Read Online Sweet Bondage by Dorothy Vernon - Free Book Online Page B

haven’t slept with Barry. There, you’ve got it out of me. I hope you’re satisfied!’
    â€˜I would be if I was convinced that you were telling the truth, that you’re not lying about this just as you’ve lied about everything else. You’d better be telling the truth.’ His tone was vitriolic. ‘That’s one complication I can do without.’

4
    Angus came the following day with fresh produce and several newspapers.
    â€˜Dump everything on the table,’ Maxwell instructed, his eyes urgently searching the older man’s face in a questioning way that did not require words.
    Sorrowfully, Angus shook his head. ‘The same. The laddie is still very poorly. Perhaps tomorrow when I come I’ll have brighter news.’
    â€˜I hope so, Angus. I hope so. Cup of tea and a bite to eat?’
    â€˜Aye. That would be most acceptable.’
    â€˜I’ll see to it,’ Gemma said and was rewarded by the kindly smile that Angus sent her way.
    She cut hefty man-sized slices of bread for sandwiches and raided the various cake tins in the pantry which someone had thoughtfully filled in anticipation of their arrival. She wondered whether to set a cup for herself and, after a moment’s thought, decided it would be in order. The talk wasn’t of a personal nature; it seemed to be concerned with the business of Maxwell’s estate. She gathered that Angus worked for Maxwell and held a position of some importance. It didn’t take long to realize that there were strong links of friendship between the two men based on a long acquaintance.
    While Angus was there Maxwell kept a bright face. But when he’d gone he slumped into the big leather wing chair that was drawn up to the log fire in the main room, his face in his hands. She found it difficult to hold hatred in her heart for this man despite the fact that he was keeping her here against her will and that his manner, for the most part, was so cold toward her that it drove her to the brink of desperation. She realized just how great an emotional strain he was under. He cared deeply for his brother, that much was obvious. Although there was still such a lot she didn’t understand, and the reason for her kidnapping was a complete mystery to her, she felt that he had been following the dictates of his heart. It might seem wrong to the outside world, but he had done what he thought was right, and who could condemn a man for being true to himself? Not she. As she looked at the hurt angle of that bent black head a stirring of compassion went through her, a tiny ache that he was not as invulnerable as he cared to make out. Although nothing could alleviate the frustration of being held prisoner, there was no animosity in her entire being toward him, and she wished she could do something to help him, if only to put her hands on the strong column of his neck and massage away the coiled knots of tension. So great was this longing to touch him that she actually took a step toward him before retracting in horror on realizing what she had almost done. She didn’t like his brooding silence and wondered if she should speak to him, but for the time being decided against that as well. Yet she was strangely disinclined to leave him alone in his misery, and so she slid unobtrusively into the companion chair on the other side of the hearth, making her presence known by gently rustling the pages of one of the newspapers which Angus had brought.
    It was the signal for his head to jerk up. The lost, bewildered look because something like this could be happening to him and his disappeared as he regarded her harshly. His countenance, reminding her as it did of his predecessors’ meting out revenge in bygone days when clan loyalty was fierce, made her straighten involuntarily and square her shoulders against the onslaught she knew was coming.
    â€˜Don’t exult,’ he flung at her in bitterness.
    Her hackles rose. What kind