A Highwayman's Honor: (A Highland Highwayman Novella #1) (4 page)

Elizabet sighed deeply, trying to keep her worry from overwhelming her. She’d never been on her own before, except for in her own home in her own room. Even then, the house had been full of servants. Her personal maid, Lucy, slept in a small adjoining room hers. All she’d ever had to do was call out and someone would have immediately come running to her aid. Being on her own, in the middle of a dark forest, with brigands on the loose, was enough to strike fear into even the stoutest heart.

Then again, one of those brigands was her own highwayman. Who’d left her with a pistol and a dagger to defend herself with if necessary. He’d also left her with a glorious tub large enough she could slump down and actually soak herself in the hot water. That would be sure to take her mind off whatever was going on in the woods beyond her door.

Jack had said he’d only be gone a short time. If she was going to enjoy her bath, she’d better get to it.

She stripped her chemise, deciding to bring it into the tub with her to give it a good washing. It should dry quickly enough by the fire if she was quick about it. Of course, she’d never washed her own clothing before so she wasn’t entirely sure how to go about it. She’d seen the palace laundresses with great vats of boiling clothes. With that in mind, she shoved her chemise into the cauldron over the fire.

She stepped into the steaming bath and sank down. If she slumped down far enough the water just covered her breasts.

Elizabet let the heat slowly seep into her and tried to clear her mind. The water stung against her wound, but only a little. Jack had cut the stitches from it earlier that day. She’d have a small scar. That should distress her, but it didn’t. The scar would always remind her of her time with Jack in their cottage.

That the thought of that brought her comfort was concerning to say the least. She sighed and tried not to think of anything at all. Instead, she closed her eyes and pictured a tall, strong man with dark brooding eyes. And smiled.

Chapter Four

A loud banging against the cottage door brought Elizabet up out of the tepid water with a gasp. She must have dozed off because her skin, once pink from the heat, was now pruned and pebbled with cold.

Someone banged on the door again and she stumbled from the tub. She grabbed the quilt from the bed and the pistol from the chair near the tub.

“Elizabet! Open the door! It’s Jack! Quickly!”

She gasped again, her heart hammering in her chest. She’d barely lifted the bar when the door flew open and Jack ran in looking like the hounds of hell were on his heels.

“Soldiers are coming,” he said, his chest heaving with the force of his breath. “I ran into them scouting near here. They gave chase…”

“You shouldn’t be here!” she said. “They’ll find you. Why did you come back?” The fear that rushed through Elizabet frightened her with its intensity. Most of it centered on the man before her. He was in danger.

“You have to go,” she said.

He cupped her cheek, drawing her close. “I couldn’t leave you here alone. If they came here…” He swallowed hard and shook his head. “Not all of the king’s men are honorable. I couldn’t leave.”

She covered his hand with her own. “Because you promised to protect me.”

“Always.” Jack kissed the top of her head and she shivered against him.

His hands smoothed down over her back and he seemed to notice her state of undress for the first time. His mouth quirked up into a smile and he opened his mouth to say something but before he could hoof beats echoed through the small clearing where the cottage sat. Men’s voices shouted.

“They’re here,” Jack said.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Open in the name of the king!”

Elizabet looked around wildly. There was nowhere for him to hide save for under the bed or in the armoire. Two places so obvious they’d be immediately searched.

“Open up or we’ll break the door in!”

“Into the water,” Elizabet said, running to the armoire to throw open the doors. Then she hurried to the bed, twitching the blankets aside so the floor was clearly visible.

She turned to Jack who stood beside the tub, frowning in confusion.

“Get in the water,” she said again. “There’s nowhere else. I’ll get rid of them.”

Something large and heavy crashed against the door and the wood splintered, but held. For the moment.

“Do it!” she said, giving him a shove. “All right!” she said in the direction of the door. “I’ll open. Just a moment.”

She snatched his hat from his head and frantically searched for a place to hide it. Finally, she shoved it behind a pillow on the bed and hoped that she could keep the soldiers from entering the room too far. Jack jumped into the tub, took a deep breath, and ducked beneath the water. He’d be seen if they got too close but as long as they stayed near the door, he couldn’t be seen over the lip of the tub.

