The Stubborn Lord Read Online Free PDF Page B

she said, “Thank you. I didn’t realize they had put a tracker inside me, but I guess I should have known.”
    “We can’t talk out here,” he said, picking up the tracker the men had left before ushering her inside the privacy of the tent.
    “The device is embedded into my hand.” She kept talking as he closed them inside. Her eyes stayed on the tracking unit as he tossed it on the bed. “I felt heat radiating in my palm when they came for me. I am sorry to have involved you, but I am grateful for your help in sending them away.” She nervously looked from the tracker to her hand. “I don’t know how I’m going to get the tracking chip out. Or even the range of the thing.” She began pressing her finger into her palm, feeling around. “I guess…a knife?”
    Alek crossed to her and grabbed her hand. “You are not cutting your hand.”
    Kendall blinked in surprise. “I won’t do it in here if that’s what you’re worried about, but I can’t leave the tracker in. I won’t bleed on your belongings and I will bring the knife back.”
    “You are my wife. I will make arrangements to have the tracker disabled safely by those who are trained to do so.” He pressed his mask into her hand. “Take this. It belongs to you.” Then he picked up the tracking unit and also gave it to her. “And this as well.”
    “Wife?” She looked at the mask and unit in her hands, then his face. “I think there has been a misunderstanding. I am not marrying you, Alek. I can’t. I have to get off this planet. I can’t stay here. It’s too…”
    “What?” he questioned a little too harshly.
    “On world,” she finished weakly. The statement was more of a question. She was nervous, maybe even scared.
    His nerves tingled and his muscles threatened to shift into dragon form. Heightened emotions surged within him. The warrior wanted to go after the men and fight. The groom forced himself to relax. This was a blessed night, no time for fighting. He softened his tone, refocusing his attention where it belonged. “You are missing the bridal feast. Shall I order food brought for you?”
    “I’m not hungry,” she said, even as she glanced at the food table. “Honestly, I just want to go home. I’m so tired. I’ve been awake for days.”
    He considered her for a long moment. Finally, he nodded. “There is nowhere to go tonight.” He touched her cheek. “Lie on the bed. Rest. I will take you home tomorrow.”
    Kendall looked at his crystal and then back up to meet his gaze. Slowly, she pulled her face from his hand. He hadn’t noticed the tired marks under her eyes or the sleep-deprived red edging the brown irises. Normally he was observant, but he’d been so excited to have finally found her he had missed her need for rest.
    “I won’t be able to sleep, even if I do need it. Every time I try, I…” She didn’t meet his gaze and he wondered at it. “Thank you, but I have imposed too long already.”
    “Rest,” he repeated. “No one will harm you here. The festival ground is no place for a tired bride. They will be drinking well into the night in celebration. If it is rest you seek, this is the best place for you.”
    She swayed lightly on her feet. “All right. You saved me twice—from the forest and from those men. I have no reason not to trust your word. I can sleep on the floor. I don’t wish to put you out of your bed.”
    Relief filled him now that she no longer spoke of getting off his planet.
    “The floor is no place for you,” he said. “Take the bed. Rest.”
    Kendall considered the unit in her hand. She went to a chair along the edge of the tent and tilted it back so a leg came off the ground. She placed the unit underneath the leg and slammed it down. The casing dented so she could pry it off and expose the delicate insides of the device. This time when she crushed it with the chair leg it gave a loud electrical pop and then died.
    He laughed. “I would say it is disabled.”
    “I have no use