03 - The Wicked Lady

by Brenda Jernigan

  Suddenly Trevor smiled at her. His smiles had the strangest effect on her, and Kristen wondered if she was so starved for attention that she jumped at the least little display.

  "What are you thinking, my love?"

  "That I like looking at ye." She blushed.

  "Then that makes two of us. You know I like the way your cheeks turn soft pink when you are embarrassed."

  "And what makes ye think I'm embarrassed? Perhaps, I'm just a wee bit hot."

  "And all the time I thought I was the reason." Trevor laughed and then pulled her to him for a brief kiss.

  "Ye canna be doing such in the middle of the dance floor. I'm sure 'tisn't proper."

  "Merely kissing my future bride," he said as his lips brushed her forehead. He then led her over to another group of ladies. "I'll go and get us something to drink. Excuse me."

  Kristen didn't try to fit into the conversation. Instead she politely listened to the boring ladies as best she could. She couldn't help noticing the beautiful, priceless jewelry each lady wore, and she was sure they wouldn't miss a few baubles. Thank goodness, she'd convinced the seamstress to make a slit in her skirt for a hidden pocket.

  Carefully moving around the ladies, as if to change to a different view of the room, she successfully retrieved a bracelet, two brooches and a ring. Good, she hadn't lost her touch.

  "Kristen girl, ye should be ashamed." Her conscience decided to rear its ugly head, and that was the one thing she really didn't need. She had to survive. That was something the streets had taught her, so over the years her conscience had learned to be quiet. But now the voice was back louder than ever.

  She pushed the thought to the back of her mind but blushed nonetheless. Now was no time to develop a conscience. After all, she didn't really think of her skill as bad. She merely robbed from the rich to give to the poor--mainly herself. These few items she'd keep as a nest egg, just in case.

  When Kristen looked up, she noticed a new woman had joined the group. She was introduced as Ella. Ella had beautiful blond hair, but what Kristen noticed first was the exquisite necklace that Trevor had described to her earlier. The necklace was simple, yet elegant. A huge emerald about the size of a walnut hung at the end of a gold rope and rested just above the woman's breast.

  This would be a challenge, Kristen thought as she made her way carefully around the group so she could stand beside her victim. At least the lady had her hair pulled up so the clasp could come easily undone.

  While Kristen waited for the precise moment, she halfway joined in the conversation. "Excuse me, but it looks like you have torn your gown." She pointed to the bottom of Ella's gown.

  Ella took the bait and murmured, "Oh, heavens."

  They both bent over, and Kristen accidently bumped Ella. The rest was a piece of cake. The poor woman never knew what hit her, nor did she notice that her necklace had suddenly disappeared.

  Kristen was just getting ready to leave the little group when Ella shrieked. "My necklace! Don't anyone move."

  Kristen froze. Oh, no. She'd been caught.

  "I probably dropped it on the floor when I bent over," Ella gasped as she felt across the top of her grown. "Help me look."

  Kristen immediately let her breath out and stooped down and started searching the floor. "This is just terrible. Your clasp must have been very loose."

  "It was. I have had trouble before."

  Thank goodness, Kristen smiled to herself, then said, "Perhaps you lost it elsewhere. I don't remember seeing it on you when you came in here." Kristen immediately looked toward heaven. Forgive me, Father.

  "Do the rest of you remember seeing it on me?" Ella asked the group who looked at each other, puzzled.

  "Now that you mention it, no. Maybe Kristen is correct and you lost it in another part of the house. Here, let me help you retrace your steps," one of the older women offered.

  "Thank you."

  Trevor decided to join the group just then. "What's the trouble, ladies?"

  "It seems Ella has dropped her necklace. We are helping her look for it," a couple of ladies told him.

  "Oh, really." Trevor immediately looked at Kristen.

  " 'Tis truly a shame," Kristen said, then added, "Wouldn't you agree?'

  "Yes, I would." Trevor took Kristen's elbow without waiting for her to argue. "If you'll excuse us, we need to be going."

