Hellion (Seven Brides for Seven Bastards, 7) Read Online Free PDF Page A

soon?"
    Her heart skipped several thumps, and
for a moment she could not catch her breath. "A new husband? What
for? I've had one already. And I manage well enough without one."
Indeed, she thought, she had enough to do without another man to
look after.
    The maid had turned away to gather
Helene's dirty garments for the laundry and was too busy muttering
about the state of them and how her mistress worked too hard. As
she straightened up again with the clothes bundled in her arms, she
said, "Only I heard some soldiers discussing it today in the yard.
They said you could not be expected to maintain the place all alone
and that surely the king will find another match for you before the
harvest must be brought in."
    Helene swallowed hard and replied
carefully, "I have heard nothing from my family, not for a long
time." She'd hoped they'd forgotten about her, to be frank. If they
asked her, she would assure them that she did not need another
husband.
    But they wouldn't ask her if she
wanted another husband, would they?
    A woman was not asked; she was
told.
    The maid patted her hand, and
apparently mistaking the cause of Helene's worried face, exclaimed,
"You must not fret, my lady. They will send someone to you soon.
You must be tired of struggling alone. Every woman needs a
man."
    She said nothing to her well-meaning
but misguided— and clearly slightly deaf— maid. Instead, Helene
stared into the fire and thought of what they might send to her
this time. Whoever he was, she would be expected to accommodate him
in her life and in her bed, without protest. This one might outlive
her and then she would never again know the sweet delight of waking
in the mornings and doing as she pleased without first seeking
permission from a man.
    Her blessed freedom, therefore, was
now only borrowed, only temporary.
    Horrified that she had not realized
this before, her heart sank into a dark depression and wallowed
there for the rest of the night.
    But she woke in the darkness with a
new idea churning in her mind.
    All this talk of another husband was
mere speculation. Until she received formal notification, she would
deny it. She would continue on as her own woman, in charge of her
own destiny, let no one get in her way.
    Not even that sexually alluring,
sinful brute across the valley.
    Helene de Leon decided that since the
sands in her hourglass were running out, she would not be timid or
squeamish when it came to taking what she wanted now. While she
still could.
     

Chapter Four
     
    Sal was in that top field, moving the
fence posts back where they should be— she hadn't even bothered
filling in the previous holes to try to cover her crime, he mused.
Anyone might think she wanted to be caught and punished. Again,
quite suddenly, he thought of that prime piece of arse flesh and
how he would like to spank it.
    He swung his mallet harder, taking out
his energy on the fence posts.
    As the morning sun beat down upon his
bared back he worked on steadily without pause, not looking up even
when he heard some of his workers muttering in surprise.
    The only noise that stopped him was
her voice.
    Clear, calm and self-assured, she
exclaimed, "I thought I'd find you up here."
    He almost dropped the mallet on his
foot. Flicking sweat from his hair, he looked up, eyeing her
cautiously. "Why the Devil have you come up here?" She usually
preferred there to be a gate or wall between them when they
indulged in one of their arguments. Sal was always grateful for a
barrier too, because sometimes he'd wondered what he might do to
the woman if he had her within arm's reach.
    Today, for some reason,
she came out into the open. She looked smaller and, oddly enough,
less dangerous without a barrier. But he was not deceived. She must have done
something different to herself, he thought, staring. What was it?
What had she done?
    Clutching the mallet to his bare chest
he straightened up, spat upon the ground and faced her. "What do
you want? Come to argue about the