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

he believed was hers would be small compared to her crimes. But it was Mason. He didn’t belong to Maria. Maria couldn’t care less and she wouldn’t spend a second grieving for his loss. And she sure as hell wouldn’t care about the pain Melina would suffer without him.
    She bit her lip as she fought the fear that Luc would hurt him. She looked up at him silently, swallowing in dread. She had a feeling her need for comfort from her fears might well be her downfall.
    “Please,” she whispered. “I just want my cat.”
    Melina saw the interest that suddenly flared in his eyes, the knowledge that the animal could be leverage against her that he might not have considered before.
    “In exchange for?” he asked, confirming her worse fears. There wasn’t a lot she would say no to in her effort to save Mason.
    “I already asked what you want.” She tried to still the frustration thickening her voice as she attempted to reason with a man who had already proven himself to be unreasonable. “I’m willing to cooperate as much as possible,” she said nervously. “Fine, you want to punish me for what Maria did, but don’t hurt my cat.”
    If his frown could have grown darker it would have. She saw the anger that instantly flared in his gaze and knew she had just made a major tactical error.
    “Admit to who you are, and we’ll talk.”
    Admit to who she wasn’t. A sense of resignation overcame her. The cost of one small comfort would be once again allowing herself to be mired in Maria’s identity. She slid her hands from her jeans, linking them together, trying to still the tremors that wanted to rush through her body.
    “I told you who I am,” she said as desolation washed over her. “Don’t make me lie to you. Please. Because I will, for this.”
    His arms uncrossed, his thumbs catching at the front of the waistband of his jeans. She shouldn’t notice the tight, hard abs that the action displayed, or the lean, muscular hips and below, the thick bulge of his cock. She shouldn’t be wet, shouldn’t be longing for things she knew she couldn’t have.
    His brow lifted mockingly. “You would lie for something so small?” he asked with sarcastic disbelief. “Don’t make this any harder on yourself than it already is,” he suggested easily. “Come on, tell me who you are and we’ll go get the cat.”
    Melina drew in a tired breath.
    “Catarina Angeles,” she finally said, fighting to hold her temper back now. If she let her anger free, she would never see Mason again.
    He shook his head slowly, destroying any hope she had that he would, by chance, let this go. “Nope. Come on, sugarplum, full name. Admit to who you are and we’ll go get the cat. Otherwise, he takes his chances outside.”
    She met his gaze directly, holding back the screams that longed to pour from her throat. “Don’t do this.”
    Could she survive without Mason? She shuddered at the thought of the nightmares that were sure to come without his comforting presence. How would she hold onto her sanity without something or someone to comfort her?
    “Your name,” he demanded again.
    “Maria Catarina Angeles,” she whispered despondently. It wasn’t the first time she had done so, but at least this time it served her rather than someone else. “May I please have my cat now?”

* * * * *
    He should have been satisfied. Luc stared at the expressionless face, the weary green eyes, and felt anything but satisfaction. He felt like a damned monster. She had spoken the words as her shoulders lowered marginally, as though the weight of the admission had placed an invisible burden on her that was too great to bear.
    The admission, though given as he asked, was voiced with such a lack of emotion that it made him regret forcing the issue. And her eyes. If he had ever seen such weary resignation in a woman’s eyes, he couldn’t remember it. They darkened, turning so vulnerable, so filled with shadows and pain that something about it twisted his