Cowboy & the Captive by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online

with heat as they settled on her lips. Melina trembled. She could feel her pussy heating, dampening, and cursed her response to him.
    She braced her hands against his shoulders, resisting—not just Luc, but herself as well. He had the most kissable lips she had ever seen on a man. That fuller, lower curve fascinated her, made her want to eat him up. But he had set the boundaries with this kidnapping . There wasn’t a chance in hell she was going to lay down and let him walk all over her. She was tired of being anyone’s doormat.
    “I thought you were my kidnapper, not my rapist,” she snapped when she managed to find her voice. “Let me go, Luc. I won’t whore for my cat. But I’ll be damned if I’ll cooperate in any way without him.”
    His brows snapped into a frown as his arms tightened around her. Eyes narrowing, he gazed down at her thoughtfully for long seconds before slowly releasing her.
    “Take your shower and get dressed. We’ll discuss terms downstairs after you’ve managed to cool off and act decently. I might allow you the cat, if you can control yourself and follow the rules.” With that said, he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
    She was going to kill him, she assured herself. Then, she was going to kill Maria.

Chapter Six
     
    An hour later, freshly showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and white cotton shirt, Melina entered the large kitchen at the far end of the house. The two-story ranch house was laid out fairly simply so the kitchen wasn’t hard to find. Of course, the banging of the cabinet doors might have helped a little.
    Tucking a stray reddish-gold curl behind her ear, Melina checked the French braid she had arranged her hair into for neatness and stepped into the kitchen. She knew the second she walked into the room that she loved it. Too bad it belonged to the big arrogant cowboy frowning into the depths of a cabinet.
    The stove was to die for. It was a modern cook’s dream with a gas grill in the center, four large burners on the side and adequate ventilation above it. The floor was hardwood with an area rug beneath the six chairs and kitchen table that sat near a large picture window. The cabinets were cherry, though dusty and appearing dull in the light of the morning sun. But there were plenty of them. A large central island was located several feet from the sink, yet still near enough to the stove to make it handy.
    It might have been a cook’s dream but it was a housekeeper’s nightmare.
    Luc was turned just slightly away from her, giving her a clear view of his muscular back and the taut, well rounded curves of his butt beneath his snug jeans. He had an ass to die for. The sight of it made her fingers itch with the need to touch. As though she would know what to do with it if she did touch, she told herself sarcastically. But still, she had always admired a nice male backside, and his had to be the best she had seen yet.
    Drawing in a long, deep breath, she glanced away from the temptation.
    “You need to fire your housekeeper,” she told him expressionlessly as she stared around the room once again. “She’s not doing her job.”
    The kitchen resembled the living room she had peeked into, as well as the dining room she had walked through. Dusty, unloved. As though the home wasn’t really a home but merely a place to spend the night.
    Luc turned to look at her, his brows lowered in a dark frown as she hunched her shoulders and tucked her hands into her jeans pockets. She was still dying to claw his eyes out; she figured it better to restrain her hands enough to where she would at least have a second to think before actually trying to do it. He was sure to make her madder before the hour was out.
    She watched as he followed the move, a smirk tilting his lips as though he knew the reason behind it. Melina fought to keep her expression clear, the anger glowing in her chest from reflecting on her face. Damn him. She had never met a man more stubborn in