    Rachel balled her fists as if she would punch him out, then executed an about face that he frankly thought was better than most of the ones he’d seen while he was in the military and walked to the door.
    “Hold on there a minute.”
    He stood, slowly, and then shambled over to stand behind her. 
    Rachel lifted the bar and put it to one side, then stepped outside.
    Cage just couldn’t resist swatting her on a bottom that was still sporting the evidence of the relatively harsh punishment he’d given her last night while his heart was still in his throat at the thought of what she had been trying to do to herself. Rachel hopped along quite briskly afterwards, clutching at her behind compulsively, wanting to rub it but not wanting to at the same time.
    And definitely not wanting him to see her do it, at any rate.
    He well remembered that feeling.  His father had never been one to spare the rod.
     
     
     
     
     
     

Chapter Four
     
    He watched her the entire time while she was doing her chores; she could feel his eyes on her and she had never felt quite so exposed as she did then, even if he hadn’t been staring at her. She didn’t think she’d ever in her life spent this much time without clothes on.  It was at once very freeing and very nerve-wracking at the same time, especially around him.  Not even Hemmingway had demanded that she be naked this much.
    Or, now that she thought about it, much at all.
    Although he certainly appreciated the view, Cage found part of him—the more civilized part that he thought he had pretty well buried—was chafing at the idea of all the hard work she had to do.  If he were well, he would have done all of that toting and lifting for her.
    But, hell, he acknowledged, if he were well he wouldn’t be here—in the boonies—at all.
    When she had returned to the cabin with milk, eggs, water and wood, and having done a few extra things he hadn’t even thought about including she removing all of the splotches of blood that he had dripped to and from the barn and the cabin, he barred the door again behind her, and stumbled to the bed.  Rachel heard him almost fall onto it, heard the wood protesting against his sudden weight, but she was busy putting things away so that they wouldn’t spoil, and then she made a fire in the fireplace as it was already getting a bit chilly out there.
    By the time she looked up at him, after realizing that she hadn’t felt his intense gaze on her in a while, she saw that he was either asleep or unconscious—probably the latter.  He had been looking grayer and grayer the longer he had stood up to keep track of her while she was doing her chores.
    The first thing she did was to poke him—hard—to try to determine whether he was just sleeping; he didn’t move a muscle.  She wished she thought that she could get to the gun, but as far as she could determine, he was sleeping on it.  Since she couldn’t satisfy her