“Your struggle will only bring you closer to me…but then, perhaps that’s your intention, White Woman. I’m not accustomed to fighting females, but with you, I might make an exception.”

Kate thrashed her head back and forth. Her hands escaped his to claw at his arms as he struggled to confine her. She screamed, but he finally secured her wrists within his grasp.

Taima pulled her wrists and twisted her around to face him, bringing her against his chest, their noses mere inches apart as he looked down at her. Her eyes glistened with rage even in the dark. Her breasts rose against the back of his hand as she still tried to pull away.

He tugged her against his chest again. “I will tame you, White Woman.”

Kate’s lips parted slightly as he held her tight. Such tender lips. Quick, warm breaths caressed his cheek; inter-twining with his own ragged breathing. She would be easy to love had she not felt such a hatred toward the Indian, but he knew those thoughts were as dangerous as her escape.

She continued to pull against his hold. “I will never surrender to your savage touch!”

“You will have little choice in the end.”

“I will always have a choice.”

“Not with me,” Taima replied in a slow, precise tone, the warm glow of her skin reminding him of another woman. He pressed his fingers into her soft upper arms, still holding her against him. “Not another word. Since you detest my touch, consider that your punishment should you decide to disobey me again. And should you attempt another escape, you will regret it when I bare your white flesh for my pleasure, having only yourself to blame.”

Her eyes rounded, her lips parted, but she said nothing.

“I’m beginning to think you enjoy being humiliated. Next, I’ll gag you, should you continue to anger me.” He scrutinized the defiance in her delicate features. “I should strip you naked and march you before my people to show them I have truly mastered you.” Taima knew he could never do such a thing to her, but she need never know that.

Kate only glared at him.

“You may be learning after all.” Taima couldn’t keep the smile from forming on his lips, or resist the temptation to taunt her. She was beautiful when she was angry. “Perhaps I’ll begin taming you tonight, right here.” He weighed the opportunity. “There is no one around to hear your objections.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

He tightened his grasp on her wrists again. “I thrive on dares, so don’t tempt me. We will sleep in my lean-to tonight.”

“We?”

Her cold stare covered him like an icy breeze.

Taima slowly exhaled in a sarcastic chuckle. “Do you think after this little escapade of yours that I would allow you to sleep apart from me? Perhaps this high altitude is affecting your mind…or are you always so naive?”

Though darkness shrouded them, he allowed his gaze to travel the length of her doe-skin-covered body. Her nearness heated his blood. He knew this wasn’t a good idea, but proceeded anyway. “Though it would be easier to kill you, I will receive more pleasure by keeping you alive, knowing you will hate every day of your life from this point on whenever I decide to touch you.”