Wild Silver by Iris Johansen

Author:Iris Johansen [Johansen, Iris]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780553218985
Publisher: Bantam Books
Published: 1988-04-01T07:00:00+00:00

"I'm still angry with you." Something flickered in the depths of his eyes and then was gone. "But I've never enjoyed a battle against an unarmed opponent, and I believe it's safe to say you're amazingly defenseless at the moment."

She looked away. He was right. She had never felt weaker or less sure of herself. She moistened her lips with her tongue. "It won't last."

He laughed again. "I'm well aware of that, but for tonight, at least, we'll call a truce. I gave orders that a boat not be launched until dawn, so we must rely on ourselves until then. Lay down your weapons, Silver. I promise I'm no threat to you and I'll protect you from danger." His ebony eyes twinkled in the firelight.

"Including river monsters."

How foolish she was being, clinging to him as if he were a life preserver thrown to save her from the river. She released him and edged backward. "I feel very stupid. I'll try not to be—"

He placed two fingers on her lips, silencing her. "Not stupid," he said softly. "Now, lie back down and rest while I see if I can find us something to eat. If you recall, we didn't have dinner."

"I can help," she said eagerly. "Apache girl children are taught exactly the same skills as boys until they reach the time for the rites of womanhood. I can travel forty miles a day through rough country. I can trap and hunt and fish and I was the best tracker in the village." She frowned. "Though some of the warriors wouldn't admit it. I told them—"

"I'm sure you did," Nicholas interrupted, his eyes dancing. "And I'm certain you're as competent as you claim, but let me be the provider this time. I may not have your qualifications, but I have a certain amount of experience in foraging."

"But you're—" She stopped.

He lifted a brow. "Yes?"

"You're a prince." She scowled. "And I think I'm hungry."

He burst out laughing as he rose to his feet. "I assure you, my entire existence hasn't been spent in marble palaces being pampered by armies of servants. I'll find you something to eat, Silver." He glanced down at his bare feet. "Though I have no intention of hunting or trapping tonight. I know what stones and brush can do to unprotected feet."

"But I still think—"

"No." He turned away.

She gasped, her gaze fastened in shock on the long line of his back. White scars crisscrossed his flesh from his shoulders to the base of his spine, scars that could only have been inflicted by the lash of a whip. He turned to look over his shoulder. "What's the matter?" Then, as he saw her face, a crooked smile lit up his face. "As I said, palaces are not the full extent of my experience." Then he faded into the dense forest shrubbery with a silent grace that surprised her.

She sat frozen, staring after him in the darkness. She felt... strange. What kind of a man was Nicholas Savron? She couldn't really know, since their every encounter had been colored by anger, conflict, and lust.

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