Hold Your Breath 01 - Stone Devil Duke (17 page)

“I take it you do not
enjoy the needlepoint?”

“
I think it does not enjoy me. I am terrible at it. While I am glad for the experience, it is best for both my fingertips and the thread that I resist taking needle to cloth.”

“So you must have escaped you mother’s watch?
”

“I did.
I was so very jealous of Jason and his pistol, on top of being irritated that I no longer had anyone to show off to or to compete with.”

Devin
’s forehead wrinkled in trepidation. “You turned to a life of crime again, didn’t you?”

“
Yes.” Aggie nodded. “The only way I could humiliate my brother again—which was my main objective, of course—was to also become an expert with the gun. Knowing that my brother and father would never let me near a pistol, I secretly constructed a practice area, far into the woods, where I could sneak off with one of the pistols my father rarely used, and practice my shot.”

Aggie
paused, hedging. “Now if I tell you the rest of this, you must promise not to laugh at me, for you must remember that I was young, and possibly a bit impetuous.”

“And you are not
the slightest bit impetuous now?”

She raised an eyebrow to glower at him. “Possibly. But I have also managed to survive. So I will accept that flaw.”

Devin chuckled. “As that is true—best you keep that flaw, then. Please, continue.”

She tilted her head at him, not sure his words
qualified as a promise.

“Please. I would like to hear how this story ends.”

“All right. It was a sunny day, right in the middle of the afternoon, and I snuck into my father’s study and took one of the oldest pistols—thinking, of course, that it would be the least missed one. I took off into the woods and set up my little target at the practice field.” Aggie smiled to herself. “I was so proud, grinning ear to ear. I think I was even humming. But having only observed in bits and pieces what Jason actually did with his pistol, I loaded the bullet and gun powder, not, of course, knowing at all what I was really doing…”

A deep groan coupled with
Devin’s cringing face. “What did you hit?”

“My foot.” Aggie
closed her eyes, not wanting to see Devin’s reaction.

Silence.

She cracked her eyelids.

He
held a tight smile, but no laughter escaped. It looked like it took immense effort.

Aggie’s eyes opened fully.

“Laugh now?” Devin squeaked out.

“Yes
, fine, laugh, get it over with.” Aggie sighed, shaking her head, laughing at herself. It was hard not to with Devin’s rumble filling the coach.

“
So, bullet in your foot, what happened?”

“I
screeched like a fox, and it turned out my secret practice grounds were closer to the house than I had figured, for within a few moments, my brother and father came busting through the woods and took me home.”

“How did your foot fare?”

“I was lucky. The bullet went right through my foot—I did not lose any toes—and I just have the scars on the top and bottom of my foot as remembrance.”

“But that
does not explain how you became the excellent shot you did,” Devin said. “You should still be shooting yourself in the foot every time you pick up a pistol.”

Aggie gave a wicked smile.
“That was the true beauty of what my plan turned into. It was epic in its failure, but plans can change for the better. And I was smart enough to recognize when mine did. After my foot healed, my father decided it was safer to teach me the proper way with a pistol, than to risk having my other foot marred. He knew how stubborn I was—”

“Am
.”

“
We really are taking a tour of my flaws, aren’t we?” Aggie shrugged. “But again—alive, so I will take it. Regardless, once I received proper instruction with the shooting of a pistol, I became quite good.”

“Better than your brother?”

Aggie smirked. “He was humiliated once or twice more. But I think he was proud of me, even though he would never admit it.”

“After we reach
Stonewell and settle in, I shall be sure to challenge you to a shooting contest of our own.”

Tilt
ing her head at him, she chuckled with competitive gleam in her eye. “I would be delighted to take you up on that challenge.”

Devin
’s eyes twinkled from her story. His eyes were still dangerous, but when he smiled they had a light in them that Aggie couldn’t look away from. Her breath actually caught at the raw shining power that emanated from him.

Even though she was still in danger, at that moment, she felt lighter than she had in years. She was actually smiling, and she couldn’t reme
mber the last time a true, heartfelt smile had crossed her face. A smile that wasn’t fake. Wasn’t pasted on to soothe others. A smile just because she was in a moment of happiness.

Aggie forced herself to turn from his gaze.
If he could do that to her, what else could he do? The thought was absolutely terrifying. The last time she was truly happy was when Jason was still home and her father was alive. Her heart hurt at the thought. She didn’t think she could go through loss like that again without breaking like her mother had.

The carriage slowed.

Aggie perked up, looking out the window. “Are we stopping?”

“Yes,
we are well within my main lands now, so I thought you could use a short stop to refresh yourself. My men have checked the area. There is a brook along the border of these woods.” Devin leaned forward and pointed to the thick of trees they pulled up next to. “We are only about two hours to my home, but it has been a long day so far, and we should take a moment to enjoy the sun.”

“T
his seems a bit too convenient.” Aggie’s eyes narrowed into suspicion. “You would not be trying to get out of our little bargain about talking about your childhood, would you? Because stalling will not work with me. I rarely forget things, and I am not about to forget our bargain.”

“T
he thought never crossed my mind. You, my dear Augustine, have a very suspicious mind.”

“My suspicious mind
has been quite useful, so I will not let it rest just yet.”

The carriage came to a full stop,
steps were pulled, and Devin exited and then assisted Aggie. Foot on the step, her hand ensconced in his, he grabbed her about the waist and gently lifted her and placed her on the ground. Feet firm, she turned in his arm to peer up at him, surprised by his spontaneous, affectionate motion. She hadn’t expected it from him.

