Horror stricken Charley could not tear her gaze from the intimidating figure as his feet crunched through the snow ever closer. She held her breath, trying not to move, desperate to appear sleeping. Perhaps he would leave her alone, at least for as long as he believed her asleep. She knew she should close her eyes, but her body refused to cooperate with logic, fear reigned supreme.
“We should sport with ‘er and then just slit ‘er throat. Stickin’ to the original plan is the thing to do, Johnston, I’m tellin’ ye.” Halverson stood as well, a long knife cradled in his palm. The flames glinted lethally off the blade. “‘Ou want to go first?”
First? Oh, God… Charley wished she didn’t know what sport the demons referred to, but even she was not so naïve. The time had come to act. She must do something.
“Well, look who’s awake.” Johnston’s black eyes locked with hers, a menacing leer stretched slowly across his face, and his tongue swept ludely across his lips.
Charley scrambled to her feet, grabbing up one of the unburned fire logs piled beside her. “Do not touch me,” she warned, more than prepared to take a swing at Johnston’s head. She threw a harried glance toward Halverson. Could she hit them both and make a break for the horses? Lost and freezing was certainly better than beaten, raped, and most probably murdered.
His rotten grin widened. “What do ye know, Johnny boy, we’ve got ourselves a feisty little miss.”
Three
“Aren’t we going to save her?”
Alex rested a restraining hand on Sidney’s vibrating shoulder. “Steady. Wait until the moment is right. We’ll do this just as we planned on the way in.”
In all he was amazed at how easy discovering Charley had been. Not an hour before, he and Sidney had run across an overturned carriage bearing the Coverstone seal near Harvetshire Road. Saunders, the family driver, and a dead horse still lay along the ditch. Alex hated to leave them, but time was of the essence and he planned to send men back for the bodies as soon as possible. From there, following the trail through the snow had been painfully simple.
“That son of a bitch is going to rape her,” Sidney pressed.
“Not yet,” Alex murmured, watching Charlotte spar with the idiot Steven Johnston. The sight of Johnston confirmed his conviction Witherspoon was the mastermind behind Charlotte’s abduction. “Right now he’s just toying with her. Stay calm and follow my lead, Sid.”
“You forget, Lord Major Coverstone, that you no longer out rank me.”
“And you forget, Captain Harris, I wasn’t stupid enough to get shot in the ass by my own weapon.”
Sidney winced. “Low blow, Alex.”
“Point made. We’re doing this my way.”
Sidney merely grunted in response, eyes riveted to Charlotte circling the fire, a log clutched in both hands. Flames glanced lethally off her sparkling green eyes, and the half hazard tumble of curly red hair blazed in the flickering orange firelight. Fairy sprite? Not hardly. She bore more resemblance to a soldier he’d gladly place on the front lines than an impish marchioness.
“Once both their backs are to us, we’ll go in.” Inwardly Alex roiled with fury. He wanted nothing more than to charge into the camp and beat the bloody pulp out of the bastards. Instinctively he fell back to years of training and self discipline. It was as though two men existed inside him. One riddled with anger and confusion while the other analyzed the situation with the cool, clinical indifference of a hardened soldier. He didn’t particularly like the latter man.
Both brigands shifted as one with measured menace around the fire ring. Charlotte stood directly opposite, keeping the smoldering pit between them. She appeared to be working her way toward the horses. Smart girl.
“Just a little more,” Alex murmured willing the second man to quarter in a bit further.
“Come now, milady,” Johnston leered. “We only want to have a bit of fun. You might even enjoy it.” He adopted a placating tone. “The devil knows that husband of yours is too busy gallivanting about on the continent to take proper… care…” he lingered over the word, “of a comely little lass like you. Guess he’s not man enough fer the job.”
Alex ground his teeth.
“My husband is twice the man you could ever dream of becoming,” Charlotte spat, the hard edge of defiance slicing the air.
“I’ll just have to prove ye different.” Johnston leapt boldly over the smoldering fire pit, landing directly in front of Charlotte.
Before Alex could draw breath Charlotte swung the log, making devastating contact with the side of Johnston’s head. “Stay away from me!” she commanded as Johnston staggered backward, dazed.
“Damn.” Alex froze for half a second, thoroughly impressed. Not many women of his acquaintance would so vehemently defend themselves or work toward escape. Perhaps all that fire and spunk she’d had as a child hadn’t been permanently doused by manners and decorum.
Halverson rounded the fire, trapping Charlotte between he and Johnston. Frantically his wife looked between the men and suddenly her gaze turned to the thicket where he stood, her eyes, huge swirling pools of terror and defeat. Rage clenched in his gut. He needed to save her, protect her, actually stand on the pedestal she’d placed him on all those years ago. “Go, Sid, now!”
