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Shane turned away, his teeth clenched. He had come to speak with the woman and that was
impossible now. So, he would at least achieve another part of his plan. He would steal some of the trapper's traps. He had plans for them, later.
"I will speak with the woman another time," he whispered. "But I will. I must. It is obvious to me now that she is not with him willingly!"
Chapter Twenty-seven
While Josh lay prone on the bed in his room, snoring, Melanie began filling a copper tub that she had dragged to his room. She glared at him. She would sober him up if it was the last thing she did! She had to get him to listen to reason, but while his brain was soaked with alcohol, there was no getting through to him.
Melanie went downstairs to the kitchen and pumped more water into a bucket. She sank a finger deep into the water and smiled to herself, realizing just how cold the water was as it came up from the deep well in the ground. If this cold water didn't sober Josh up, nothing would!
The bucket filled to the brim, Melanie groaned and held onto the small of her back with her free hand as she began climbing the stairs again. She
looked up, mentally counting the steps, tired from the many trips she had already made with buckets of water.
But this was the last. There was enough water in the tub to give the drunken sot a good soaking.
Now would come the true test. Could she even get Josh to the tub, to get into the water? Drunk, he was a dead weight.
The last step finally taken, Melanie leaned into the weight of the water and carried it on into Josh's bedroom. She started to pour it into the tub with the rest, then looked at Josh with a lingering stare, and reconsidered. She needed this last bucket of water for another purpose.
Setting the bucket aside, beside the tub, Melanie took a deep breath and stretched out her aching bones. Then she went to the bed and shook Josh.
"Wake up!" she shouted. When he stirred only enough to lick his lips and emit a crude hiccough, she shook him again. "Damn it, Josh, wake up. I didn't go to all of the trouble of dragging you up those godawful stairs to your room just to let you go to sleep in your bed. I have other plans for you. Get up. If you don't, I'm going to drag you to the tub and put you in the water headfirst!"
Suddenly Josh slung a heavy arm around Melanie's waist and yanked her down atop him. With dark intent in his eyes, he coiled his fingers through her hair and drew her lips to his mouth in a wet kiss.
Melanie was momentarily stunned, having thought that he was too drunk to be a threat to her. But she was wrong. He knew damn well what he
was doing. His free hand was roaming over her with obvious purpose.
Doubling a fist, Melanie slammed it into his chest, and then his jaw. His reaction was swift. He yowled painfully and released her hair. She grabbed the opportunity and jerked herself free, then jumped from the bed.
Her eyes were lit with fire. "How dare you!" she hissed, panting. "I didn't come here to be manhandled!"
Josh rubbed his jaw and leaned up on an elbow. "Why'd you go and do that for?" he drawled. "I didn't mean anything by an innocent little kiss."
"That wasn't an innocent kiss and you know it," Melanie said, eying him venomously. Her gaze raked over him, shuddering at his soiled, disheveled appearance. "I'd like nothing more than to leave this room and never see you again, but I can't. I've come here for a purpose and I'm not going to leave." She nodded toward him. "Josh, get on your feet and take off your clothes.''
Josh's eyes widened. He rose slowly to a sitting position, a sneer on his face. "Why it'd be my pleasure," he said, wobbling to his feet. "Then maybe you'll let me try and kiss you again." His gaze roamed over her suggestively as he began unbuttoning his shirt. "You goin' to join me in the bath?" His eyes gleamed, suddenly not all that drunk after all. "We'd have fun, Melanie. Perhaps you'd even forget Shane once you see what I have to offer."
Melanie began to feel uneasy as Josh placed his thumbs to his breeches and began lowering them.
"On second thought, maybe you'd best take a bath with your clothes on," she said shallowly.
Josh continued undressing. "Now who ever heard of anyone taking a bath with his clothes on?" he said, chuckling. He stepped out of his breeches, revealing his nakedness to Melanie's nervous eyes. He looked up at her as he sat down on the edge of the bed and yanked one boot off, and then the other. "I'm doin' exactly what you said, Melanie. I've taken my clothes off. Now I'm going to take that bath." His eyes gleamed. ''Are you going to scrub the filth and stench of whiskey off me?"
"The whole point to having you take a bath was not only to clean you up, but also to sober you," Melanie said, turning her back to him. Her heart pounded, afraid. "Seems you are sober enough to clean yourself, Josh." She started toward the door, intent on escape. "After you
take the bath, come downstairs. I have much to talk over with you."
Suddenly she felt a hand grip hard onto her wrist. As she was forced around, she looked up into blue, leering eyes. "Josh, don't," she said, her voice weak. "You don't want to do this."
"The hell I don't," Josh said, grabbing her around the waist and yanking her to him. "Melanie, there isn't anything you can do to keep me from having you. I've wanted you forever. You're in my room. There's a bed handy. I'll never get the same opportunity again."
Melanie eyed the tub, and then Josh. She moved into action. Splaying her hands against his bare chest, she gave him a powerful shove, then
watched gleefully as he lost his balance and fell backward into the water. She laughed as he yelled and reached desperately for the sides of the tub, his eyes wild from the shock of the cold water.
