AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Zac!" Prudence cried, welcoming the darkness that swallowed her up as much as the strong hands that caught her and held her tightly.
CHAPTER 22
“Three days, Pru. Three days you have refused to speak with your father or mother," Zac said, pacing in front of the bed where his wife sat.
"I don't wish to speak with anyone," she reiterated for the third time.
Zac was close to erupting. He had had enough of all the nonsense going on, but most of all he was concerned with his wife's health and well-being. She looked pale and she hadn't been eating properly. Her eyes were constantly red from her constant crying. It had to stop.
He stopped in front of her. "Prudence." His voice was stern and held authority.
Her head snapped up, and she tilted it in that defiant manner he always found challenging. She was all but informing him she'd do as she pleased, like it or not.
"I am going to town to pick up your father, and I am returning with him and your mother. You are going to sit and talk to them, just as they have been talking to each other and, might I say, making remarkable strides in mending their relationship."
"Don't bother to tell me you won't talk to them," he warned. "If I must, I’ll carry you downstairs myself and tie you to a chair and force you to listen to them."
Prudence shut her mouth and crossed her arms firmly across her chest.
"Being pigheaded isn't going to do you any good."
She refused to rise to his bait.
He knelt down in front of the bed where she sat, placing his hands on her knees. "Have a heart, honey. Your mother and father are concerned about your reaction to all this. They need time to talk things over with you. And besides, Granger needs someone to cut him down from the corral post that he's been tied to for the last two days."
"Zac, you didn't?" Prudence cried, and couldn't help but smile at the crazy picture it brought to mind.
He patted her knee in reassurance. "No, I'm only teasing. I wanted to see you smile again. But I warn you, I'll do more than just tie him to a post. I'm liable to shoot the stupid idiot."
"Zac, really," Prudence admonished.
"Honey, he's a danger to himself. If he's not insisting one of the ranch hands take him into Stewart, he's upstairs sulking in his room. When I refused his request and offered him a horse, he didn't bother to tell me he didn't know how to ride and mounted the animal backwards. It took five men to calm the horse down and get him off, since he was face down on the animal's rump, holding onto his tail for dear life."
Prudence couldn't help but burst into laughter at the comical scene Zac's words had painted. "You're teasing me?"
"No, I'm not. And he's carrying on horribly because he has to eat in the mess house with the cowhands. It's the one issue on which he feels I should exert husbandly authority. He thinks I should put my foot down and force you to come downstairs and cook the meals."
"Oh, he said so, did he? And what did you tell him?" Prudence's tone was brisk and annoyed.
"I told him I had you right where I wanted you."
Zac stretched up and over her, forcing her back onto the bed. He held her captive with his body, emphasizing his superior position by pressing against her with a decisive sensual wiggle.
"I don't feel like making love," Prudence lied. Her arms were still locked across her breasts, hiding the twin stiff peaks, proof that she certainly was interested in his playful teasing.
"I can change that," he offered, and kissed her breathless.
"Stop that," she yelled when she was finally able to pull her mouth away.
"Didn't like it?"
She cast him an evil glare.
"I like that look. It's sinister and wicked. And I love when you're wicked." He kissed the tip of her nose.
"Zac!" she cried.
"In that much of a hurry, are you? Well, let's hoist up your skirt and get to it." He reached down to open his pants.
"Zac, so help me!"
Zac looked seriously into her soft green eyes. "That's exactly what I'm trying to do, help you. You can't continue like this, Pru. It isn't you. Yell. Scream. Tell your parents how rotten you feel, but don't lock your feelings away."
"I don't know if I can," she said wearily.
"You have no choice," he insisted. "You must confront them. It's the only way to settle things."
Her hand came up to rub his thick jaw. "You're strong enough to take punches and come back fighting. I don't know if can."
He took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her palm. "I’ll be right there beside you. It isn't necessary to face this alone."
