Captive Bride Read Online Free PDF

ran back into the drawing room. She could still feel Philip Caxton's lips on hers, his arms holding her pinned against him, the hardness between his legs pressing against her. So that was how a man kissed a woman. She had always wondered what it would be like. She hadn't expected the strange feeling that Philip Caxton had aroused in her: a feeling that both frightened and excited her.
    Lucidly she had remembered what her mother once told her: if a man accosted her and she wished to get away, pretend to faint and then kick him as hard as she could. It had worked, and she thanked her mother silently for her advice.
    Christina calmed herself while her brother went for her cape. She told him she had a splitting headache and wished to leave immediately. When he came back they left for their carriage.
    Looking up, she saw Philip Caxton on the balcony watching them leave. To think the man wanted her and had asked her to marry him knowing she disliked himl Of all the nerve, the outright audacity!
    Now that she was safely away from Philip Caxton, she was furious. She had met him only yesterday, and today he had asked her to marry him—without one word of love. He declared only that he wanted her. He was even more impulsive than Peter or Sir Charles. They, at least, were gentlemen.
    Thinking about it made her angrier. He was no gentleman! He acted like a barbarian! She wanted to go right back to that balcony and slap his arrogant face again.
    Christina's feelings showed on her face, and John, who had been scrutinizing her quietly, finally interrupted her thoughts.
    "Crissy, what on earth is the matter with you? You look fit to be tied. I thought you had a headache."
    Focusing her attention on John, she absentmindedly put her hand to her forehead as if to feel for a pain, then burst forth heatedly.
    "Headache! Yes, I had a headache, but I left him back on the balcony. John, that insufferable cad asked me to marry him."
    "Who did?" John asked calmly.
    "Philip Caxton, that's who! And he had the effrontery to kiss me—right there on the balcony."
    John was amused. "It seems, dear sister, that you have encountered a man who knows what he wants and goes after it. You say he asked you to marry him, and after only one day's acquaintance? At least Browne and Buttler knew you a little longer than that. It looks as if Philip Caxton truly wants you."
    Remembering his words vividly, Christina stormed more. "Yes, he wants me. He even told me so, with no mention of love—just lust!"
    John laughed. It wasn't often that he saw his sister so angry. If Caxton had tried to molest Crissy, John wouldn't be so amused, and he would have had to call the man out
    But he could hardly blame Caxton for a kiss and a proposal of marriage. He would have done the same if he had found a woman as beautiful as Crissy.
    "You know, Crissy, more times than not, desire does come before love. Had Caxton said he was in love with you, it probably would have been a lie. What he did state was the truth—that he wanted you. When a man finds a woman he can't live without, then he knows he's in love. I believe that love has to grow slowly and takes more time than just two days, or even two weeks. However, it seems that Philip Caxton was prepared to love you, since he proposed marriage. Instead of getting so angry, you might have taken it as a compliment."
    Calming down slowly, Christina leaned back on the seat and stared moodily off into the distance.
    "Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. I'll never see Philip Caxton again. I should never have come to London in the first place. The men here don't know their own minds. They all just compete for attention: each one boasting that he's better than the next And men like Philip Caxton think anything can be theirs for the asking. This isn't the life for me. I guess I'm just a country girl at heart." Christina took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Oh, John, I'm glad we're going home."
     
     
     
    Chapter
    A pleasant breeze ruffled