Napoleon's Woman Read Online Free PDF Page B

traitor and a whore." Wessex lifted her wrists and bound them with the sash of her dressing gown. "My, you are a busy woman," he drawled then grabbed her chin and stuffed a washcloth in her mouth, cutting her lip on her own teeth in the process.
    Her handsome hero lay down on her bed, pulling her after him. Her heart was pounding with fear, more afraid to touch him than she had been of his knife. He pulled her flush against his lean body, back to chest, backside to groin.
    His large hand splayed over her stomach with the weight of her breasts resting heavily against his thumb. He pressed himself against her derriere, and she heard a soft sigh of satisfaction escape his lips, the undeniable evidence of his desire hardening against her backside.
    "Now, isn’t this preferable to sleeping in the woods?" he whispered in her hair, his lips almost touching her ear.
    A shiver skidded down her spine, forcing her to close her eyes at the incomprehensible pleasure of being held by the Earl of Wessex.
    The man did not move, and Celeste remained paralyzed with fear as she contemplated the outcomes of this night. But then she felt his even breathing as his arm relaxed against her hip. Her eyes opened wide in disbelief.
    The man was going to sleep! A hundred soldiers swarmed around him, searching for him, and he slept!
    Lady Rivenhall lay awake for two hours, unjustifiably annoyed with the man that slept beside her. Then the expected knock at her door roused the tall earl to wakefulness.
    She opened the door as before, the nervous soldier’s gaze slipping down to her breasts as he bowed his head in an attempt to look submissive.
    "We have searched the wood and the outlying areas, Lady Rivenhall, but have been unable to locate the prisoner."
    "Have the guards responsible for the prisoner ready for my inquiry tomorrow morning. There is no use in posting guard tonight. The man will be a great distance from here, unless he is as stupid as our night watch. Leave me." Celeste waved the man away with an air of disgust and slammed the door.
    "Well played, Lady Rivenhall. Now, don your boots and, your dressing gown." He commanded, blowing out the candle that had illuminated the small bedchamber.
    When she had complied, Wessex lifted her with ease through the window and followed quickly behind. Celeste’s fear was overshadowed by anxiety for the earl’s safety, knowing that her men were encamped no more than one hundred yards to the east of the cottage. If the guards chanced to look their direction as they ran toward the forest…
    The earl grabbed her painfully about the upper arm, interrupting her thoughts. "Stay low to the ground and walk, don’t run. If you disobey me…" He paused, and crouched to the ground when a group of soldiers burst into laughter.
    It was difficult to disobey since the man had rebound and gagged her, but she was amazed by his boldness. Walk! As if she had spoken aloud the earl added, "Any sudden movement or noise will draw their attention, so keep your progress fluid."
    They stalked across the open field, clinging to tall grass and the occasional tree. The earl was acutely aware of their surroundings. Every noise or movement drew a turn of his head, along with his attention.
    The edge of the wood lay just ahead, and Celeste prayed, for his sake, that he leave her and take flight. But he did not. They continued walking for what seemed like hours before he stopped and removed the muslin sash and gag.
    She drew in a deep breath as if to scream, but he stopped her with his words. "Your troops can not hear you." She sensed his satisfaction. "The only things that will respond to your cries are wolves."
    Celeste laughed out loud. "Wolves are hardly more dangerous than my present situation, my lord."
    "Quite true. Nevertheless, deserters and criminals might venture the forest to locate the source of such a feminine howl." He threw something at her feet and the moon captured a glint of steel.
    Her knife.
    Wessex turned to