She hurried to the door, still clutching the gun in her hand as she tried to keep a grip on the quilt covering her. She threw aside the bar and hurried back, just in time to miss getting crushed by the door being thrown open. The soldier who had been barreling his way inside stopped short when he saw her. Elizabet knew she didn’t look a threat. A small woman, huddling inside a quilt would be no match for a soldier.

He glared at her. “We’re looking for an outlaw, a highwayman. He was seen riding this way.”

“Well, as you can see, he’s not here,” she said, hoping Jack could hold his breath for a few more moments. She needed to get the soldier out.

“Says you. I need to search to be sure he’s not hiding anywhere.”

He made a move to enter farther but Elizabet countered his movement, keeping her body blocking as much view of the tub as she could.

“There is nowhere to hide, sir, as you can plainly see. It is a small cottage. Just the one room. The armoire is the only possible place and you can see from where you stand that he is not in there.”

The solider looked around, obviously wanting to argue but not able to.

“Under the bed…”

“Bend down. You can see no one is here.”

The soldier did as she said, straightening with a frown.

“There,” she said, her heart thumping in her chest. She had to get him out, now, before Jack had to surface. Or drown. “You can see no one is here. Get out. Now.”

The soldier’s attention turned to her and his look of anger turned to one of a much more dangerous nature as he noticed what Elizabet was wearing. Or rather, wasn’t wearing. He moved a little nearer.

She had no intention of letting him get even an inch closer to her. She brought the pistol out from beneath the quilt. “Get. Out. Now.”

The solider scoffed. “Oh come now. You wouldn’t shoot me, would you? I just want to get to know you a little better, that’s all. A pretty little thing like you, all alone in the big, dark woods? No man here to protect you.”

He stepped closer, his eyes gleaming with evil thoughts. Elizabet didn’t wait to see what he intended to do. She dropped the quilt. The soldier stopped in his tracks, his attention riveted to her naked body. Elizabet raised the gun and shot the floorboards near his feet. The wood splintered, sending a shard up and into the man’s leg. He yelped and grabbed his leg, stumbling back out into the yard just as Jack heaved out of the water, sucking in a lungful of air.

“Elizabet!”

“I’m okay,” she said, her hands shaking. She dropped to her knees to grab the quilt and quickly wrapped it around herself again. More shouts and footsteps.

“Back down,” she ordered. “Quickly!”

Jack looked as though she were forcing him to chew molten steel, but he took another deep breath and dropped back below the water. And not a moment too soon. A man who looked like he was the one in charge entered with two other soldiers. Elizabet backed up as far as she could without allowing them too far into the room.

The commander glared at her. “What’s happened here? Did you just shoot a member of His Majesty’s army?” he demanded.

Elizabet swallowed her anger. She needed them to leave, quickly, and arguing wouldn’t make that happen. Men such as this liked their women weak and afraid. It wouldn’t be too difficult for her to let that show, since her legs were barely holding her up as it was.

“He attacked me,” she said. The quilt slipped a bit lower, exposing a shoulder and she clutched it tighter.

The commander’s eyes narrowed and she let him see her trembling lip, her shaking hands. When he took a step closer she let a terrified gasp escape her lips and brandished her dagger.

He held out his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you, you silly girl. We’ll trouble you no further tonight. But this can’t go unanswered for. You may have been provoked but we can’t have people going about shooting at officers. What is your name?”

“Mary Smith,” she said, giving him the most common name she could think of with her wits rattled as they were by sheer panic.

He seemed about to speak again before his attention was drawn back to the moaning man in the courtyard. He sighed. “As you were obviously provoked, I will let the incident go. This time. I would suggest in the future calling for help before firing your weapon.”

Elizabet nodded and curtsied and the commander motioned his men out. The second they were over the threshold, Elizabet rushed forward, slammed the door, and dropped the bar back in place. When she heard hoof beats riding away from the clearing, she allowed herself to slump against the door with relief.

Jack rose from the water, dripping wet and desperate for air. She stayed put, dragging air into her own tortured lungs. She didn’t think she’d breathed the entire time the men were there, terrified that at any moment they’d discover Jack.

That fear struck her as odd. She should have been running into their arms, not hiding the man who’d taken her. Or fighting the desire to run into his arms instead.

* * *

Jack stood in the tub and wrung himself out as best he could. His mind raced. He had, for all intents and purposes, kidnapped her. For good reason, yes. But he wouldn’t have been surprised had she thrown open the doors and welcomed them in. Instead…

“You didn’t betray me,” he said.

