The Reluctant Lark by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online

“Graphic detail.” He poured a small amount of whiskey in another glass and strolled back to her. “You’d better drink this,” he said, his lips still twitching. “You’re a little shaky. Which makes me pleased as punch, I might add.” He watched her tenderly as she sat up and hurriedly arranged the bodice of her dress before reaching for the glass. “When Reilly appeared on the scene, I was afraid he was brought in to be prince consort, but you’re still green as grass, little dove. All that passion is just waiting there for me to tap it. God, I’m glad!”
    Sheena took a few experimental sips of the whiskey and then handed the glass back to him. The liquor caused a surge of heat in her blood that did serve to steady her, but it also cleared her head of the sensual euphoria that Challon had generated with his sexualmagnetism. Shamed color flooded her cheeks. Good God in heaven, what had she done! She’d allowed Challon to manipulate her body and emotions as if she were one of his eager harem of women. It was true that her career had allowed her no time to gain the experience he’d mentioned, but even a green girl should have known better than to allow herself to be swayed by Challon’s powerful virility to such an extent. The man had disrupted the peacefully smooth tempo of her life. He had insulted her uncle. He had actually kidnapped her! Yet she had still allowed him to make love to her.
    “I must have been mad,” she muttered. Well, she was no longer under that mesmerizing spell. She squared her chin firmly and looked at him with defiance breathing out of every pore. “There’s nothing waiting for you but a jail cell,” she spat out. “I’ll not be so easy for you to get around a second time, Mr. Challon. It was merely that I was sick and half out of my mind from that chloroform that made me so accommodating.”
    “Maybe I shouldn’t have been so rough on the men who snatched you,” Challon drawled, his lips twitching in amusement. “Though I’ve never heard that chloroform had aphrodisiac properties, and you certainly appear to be fully recovered.”
    A light suddenly went on over the door to the cockpit, and Challon glanced up swiftly. “Time to buckle up, sweetheart. We’re starting our descent.”
    The “cabin” was certainly not the small, primitive log shack of her imaginings, Sheena thought sourly, as she waited shivering on the redwood porch while Challon unlocked the door. It was more like a luxurious country home.
    As they had swiftly made their way up to the A-frame redwood cottage from the landing strip at the bottom of the hill, the moonlight had revealed the clean, modern lines of the charming cabin and the spacious redwood sundeck, which completely surrounded the house.
    Challon flipped on the light and swiftly adjusted the thermostat beside the switch as he ushered her in the door. “Three bedrooms upstairs,” he said briefly. “There’s a kitchen/dining room down the hall to the left and a library adjoining the living room. Get used to it, little dove. It’s going to be your home for quite a while.”
    Sheena shot him a lethal glance, which he cheerfully ignored as he moved swiftly to the massive stone fireplace on the far wall and knelt to light the wood that was stacked and ready.
    “You certainly like to rough it, don’t you?” Sheena asked caustically. Her gaze flicked around the spacious living room with its gleaming oak floors covered with Indian area rugs striped boldly in scarlet and cream. The long beige couch with its scarlet throw pillows in front of the fireplace was expertly crafted for quiet beauty and supreme comfort, as were the other pieces of furniture in the room.
    Challon looked up and grinned as the fire caught and started to blaze cheerfully. “I figured that you’re going to have enough adjustments to make without having to cope with life in the raw. If you want to sample a more simple life-style, I have a tiny cabin on an island in the