Cowboy & the Captive by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

her life.
    Shoring her patience, she straightened her shoulders and met his look head on. She had resigned herself to the fact that he wasn’t going to listen to reason, which meant she was going to have to try to find her own way out. She had a feeling that escaping Luc wouldn’t be easy. But before she could even consider escape, she had to have Mason.
    “I’ve showered, dressed and I’ve met you in the kitchen,” she finally said with careful control. “Now where’s my baby?”
    Irritation flashed in his stormy gray eyes. It was obvious that there was something about her and her cat that he didn’t like. Of course, it could just be Maria he hated, she thought with morbid amusement, which didn’t bode well for her considering he thought she was Maria.
    “How anyone can call that fat-assed black ball of fur a baby is beyond me,” he growled. “That animal should be put down for its temper alone.”
    Melina’s eyes widened in sudden fear at the sincere dislike in his tone and the implied threat to kill the little animal. Her baby. He thought Mason should be killed. And Mason did not have a temper. He was just a little spoiled, that was all. That was no excuse to be mean to him.
    “You hurt Mason and I promise you, I’ll make what Maria did to you look like a day at the park,” she warned him, completely serious now.
    He could punish her all he liked, and in a way she could even make some sort of twisted sense of it. But he wasn’t going to hurt Mason. She had enough of Maria’s thoughtless actions impacting her life in such painful ways. She blamed herself. She had allowed the trend to continue as they got older, but no more. She would not lose anything else due to her sister’s selfishness and utter cruelty.
    He crossed his arms over his chest. She was growing to heartily dislike that action. He was still frowning at her, the low cast of his brows giving his expression a dangerous appearance. Melina fought back her fear as she met his gaze silently.
    “You’re in no position to be giving out threats here, sugarplum,” he told her softly, his voice almost too gentle to suit her. It reminded her of the eye of a violent storm. She would have been more frightened if it weren’t for the fact that she was hopelessly in love with that stupid cat. Even she didn’t understand it.
    “Listen, Mister, I understand you think you have a problem with me. Really, I do,” she assured him sincerely. “I can even, almost, understand the mistake you’re making. But if you harm so much as a hair on Mason’s body, then I promise, you’re going to regret it. That’s my cat. He adopted me when no one else wanted me and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you mistreat him.”
    “Baby, maybe more people would want you if you toed the line a little bit closer. You know. Give a little, get a little?” he suggested mockingly.
    Melina flinched painfully at the cruel words. Give a little, get a little. She would have laughed at the thought if it weren’t so ironic. She had given everything she had for so many years…for nothing. All she had to show for it was a black cat that deigned to curl in her lap and shed on her whenever she became weak enough to cry. But the warmth of his fat little body and his soft purrs had kept her sane through the aftermath of her nightmares.
    “I’m sure you think your opinion of me should matter,” she said reasonably, stilling the furious words that rose to her lips instead. “I’ll even pretend it does for as long as I have to. But not as long as my cat is in that barn suffering.”
    If she could go to jail for Maria, then she could stand up to one temperamental cowboy for her baby. She could think of few things as horrible as that week she had spent in jail for her sister.
    “At least he’s alive,” he grunted hatefully. “Have I mentioned I hate cats?”
    Melina pushed back the fear rising inside her. Maria had nearly caused the death of this man as well as his friend. Killing a cat