AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The words, questioning both his character and his honor, hit Nathan like a blow to the chest.
“That is not what I said,” he snapped back. Zounds. This was why he did not like to speak to debutantes. Well, not just debutantes. If he was truthful, speaking to people, in general, was not his forte. They always seemed to hear what they wanted to hear and rarely paused to think before speaking.
And this particular one was not listening.
Nathan bounded forward, grabbing her arm as she pulled open the door. The rain was coming down as hard as ever, the wind blowing the wet in through the open window and splashing them. Frustration pulsed through him. Bloody hell. He hadjuststarted to feel warm and dry!
He yanked her back by the arm, causing her to gasp with outrage. Half-expecting a slap, he was somewhat ready when she lifted her hand but not quite prepared for the vicious right hook she aimed at his nose. Barely dodging out of the way, thanks to his training and years of practice, he kicked the door shut as he spun them around.
“The bloody hell?” Where had she learned to do that? Perhaps his suspicions were as warranted as he’d thought.
“Get out of my way! You have no right to hold me prisoner here!”
“You are hardly a prisoner.” Though she was daft if she thought he would allow her to storm out into the rain. Where was she going to go? And how? Did she plan to steal his horse? Walk? Both options were incredibly senseless. Or was there something he did not know? The skill with which she had thrown that punch at him…
Whatever the reason, she was not going anywhere. He still had questions for her, and her behavior was growing increasingly suspicious. Even if it turned out he was wrong, what kind of gentleman would he be to allow her to go out into a storm like this on her own? Anything could happen to her.
No. Not under his watch.
“If I am not a prisoner, then move out of my way.”
“No.” Increasingly frustrated by her mule-headedness, he glared right back. “As a gentleman, I cannot allow you to go out on your own in such intemperate weather. Especially when we do not know where your highwayman has hied off to. It could be dangerous.”
Instead of seeing the sense of his words, she glared even harder at him and jerked her arm away. He let her go. Now that he was standing between her and the door, he did not need to hold on to her.
Something about the interaction was setting off instincts normally reserved for meetings of the Society of Sin, the secret and debaucherous club created by the Marquess of Hartford, where members of thetonindulged in all sorts of perversions.
A club Nathan had been happy to join. He had always been a bit bossy when it came to intimate relations, and at the club, he had found several new interests, as well as training to be more than a ‘bit’ bossy with the women he bedded. As Miss Davies challenged him, he brought some of those lessons and instincts to the foreground.
“You are not my father, my brother, or my guardian, Captain Jones. You do not get a say in my actions.”
She tried to step forward again, but Nathan was not budging. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stared down sternly at her.
“As the only man present, and the only person with any sense, it appears,”—he ignored her gasp of outrage—“I get a say in your actions.”
Dark eyes blazing, she tried to go around him. Nathan had not expected she would be done trying to verbally move him out of her way, but he caught up quickly enough. This time, when he grabbed her arm as she reached for the door, she spun and tried to punch him again.
Nathan dodged. “Stop trying to hit me!”
“Get out of my way.”
“If you try to hit me again, you will not like the consequences.” There was only so far he was willing to go in the name of chivalry, and he had weeks of pent-up frustration over this woman to work out.
“If you do not get out of my way,youwill not like the consequences,” she retorted, jerking away from him and heading for the window.
Seriously? Nathan groaned inwardly when she reached it and began undoing the latch. Moving behind her, he grabbed her by the waist as she pushed the window open, yanking her back and pulling the window back down—which gave her the opportunity to rush for the door. Cursing inwardly, he abandoned the window and dashed after her, barely catching her before she escaped.
Bloody woman.
“Damn you!” She did not try to punch him this time—instead, she landed a stinging slap across his cheek and did not look one bit sorry about it.
Enough was enough.
Completely fed up, Nathan pulled her over to the table, sat down in the chair, tipped her over his lap, and yanked her skirts up. If he was going to do this, he would make sure she felt it, though he would not bare her to him entirely. This had already gone too far, but he was out of patience.
Lifting his hand, he brought it down hard on her drawer-covered bottom.
* * *
