Following behind her, he tried to gather up the scrambled pieces of his reason. Which was bloody difficult. Especially when she looked at him as she just had—with a glance that held sweet sensual promise, eyes that shimmered with...
He didn’t know what to call it. Didn’t want to think about it. Tried to put it out of his mind.
Later. He felt his gut twist into a knot tighter than a Spanish bowline hitch.
No. Absolutely not. There would be no later.
Nicholas frowned. Until this morning, he had been convinced there would be nothing wrong with taking his pleasure of her and then taking his leave. Why should she be different from any other woman he had known? It wasn’t as if he’d never had a virgin before. He’d sent more than one maiden on her way with a few new skills in her feminine arsenal and a smile on her face. Never had he hesitated in bedding a willing lady.
Until now. Until Samantha. It seemed important to him, somehow, to protect her innocence. To avoid taking the treasure she offered.
That was a first for Captain Nicholas Brogan, he thought with a rueful twist to his mouth—protecting a treasure instead of taking it.
No one would ever believe it.
He watched her walking just ahead of him, infinitely fascinated by the way she moved, the way her hair caught the light. He couldn’t puzzle out his reasons, but he intended their first moment of physical intimacy this morning to be their last.
He didn’t dare trust himself to touch her that way a second time, to hold her lush, naked body in his arms and not take her.
His gaze lingered over her, his thoughts drifting back to the glade. He still could not believe what had happened between them. Not the way she had responded to him so perfectly. That didn’t surprise him.
No, what baffled him was that her dazzling release had been as pleasurable for him as it had been for her—even though he had been in torment, raked by need, longing to bury himself in her depths. It had taken every ounce of will he possessed not to claim her. She had been like melted honey in his arms, yielding, open, ready. And he had restrained himself.
It had been the first time he’d ever given pleasure without taking some in return. And it had made him feel unbelievably... good. More than good.
Happy.
He shook his head, reminding himself that more pressing matters required his attention. Matters of life and death. He needed to concentrate. York. The blackmailer. Five days left.
Less than five days.
Damn it, Brogan, concentrate.
They kept walking, each lost in their own thoughts, the forest passing by in a monotonous parade of tree after tree, branch after branch, evergreen after evergreen.
The afternoon sun slanted low through the canopy of leaves when he thought he heard a sound up ahead.
“Wait a moment.” He stopped Samantha, coming up to stand beside her. “What’s that noise?”
They both stood still, listening. The wind carried the sound toward him: voices.
“Bloody hell.” Grabbing her, he darted into the underbrush.
“Who do you think they are?” she whispered.
He didn’t answer, knew what they were both thinking. Lawmen.
But the sound didn’t grow louder. Whoever it was, they apparently weren’t moving. And he heard no dogs or horses.
And some of the voices were undeniably feminine. “I’m not sure,” he whispered. “Care to take a closer look?”
She nodded. They crept forward, cautiously, staying within the shadows of the trees.
A few yards further on, they could see them: a group of people camped in a clearing ahead.
Nicholas stopped and slipped behind the broad trunk of an oak, pulling Samantha with him. Cautiously, he peered around the curve of the tree, wishing he had a spyglass.
He could hear her breathing rapidly. “If they aren’t lawmen,” she hissed, “then who are they? Who else would venture into Cannock Chase?”
He studied the camp. There were at least forty people—men, women, and children. Travelers of some sort. Their camp was made up of a motley assortment of carts and wagons, many brightly painted.
“Gypsies,” he said at last. Outcasts, like all the other people who sought sanctuary in this forest.
Samantha seemed to relax. “We should probably go before any of them see us.”
“Not so fast, angel.” He was still studying the camp. Where there were carts, there were bound to be horses.
After a moment, Samantha made a sniffing sound. “Can you smell that?” She crowded in beside him to get a better view, inhaling deeply of the wind. “Oh, I wonder what they’re cooking.”
The spicy scent made his stomach growl. “Some kind of stew.” There was a large cookfire at the center of the circle of wagons, and a pair of women were tending a black iron pot suspended over the flames.
But even more tempting to him were the horses. He spotted them on the far side of the camp, about two dozen of them, picketed at the edge of the clearing.
He smiled. “How careless of them to put their horses where someone might sneak up and steal one.”
“You’ve got to be joking. How are we going to pull that off without getting caught?” She jangled the shackles. “Not to mention the fact that riding might be a bit difficult. How are the two of us even going to get on a horse?”
“We’ll figure that out when the time comes.”
“But the lawmen who were searching for us might have talked to these people. They might have offered descriptions and a reward. Going into that camp is too dangerous.”
Nicholas contemplated the possibilities for a moment. She was right. They had no way of knowing how long the gypsies had been here. It would be risky. “I’ll go in under cover of darkness while you stay—”
He cut himself off.
“Sorry,” she said wryly. “Wherever you go, I go.”
Glancing down at her, he remembered that he had made the same mistake before, but for a completely different reason. Last time, it had been because he wasn’t used to being half of a pair. This time...
It was because he wanted to keep her safe.