“No,” she murmured.

“Why?” He stepped from the tub and pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it in a soaking heap on the floor. The mask he left in place, though the wet leather chafed against his skin.

“I don’t know,” she answered.

Her gaze dropped from his and followed the line of his naked chest. The water ran in rivulets down the hard planes of his stomach. He grabbed the cloth she was going to use to dry herself after her bath and rubbed it across his skin and hair. Her eyes followed each moment. She bit her lip, her breath growing shallow. He took his time drying off. The heat in her eyes as she watched sparked an answering desire in him.

She glanced up and caught him watching. He smiled and her cheeks flamed bright red and she hastily looked away.

“You don’t know?” he asked.

She straightened, jutting her pert little chin into the air. “Betraying you wouldn’t have helped me much.”

“They would have taken you home.”

“You’ve said you’ll take me. I believe you. I’m not in any particular hurry.”

Her words meant more to him than he expected. “You believe me?”

“Of course,” she murmured. “You’ve not harmed me. You’ve actually gone to great lengths to see to my comfort. As far as I know, you haven’t lied to me. You promised to protect me. And you have. So yes. I believe you.”

She was so beautiful standing there in the candlelight. In his whole life, he didn’t know if anyone had had as much faith in him as she did at that moment. He came toward her and she sucked in a breath when he reached out and brushed her hair from her face.

“You’re trembling,” he said. His fingers lingered on her cheek. He stood close enough hardly a breath of space was between them. Heat rolled through him in waves, though he’d just spent several minutes emerged in a cold bath. The creamy white of her exposed skin where the blanket had slipped flushed pink.

“I’m…” She looked up into his eyes. His thumb brushed across her lower lip and she shivered. “I’m…cold.”

He glanced down and grasped the quilt, pulling it more tightly against her. “So am I,” he said, surprising a laugh from her.

“Come.” He took her hand and led her closer to the fire. She sat on the bed while he stoked the flames. “I need to change out of the rest of these wet clothes,” he said.

Her mouth dropped open a bit and she turned around on the bed. He laughed and bent to tug his sodden boots from his feet. He finished peeling off the rest of his wet clothing and reached into the armoire for dry clothes. Though he stood with his back to her, he could feel her gaze burning into him. The thought of her watching him while he dressed stirred his blood, inflaming a passion he’d have difficulty containing if he let himself lose control.

Still, he couldn’t resist playing a little. If she wanted to watch, he’d give her something worthwhile to see. Though he’d keep his back to her so she couldn’t see just how affected he was by her sitting naked beneath that quilt, watching him dress.

He pulled a dry shirt on, letting the muscles of his back bunch and stretch as he lifted his arms to let the fabric slide over his body. He made sure the material fell slowly, past his broad back, over his tapered waist, and finally over his buttocks. A quick intake of breath from the direction of the bed was his reward for his ministrations. The thought of her sinking her nails into his backside while he moved over her hardened him to the point of pain and he had the sudden urge to see exactly how she’d react to the knowledge of what she did to him. He grabbed a pair of breeches and turned, letting her see him. All of him. She gasped and quickly resumed her perusal of the opposite wall. His chuckle had her cheeks burning so hotly he was certain her eyes watered.

He sat beside her, the bed sinking beneath his weight. “If you’d like a closer look, I’d be happy to oblige.”

Elizabet’s mouth dropped open. He didn’t know what had made him offer. Even if she desired him as he did her, and by the heat in her eyes he was certain she did, nothing good could come of it. He couldn’t keep her. And he wouldn’t take her maidenhead and send her back to her family, no longer virgin and unwed. It would ruin her. Her father he had no qualms ruining. The man was corrupt, cruel, and most likely a traitor. But Elizabet was not her father. And John had no desire to harm her, in any way.

Before he could move away she bit her lip and raised her hand. His forehead creased in a frown but he didn’t move away as she tentatively touched him, brushing her hand along his jaw. She ran her finger along his lower lip as he’d done to her. He sucked in a sharp breath and the sound seemed to ignite something within her. She leaned toward him. He knew he should stop. It was sheer madness. He was a highwayman, an outlaw with a price on his head. A man, not her husband, whose face she’d never even seen.

And she didn’t seem to care.

Just one kiss.

His lips hovered over hers. She pulled back slightly. “You said you wouldn’t kiss me until I asked,” she said with a small smile.