  Once they were in the carriage, he looked at her but didn't say anything.

  Kristen shifted in her seat, but remained silent as she straightened out her skirts, so she wouldn't sit on the loot.

  "I thought we had an agreement."

  "Aye."

  "Well?"

  "Ye needed yer grandmere's necklace back. I simply found it." She opened her hand and produced the huge emerald.

  Trevor didn't seem to notice. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't take it. You'd just let me know who was wearing the jewel, then I could buy it back." He waited for her to answer.

  She didn't.

  "Kristen!"

  " 'Twas simple."

  Trevor took both her arms. "I didn't want you stealing the piece."

  "Well, it was yers. I simply retrieved it." She smiled.

  He gritted his teeth. How could he get angry with her when she looked at him in that innocent way?

  Because he knew she wasn't innocent by any means.

  "Kristen." Trevor sighed and then gave up and hugged her to him. "What ever am I going to do with you?"

  "Marry me, I suppose."

  "Yes, I'm going to do that, but how am I going to tame you?"

  "I won't be easy."

  Chapter Five

  The sun hadn't even thought about peeking its head out when they loaded up the carriages and the lead vehicle pulled away from Trevor's townhouse.

  They were headed to Chatsworth, Trevor's country estate, located on the Scottish border. He had informed her that was where they would be married at his grandmother's insistence. Kristen wondered about the woman who seemed to hold so much power over Trevor. She couldn't imagine him ever bending to any woman's will.

  Kristen felt awkward riding with Trevor . . . alone.

  The others would be sent in another carriage that would follow theirs later in the day.

  She looked at Trevor from beneath her lashes. A stranger! A perfectly good-looking, breath-taking stranger. But a stranger nonetheless.

  Kristen realized she'd agreed to marry someone she really didn't know and definitely had nothing in common with.

  She bit the side of her mouth as she watched Trevor write on his tablet. It seemed the man worked constantly. She couldn't remember seeing him idle since they had met. He was either jotting something down in his book or issuing commands. And look how he frowned at what he was doing! That kind of pressure couldn't be good for anyone.

  But the man constantly worked.

  He didn't seem to know how to do anything else, and Kristen realized he must have forgotten what enjoyment meant. How would she ever fit into his world? It was hard enough just to get him to talk, though, she had to admit, he always squeezed her into his routine if she needed him. But sometimes that wasn't enough.

  He seemed to have built a wall around himself, and Kristen wondered why. Perhaps, he'd always been that way, but she didn't think so. aybe something awful had happened in his past that had made him so withdrawn. She sighed as something stirred deep within her. Somehow, some way, she wanted to help him change.

  Kristen was sure, one day, she'd find all her answers.

  Restlessly, she shifted her weight and crossed her legs for at least the tenth time. She still hadn't gotten a response, and sitting here staring at him, even if she did like looking at the man, wasn't going to do anything but give her a bad headache. If she didn’t get Trevor talking soon, she’d be bored to tears.

  "Do you always work?" Kristen's question came out sharper than she'd meant. At least, she'd gotten results because he laid the pad on his lap.

  He looked at her as if she'd gr
own horns. "Most of the time."

  "Why?"

  "Because things needs to be done."

  "All that work must be awful dull."

  He didn't say anything; he just stared. How could she penetrate the deliberate blankness of his eyes?

  "What do you do for enjoyment?" Kristen asked.

  "Enjoyment?"

  "Great!" She felt the screams of frustration at the back of her throat. "Ye don't even know what the word means."

  "You're wrong."She didn't fail to catch the note of sarcasm in his voice.

  "I do know the meaning of the word, and I'm sure I've had some enjoyable moments." He smiled, then continued, "I can think of a couple since I've met you."

  Kristen blushed.

  "Someone has to run my shipping business, though I do admit I've turned a good portion of it over to a gentleman you've not yet met. But putting business aside, I also have three houses to run and somehow all the 'enjoyments of life' got swept away when I wasn't looking." He frowned as his own words seemed to sink into his head, then he looked back at her. "I guess I haven't realized how much I work."

