He saw it coming, and if he'd believed she'd follow
through, he might have stopped her.
""How dare you question my virginity! You don't even
know me. I, sir, am no whore!""
He put his hand to his stinging cheek and checked to
make certain he could still move his jaw.
The slap re–lit his simmering temper, and he
advanced on her, retribution his primary goal. She cradled
the hand she used to hit him against her waist, using the
other to fight a losing battle with her décolletage as step
for step she backed away.
The raw panic on her face cooled his ire a bit.
The sinking dress dragged the floor. She caught a
heel in the hem, pulling the dress half off her body.
He put out his hands to keep her from falling.
""No!"" She raised her arms as if to protect her face
from his fists, giving up all hold on the recalcitrant
bodice.
He let his hands drop and closed his eyes to get a
mental grip. Finally he got it. He understood what the
woman had been saying all along. She wasn't a whore. No
whore behaved like this woman–well except for
dropping her clothes. Whores did that all the time but not
when running away from a client. Whores ran toward clients
not away, and drugged up or not they didn't act in ways
guaranteed to make a client angry.
He opened his eyes.
""I'm not gonna hurt . . ."" His jaw opened and shut.
He couldn't pull his eyes from her naked form. ""For
petesakes put your clothes back on.""
He bent, tugging at the cloth around her feet.
""No. Don't do that."" She batted at his arms and
twisted downward, trying to rescue the dress.
""Stop fighting me,"" he growled. ""You'll tear it.""
She succeeded in getting a grip on the dress but
cracked her head against his. She staggered into him.
""Ow."" He jerked upward, the dress still in his
hands.
""Noo!"" Already off balance, her tangled feet slid
out from under her along with the cloth. Then her head hit
the floor.
For the third time in almost as many days, Dutch had
a female at his feet. He stared at the woman sprawled
before him. She was beautiful. Naked and beautiful and not
moving. How had he gotten into this situation, and who
would believe it if he told them? ""Get up. Virgin or not,
I'm not fool enough to get down there with you.""
Nothing.
She didn't twitch.
