Rafe, the Maverick by Kay Hooper

Author:Kay Hooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6

For a full minute Maggie could only stare up at him. Her sluggish mind struggled with his question until she finally remembered the day in the tackroom and her method of getting away from him. She’d challenged him, she remembered him saying, because she’d claimed the superior cunning.

No Delaney could resist such a challenge.

Rage gave Maggie the careful control she needed to disentangle herself from his arms and get to her feet. She smoothed her clothing, giving the task her full attention for a moment, then finally looked at him. Looked at the sneaky, underhanded devil who had conned her so neatly that she’d forgotten the danger in him.

“You—”

“Don’t say it,” he interrupted, his eyes laughing at her. “No lady would ever use the words I can see practically leaping from your tongue.”

“Proud of yourself?” she asked shortly.

The laughter was extinguished from his gaze, and he looked up at her for a long moment before rising to his feet. His expression was more somber than she’d ever seen it before. “Not particularly.”

The answer surprised her, and she didn’t want to be surprised anymore by him. “Then why?” she demanded fiercely. “Just to make your damn point? Just to win? Because a Delaney can’t bear to lose?” She rushed on before he could respond. “Well, you won! And I won’t give you the satisfaction of hearing me lie about it!”

He caught her wrist when she would have turned away. “What did I win, Maggie?” he asked quietly.

She glared at him, furious with herself and more than enraged at him. He made her lose control of herself, and that apalled her in more ways than one. “You know what you won,” she said, her voice shaking in spite of all her efforts. “We both know I wouldn’t have—wouldn’t have refused if—”

“If I’d carried you off to my bedroom?” His eyes held an expression she’d never seen before, something indefinable that caught the breath in her throat. “Yes, I knew that. But I didn’t carry you to my bed, Maggie. I could have, but I didn’t.”

“You were making a point,” she said hotly.

“Yes.” His voice was very quiet. “But I think you missed the point, Maggie.”

She wanted to fight the grip on her wrist, but it was a gentle yet inescapable hold. “I missed nothing!”

“Didn’t you?” He sighed a bit raggedly. “A few minutes ago there was only one thing I wanted more than to make love to you.”

She refused to ask, and he sighed again.

“Lass, the rake you think I am wouldn’t have hesitated to carry you off to his bed in triumph. And, Lord knows, I want you badly enough to forget almost anything else. Except that. Except what you think I am. I can’t forget that. And I was hoping…” He shook his head and released her wrist with a defeated shrug. “Well, I was obviously wrong, wasn’t I?”

She rubbed her wrist absently, even though his grip had not hurt her. She stared at him, bewildered, wondering if this was just another role he’d assumed.

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