Knight's Captive Read Online Free PDF Page A

couldn’t stay here.
    Jumping from the bed, she nearly tripped as the
blankets tangled around her legs. They were trying to draw her back in, trap
her. She wasn’t sure if she thought they were the ocean trying to pull her to
her doom or Lorenzo dragging her home to lock her away. Either way, she
screamed and kicked at them until she was free.
    She hauled the door open and spilled out into a
hallway. A sliver of light danced across the floorboards and highlighted the
tapestries on the walls. Figures and creatures seemed to jump out at her from
them. She put a hand to her chest and spun when a creak sounded at one end of
the hall.
    Another creak. She
whirled the other way and screamed when hands curled around her arm and thrust
her back.
    “ No!” she screamed. “Don’t make me go
back there...” She tried to tear from him, blind terror whirling through her
veins. She couldn’t be locked away again, she couldn’t...
    “Antonia!” he barked at her.
    She stiffened. He was going to beat her, was he
not? Beat her and lock her in the box so she could concentrate on the pain and
learn from it.
    “Antonia,” came his voice again, but softer this
time and different.
    Going still, she dragged her gaze up from the
wide chest that filled her vision. Slowly, the fear clouding her vision
dissipated. It was not her husband.
    Henry . It was Henry. A wild sob
escaped from her throat and she sagged. Any energy she’d had left deserted her.
    “Why are you screaming?” He kept her propped up
by the hold on her arms.
    What could she say? That she had thought her
husband had risen from the dead? She stared at him numbly, her voice trapped in
her raw throat.
    He twisted her around and drew open the curtains
with one hand to view her. She wasn’t sure what he could see. Tear-stained
cheeks, mussed hair...a wretch probably. His gaze narrowed.
    “Were you trying to get away?”
    She shook her head.
    That other hand came back to her arm and squeezed
a little. “Tell me the truth.”
    She shook her head again. Any relief she had
felt began to fade and her heart picked up speed once more. Would he harm her
for being out of her room? She wriggled but Henry’s hands might have been made
from iron. He glanced down at her, his brow furrowing, and eased his grip. His
gaze skimmed her from head to toe, lingering on her bare feet then her breasts.
She fought the urge to cover herself.
    “You had better return to your room,” he said in
a low, low voice that reached down inside her, skimmed past all the fear and
tension and did something odd to her stomach.
    “ No,” she whispered. Antonia couldn’t go
back in there. Not in the dark, not with the box at the end of the bed. She
would rather be on that sinking ship again or in the freezing water.
    “Antonia...”
    The warning tone to his voice made her shiver.
He took her arm and began leading her back.
    “ No!” she protested. “ No, no, no. Not in there. Por favor.”
    She thrashed against his hold, trying to pull
back. If only she wasn’t so weak. Her legs felt as though she was on the deck
of a ship again, wavering back and forth. A hot tear spilled down her cheek.
    Henry released her and eyed her with a sigh. “In
English,” he demanded. “What is wrong?”
    She drew in a sniffly breath and rubbed her arm.
He glanced at where she chafed her hand over her arm and pinched the bridge of
his nose.
    “Well?”
    “Do not...” She heaved in a breath. “Do not make
me going in there, por favour . I beg of you.”
    “Your chamber?”
    “ Si .”
    “You cannot stay out here.” He reached for her.
“Return to your room.”
    She backed away and a cry escaped her when he
reached for her. Antonia flinched and closed her eyes, waiting for the hand to
strike her. “ No!” she begged.
    “Hell’s teeth.” Henry took her arm and hauled her
into another room. The door slammed shut with a clunk, rattling the walls.
    Antonia found herself stumbling back against a
bed—his bed