"I will shoot any man who tries to take you from me." He reached her with the words, and for the first time she flinched, so terrible was his look.

She shrank away from him till she stood against the closed door.

Through lips that felt stiff and cold she forced her protest.
"Indeed--indeed--you don't know what you are doing.

Open the door and--let me--go!" Her voice sounded futile even to herself.

Before she ceased to speak, his arms were holding her, his lips, fiercely passionate, were seeking hers.
She struggled to avoid them, but her strength was as a child's.