Read Through the Fire (The Native American Warrior Series) for Free Online Page B

do this to his own flesh and blood? He steadied his voice. “Is there more?”
    “ On my thighs.”
    Clutching the shift to her chest, she turned toward him. And he knew he ’d seen exactly what she wanted him to.
    “ Why such cruelty?” he ground out. “Shawnee do not beat their children.”
    Her eyes glinted with the hurt that had marred her back. “Drink made Papa crazy.”
    “ Warriors, too, sometimes. Still, I would like to give your father back stripe for stripe what he gave you.”
    She gaped at him. “I wish you’d give Papa the thrashing of his life. But I don’t expect you will turn up in London.”
    Shoka smiled faintly. “The English need no guide there.”
    “ I wouldn’t be so sure.”
    Her stiff posture relaxed a little. He curled his fingers at her chin and tilted her face to inspect every inch. Dropping his eyes, he ran them over her shoulders and the tops of her breasts, hesitant to ask the next question. “Did your father harm you in other ways?”
    She shook her head.
    Undeniable relief welled in him. “What of your sister?”
    “ Never.” Clenching her fingers, Rebecca kept the shift in place with fisted hands. “When Papa was in a rage, I told Kate to run and hide. I got between them.”
    “ You took the beatings for her?” Shoka gave a low whistle. “You have much courage, Rebecca Elliot.”
    “ No. I was always afraid.”
    “ Courage is not how you feel. It’s what you do.”
    “ Then I should get a damn medal,” she muttered. “Like a good soldier.”
    “ You swear like one.”
    “ You have my father to thank for that.”
    The anger flaring in her eyes dwindled, and then in a more uncertain voice, she asked, “What will you do with me now?”
    He trailed his fingers through her hair, pausing at her low neckline. His heart doubled its beat as he slid the tip of his finger over her breasts pushing up above the ruffled linen. “I would very much like to take this from you. Yet, I will not.”
    His need, as tangible as pulsing energy, seemed to flow into her. Did he feel her warming to him?
    Taking a tremulous breath, she whispered, “Shoka?”
    He searched the question in her face, noting the quiver at her lips. Did she want more from him, or far, far less?
    Stop! He ordered himself. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, do this.
    Drawing on reserves he ’d honed from years of rigorous training, he reined himself in. Battle was easier. He tugged the shift up over her shoulders and tied the string at her beguiling neck. “You still have some secrets.”
    A pink flush stained her petal soft cheeks. “Fewer and fewer.” She retrieved her corset. “Help me on with it?”
    “ You can’t even dress unaided?”
    “ I had a maid for that.” She slipped on the corset and turned her back for him to do the fluttering ties.
    Hardly able to believe he was assisting her with this blatantly feminine task, he crisscrossed the laces. “Why do you wear such a foolish garment?”
    “ All ladies do. You must draw the laces tighter.” She blew out a chuff of air as he tugged them in.
    “ How do you breathe?”
    “ I manage. It must be tight to make my waist small.”
    He circled his hands at her waist. The corset roped her in so that his long fingers nearly touched. “It is small.”
    “ You sound like my husband. And he reached his hands around my waist as well.”
    “ Did he also say you cannot breathe?”
    “ Yes.” She turned in his light grasp with a smile, her eyes alight.
    The transformation was almost painful. Already beautiful before, now she was staggeringly so. “Your smile holds the sun.”
    The glow in her eyes faded as if she, too, had been skewered by emotion. “Please don’t sell me.”
    What else was he to do? Not what he ardently desired. “I cannot leave you here to find your way.”
    “ My uncle will take me in. Guide me nearer the fort.”
    “ Which one, Rebecca?”
    “ Fort—” she began and bit her lip. “If I tell you, will you promise to guide me