Love of Her Lives by Sharon Clare Read Free Book Online Page B

Go as far from here as you can. Visit a friend. Stay at an inn. Don’t involve the constable yet as it could mean trouble for you. Just give me a couple of days to sort this out.”
    “Calum, you listen to me. I want you to leave right now and visit a friend or find an inn. I don’t care. There’s a nice little bed and breakfast on Highway 24. I hear the orange juice is freshly squeezed.”
    The man in her kitchen looked down on her with eyes that marched her off to ancient Scotland where men were masters and women did not refuse them. “There’ll be no chance of that. Free will be damned. You’re coming with me.”

Chapter 8
King of the Jungle
    There were advantages in wearing the body of a Highland warrior. Knowing he would carry no weapons in the twenty–first century, Calum was glad to have this hardened body in peak physical form, especially after Beth cracked his forearm with that broomstick. He outweighed her by at least seven stone and easily carried her out of the house over his shoulder. She fought him with true spirit.
    He loved every minute. And, most important, he didn’t lose corporealness and get hauled back a dimension. Good. Technically, he had followed the rules and notput the thought in Beth’s head that she should accept his word as gospel like he’d wanted. He’d only tried to rekindle some of the trust she must surely carry in her memory for him. She’d obviously not looked deep enough into his eyes.
    Calum had a problem. He didn’t know the crime for which Beth would be accused. He knew she would be arrested, so his immediate intent was to keep her from the police. ‘Twas a two–fold plan that would also keep them together.
    It wasn’t difficult to pick up on her emotions now. He sensed fear, mixed with excitement though, not terror, and the fear wasn’t entirely directed at him. Their struggle in the kitchen had only served to arouse him — that he felt sharply with no hope of a satisfying release — but he had not been the only one. The tousle had aroused her as well, so like the Bethia he knew.
    “So, Tarzan.” Her chest rose and fell in quick successions. “Are you going to pound your chest now, affirm your dominance?”
    He had her pinned against the wee car in the garage, her back against the front door, his hands pressed to the window on either side of her.
    He left the humour out of his smile. She knew him better than she thought. “I’m giving you a choice now. You can either drive the car to a nice inn, when I say it’s far enough away, or you can ride in the trunk.”
    The storm clouds in her eyes darkened. She attempted to back away from him, but there was nowhere to go. Leaning in closer, he drew a breath of her, fully intending to intimidate her with his size. She needed to relinquish her irrational need to resist him.
    “I am definitely enrolling in karate classes.” His Bethia craned her neck as far from him as she could manage. “Stop breathing on me. Why do you think I’ll be in trouble if I go to the police?”
    “It’s complicated. You’ll have to trust me.” He drew back slightly and felt her sigh.
    “I don’t know you well enough to trust you.”
    “You’ll have to use your intuition then, lass. I’ll tell you how I know you’re in danger when the time is right. This isn’t the time.”
    She exhaled a perturbed breath that breezed over his neck. “ I choose which hotel.”
    “Fine.”
    “Don’t think it’s going to be isolated … or cheap.”
    “Nothing but the best, lass.” Calum felt for the pocket full of paper money. Still there. He scanned the car under his hands in a quick glance. “Whatever possessed you to purchase such a wee car?”
    “Hey, I’m going along with you, okay? Not because you threw your weight around, Mister–I’m–So–Much–Bigger–Than–You–I–Can–Have–My–Own–Way because I truly hate that. So don’t think yourself superior. I’ll go to a hotel becauseI want to go.”
    “Good enough. My