Oklahoma Bride. Carol Finch

milling around the place. She had already tried the door and found it had been secured from outside. The commander had taken extra precautions because she had made the mistake of letting him know she wasn’t beneath doing whatever necessary to escape.

      Karissa sighed audibly and resumed her pacing, serenaded by the regimental band. How long was she going to be detained at the fort? Probably until His Highness decreed that she could leave. And if Rafe Almighty Hunter thought for one minute that she was going to provide him with sexual satisfaction while she was under arrest then he had another think coming!

      She had learned long ago to size up men and situations quickly and she could think of only one reason Rafe insisted that she would stay in his private quarters. For all his refined good looks and prestigious position at the fort, he was still a man, she reminded herself cynically.

      The thought caused her to break stride. She was a woman who had learned to stand up for herself and depend on no one but herself. She had also learned to take advantage of situations, to survive as best she could. If Rafe Hunter had in mind to take her to bed while she was under arrest then she was damn well going to make it worth her while.

      In short, one favor exchanged for another. If she was forced to give up her innocence then, by damned, she was going to profit from it.

      She would negotiate with that dignified commander who ruled this roost. One night in his bed for her freedom. That was the deal. He was not getting something that intimate and personal from her for nothing!

      She was determined to quit this place and return to the new territory to protect the land she wanted to claim. Yet, the prospect of surrendering to the lusty desires of a man unsettled her. Karissa had spent years mastering the art of discouraging men from approaching her with amorous intentions. Never once had she tried to attract a man’s attention. Who would have thought that she would be standing here wishing she had the skills of an accomplished courtesan?

      Karissa laughed at the absurdity of the thought, but she didn’t laugh for long. She had made a pact with herself to do whatever it took for her and her brother to make a fresh new start in the newly created Oklahoma Territory. After being dragged along behind her father from one saloon to another in every cow town in Kansas, she asked for nothing more than to put down roots and have a home.

      She was sick to death of the gypsy lifestyle her father had forced on her and Clint. Sick to death of being referred to as the gambler’s brats and treated like pariahs by the so-called respectable members of local society.

      Having been soured by proper society’s condescension, it was little wonder that she had felt instant hostility toward the fort commander. In her mind he represented the establishment that had treated her shabbily for years on end. Yet, despite his position of authority, despite his mud-caked eyebrows and eyelashes, despite smudges of slime on his chin and cheeks, he was still the most strikingly attractive man she had ever laid eyes on.

      He stood six feet four inches tall and had to weigh more than two hundred pounds—she should know since he had nearly squashed her flat while he sat on her to hold her down in the creek. His eyes were the color of hammered steel. His shoulders were noticeably broad and his long legs were solid muscles—she knew that, too, because she had been pressed flush against him during the ride to the garrison.

      Although she definitely disliked Rafe on general principle, there was no denying that he could turn a woman’s head. Even Karissa’s.

      “Obviously, he held you under water so long that it turned your brain to bog,” Karissa muttered at herself.

      When the doorknob rattled, Karissa spun around and mentally prepared herself. She struck a saucy pose, imitating dozens of dance-hall queens who called attention to themselves to entice drunken cowboys to private rooms, in exchange for cash.

      Rafe Hunter whizzed into the room and halted abruptly. He snapped back his raven head, drew himself up to full stature and stared down his patrician nose at her. “If you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking, it won’t work,” he said stiffly. “Do you really expect to pull off that come-hither look, while standing there in mud-covered men’s clothes?”

      Despite his unflattering remark, Karissa marshaled her courage and unfastened the top two buttons on her shirt. Sure enough, those steel-gray eyes dropped to her chest. Typical man, she thought bitterly. He might be standing there spouting indignantly, but like the rest of his kind, his brains were located beneath his belt buckle. No matter how aloof and dignified the commander believed himself to be, she suspected that he, too, was a slave to his insatiable passions.

      “I plan to be standing here wearing nothing but a smile,” she purred as she unfastened another button on her shirt. “You really aren’t planning to complain about that, are you, General?”

      To her amused satisfaction, his Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly and his gaze focused on her bosom. Now, if she could keep him preoccupied with the prospect of taking a tumble in his bed, she might be able to catch him unawares, elude him and make her getaway on the nearest horse.

      It was definitely worth a try, she decided as she sauntered provocatively toward him and flashed him an inviting smile.

       Chapter Two

       “B ehave yourself,” Rafe demanded, though the flicker in his eyes indicated that he wasn’t averse to seeing a bit more feminine skin.

      Karissa halted a few feet away from him and struck what she hoped was another irresistible pose. “My dear general, you know perfectly well that I have a penchant for misbehaving,” she said in the most seductive voice she could muster. “I have a proposition for you.”

      She slid her hands up and over his massive shoulders and felt him tense beneath her fingertips. It gave her an odd sense of power and satisfaction to realize this distinguished military officer was leery yet exceptionally aware of her as a woman.

      Damn, if she didn’t like knowing that he wasn’t sure what to expect from her next and that he was fascinated, in spite of himself.

      “What kind of proposition?” he croaked. His eyes dipped to her bosom then he quickly jerked those rainstorm-colored eyes back to her smudged face.

      “I think you know what I’m suggesting.” She glided her fingers through his raven hair then inclined her head toward his bed. “You won’t have a fight on your hands this time…provided you meet my terms.”

      His dark brows snapped together as he stared down at her. “Am I to understand that you’re offering to sleep with me if I agree to release you in the morning?”

      His disapproving frown threatened to rattle her composure. She had been certain that any man, even the commander, would succumb to his lusty desires when opportunity presented itself. Men rarely saw past the moment. She, on the other hand, was prepared to do whatever necessary for her release so she could secure her dream of a home in the newly established territory.

      Wasn’t it just her luck that she had encountered a man who was apparently the exception to the rules she thought applied to all men?

      Chin held high, she stepped back to look down her nose at him—even if he was a good foot taller than she was. “Oh, come now, General, surely you didn’t think I’d let you waltz in here and take me to bed without bartering for my freedom.”

      He jerked back as if she had slapped him. “I have no intention of taking you to bed,” he declared.

      “You didn’t put me under arrest in your room so you could take advantage of me?” Karissa smirked at him. “You really expect me to believe that? Just how stupid do I look?”

      “You don’t look the least bit stupid. During our brawl in the creek, I discovered that you’re as wily as a fox. And I did expect you to believe that I was trying to show you a modicum of courtesy and consideration,” he snapped as he veered around her to gather fresh clothing from his trunk.

      “I couldn’t very well put you in a stockade that is teeming with men. Therefore, I brought you here for your own protection. Though why