He
smiled at her, but the smile almost immediately disappeared as a frown crossed his face and creased his forehead. It threw Aggie, and she stepped backward, loosening his hold on her. Had she done something wrong?

She looked over her shoulder at the water
at the bottom of the slight embankment, trying to hide the disappointment that she knew was obvious on her face. “I would like a few moments to freshen up at the stream,” she said, not bothering to turn back to Devin with the words.

She stopped along the edge of the woods, sliding down the green
mossy bank, and paused at a large boulder. Kneeling, she dipped her handkerchief into the gurgling stream to soak it. She pressed the cool cloth to her eyes and mouth, chiding herself for running so quickly when Devin’s demeanor suddenly changed.

He
had suddenly looked fierce, and all she could think of was to escape from whatever had darkened his face. She didn’t know why the sudden change, but she should have held her ground and found out. She let herself be intimidated, and she hated the feeling. In the future, she would never run away as she had just done. Never.

Sitting back on the b
ank, Aggie looked up at the sky. The sun had moved behind fluffy clouds, but it was pleasantly warm, warm enough to dip her toes into the cool water for just a moment. Hiking her skirt up, she unlaced her tall traveling boots, untied her stockings, and scooted down to the water. Big toes in first to test the waters, she slowly slipped the rest of her feet into the brook.

Enjoying the soothing
sounds of the bubbling water, and the earthy smell of the adjacent woods, she unbuttoned her traveling jacket to let the air breeze to her white pleated shirt. She leaned back upon the mossy embankment, arms crossed above her head, and relaxed her body, trying to regain some sort of control over her thoughts and emotions that had been running rampant over the past days. The clouds moved past the sun and she closed her eyes to the bright rays.

All of it
simmered together in one big pot of emotional stew—almost being killed, Devin saving her, marriage, the leader being killed then not killed, the beautiful things Devin had done to her body last night, the ease of being with him, actual laughter—it was no wonder she ran from him when his mood changed. She could barely keep her own emotions level, much less worry about—
T
wo jarring blasts of pistol shots tore through the air and ripped her upright.

She rolled, hands fumbling under her skirts for her pistol strapped to her thigh. D
amn. Empty leg. She didn’t have it with her. On her stomach, searching the road, she moved up the bank, fear seizing her. Highwaymen? Was Devin injured? Two more shots blasted. Moss flew into the air next to her head, and Aggie realized the shots were aimed at her.

Aggie flipped onto her back,
scanning the thick of trees across the stream. By the quick succession of the pistol shots, there was either one assailant with several guns, or more than one person shooting at her. Not seeing a glimpse of a pistol in the trees opposite her, she started to flip as two more shots sent tufts of moss to the sky. Her shoulder twinged as she fell hard on it, then she scurried up the bank.

Out of nowhere, steel arms clasped around her waist
, lifting her straight up. Aggie twisted as violently as she could, arms swinging out at the person who grabbed her. She felt her fist slam into a face, but he didn’t drop her. Petrified, she squirmed, trying to escape the tight arms that were squeezing the breath out of her.

“Aggie
, enough.” Devin’s harsh whisper reached her ears as he moved them into the relative safety of the woods, trees blocking them from the opposing bank. Aggie calmed.

“
Devin, let me down. I can walk on my own.”

“You have no shoes on.
” He kept his pace, weaving through the trees back to the carriage. From her hanging position, Aggie could see Devin’s outriders, blades and guns in hands, splashing across the stream.

Devin
walked past the carriage to two of the outriders’ horses. “We can cut the remaining trip in more than half by horseback, but no sidesaddle. Are you fine with that?” He set her down on the grassy side of the road, carriage between her and the woods.

“I will be.”
Aggie numbly nodded as Devin raised the stirrups on one of the saddles.

“Good.”

Three shots came from the woods and Aggie jumped. Back to her in an instant, Devin plucked her from the grass and set her on the smaller of the two black horses, snugging her bare feet into the stirrups. He vaulted onto his horse and swung his head around.

“It is time
for us to take leave. Are you all right? Ready?”

Aggie nodded,
silenced by his complete, calm control of the situation and her own lack of awareness next to the stream.

What had she b
een thinking? Lying on the bank—a huge target—and not paying any attention to her surroundings or possible threats. She had abandoned all of her own defenses, and had put not only herself in danger, but Devin as well. He was extremely adept at showing up anytime she was in mortal danger, and that put him at risk.

Aggie swallowed hard against the thought of
Devin getting hurt, or worse, and gripped the reins, putting her head down as he took off at a manic pace. Her horse followed his without question, so Aggie only had to concentrate on holding on.

No words were spoken,
more because of the hard riding than anything else. After a half hour of flesh-bruising riding, Devin slowed the horses, pulling his steed in line next to Aggie’s.

“We
are now only about twenty minutes away,” he said, looking over at her. Devin stared at her hard, brow wrinkled. “Aggie, are you sure you are all right?”

Aggie nodded
, hoping she was hiding the fact that she knew she wasn’t fine. Her left arm had been of no use to her during the brutal ride thus far. She couldn’t feel anything on her arm or hand.

But she also knew they needed to get to the safety of
Stonewell before she could do anything about the numbness. She guessed a bullet had grazed her arm, but couldn’t be sure, and didn’t want to investigate the problem while Devin was riding next to her. She had to wait until Stonewell.

“Down the road another couple of minutes is the lane for
Stonewell, and then it is another ten minutes up the drive to the main building,” Devin said, and stepped his horse in front of Aggie’s once more. His concentration was on scanning the road, so Aggie took the moment to check her shoulder under her hair that had come loose.