What the Earl Desires (16 page)

He cared.

They stuck to normal procedure. However since they started later, it was that much later when they halted for a break to rest the horses and feed themselves. She took care of the fire while he saw to the horses.

“I should have left you at the house,” he said warming his hands before accepting the offered food.

“Why?”

“You are a woman. I must have been insane to listen to Wilkes and Adrys.”

“I know I am a woman.” She ate some dried fish. “Think about it this way. Those who attack will have the same view of me as a woman and a maid. Meek, scared, nonthreatening. That will be their mistake.”

“Do you fear anything?” His eyes glinted in the firelight.

My feelings for you.
“I fear the day I leave Jo. I have never had a friend and I fear the pain that will come with losing her.”

His jaw clenched briefly. When he spoke, however, his tone didn’t reveal whether or not he like her explanation. A cry from above preceded the winds picking up and smashing them with biting force. Then the first flake fell.

Snow.

Their eyes met across the fire. “We should get going,” he stated. “We have another couple hours to the night stop.”

She gathered up their things while he readied the horses that’d benefitted from the rest. A lantern their only light in the night. Her skin prickled and she shifted on the wood seat.

“You okay, luv?”

“Did these attacks always happen in the same place?”

“No.” He was silent for a few seconds. “Why?”

“We are being watched.”

Colin stiffened a tiny bit but showed no other outward reaction. “How can you tell?” he asked, his tone pitched lower than the sound of the horses’ hooves.

“Years of experience.”

“Want to stop?”

“No, let them make the first move. We still have the advantage.”

“I will never forgive--”

“Stop,” she interrupted. “Remain focused.”

“How am I not supposed to think about the fact I am placing your life in danger? I want you safe.”

“Would you be this concerned were I a man?” She wrapped her hand around the handle of her whip before forcing herself to release it. “Of course you would not be,” she answered for him. “I am supposed to be a maid, you hovering protectively over me will not help in the deception.”

He didn’t speak just shifted his leg so it pressed intimately along hers. All instincts screamed she should maintain distance. As usual with Colin, she ignored common sense and stayed still, allowing the contact. The hard muscle spread added warmth throughout her, assisting in the battle against the chill which encompassed the night.

She closed her eyes and relied on her hearing to search the night. Blocking the familiar sounds, the creaking of the heavily loaded wagon, the horses’ steps, and Colin’s breathing, she sorted through the others. Nothing out of the ordinary could be ascertained.

Whomever watched them did so from a distance. Opening her eyes, she blinked away the snowflakes that resided upon her lashes. In the meager light she studied Colin surreptitiously from behind lowered lashes. Snowflakes dotted his beaver hat and lingered upon his hair, which wasn’t protected, as well as gracing his powerful shoulders. His face concentrated on directing the horses on the safest part of the road. He handled the ribbons with calm assurance.

“You are staring, luv,” he said without taking his attention from the task at hand.

“You make it hard not to,” she replied with candor.

He responded by pushing tighter against her leg. The rest of the way to their next resting place was accomplished in silence. Each of them ready for anything the dark night sought to throw at them.

Out from the blackness shone a welcoming light. She figured it was all normal for the trip. A small cottage could be made out the closer they drew. A small, wiry man abandoned the house and met them. His white hair stuck up in tufts around his head. Small glasses perched precariously upon his bulbous nose.

“God be praised,” he said, holding one of the horses. “I worried those brigands got ye, Mr. Faulkner.”

Colin jumped down with ease as he laughed. “Had a late start, Gentry. Thanks for keeping an eye out.”

The man he’d identified as Gentry puffed out his chest at the praise. “I always wait, sir.”

“Good man, I know you do. Can you see to the horses, we would like to get out of the cold for a spell before we carry on? Give them some oats. They have earned it.”

She dismounted and grabbed her bag before standing off to the side, allowing the dark to obscure her.

“Of course sir. There is some stew over the fire. The missus made it.” Gentry led the horses off to a lean-to which would at least offer them some shelter.

Items in hand, she followed Colin inside the small house. Very tiny. This worked well since the single fire in the hearth warmed the interior, banishing the cold which had seeped into her bones.

England in the winter…how I miss Africa.

A sharp knock came to the door while she was at the fire. Gentry entered at Colin’s bid.

“All set, Mr. Faulkner. You and--my goodness, a woman? You are travelling with a woman?” His words displayed his astonishment.

Najja watched the man’s eyes nearly jump from his head. Biting the inside of her cheek so she didn’t laugh at his shock, she dipped a curtsey. “Good eve, Mr. Gentry.”

The man flushed deeply, eyes dashing from her to Colin as he realized how his outburst must have seemed. Colin may not be a titled man, but he was the son of an earl.

“Miss,” he stuttered. It was obvious he longed to say something to Colin but there was this cold, haughty look on Colin’s face that expected no confrontation or questions.

“I bid you a good rest, Mr. Faulkner. I best be running along.” Gentry backed to the door gave her another nod before he scurried off into the coldness.

The air changed when only the two of the remained in the quaint building. It grew heavier. Thicker. Charged with sexual awareness and tension. Colin removed his hat and stared at her. Silent, she moved to the dishes and scooped him up some of the simmering stew and gave him his bowl along with a chunk of bread. Then she tended to her own.

“Why so pensive?” he asked in a low voice after they’d eaten in silence for a while.

She watched him finish off his bread, without comment, she put the rest of hers on his plate, ignoring how intimate that appeared. Najja searched for the right word and stirred her stew while she did.

