Captured by Time by Carolyn Faulkner, Alta Hensley Read Free Book Online Page B

her against him with an arm around her waist, while his other hand roamed over her back, rubbing gently. Then he tipped her face up to his with a long index finger beneath her chin, his lips kissing away her tears, then settling onto hers as if that was exactly where they belonged.
    But the bliss that surrounded the two of them at his actions was short lived, because the door to the room opened to reveal a woman she could only assume was Cherry. And standing next to this nineteenth century whore appeared to be a man of the law. The badge on his chest hinted that he may indeed be the sheriff of Twain Ridge. The look on their faces, the tension in Jude's body, all were a clear indication that this meeting was not going to end well.
    "Hold it right there! You are both under arrest," the sheriff declared while he fumbled for his gun.
    Within a split second, Cimmy found herself dragged out through the second story window and onto the roof while someone—and it had to be the man with the star on his chest, who had thrown the woman who had led him into the room to one side as if she didn't matter in the least to him, while he drew his gun at the same time—fired at them out of the same window by which they had left.
    She was so terrified that she couldn't even begin to think. She just followed the man who had a death grip on her wrist. He seemed to know where he was going… she hoped.
    But he did. They skirted around to the side of the building and then she saw him jump off the edge. If a bullet hadn't whizzed by her head at that point, she might have cried out, but she was struck dumb by just how close she had come to dying. Even before she got to the edge of the roof, though, she could hear him trying to order her around.
    "Jump down! We'll catch you!"
    We? she wondered, until she peered very cautiously over and saw that he was sitting astride a beautiful white horse. All he needed was the white hat to complete the stereotype, although Cimmy had a feeling that he was no one's idea of a hero.
    "Jump!"
    "Are you crazy? I'm not jumping off the roof of a hotel!"
    She shouldn't run. She was innocent in all of this. She was the one whose belongings were gone, and who had been… well, taken against her will, she supposed, although she wasn't at all sure if what had happened really fit the description very well. She didn't want to follow him, did she?
    But then again, the sheriff wasn't acting as if he would be much interested in her explanation of just how innocent she was in all of this. Like most men of this era, he appeared to be of the 'shoot first' philosophy of government. Could you die in a dream? Although this most certainly didn't feel like a dream any longer… if it ever did to begin with.
    "Jump, Cimmy, or so help me I'll come back and get you and blister your behind for not doing as I told you, even if I have to come back from the grave to do it! You don't want to get shot, believe me."
    He spoke as if he had some experience in that area, and that thought caused a painful twinge in her chest.
    "Cimmy." One word, one very powerful word, said by a man who clearly expected to be obeyed.
    But it was the next, even closer, bullet buzzing past her head to lodge itself in the side of the building next door with a spray of wood chips that had her closing her eyes and jumping.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    She had been surprised, hours ago, to have awakened in her hotel room with a man lying beside her. And to find out that she, apparently, was actually in the year 1880. But the thing that surprised Cimmy the most out of the past several hours had to be that she had actually jumped off the roof of a building and been caught; picked out of the air by the man who had deflowered her, settled in front of him on his massive horse, and ridden out of town through a hail of gunfire. And this all clearly wasn't a dream. She was as alert and awake as ever.
    She had remained skeptical about whether or not he had been telling her the