Romance Novel Reviews

Page 15

His hand was on the doorknob when a strangled cry stopped him in his tracks.

He whirled on his heel, listening, trying to decide if what he'd heard were cries of passion and he should mind his own business. Then it came again, only this time the cries sounded desperate and frightened and were follwed by a crash of dishes. Raw instinct set his long legs into motion as he hurried toward the kitchen. He stopped abruptly in the open doorway and stared in consternation at the couple grappling on the kitchen table.

The woman had been shoved onto the table, which had been hastily cleared of dishes. Her skirts had been shoved up to her waist as the huge miner tried to mount her. The woman's small fists flailed at the miner but were as ineffectual as gnat stings against the burly man nearly three times her size.

"Aw, come on, Belle, be nice to me," the miner cajoled. "I got plenty of gold dust in my poke to pay ya for a little tumble. It ain't like ya ain't done it before. Ya got a son to prove it. I'll bet ya weren't even married, let alone a window. Come on, Belle, open yer legs."

"Get off of me, Pike Dinks, you drunken oaf, unless you want Wan Yo to come after you!"

Dinks laughed gleefully. "That old Chinaman couldn't hurt a flea."

"You'll find willing women in any one of the numerous saloons in town."

Dinks gave Belle a sloppy kiss, shoved his knee between her legs and his hands inside her bodice. "Ain't enough whores to go around. I want you."

Page 16

Belle shoved against Dinks with all her might, feeling like a bird trapped beneath his considerable bulk. She should have known better than to turn her back on Dinks. This wasn't the first time the miner had tried to assault her. She could smell booze on his breath and hadn't realized when he'd come in for lunch that he was drunk. When she felt his knee between her legs and his hands fumbling inside her bodice, she clamped her teeth down hard on his shoulder.

Dinks cried out, shaking himself free. "Ya little bitch! You'll pay for that."

Page 316

"Once I have the ransom maybe I'll set you free and maybe I won't."

His words sent terror racing through her veins. "What do you hope to gain by holding me prisoner? Take your gold and run. Casey is a detective, he'll find you. I'll only slow you down."

"Who says I'm going to take you with me? It would be easier just to get rid of you. I'll amuse myself with you until the old man swings for murder. When I leave San Francisco it will be alone, if you get my drift. Of course," he hinted, "if you please me I might change my mind." He reached for her. "Show me how you're gonna change my mind."

Belle leaped to her feet. "Don't touch me!"

He lurched after her, swearing when he grasped air. He was drunker than he thought. "Oh, I'm gonna do more than touch you, lady. I know how to make a woman willing."

"With your fists," Belle charged injudiciously as she backed away from him.

"Stand still!" he growled as she slipped from his grasp a second time. "I don't aim to chase you around this room."

He lurched forward, Belle darted away. But she wasn't fast enough. His hand caught her skirt. She wrenched it free. He wasn't prepared for her resistance, and when she jerked her skirt out of his hands he stumbled backward, lost his balance, and fell against the table. The candle skittered across the table, dropped to the floor, and sputtered out, pitching the room into darkness. Belle seized the moment. She ran to the door, jerked it open, and rushed outside into blessed darkness...

"Come back!" Jones shouted, shattering the silence. "When I catch you I'm gonna make you sorry you ran away. Do you hear me? If you think that whore looked bad when I got through with her, it's nothing compared to how you're gonna look."

Page 358

"You'll find little of value here. Take what you have and leave before my family returns."

"I saw them leave with a picnic basket. As for your man, he joined the posse on a wild goose chase." He laughed raucously. "He won't be back for days. That leaves you and my, lady." He leered at her. "You owe me for these slim pickings."

Belle retreated, her mind numb with fear. She had to say something, anything to divert his thoughts. "There's silver downstairs in the pantry. Take the silver, take the paintings, take anything you want, just leave me alone."

"I want you, bitch. I'm gonna finish what we started back at the cabin." He grasped the neckline of her bodice and ripped downward. The material gave easily, revealing a generous portion of skin and the rounded tops of her breasts.

Suddenly Belle recalled the loaded gun Casey kept in the drawer of the nightstand. She'd never shot a man before, but she would it if meant saving her life and that of her child. She edged toward the table, but before she reached it Jones grabbed her and threw her onto the bed.

"That's where all women belong," Jones sneered, "on their backs."

Belle's fear turned to anger as Jones removed his belt and snapped it several times between his huge hands.

"Bastard! Don't you dare touch me."

"That whore from Naomi's squealed like a pig when I beat her with my belt. I want to see how loud you can holler. Beating a woman gives me pleasure. Nearly as much pleasure as bedding her."

"Despicable pervert," Belle hissed, rolling to the opposite side of the bed then leaping up....

Her defiance seemed to amuse Jones. He laughed mirthlessly. "You got spunk, lady, but I'll beat it out of you." He stalked her around the bed, snarling viciously as he reached for her. Belle anticipated his move and threw herself across the bed, rolling to the opposite side.

Elated, she saw that Jones no longer stood between her and the door. Lunging forward, she reached the door and flung it open, groaning in frustration when her lame leg gave way beneath her. She sprawled through the door, landing on her back in the hallway.

With a cry of triumph, Jones was on her in an instant, pinning her to the floor with his body. "Got ya now, bitch." He shoved up her skirts, cursing when he became entangled in her petticoats.

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