The Complete Mackenzie Collection Read online

  “A lot of good it would have done if she’d kicked him—you put those boots on her so she wouldn’t hurt him!”

  “Well, I didn’t want my stallion damaged. On the other hand, if she had resisted service, I would have gotten her out of there. When a mare resists, it means I’ve misjudged the time, or something is wrong with her. But she took him nicely, didn’t you girl?” he finished, patting the mare’s neck.

  Mary watched, fidgeting, as he washed the mare. She still didn’t like the idea of the mare being unable to run away from the stallion, even though this particular mare was now standing as placidly as if nothing had happened a few minutes ago. It disturbed her on a deep emotional level that didn’t respond to logic, and she felt uneasy.

  Wolf led the mare to her stall, fed her and gave her fresh water. Then he squatted in front of the faucet to wash his hands and arms. When he looked up, Mary was still standing there, a troubled, almost frightened look in her eyes. He straightened. “What’s wrong?”

  Desperately she tried to shrug her uneasiness aside, but it didn’t work. It was plain in her face and voice. “It looked—it looked….” Her voice trailed off, but suddenly he understood.

  He moved slowly toward her and wasn’t surprised when she backed up a step. “Horses aren’t people,” he said gently. “They’re big, and they snort and squeal. It looks rough, but that’s just how horses mate. It would be even rougher if they were allowed to run free, because they’d kick and bite.”

  She looked at the mare. “I know. It’s just—” She stopped, because she really couldn’t say what was bothering her.

  Wolf reached her and put his hands on her waist, holding her lightly so she wouldn’t be alarmed and wouldn’t know that she couldn’t break free unless he let her. “It’s just that the roughness reminded you of being attacked?” he finished for her.

  She gave him a quick, disturbed look, then just as quickly looked away.

  “I know the memory is still there, baby.” He slowly tightened his hands, bringing her close against him and just holding her. After a moment she began to relax, and her silky head rested against his chest. Only then did he put his arms around her, because he didn’t want her to feel restrained.

  “I want to kiss you,” he murmured.

  She lifted her head and smiled at him. “That’s why I came out here: to tempt you into a kiss. I’ve become a shameless hussy. Aunt Ardith would have disowned me.”

  “Aunt Ardith sounds like a pain in the—”

  “She was wonderful,” Mary said firmly. “It’s just that she was very old-fashioned and had strict notions of what was proper and what wasn’t. For instance, only shameless hussies would wear a skirt without a proper petticoat underneath.” She lifted her skirt a little to show him.

  “Then let’s hear it for shameless hussies.” He bent his head and kissed her, and felt the familiar hot excitement begin building in his body. Ruthlessly he controlled it, because control was critical right now. He had to show Mary something, and he couldn’t do it if his libido overcame his common sense. He had to do something to banish that ever-present fear from the back of her mind.

  He raised his head and hugged her for a minute before letting his arms drop. Instead he took her hands and held them, and the expression on his face made the smile leave her eyes. He said slowly, “Are you willing to try something that might get you over being frightened?”

  She looked cautious. “Such as?”

  “We could reenact parts of the attack.”

  Mary stared at him. She was curious, but also wary. Part of her didn’t want to do anything that would remind her of that day, but on the other hand, she didn’t like being afraid. She said, “Which parts?”

  “I could chase you.”

  “He didn’t chase me. He grabbed me from behind.”

  “So will I, when I catch you.”

  She considered it. “It won’t work. I’ll know it’s you.”

  “We could try.”

  She stared at him for a long time, then stiffened as a thought came to her. “He threw me facedown on the ground,” she whispered. “He was on top of me, rubbing himself against me.”

  Wolf’s face was strained. “Do you want me to do that, too?”

  She shuddered. “Want you to? No. But I think you’re going to have to. I don’t want to be afraid any longer. Make love to me like that—please.”

  “What if you get really scared?”

  “Don’t—” She swallowed. “Don’t stop.”

  He looked at her for a long minute, as if measuring her resolve; then his mouth began to quirk up on one side. “All right. Run.”

  She didn’t. She stared at him. “What?”

  “Run. I can’t chase you if you don’t run.”

  All of a sudden she felt silly at the thought of running about the yard like a child. “Just like that?”

  “Yeah, just like that. Think of it this way: when I catch you, I’m going to pull your clothes off and make love to you, so why are you waiting?”

  He removed his hat to hook it on a post. Mary took a step backward, then, despite her dignity, whirled and ran. She heard the thudding of his boots as he came after her, and laughed with excitement despite herself. She knew she didn’t have a prayer of reaching the house; his legs were much longer than hers. Instead she relied on agility and dodged around his truck, then a tree.

  “I’m going to get you,” he growled, his voice right behind her, and his hand closed briefly on her shoulder before she sprinted away from him.

  She sought refuge behind his truck again, with him on the other side. They feinted, but neither gained an advantage. Panting, her face alight with both excitement and triumph, Mary taunted him, “Can’t catch me, can’t catch me.”

  A slow, unholy smile touched his mouth as he looked at her. She was almost glowing with her success, her silky brown hair tumbling around her face, and he wanted her so much it hurt. He wanted to take her in his arms and make love to her, and he swore to himself because he couldn’t, not right now. First he had to play this through, and, despite her brave words, he hoped she could bear it.

  They had been staring at each other, and suddenly it struck her how savage he looked. He was aroused. She knew that look on his face as well as she knew her own, and her breath caught. He wasn’t playing; he was deadly earnest. For the first time, fear began to creep in on her. She tried to tamp it down, because she knew Wolf would never hurt her. It was just—oh, damn, something about it did remind her of the attack, no matter how she tried to push the thought away. The playfulness drained out of her, and an unreasonable panic took its place. “Wolf? Let’s stop now.”

  His chest rose and fell with his breathing, and a bleak look entered his eyes, but his voice was guttural. “No. I’m going to catch you.”

  She ran blindly, leaving the dubious safety of the truck. His running steps behind her sounded like thunder, obscuring every other sound, even that of her rasping breath. It was like being in that alley again, even though a part of her clung to the knowledge that this was Wolf, and she wanted him to do this. She hadn’t had a chance to run from her attacker, but he had been behind her; she had heard his breathing just as she now heard Wolf’s. She screamed, a high, terrified sound, just before Wolf caught her and bore her down, on her stomach, to the ground, his heavy weight coming down on top of her.

  He supported himself on his arms to keep from crushing her, and nuzzled her ear. “Ha, I caught you.” He forced himself to say the words lightly, but his chest was tight with pain at what she was going through. He could feel the terror that held her in its grip, and he began trying to loosen its bonds, speaking softly to her, reminding her of the heated, sensuous pleasures they had shared. Tears stung his eyes at the sounds she made, those of a trapped and terrified animal. God, he didn’t know if he could do it. The lust had died in him at her first scream.

  At first she struggled like a wild thing, kicking and bucking, trying to free her arms, but he held them clamped down