Angel Creek by Linda Howard Page A

can’t take it off. I’ve tried, but I can’t raise my arms.”
    He glared down at her, then abruptly pulled his knife from his belt. She couldn’t move fast enough even to begin to evade him. He grasped a fistful of cloth in the front of the gown, pulled it out from her body, inserted the knife point, and sliced upward. The garment gaped open.
    Dee made a futile effort to grab the edges together again, but in her present condition she was no match for him. He simply brushed her hands aside, then pulled the nightgown off of her shoulders and down her arms. The material caught for a moment on the curve of her hips, then slid downward of its own accord to pool around her feet.
    Panic and humiliation combined to engulf her in an enormous flood. A strange gray mist obscured her vision, and her ears began to ring.
    â€œGoddammit, don’t faint,” Lucas barked, putting his hands on her waist to catch her in case she did. “Take a deep breath. Breathe, goddammit!”
    She did, because pride refused to allow her to faint like a ninny. The sickening gray mist faded, and shefocused on his face, set in lines of pure rage. A strange sort of relief spread through her, because his anger gave her something to concentrate on.
    â€œDon’t swear at me, you bastard! You cut my clothes off of me!”
    His hard fingers clenched her waist as he fought the urge to shake her. Only the knowledge that she really would faint if he did kept him under control. Damn her, didn’t she know when to quit fighting? She was hurt, and someone had to take care of her because she couldn’t do it herself.
    But color had rushed back into her white face, and that curious panic was gone from her eyes, which had darkened to emerald with her anger. Despite his own temper he almost grinned, because if she were well enough to be angry she probably wasn’t hurt too seriously. Besides, Dee’s anger was exhilarating, intensifying her color and reassuring him of her strength. If he had cut a nightgown off of any other woman he knew, he’d have been faced with screaming hysterics. But Dee had sworn back at him and matched his anger with her own even though she was as helpless as a kitten.
    â€œShut up and let me see what other damage you’ve done to yourself,” he said, thrusting his face close to hers.
    Dee swayed on her feet, painfully aware of her bareness as the cool air brushed over her skin, but she couldn’t fight him, couldn’t run from him, couldn’t even manage to wrap herself in a blanket. She loathed being helpless, but reality made her admit that she was. He was looking her over good, and she movedher hands in an automatic attempt to shield herself. A flush pinkened her torso and face.
    â€œFor God’s sake, I’ve seen naked women before,” he snapped, putting his hands on her rib cage and forcing his attention to the tracing of each rib, probing for breaks.
    â€œI don’t care what you’ve seen,” she snapped back, carefully not looking at him. If she didn’t watch him examining her, she might be able to preserve some small mental distance.
“I’ve
never been naked in front of a man before.”
    â€œI’ll pull off my own clothes if it’ll make you feel better.”
    â€œLucas!”
    â€œDee!” he mocked in the same tone of voice, then he brushed her hair back over her shoulders. The thick mane had veiled her breasts, which were now revealed to be high and creamy, conical in shape, lushly rounded and tipped by small pink nipples. His stomach muscles contracted, and a rush of blood to his groin made his shaft thicken. Damn, she was pretty, all slim and firm and rounded in exactly the right places. He grimly tightened his control, but his nostrils flared at the sweet warm scent of her, and his fingers ached to slide into the notch between her legs. If she hadn’t been hurt. . .
    He fought for sanity. If she hadn’t