Savage storm Read Online Free PDF

the others paid plus a little something extra for our trouble. He wants us to bring him a bride too."
    "Joshua Taylor is his name?" Jason reached out and took the envelope, hastily scanning the neatly penned letter he found inside. "Well he mentions the names of three of the men we included. Says they're close friends and says he has good land and a sturdy house built. He probably doesn't want to be the only bachelor left among his friends. What do you think?"
    Clayton frowned, his worry plain, "We were so careful with the others I was hoping you could vouch for Taylor since I can't. He would make twenty-one and then we could take Miss MacLaren with us. I couldn't help but notice how interested you were in her. Not that I 'didn't like her immediately too, because I did, but she seems to be too elegant a creature to wed a farmer and be content to work from dawn to dusk. I'll leave it up to you: shall we accept Taylor's money and take her, or not?"
    Jason shrugged as if the matter were of little importance to him. "Let's wait and see if all the ladies we asked to return actually do so. If we have less than twenty then Miss MacLaren will be a substitute; if all twenty are there at ten, then we'll accept Taylor's money and take Gabrielle for him."
    "You mean tell her this Taylor is to be her husband?" Clayton asked incredulously.
    "Why not? They both seem to have cut things pretty close. I'd say they are a perfect match."
    "Well, I don't know." Clayton refolded the letter and

    replaced it in the envelope. 'They'd be the only ones without a choice then and that just doesn't seem fair."
    "All right, then don't tell her about Taylor!" Jason replied irritably. "We'll just tell her we've received another bachelor's fee and she'll be among the brides going with us."
    After a moment's hesitation, Clayton nodded. "Fine. Were you able to find her a nice room?"
    "I gave her mine." Jason nodded toward the door. "I haven't heard a sound from her as yet though. She might just sleep right through our meeting if you don't knock on the door to awaken her." He had no intention of risking such an action himself after the way they had parted.
    Startled by that possibility, Clayton got up and walked over to the door. After listening closely for a long moment he knocked several times. "Miss MacLaren? It's Clayton Home, I don't want you to be late for the meeting, my dear."
    Jason waited for what he hoped would be a sweetly worded reply but Clayton's call went unanswered. "She must be a sound sleeper. Try knocking again." When Clayton's insistent pounding again brought no response Jason got to his feet and, after crossing the room quickly, tried the door and found it unlocked.
    "Wait a minute, you can't just walk into Miss MacLaren's room!" Clayton cried out in dismay.
    "Aren't you forgetting the room is mine?" Jason brushed past him to find the bedroom empty. The bed had been slept in, the towels by the pitcher and wash basin were damp, but the lovely Miss MacLaren was gone and so was her cumbersome valise. Exasperated, Jason threw up his hands in disgust, "Well, that settles it, the lady's gone so whomever Joshua Taylor might be, he's out of luck."
    "Damn!" Clayton muttered angrily. "Why couldn't things have worked out as we'd hoped they would? I could have used Taylor's cash for additional provisions!" Disgusted, he jammed the stranger's letter into his pocket and went back to

    his room. Meanwhile Jason stood, silently enjoying the subtle trace of the young beauty's perfume which still lingered upon the morning air as an erotic reminder of the intimate moment they'd shared and he remembered all too well.
    Gabrielle walked briskly along the crowded sidewalk. She couldn't just sit in Jason Royal's room while she waited for the hours to pass so she'd again left her valise at the desk and had struck out on her own to explore the town and to distract herself from the inevitable rejection she was sure would come. Kansas City was only a short distance