Only Mine by Elizabeth Lowell Read Free Book Online

lockedtrunk. She wrapped her hands around the braid and pulled. Nothing happened. She pulled harder. The hair remained firmly caught. She yanked and then yanked again, but stayed tethered to the trunk.
    “Blast and blazes! I’ll have to unlock the confounded thing and do it all over again.”
    Then Jessica discovered she couldn’t reach the key ring she had left on the bedside table. Nor could she drag the trunk closer. Pushing seemed to have a better effect. Shoving, panting, Jessica alternated between shoulder and hands as she inched the stubborn trunk closer to the bedside table. One of the trunk’s brassbound corners caught on an irregularity in the wood floor. No matter how she pushed, the trunk didn’t move.
    The thought of Wolfe coming in the room and finding her prisoner to one of her own surly trunks gave Jessica a desperate surge of strength. She shoved repeatedly against the top edge of the trunk, trying to jostle it free.
    Without warning, the heavy trunk tipped up and rolled over, taking Jessica with it, yanking her off her feet. She gave a startled shriek as she went head over heels and landed on the floor in a tangle of soft blue cloth.
    An instant later the door to the suite banged open. Wolfe stood in the doorway looking as dangerous as the long knife in his hand. The steel blade was a stark contrast to his well-cut, dark wool suit and white linen shirt.
    “Jessi? Where are you?”
    She grimaced but knew there was no escape. “Over here.”
    Wolfe stepped into the suite. He glanced in the direction of her voice, saw an upside-down trunkand a tangle of blue cloth, creamy lingerie, and dainty blue shoes. In three long strides he was next to her.
    “Are you all right?”
    “Just ducky,” she said through her teeth.
    “What are you doing on the floor?”
    “Packing.”
    Wolfe raised black eyebrows. “It’s easier if the trunk is right side up.”
    “Bloody hell.”
    Wolfe’s eyes followed Jessica’s long red braid to the point where it disappeared into the trunk. He started to say something, but was laughing too hard to speak.
    Normally, the sound of his laughter made Jessica smile, but not this time. This time flags of anger and humiliation burned on her cheeks.
    “Lord, if you could only see yourself, like a turtle in a net…” Laughter took Wolfe’s voice again.
    Jessica lay on the floor and thought longingly of the case and the weapons inside. Unfortunately, they were as out of reach as the key to the padlock.
    Snickering, Wolfe sheathed his knife before he reached for Jessica. He took her braid and pulled gently, then with more force. It made no difference. She was well and truly caught.
    “The key,” she said distinctly, “is on the bedside table.”
    “Don’t go away, elf. I’ll be right back.”
    The thought of Jessica going anywhere on her short tether set off another spate of laughter in Wolfe. It seemed like a long time until he sat on his heels next to her and started fitting keys in the lock to find the right one. The fact that he kept laughing at unexpected intervals slowed down the process of freeing her quite a bit.
    The third time Wolfe leaned against the trunk, all but helpless with laughter, Jessica snatched the keys from his fingers and opened the padlock herself. She still wasn’t free. She couldn’t open the trunk while it was upside-down. Nor could she right it. She could, however, push her laughing husband over.
    And she did.
    Still laughing, Wolfe caught himself with feline ease and came to his feet by the trunk. He righted the trunk, pried open the lid, and pulled out the length of red hair.
    “Yours, I believe,” he murmured, handing Jessica the braid.
    She grabbed it with fingers that shook, wishing the braid was Wolfe’s throat. The look in his eyes told her that he knew just what she was thinking.
    “You’re welcome,” he said gravely.
    Not trusting herself, Jessica turned and slammed the trunk lid down, locked it once more, and went to the sixth