Unending Devotion (Michigan Brides #1)(27)

Connell folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the tall worktable covered with piles of slimy apple peels. “We can’t just march up there and get her back, Lily. It doesn’t work that way.”

“If Carr kidnapped her and is forcing her to prostitute herself against her wishes, then you better believe we can demand he let her go free. We’ll get help from the sheriff—”

“Not in this town, you won’t.” Vera wiped her chafed hands on a soggy gray towel. “Mr. Carr has the sheriff tucked away in the itty-bitty pocket of his fancy coat.”

“Vera’s right,” Connell said. “We won’t get any help from the law. In fact, there’s probably not much anyone could do to make Carr release Frankie.”

“Well, we’ve got to at least try. Right?”

Vera’s shoulders slumped. And Connell didn’t say anything.

“You’re not scared to go up there, are you?” Lily asked, frustration creeping in and tingeing her voice.

“Of course I’m not scared,” Connell retorted. “But I can’t chance hurting McCormick Lumber any more than I already have.”

Disappointment wrapped around her like a heavy cloak. Apparently, if anyone was going to do something, she’d have to be the one to do it.

“I guess I’m left with only one option.” She spun out of the kitchen into the pantry. “I’ll have to be the one to go and get her.” She stomped toward the back door and banged it open.

As she rushed outside, a gust of wind slapped her cheeks.

“Where are you going?” Connell caught the door before it slammed shut, and he followed her outside.

A hill of dark clouds had pushed in with the growing darkness. She pulled her coat tighter and started toward the front of the hotel, trying to ignore the long shadows of the evening that reached out to haunt her. “I’m heading to the Stockade to see if Frankie’s there.”

“You can’t go up there by yourself,” he called after her.

“I’m certain God would want me to do whatever I can to rescue the girl, even if it means going by myself.” She picked up her pace, and her boots sloshed through the muddy snow that remained after the past week.

She made it only a half a dozen more steps before Connell’s hand gripped her upper arm and dragged her to a stop. “I won’t let you go.” He spun her around so that she had no choice but to face him.

“How dare you? What right do you have to stop me?” She jerked her arm and tried to break away.

But his hold didn’t budge. “I probably don’t have any right to stop you.”

She tugged again, this time harder. “Then leave me alone.”

He wavered, almost as if he would let her go, but then with a growl he yanked her against his body. The strength of his grip held her captive. But the hard width of his chest against hers and the nearness of his face—only inches away—held her in greater captivity.

For a long moment she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t think. The crashing thud of her heartbeat and the soft rasp of his breath filled the space between them. His gaze lingered upon her cheek, her chin, her other cheek before moving to her lips.

Spring butterflies awakened in her stomach, and she couldn’t keep from studying his mouth, so close, so warm, so firm. But the boldness of such an inspection sent embarrassed heat through her, making her want to duck her head.

“Lily,” he whispered. His eyes turned into a forest at midnight. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. I can’t let you go up to the Stockade. It’s too dangerous.”

The dreadfulness of what had likely happened to poor Frankie crashed over her again. “Too dangerous? Then all the more reason I need to go rescue her.” The girl was probably shaking in absolute terror and praying to God for a deliverer—if it wasn’t already too late.

Connell shook his head in protest.

“Imagine if Carr had kidnapped me instead,” she said quickly. “I’m just as innocent as Frankie. What if he held me captive and forced me to do the unimaginable?”

Connell’s breath was warm against her skin. His grip around her upper arms grew tighter.

“I made a vow to God long ago,” she whispered, “that I would never turn away from anyone or anything that needed rescuing.”

His dark gaze probed her, and the seriousness of his expression told her that he wasn’t taking her words lightly, that he was trying to understand her position.

Could he see into her heart to her needs? Her passion? Her own losses?

She quivered. She’d never been in such close proximity to a man before. His body was solid and his arms strong. She could almost hear the pounding of his heartbeat against her own.

Her breath stuck in her chest. She knew she ought to back away and put a proper distance between them. But there was something exciting about being in his arms.

For an instant a light flickered in his eyes that said he was thinking the same thing. But just as quickly as the spark ignited, he wrenched her back and set her an arm’s length away. Then he folded his arms across his chest and tucked his hands under his armpits, almost as if he were pinning them there in an attempt to keep from reaching after her.

A gust of cold wind struck her, and she hugged her arms against her body. A strange mixture of disappointment and relief swirled through her.