  " 'Tis never too late." She bent her head and studied her hands before shyly looking back at him. "Maybe we can change ye." She saw the heartrending tenderness of his gaze, and her stomach tightened.

  Trevor stretched his arm across the back of the seat and pushed his papers beside him. "Then you'd be a miracle worker."

  "Aye. But I do believe in miracles," she whispered, knowing how easily he could draw her to him. It was the way he looked at her that made her whole body turn to jelly. She blinked a couple of times, realizing the rocking of the carriage was making her sleepy. She tried to stifle a yawn.

  "Would you like to sit beside me and perhaps use my shoulder for a pillow?"

  She didn't hesitate a moment longer to take him up on the offer because she hadn't slept much at all last night. Trevor had been on her mind all night... especially those wondrous kisses that could make her forget everything else.

  Moving beside him, she only meant to rest her head on his shoulder, but he draped an arm around her in a possessive gesture and leaned back himself. Evidently, he hadn't slept well either, she decided and smiled. Good. She didn't want to be the only one who had suffered.

  Kristen, strangely enough, felt secure and comfortable as she shut her eyes. Then, it dawned on her that she felt much too comfortable. It would be so easy to get used to all this luxury and, perhaps, also this man. Every day he grew special to her in a way she'd never experienced before. The same questions always came back to haunt her: How long?

  She decided, just as she felt the edges of sleep touch her, she wouldn't worry about the problem any longer. She had lived by her wits all her life, taking one day at a time.

  So her decision was now made . . .

  She'd take one day at a time and deal with whatever came her way.

  Her dreams were so pleasant she didn't want to open her eyes. She dreamed of Trevor and those wonderful kisses he'd taught her, and how they made her head spin and her heart flutter. There was so much between them that she didn't understand, and she didn't want to be attracted to him. Again, the image of him kissing her floated before her eyes. She could almost picture his face hovering above hers as he lifted his lips. Desire and love floated in his eyes.

  Did he say something about love?

  At that precise moment, Kristen came fully awake. Love would jar anyone awake, but that wasn't the case this time. Something was wrong with the carriage!

  The carriage gave a sharp lunge, and she slid to the floor with a muffled cry.

  "What the hell?" Trevor's voice boomed beside her.

  "W--what's happening?" Kristen tried to stand but stepped on her skirt, which sent her sailing back into Trevor's arms. He held her close while the vehicle teetered on two wheels then righted itself.

  The carriage finally came to a jolting halt and voices, more than she remembered, surrounded the vehicle.

  "Come on and get out, ye grace."

  Trevor took Kristen by the arms and held her from him. "Kristen, do as I say," Trevor cautioned her. "I think we are about to be held up."

  "You mean thieves?"

  Trevor looked at her and managed not to laugh at her put-out expression. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?"

  "I resent that." She huffed past him as if he'd offended her. " 'Tis not the same."

  Trevor shook his head. If the situation wasn't so serious, he'd probably be laughing at her, he thought as he exited and put his feet on firm ground. But he was afraid the situation was very serious as he looked around the group of thugs.

  "I see we've had a bit of luck, fellows. Looks like his worship is traveling with his lady. She should be good for a few dozen fine pieces of jewels."

  "Well, that's where yer bloody wrong," Kristen quickly informed him when she was out of the carriage, even though Trevor squeezed her arm in warning. "So ye best be leaven'."

  "She's got a mouth on her, that one does," the man standing beside the leader quipped.

  Trevor decided he'd better step in before Kristen riled the four men, pointing guns at them. Hadn't she noticed they were just a little outnumbered? Maybe he could have handled one man, perhaps two, but not four.

  "She does have a bit of a mouth." Trevor broke the uneasy silence. "But the lady is correct. We are not traveling with valuables." He reached into his coat to grab his wallet. "Here is my money. We've nothing else."

