Ryan's Hand by Leila Meacham

Author:Leila Meacham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-07-12T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Cara tried to fight down the immobilizing terror that rooted her to the spot. Jeth was down the incline before she could move, his chaps making harsh leathery sounds as he spanned the distance between them. “Miss Martin, I warned you! I told you that you were to leave my men alone, that if you didn’t—”

The rest of his reproof never had a chance for delivery. In fear of the fury that deepened the tan of his handsome face, Cara spun away from him, managing only a few steps before an ankle twisted. She heard the startled cry of her name before she went splaying, stomach side down, on the hard, stony ground. A sharp stone cut into the underside of her chin, but she lay oblivious to everything except the spinning carpet that offered to take her away from the demon towering above her. As he lifted her to her feet, she had a blurred glimpse of her blue hair ribbon lying on the ground.

Weakly, she flailed at him. “Leave me alone!” she sobbed. “Take your hands off me!”

“I will when you’re calm,” he said, pulling her into his arms and holding her steady against his chest. Spent and dizzy, Cara clung to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“What have you done to yourself?” Jeth asked sorrowfully above her head.

“No more than you would have done to me,” she said into his chest.

“Oh, lady—” He sighed. “I was mad as hell, yes, but I wouldn’t have hit you. A good shake was what I had in mind—to make you understand that while you’re on La Tierra soil, you’ll remain faithful to Ryan’s memory. I will not tolerate your making a fool of him—”

She raised her head to look at him. “I wasn’t making a play for Jim!”

His mouth hardened. “So you say.”

“It’s the truth!”

Suddenly the emotional and physical events of the past half hour overwhelmed her. Her chin and palms throbbed. She wanted desperately to sag against Jeth’s chest again and rest there, but she could not afford such a balm. Her arms dropped from around him. “You are wrong about what you saw, Mr. Langston. I don’t expect you to believe me. But surely you can believe that I would never do anything to hurt Ryan’s memory.”

Jeth’s embrace loosened. Her small face was very pale, the smooth cheeks smudged with dust and the streak of tears. A thin line of blood had appeared beneath her chin. “Just your being here does that. Now go down and ask Leon to take a look at that chin.”

Leon had already begun serving the evening meal. “Sorry,” she muttered at his elbow. The cook turned around to find her gazing helplessly at her grazed palms. “I had an accident.”

Leon took in the abrasions and the dusty apron, the disheveled hair that had been as smooth as polished gold a short while ago. “So I see,” he commented without inflection. “Here’s some clean water.”

“I’ve not been much help, I’m afraid, Leon. I’m sorry.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.