“This seems odd to me.” One of his eyebrows rose. “Think about it. They have been following us, or at least keeping pace. They could steal the stuff right now, why you were in here. Every trip made there is a stopover here. This is not about getting the whisky, although I bet it is a bonus. This…these acts are personal. Someone wants to hurt you. And they are attacking your people to get you to take one of the trips.”

With a sigh she got up and began to pace, her body tingled the way it did before a fight or something similar. The rush of adrenaline which preceded it.

“I wish I had Fineas,” she commented offhandedly.

Glancing at Colin who seemed almost lost in thought as he ate, she smiled. Something about him…he was magnetic. She longed to run her fingers through his thick hair, press tiny kisses all over his shadowed jaw line. Undress him and go from there. His sea-like gaze stared into the fire and she knew he mulled over what she’d told him. Sliding the strap for her items over one shoulder, she slipped to the door and let herself out. Then she headed to the shelter where the horses and wagon waited.

Murmuring softly to the large animals, she ran her hands over their heavy coats. They were warm and responded to her light touch. Whispering softly to the both of them, she used their heat to stay warm. It didn’t take too long for her eyes to adjust to the inky darkness. She peered through the night keeping her eyes searching for anything which could be potentially dangerous.

Not much later, she heard the light footfalls of an approaching individual. Her breath caught for a moment until she identified it as Colin.

“Najja?” he called.

“Here,” she replied stepping from where she’d been between the horses.

She felt his tension before he made it to her. His hand bit into the flesh of her arm, even with the layers of clothing she wore. “What the hell were you thinking? Leaving the house without me?”

Her nose flared and she swallowed before responding. “As you so aptly pointed out, Mr. Faulkner, I am
not
a slave. I am doing what I am along on this trip to do.”

“Do you have any idea what went through my mind when I realized you were no longer in the cottage?” His voice demanded in a rasp.

“No.” She stepped closer to him. “I am sorry you were--”

His mouth slammed over hers, not asking for permission but taking what he wanted from her. Najja sank into him and gave all he demanded. Then more. He ripped his mouth off hers with a low growl.

“I know, Najja. You are capable of taking care of yourself. But damn it all, I am a man and I cannot just roll over and stop being concerned for your safety. Especially with this asinine plan. Do you realize these people take pleasure in killing things that mean something to me?” His words sounded almost tortured.

Licking her lips, she weighed her words cautiously. Did he realize what he said? “I am travelling as a maid, Colin,” she said softly. “You are an earl’s son and highly unlikely to give a whit about a servant.” She placed both hands on his chest. “Please trust that I know what I am doing. I am not some weak woman who will faint at the first sight of danger. This is what I do.”

He captured her hands in his, holding them tight against him. “Najja--”

“We should continue on, the snow is coming down faster.” With great reluctance she withdrew her hands from his heat, climbed up into the wagon, stashed her things and laid the heavy blanket over her legs.

He muttered to himself and led the horses out into the increasing snow before jumping up beside her. She handed him another blanket for his own legs and as he took it he said, “This would be so much better if you would share mine with me.”

She chuckled. “I was thinking it would be better if it was not snowing and so cold.”

“I guess this is a bit colder than you are used to,” he commented, getting the horses to move out.

“I have spent time in The Orient which was cold and the desert is not the warmest place at night, but lately, it is true, I have been in warmer climes.”

“Are you warm enough?” he asked.

“Fine, thank you. And you?”

“Cold. Care to slide closer and warm me?” His voice teased.

“I think not,” she said as a warning chill snaked up her spine. Grateful for the darkness, she slid her hand under the blanket and undid the buttons which held her wraparound skirt on, leaving her in her leather breeches.

“Are you sure? Think of all the fun we could have under these blankets.”

A wealth of mental images assaulted her at his words. “I am sure,” she whispered leaning down simultaneously removing the blanket and gripping the handles of her sais. Her instincts hollered but she couldn’t make anything out in this darkness. The single lantern hindered more than it helped her vision. They continued on, the pace steady and monotonous.

“Halt!” a sharp voice splintered the snowy pre-dawn.

Six horses carrying men surrounded the wagon. In the partial light she couldn’t make out their features for they were concealed behind dark cloth. It wasn’t hard to make out the glint of steel in the light from the arriving morning. She hated that they’d gotten her unawares. The cold had lulled her into a sleepy state and she had let down her guard.

“What do you want?” Colin demanded as the reins were jerked from his hand. She knew he had a weapon beside him and thought to follow his lead.

“That should be obvious, guv,” the man nearest him said raising a pistol. “You really are travelling with a woman. I would think after the last ones were killed you would have brought more men with you.”

“Who says I did not do that?” Colin snapped.

“Get down,” the man growled.

“No,” Colin refused.

“Get that wench off, we can take turns with her after I carve this one up.”

“Touch her and I will kill you!” he thundered, reaching toward her.

A hand landed upon her shoulder and she just reacted.

Colin couldn’t even begin to explain the fear that swamped him when the men circled the wagon. All he could think about was how stupid it had been to involve Najja in this. Then came the words of them sharing Najja. Red seemed to settle over his eyes and he noticed the one beside her reach for her. Before he could think to figure out how best to keep her safe, she exploded into action.

The man closest to her had not been expecting her to jump at him but that is exactly what she did. Took him off his horse to the ground. The next second Colin’s own pistol had fired at the man closest to him, launching him backward off his own horse. That left four more. They drew sabers.