That fact rendered him speechless. The strangest feeling coursed through him, like none he had ever known—a powerful urge to protect her.
“Besides, I can take a little danger, if you’re determined to do this,” she continued, oblivious to the real reason behind his silence. “I’m not all that fragile.”
He could argue that point, he thought. She had shattered quite completely in his arms this morning. “I know,” he told her instead, brushing his thumb along her jaw, regretting for the first time that she had such courage, that she was so willing to put herself in danger.
“So what are we going to do?”
He was wrestling with an answer to that question when a new noise came from the far end of the camp. One that seemed out of place in the forest. A familiar clang of metal striking metal.
A sound that changed everything.
It was the unmistakable clatter of a hammer on a blacksmith’s anvil.
Chapter 17
Moonlight trickled through the interlaced tree branches, falling in shimmering pools, dancing across the forest floor. The silver-blue glow faintly lit their way as they crept closer to the gypsy camp. Sam could barely breathe past the fear that clamped around her chest like a band of steel. Nick led the way, stealthy, silent. She couldn’t believe he could be so calm. So coolly assured that this insane plan would work.
Midnight’s hush had fallen over the woods, broken only by the flutter of wings through the leaves overhead as a bird took flight... an occasional cough or snore from one of the wagons... the bark of a dog. The chain made little noise. She had sacrificed the remains of her petticoat to muffle the shackles, braiding the cloth in and around the iron links to render them silent.
Or at least as silent as possible.
If the gypsies had appointed sentries, or if one of their dogs caught a scent, or a sound, she and Nick could quick
ly find themselves facing a group of suspicious people, questions they could not answer. And loaded pistols.
The vividly painted wagons loomed out of the shadows like a handful of jewels scattered across the clearing. Only a few more yards and they would reach their target.
Still within the cover of the forest, Nick halted, his voice scarcely a whisper as he pointed at one of the wagons. “That one?”
“I think so.”
They moved toward it, along the edge of the trees, both glancing around, cautious. All afternoon, they had circled the camp, studying it from every angle, engaged in a heated debate. As evening fell, they had snuck closer for a bit of careful reconnaissance, and finally faced the facts: stealing a horse would be useless because they couldn’t hope to ride—not wearing the chain. And they couldn’t exactly burst in and hold the camp’s blacksmith at knifepoint, demanding that he remove the shackles.
So they had come up with a different strategy. One that would free them from the chain once and for all and net them a horse or two.
If they didn’t get killed first.
They stopped in the shadows at the point where the forest gave way to the clearing. At least ten yards of open ground lay between them and their destination.
“That’s the one,” Sam whispered, crouching beside Nick in the underbrush.
He shook his head. “No guards, not even a dog.” His voice was no more than a faint, warm breath against her ear. “I still say they would have some kind of security around that wagon if it contained any valuables.”
Sam shivered—not from anxiety, but from the little sparks that went through her when his lips brushed against her earlobe. “Sometimes people do the opposite of what you would expect. Hide their best jewelry in a linen drawer instead of their safe. Or tuck several thousand pounds in cash between the pages of a tattered old book. They tend to think they’re smarter than the average thief.”
His teeth flashed white in the moonlight. “Luckily for us, you’re not the average thief.”
“Trust me, they’ve got something valuable in there. No one’s gone near that wagon all day. There have been people coming and going from all the others, but not that one. And if you’ll notice,” she said a bit smugly, “they do have a lock on the door.”
He peered at it through the darkness. “Forgive me for doubting you.” His grin turned to a frown as he studied the lock and the chain attached to it. “How much of a problem is that going to be?”
She withdrew the golden needle case from her bodice, clutching it in her hand. “There’s no way to know until I see it up close.”
They observed the camp a moment longer, watching for any movement. It was essential to their plan that no one know they had been there, or even suspect anyone had visited the camp.
They intended to pay generously for the blacksmith’s services, and his silence—and they didn’t want the man to guess he was being paid with the gypsies’ own money.
Nick took her hand. “Let’s go.”
They broke from the trees, crouching low to the ground, moving swiftly, covering as much distance as quickly as they could while making as little noise as possible. Nick’s hand felt strong and warm around hers. Almost warm enough to make her ignore the icy tingles of fear chasing down her spine.
They made it to the wagon and flattened themselves against the side, standing in its shadow. Sam was gasping, more from fright than from the exertion. She tried to control her breathing, tried not to make any sound at all. Nick seemed unruffled. She had been worried about his condition, feared he might be attempting too much too soon, but he seemed fine.
She marveled at how cool he was in the face of danger, didn’t know whether his attitude came from courage or recklessness or something else.
And there wasn’t time to think about it. He was gesturing toward the door. Nodding in assent, Sam extracted one of the lockpicks from her needle case.
They darted around the edge of the wagon and up the short steps that led to the door. Nick gave her as much room as possible, pressing flat against the door, glancing around the camp. Sam grabbed the lock and went to work.
It was a difficult design, one she had encountered only once or twice before. But she had done this dozens of times, she reminded herself. Tonight was no different from all the other nights she had plied her trade.
