by Zoe Blake
Annabelle was so shocked at the rude stranger’s action she raised her shoulders to shout one last time at his retreating back. The motion caused her to crack her skull on the windowsill. The sudden shock of pain not improving her already foul mood. Pulling her body back into the safety of her bedroom, Annabelle gave a large shard of broken glass from the window a kick, sending it sliding across the polished wood floor before tangling with the thick fringe of her bedroom carpet.
Rubbing the back of her head, she stomped over to the small upholstered stool in front of her mirrored vanity. Sitting down with a humph, she stared at her reflection in the polished glass. The encounter with that outrageous cowboy had given her cheeks a high rosy glow. The soft pink contrasted nicely with her porcelain skin. She took care to never step a foot out of the house without a bonnet and parasol to preserve her milky-white complexion. Cocking her head at an angle, she admired how a stray sunbeam made her unique violet eyes sparkle and her pale tawny hair appear almost golden. Instinctively she reached for her brush, intending to brush the lush locks to a burnished gold. Clenching her fists in anger, she pounded on the small table. Damn that cowboy!
Annabelle didn’t really care about the brush. She would simply buy another but there was a problem. It was part of a mirror and comb set gifted to her by her step-father. Every one of the servants in the large household were his personal spies. Reporting on Annabelle’s every movement. Her fit of anger and loss of the brush would surely get back to him. Even if her own maid did not betray her, as she was wont to do, her step-father was bound to notice the jagged hole in one of the house’s front windows!
There was no point in concocting a lie. He knew why she was upset.
Ever since the death of her mother two years past, her step-father had increased his attentions towards Annabelle. At nineteen, she was well-past marriageable age and yet he had refused every offer she had received. The latest from the rather handsome and very rich banker’s son. This time he didn’t even bother to come up with an excuse. There wasn’t much he could say about her suitor’s respectable family and their wealth. Sure the son was a bit boring with the personality of old dishwater but that wasn’t his problem, it would be hers as his wife. Annabelle couldn’t give a fig about being entertained by a potential husband. She would have his money to buy pretty gowns and jewelry and her own personal coach to travel to bigger cities where they had fancy restaurants and theaters! Entertained by a husband, indeed!
Over breakfast this morning, her step-father had the audacity to hint at forcing her to become his wife. The very idea was outrageous! Even though they didn’t share blood, he had raised her since she was a little girl. They had never been close but that was far from the point. Surely it would be breaking one of God’s laws?
What sent a chill up her spine was he just may succeed with the awful plan. As the mayor and wealthiest resident of Vulture City, he practically owned the entire town. No one stood up to Jacob Waltze. His German ancestry made him a stubborn force to be reckoned with under any circumstance. She might not have a choice. Her step-father had all the money and power. She wasn’t like those frontier women she saw coming into town for supplies. Eking out a living in the wild territories. Having to make do with home-spun cloth and boiled soap!
Annabelle ran a hand down the bodice of her sapphire blue princess cut dress. Sweeping her hair into a loose chignon at the back of her neck, she held it in place with a pearl encrusted comb. No, she couldn’t possibly run away and risk winding up in some shack making her own food and being forced to wash in some creek. She would just have to come up with another plan.
Perhaps she could convince that dumb banker’s son to elope and run away to San Francisco?
About the Author
USA Today and International Best Selling Author in Erotic Romance
We are all attracted to the forbidden. Addicted to the rush we get from reading something naughty...something kinky. We love to lose ourselves in the fantasy. The powerful lord who sweeps the lady away to his remote estate to ravish her. The cowboy who takes the sassy city girl over his knee to teach her a lesson. The devilishly charming pirate who seduces his beautiful captive. I write those erotic fantasies.
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Zoe Blake and Blushing Books!
His Dark Obsession
Papa’s Little Pain Princess
A Captive of Chance
The Duke’s Possession
Chosen to be His Little Angeline
Penelope’s Punishment
Disciplining the Maid
The Submission of Little Emmie
Ride Hard Series
The Cowboy’s Revenge, Book One
The Gunfighter’s Pursuit, Book Two
The Rebel’s Secret, Book Three - available Spring 2017
Anthologies
The Dark Forest
Check out Zoe’s Blog at www.zblakebooks.com
Twitter: @zblakebooks
Facebook: www.facebook.com/zblakebooks
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