Mystic Mountains

after the first time they'd lain together? Confusion filled her. Insecurity attacked her, making her more frightened than she'd felt on the ship, dreading what the future held.
    "What I 'm trying to say, Bella, is I should never have made love to you. Call it the magic of the night, the impulse of the moment. It won't happen again." He shrugged and she stared at his shoulders as they lifted then settled. The sweat soaked shirt clung to his chest where the gold hairs peeped out of the opening. A picture of that chest, naked and glistening as he'd reared above her, wavered before her eyes.
    Anger, like a great tide, seeped up from the depths of her soul. She hit out at him, catching him by surprise. He stumbled back, then righted himself as he fell against Satan 's side, one hand on the stallion's wither. The horse let out a soft snort.
    "So, I 'm not to be your wife," she spat, her fist still raised.
    The look of chagrin that crossed his face would have been laughable if the whole thing hadn 't been so sickening.
    "Wife? Bella, you know my intentions on that subject."
    The statement was issued in a flat, quiet way that maddened her even more. How dare he stand there and issue his caution as if discussing the weather and not something that would affect the rest of her life.
    "Of course. How daft of me. " She tapped her forehead a couple of times. "And I wouldn't be good enough to be the wife of the great Tiger Carstairs. No, he's got the pick of all the nobs. He's got hisself a wealthy virgin all picked out. Why would he choose his lowly scullery maid, a convict who attacked one of the nobs he reveres so much?"
    She felt like screaming, stamping her feet, and tearing her hair out by the roots. Pain sliced through her and she wondered briefly why she wasn't dying of it. Like knives twisting in her innards the pain cut through her heart. She fought to hold back the tears. This man would never see her shed a single one.
    "Bella." He stepped towards her, but pulled up short when she glared at him, her hands clenched at her sides. "There 's nothing lacking in you. You're a very desirable and beautiful woman. It's just I have these dreams that eat away at me. An' the only way as far as I can see to attain my goals is to wed a woman who will open doors for me. Surely you can see we'd be no good together, you and I . . ."
    "Yes, I see." Her head went up and down a few times. "I would just hold you back. Isabella O 'Shea, a simple Irish convict, is good enough for a tumble, but isn't good enough to share your life, your dreams." She pressed her fingertips to her mouth, scared the pain would force its way out in a cry of agony.
    "Don 't belittle what we shared, Bella. It was remarkable. You're a very passionate woman." Tiger held up a hand as if to touch her, but she looked at it as if it was a snake and he dropped it to his side.
    "An ' you took advantage of me—you raped me," she yelled, thumping his chest as tears she could no longer hold back cascaded down her cheeks.
    Tiger grabbed her flailing hands. "Rape? Oh no, don 't ever accuse me of that. You were with me all the way. You wanted me as much as I wanted you. I would never have made love to you if you weren't willing. I can be accused of many things, but violating unwilling females has never been a crime anyone could blame on me."
    "You seduced me. How can you stand there and say I allowed you to take me? You 're a man who's known many women. You're what I always thought you were, Tiger Carstairs, a rutting English beast! You used your strength and your power to get what you wanted without a thought for my feelings.
    "I 'll hate you for the rest of my days. D'you hear me, I'll die hating you." Lashing out with hands and feet she thrashed him about the body, shins, head, and neck; anywhere she could reach. "Jesus, I wish I had a knife in me hand right now, I'd kill you, yes I would!" she screamed, tears running into her mouth.
    "Hate me all you will," he grunted, fielding her blows. "But thank me you will, Bella. When you come to your senses you 'll see it's only sensible we don't repeat what we did."
    Managing to grasp her wrists he pulled her into his arms, where she stilled, sobs racking through her. Isabella struggled again, and he tightened his hold. She heard him groan as she battled him. Then she felt his burgeoning arousal and increased her struggles, finally managing to free herself, stepping back so swiftly she nearly fell.
    "You bloody swine," she yelled.