But her fingers seemed slippery. The pick didn’t work. The lock refused to budge.
Her heart began pounding. Perhaps she was simply out of practice. Or perhaps she was having trouble because there wasn’t enough light.
A minute passed. Another. Somewhere a baby cried. She bent closer, deftly turning the pick one way and another, trying to feel her way into the lock’s secrets. Her very life depended on success. And his as well.
Why wasn’t this working?
She heard the soft cooing of a feminine voice as the mother went to comfort her child.
“Hurry,” Nick whispered in her ear.
She was about to protest that the tickle of his beard against her neck was distracting—but just then the lock finally gave way.
Almost shaking, she unhinged it, slipped it free of the chain and opened the door. They moved inside swiftly, silently, drawing the door closed behind them.
The moon offered just enough light for them to see a jumble of goods inside: bolts of cloth, lamps, cooking implements.
Nick swore. It was a supply wagon.
Sam muttered an oath under her breath. Quickly, they rifled through the merchandise piled on shelves along the walls, on the floor, in the corners. And found nothing.
At least, nothing of value.
Her heart fell. They had taken a terrible risk... for nothing.
Somewhere in the camp a door creaked open, then shut—and she heard footsteps outside. Coming closer.
Ice shot through her veins. Both of them spun toward the door. They were trapped!
Before she could speak or even think, Nick stepped in front of her, drawing her behind him, the knife raised in his hand as he faced the door.
She blinked at his broad shoulders, astonished. He was protecting her. Had done it without hesitation, as if it came naturally all of a sudden—when he had always insisted he didn’t give a damn about any life but his own.
Before she completed the thought, the footsteps came to their wagon. She inhaled sharply, braced herself.
But the footsteps passed by hurriedly, headed for the forest.
Both of them let out a long breath. Sam felt like sinking to the floor. She unfastened her fingers from Nick’s arm, realizing only after the fact that she had grabbed onto him as if grabbing for life itself.
“Hell of a time for some fool to go relieve himself.” He tossed the knife in the air with a nimble flick of his fingers and caught it, sliding it back into his boot.
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Can’t. Not until he comes back.”
Sam realized that was true. For the moment they were stuck in here. Sitting on a sack of grain, she looked around forlornly. She had been so sure of herself, her head filled with tantalizing images of stolen treasure, ropes of pearls, gold, jewels—and it was just a supply wagon. Why the gypsies had put a lock on the door, she didn’t know.
All she knew was that she had failed. And they didn’t dare linger in camp long enough to investigate any of the other wagons. They had been here too long already.
“This is my fault,” she said apologetically.
“Doesn’t matter now.” He poked around in some sacks piled in one corner.
He didn’t seem angry, wasn’t chiding her for the costly mistake she’d made, wasn’t mocking her in any way.
Which only made her feel worse.
He found a pile of garments behind the sacks. “At least we’ll get some new clothes out of it.”
“Those are probably cast-offs,” she murmured absently, looking down at the shackles that gleamed dully in the moonlight. “Gypsies buy them from wealthy landowners in the countryside a
nd sell them as they travel from town to town.”
He picked out a shirt and some breeches. “There are even some decent shoes down here.”
“Those should prove useful,” she said miserably, “since it looks like we’re going to be walking through Cannock Chase for the rest of our lives.”
They both quieted as they heard the footsteps draw near again. Sam held her breath, struck by a sudden, terrifying thought. If the person happened to glance the right way, see the chain hanging free on the door...
The steps grew louder.
And passed by.
Shaking, she stood and turned to leave. She had endured all the danger she could stand for one night. But Nick was still poking around in the corner. Beneath the mountain of clothing, he had discovered what looked like a small barrel. “Hello,” he said with soft interest. “What might this be?”
“Nick, we should go.”
He wasn’t paying attention, too intrigued with his new find. Using the knife, he tried to pry off the lid.
“Nick,” she repeated urgently, tapping him on the shoulder. “We don’t have time.”
He lifted the lid and both of them inhaled sharply.
“Oh, my God,” Sam whispered.
~ ~ ~
Nothing but the silvery spill of moonlight illuminated their place beneath the trees, a mile from the camp. They hadn’t risked a fire, hadn’t wanted to draw any attention to themselves.
Sam hunched over a lustrous jumble of deep green French silk piled in her lap, her needle flashing in the moon’s glow. There hadn’t been time to check the sizes of the garments she had grabbed in the wagon. The white cotton chemise she had taken, with its ruffled bodice and billowy sleeves, would fit, but the skirt was too large. Taking the last few stitches in the waistband, she glanced up at Nick.
She had teasingly offered to sew him into his new breeches, since the chain made it impossible for him to get them on, but he had rejected the idea instantly. Hadn’t seemed to find it the least bit funny. He would change into them, he’d said, after the shackles were removed.
He had been in an odd, quiet mood ever since they left the camp. At the moment, stretched out on his side in the leaves, propped up on one elbow, he barely paid any attention to her at all.
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