Wild Orchids Read Online Free PDF Page A

whirled to run, regardless of the sense of it. It was too late to even try. His hand closed over her shoulder, and he jerked her back against him. Once again she was smothered by the sheer enormous size and strength of him. Terrified, she reacted instinctively, screaming and struggling furiously in an effort to save herself. In this moment of crisis, her self-defense lessons rose to the fore again, and she stomped hard on his instep. Her flat sandal made no perceptible impression on his sneaker-clad foot. She squirmed in his hold, screaming and trying futilely to kick his shins. One of his steel-muscled arms encircled her waist, imprisoning her arms. Then he was lifting her clear off her feet, holding her helplessly crushed against his broad chest.
    "Unless you want me to hurt you—and I mean really hurt you, you vicious little bitch—you'd better shut up and hold still!" His arms squeezed her so hard that she feared for her ribs.
    Tears of fright rose in her eyes, and Lora realized the fight was over. To struggle more would only provoke him further… She subsided with a whimper, going limp in his arms, waiting for another move from him. If he thought to terrify her into meek obedience, he was doing a good job of it. He stared down at her inimically for a few seconds while she lay against him, quivering with terror.
    "That's better." He held her a moment longer, brutally tight, then slowly, slowly, set her back on her feet. Lora barely had time to enjoy the feel of solid ground beneath her before he was wrenching one arm behind her back, holding it at a painful angle. She cried out, but his grip didn't loosen by so much as a fraction. Grasping her by the nape of her neck, he turned her around and pushed her stumbling back in the direction from which they had come.
    "Walk!" he ordered tersely. With him so close behind her, ready to exert punishing persuasion on her already aching arm, she had little choice. She walked.
    "Damn it, woman, I ought to strangle you on the spot! I'm bleeding like a stuck pig, and just look at the goddamned car!" He still sounded murderously angry as they approached the VW, which had come to rest against the trunk of a now crazily leaning palm tree. The front end of the vehicle was crushed in the middle like a Pepsi can that had been squeezed by a huge hand. The hood was still latched in the center, but either side of it lifted skyward like wings poised for takeoff. A faint plume of steam rose lazily from the nether parts of the engine; its upward progress was accompanied by a sibilant hissing sound.
    "God in heaven!" She could almost hear him gnashing his teeth as he surveyed the carnage.                        .
    "Ohhh!" She uttered the small sound involuntarily as he walked up to the car, dragging her with him. The pressure on her arm was excruciatingly painful…
    "Please…" She could not help herself. She would beg if she had to.
    "Please what?" To her surprise, he had actually stopped and turned to look at her. So what if there was a taunt to his voice? If only he would ease the pressure on her arm!
    "Please," she said again, hating herself for sounding so humble but unable to do anything about it. "Please let go of my arm. I won't try to escape again, I swear it."
    He laughed, the sound brutal. Lora felt a chill race down her spine. He liked hearing her beg, she thought. And the thought frightened her almost more than anything else that had happened so far on this dreadful day.
    "Damn right you won't. Because you know that next time—if there is. a next time—you won't walk away from it with only a bad fright and a sore arm. Next time I'll be playing for keeps. Understand?"
    "Y—yes." She would agree to anything if only he would let go of her arm—and not hurt her further…
    "Remember what I said."
    She groaned as he gave one final upward tug on her imprisoned arm before releasing it. Bringing it forward slowly, she rubbed her aching muscles as she turned to face