Page 124 of Down and Dirty

Arsallah. He must be hiding from Sammy’s grandfather.

He is not hiding that much, if he thinks naught of public displays of affection with a woman.

The randy cur cannot help himself. He is a man, after all, a prisoner to his lustsome inclinations.

I wonder if he gives her multiple orgasms.

Of course he does.

More tears flowed from her eyes. She had never been a weepy woman afore. It must be the pregnancy.

Which prompted her to reach inside her fur-lined cape and cradle her small belly. It is just you and me now, baby. We must needs find a place in this new world.

Mayhap I can go to Hilda and ask her for help.

Nay, she would tell Zachary, and then he would feel obligated to come to me.

Not if he is married to another woman.

The headlights from a car came at her from behind, and she stepped farther off the road’s edge to give it room. After it passed, she continued her walk.

Once she was calmer, Britta had to admit that she wanted to be here in the future, even if it was alone, without Zachary. She fingered the amber pendant hanging from her neck… one of the few pieces of her mother’s jewelry that had been left at Everstead. Mayhap it could be exchanged for coin so that she could set up a home for her and the child. Far from Alaska.

Her heart was breaking, but that would pass, she promised herself. She was not about to sip the bane drink over the worthless whoreson. She had a child to think of. Enough!

Yea, that was what she would do. No pining after the clodpole. No contacting Hilda or Madrene… leastways not till after the babe was born. She was proud, and she was strong. She would survive.

A new chapter in her ever-chaotic life!

There are the bonds of love, and then there is BONDAGE…

Zach was halfway home when he passed the figure walking alongside the road. He should probably stop and offer a lift, but he was in no mood for company.

He had driven a mile farther when an unbelievable thought entered his mind. It was crazy. He was crazy. But still he turned his SUV around and headed back.

Yep, there was the person still walking along the berm of the road. Which was nuts with the slippery ice. But then, in the clearer focus of his headlights, he saw that it was a tall figure wearing a long black cloak with a hood, which seemed to be lined with fur. An odd garment, even for Alaska.

Holy crap, it was a woman, he realized, when a long strand of hair blew out of her hood. Blonde hair.

What did Sammy say about a woman in a long fur coat?

He felt almost light-headed as he drove a few yards past the woman, turned around, then came up alongside her. It was impossible to see exactly who it was. But his body was on red alert, and it had never let him down before.

The woman refused to even glance his way or slow down.

He pulled over to the side of the road and got out. Quickly he caught up with her.

“Britta!”

The woman didn’t even look at him but snarled, “Begone!”

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! It is Britta. The how and why of it didn’t matter right now; he just knew that all his prayers had been answered. She was back.

“Britta, honey, you’re back. Thank God, you’re back.”

She muttered something that sounded like, “Slimy maggot.”

“Britta, stop, you’re giving me a stitch in my side.”