  "Isn't much." The leader spat. He was a good three inches shorter than Trevor. "Perhaps we'll just take the little lady for our troubles." The leader grinned. "I'm sure you can come up with more when we have the likes of her for collateral." He reached out, but Trevor shoved Kristen behind him.

  "I don't think so," Trevor said much too calmly.

  The bandit then made the mistake of striking Trevor, who responded with a quick right to the jaw. Kristen wasn't sure what happened next. Trevor grabbed the man and, in the process, shoved Kristen away. She fell against the carriage, bumping her head against the hard metal on the wheel.

  A scuffle ensued all around her. The thuds of fist meeting with flesh echoed in her ears. She could see boots and dust. Men shouting followed by an explosion brought dead silence.

  Kristen managed to get to her feet, pushing her long hair out of her face as she did so. When she finally got her bearings and looked around, she screamed.

  Trevor lay on the ground.

  He wasn't moving.

  A bright red splotch on his right shoulder told her where the bullet had ended up.

  My God, Trevor was dead!

  Kristen didn't take time to think as she lunged herself at the bandit in front of her. Ye bloody bastard, ye killed him." She became a whirling hellcat, and it took two men to pull her off their leader.

  "You sure don't talk like no lady." The bloke managed to spit out. "But I bet someone would pay a nice sum to get you back."

  "Then, ye should think again. I'm not worth two pence to anyone, and ye killed the only man who might have paid ye."

  Her comment brought a resounding slap across the face. Instead of her collapsing in tears, the blow only made Kristen angrier. Earlier, she had filched a knife from one of the other men. In her scuffle, she grasped the handle and hurled it at their leader, landing it deep in the man's gun arm.

  "You bitch!" He exploded, dropping the pistol to grab the blade sticking out of his arm. I'll beat the life out of you for this!" Realizing a little too late that he'd dropped his weapon, he bent down to retrieve it, but when he did, he saw the gun was now pointed at his face.

  "Unless you want to die first, I suggest you let the lady go." Trevor's deadly voice let everyone know that he meant what he said.

  Even though the leader complied, he boldly said, "If you kill me, my men will kill her. So I still have the advantage."

  "I think not." Trevor cocked the pistol and slowly came to his feet, his eyes never leaving his victim.

  Thank God
he wasn't dead, Kristen thought as she watched him. He reminded Kristen of a cat stalking its prey.

  Trevor's eyes flamed intently and his knuckles were white as he gripped the pistol. "I can always replace the lady, but you can't replace your life, now can you?"

  That remark brought Kristen out of her stupor. She couldn't believe how casually Trevor could dismiss her. And she'd thought he might care just a little for her.

  How could she have been so blind . . . so stupid? She'd even felt bad when she'd thought he had been mortally wounded. However, before she could voice her thoughts, the leader spoke again.

  "But you love her. She's valuable to you."

  He placed the gun barrel to the tip of the man's nose, and cocked the trigger. "All women can be had."

  The last statement pushed Kristen over the edge, and she completely forgot they were at the mercy of bandits. "So that's what ye bloody think of me!

  "I should have thrown the knife at ye instead of him. The only thing that saved yer bloody hide was I thought ye were already dead." She jerked free of the man's loosened grip, but stumbled and fell over her skirt before she could reach Trevor.

  That was all Trevor needed. He shot both men, causing their not-so-fearless leader to turn tail and run.

  He breathed a small sigh as his adrenalin seeped back down to normal. Hearing the sounds of pounding hooves, he looked to his left and saw his second carriage rapidly approaching with a full guard, so he wouldn't have to worry about the thieves any more, and he realized a little too late he should have had more guards traveling with them. He had hoped to make better time by traveling light.

  He moved over, reached down, and pulled Kristen up by the arm. However, she didn't come up peacefully. She swung at him, and he jerked back. She barely missed his nose.

  "Wait a minute, my little hell-cat." He stiffened as though she had struck him. "What, may I ask, has gotten into you?" he snapped out the words impatiently. "We were both just about killed."