The Taming Read Online Free PDF Page B

tempers. Only last week—”
    â€œWhat a liar you are,” he said calmly, putting his head back down on the ground and not looking at her. “You’ve never had a man.”
    She stopped pounding the clothes. “I’ve had a hundred men,” she said, then stopped. “I mean, I’ve had my husband hundreds of times and—” She was making a fool of herself. “Here are your clothes. I hope they itch you to death. You deserve a body covered with lice.”
    She stood over him, then dropped the wet clothes on his hard, flat belly. He didn’t flinch from the cold but stared up at her with eyes that seemed warm and compelling. She wanted to leave him and she knew she was now free, but somehow she just stood there, her eyes locked with his.
    â€œSuch good work must be rewarded. Bend to me, woman.”
    Liana felt herself sinking to her knees before him while he came up to meet her. He put his big hand behind her head, his fingers entwined in her hair, and pulled her lips to his.
    A few men had tried to kiss Liana, but they had never been so expert as this. His lips, so unlike his manner, were soft and warm and she closed her eyes to the sensation.
    The kiss was all she’d hoped a kiss could be and her arms moved to encircle his neck as she pressed her body to his, feeling his sun-warmed skin through her cold clothes. He moved his lips on hers, opening his mouth slightly, and she followed his lead. Her hands moved to his hair. It was clean from his swim and so warm she thought she could feel the redness of it.
    When he broke the kiss and moved away from her, she kept her eyes closed and leaned toward him, wanting more of him.
    â€œThere, that’s enough,” he said with amusement in his voice. “A virginal kiss for a virgin. Now, go along home to whoever should have been protecting you and don’t go chasing after men again.”
    Liana’s eyes flew open. “Chasing after men? I was not—”
    He gave her a quick kiss, a twinkle in his eyes, before rising. “Spying on me from the bushes. You ought to learn what lust is before you try to inspire it. Now, off you go before I change my mind and give you what you’ve asked for. I’ve got more important business to tend to today than some hungry virgin.”
    It didn’t take Liana long to recover herself. She was on her feet in seconds. “I will freeze in hell before I am hungry for the likes of you.”
    He paused as he started to put a leg into a pair of wet braies. “I’m tempted to make you eat those words. No,” he said and began moving again, “I have other things to do. Perhaps later, after I’m married, you might come to me. I’ll see if I have time for you then.”
    There were no curse words vile enough to describe what Liana was feeling. “You will see me again,” she managed to say. “Oh yes, you will, but I do not think you will be so arrogant when we meet again. Pray for your life, peasant.” She stormed past him.
    â€œI do every day,” he called after her. “And I’m not—”
    She didn’t hear any more as, once in the trees, she pulled her gown and headdress from their hiding place and ran toward her horse. The animal waited quietly while Liana tore the woolen dress from her body. She flung it to the ground, then stamped on it, grinding it into the dirt.
    â€œDisgusting!” she said. “Filthy, dirty people,” she muttered. And she had thought the peasants’ lives romantic. They were so free! “They have no one to protect them,” she said to her horse. “If my guard had been here, he’d have skewered that swine. If Lord Stephen had been here, he’d have made him crawl. I would have laughed to see that red-haired devil kiss Lord Stephen’s shoe. What shall I do with him, Belle?” she asked the horse. “The rack? Drawing and quartering? Disembowelment?