Lynna's Rogue by Kitty Margo Read Free Book Online Page A

to make him loathe me so?”
                  “Share his books with you? Is that how he lured you into his cabin?” Was the sultry siren that had totally captivated him the night before such a naiveté? “Simply by offering you books to read?” Joshua gently dried the tears that hovered on her sooty lashes.
                  “ Oui. In my haste , I forgot to bring some and Gertrude failed to pack any.”
                  For sure , Malcolm must have imagined he had stumbled upon a miracle in the guise of a simpleton. “He will never hurt you again, my sweet. That is one promise I shall take to my grave. And he did not loathe you.” Joshua faulted himself for permitting this to happen to her. He should have never let her out of his sight. He had made a promise to h er father and failed to keep it, therefore h e was entirely to blame and accepted full accountability. Why had he allowed her to roam the ship at will, when he knew any man who laid eyes on her would desire her at first glance? Yet, in his own defense, he had no way of knowing there was a molester onboard his ship. Malcolm had made several crossings on the Windjammer and partaken of numerous meals in the Captain’s cabin. Never once had Joshua considered the dandy to be a threat. But he had made a dreadful error in judgment and Lynna had paid the price.
                  “ I cannot understand why the odious man would wish to cause me so much pain and distress if he did not hate me?”
                  How could he explain this? “Because, my pet, some men have a strong, almost overwhelming physical craving for women , and some men, like the cretin who assaulted you, will go to any lengths to possess them, even committing the heinous crime of rape.”
                  “Rape?” 
                  “When a man forces himself on a woman entirely against her will.”
                  “By forcing himself on her,” she s topped and blushed profusely. “Y ou mean doing… what we did… last night… making love? Even though she does not wish for it to happen?”
                  “Yes, except that in such a situation as you describe , it would not be termed making love, Lynna. It would be a case of forced sex, or rape.”
                  Her luscious lips pursed in confusion as she appeared to ponder his words. “But we had … sex, since in order for it to be described as making love , the man would have to love the woman. Would that be an accurate assessment? ”
                  “Yes…I mean no! Lynna, sometimes love has nothing whatsoever to do with it. ” Joshua had the sinking suspicion that this conversation could not turn out well. “ As I said, sometimes it is merely a physical release for a man… and a woman.”
                  “So, in essence, what you are telling me is that a man does not have to love a woman in order to make love to her?”
                  “Yes, I suppose ,” he answered r uefully, while fervently wishing they were discussing any topic besides the current one .
                  Lynna tilted her head in concentration. “Then do you love me? Or did you simply need a physical release? And was it wrong, what we did?”
                  Scrubbing both hands across his face, Joshua knew he could not bring himself to lie to her , so he surreptitiously avoided the question entirely. She had suf fered so much pain already, why cause he r additional distress by admitt ing the truth, which w as that no, he did not love her? Nor that yes, they had only had sex, albeit spectacular sex, and if but a hint of their encounter behind closed doors were ever brought to the light of day , she would be labeled a woman of dubious virtue by polite society.
                  As Lynna turned to remove herself from his lap in order to think more clearly , she