* * *
Charley froze, eyes round as saucers, her heart all but still in her chest. Impossible! Alex plunged from the thicket a pistol drawn and ready, Sidney directly at his side. The vision was everything she could have hoped for. Her husband had not even bothered to change from his uniform. Her spirit soared, high with hope and the promise of rescue.
The brigands spun. “What the hell?” Halverson drew a pistol, but a bullet caught him low in the abdomen before the weapon reached half-mast. He fell at her feet, moaning in agony.
Sparked from her stupor, Charley gasped and snatched backward. Two more shots rang out, though she couldn’t be sure who’d fired.
Johnston, no doubt recognizing he was outmatched, scurried past her, hurled himself onto the back of a mount and tore into the woods. Halverson scrambled to his feet and drug himself onto the back of his nag, bleeding profusely.
“Get back here you son of a bitch!” Alex tore after the fiend. Tossing aside his spent pistol, he palmed a knife and sent it sailing through the air. Halverson’s mount jogged to the right, narrowly missing the blade and disappeared into the forest. “Damn it!” Alex shot a fist through the air before striding to the tree where his knife protruded, embedded to the hilt.
Mind whirling Charley stared after her husband in total disbelief. “Y-you came for me.”
Alex jerked the knife from the tree with sheer brute strength and faced her. Danger, raw and powerful, emulated from his towering frame. Dark brows furrowed over unnaturally piercing eyes, and his jaw clenched in a menacing line. Bathed in the moonlight he held the aura of a mythical warrior… completely untouchable… unattainable.
“Of course we came,” Sidney answered from behind her.
Startled, Charley drug her gaze from the rigidly brooding figure of her husband to find Sidney striding toward her, arms outstretched, expression soft with all that her fickle heart had hoped to see on Alex’s face. The fear she’d so fervently sought to suppress took hold and her wall of courage crumbled.
“Oh, Sidney!” A slick of tears blurred her vision as she rounded the fire and ran into the welcoming haven of his arms. Sidney swept her up, lifting her feet clear off the ground. For years he’d been her friend and pillar of strength where none other existed. Today was no exception. Except that when Sidney held her, the hollow in her heart did not disappear. She turned her face into his shoulder, breathing deep his familiar, comforting scent, and still she did not find the security she so desperately sought in this dark hour. Charley’s fingers grazed something warm and sticky. Blood. “You’ve been shot,” she whispered, tightening her hold around Sid’s neck.
“Think nothing of it, Charles. Are you hurt?” He lowered her feet to the ground. Gentle
fingers tipped her chin as he intently searched her face.
“No, not at all. Although, you arrived just in time.” Charley stepped back, assessing the tear in the arm of his heavy jacket and the telltale glisten of blood oozing from the wound.
Tingles at her nape marked Alex’s approach. Snow and pine needles crunched beneath his feet, and the ache in her chest intensified with each uneven step. Had he been injured as well? The thought left her sick and terribly off balance. She whirled, searching her husband’s formidable frame from head to toe. No immediate evidence of harm met her gaze.
Alex stopped before her, slipping the field knife back into his boot with practiced calm. At last he looked at her, and Charley’s throat ran dry. Hellfire lined every facet of his handsome face. She stepped reflexively back. He must be furious about the entire debacle. As if she could help being abducted. But… the scandal would be impossible to live down if word got out. “I—” she gulped. “I’m sorry. Th-those men…” The anger in Alex’s eyes intensified. She had no idea what to say, what he might expect of her. Despair and uncertainty settled over her. Alex would hardly be the dream knight come to rescue her. He’d come out of duty and obligation. Heartbroken, she braced herself for the scathing lecture sure to come.
“We should be going,” Alex clipped, a cool gaze shifting from Charley to Sid.
Charley swallowed around the cotton lump in her throat, struggling to find her voice. “Sidney’s been hurt.”
Sid cast an indifferent glance down at his arm and tugged at the torn jacket sleeve “It’s just a scratch, Charles. I’ve had paper cuts worse than this.”
She raised a dubious brow. The wound certainly appeared worse than any paper cuts she’d been inflicted with.
Alex turned a dark glare toward Sidney. “I’ll take care of it once we’re back with our horses. Right now we need to move before those idiots come back and finish what they started. This is a prime place for an ambush.”
Sidney nodded in grave agreement. “He’s right. Let’s get out of here.” He reached for Charley, but Alex stepped between them, slipping a possessive arm about her waist. A trill of excitement shot through her as the strength of his fingers pressed firmly into her side.
“We only have two horses so you’ll have to ride with me, Charles.” The sarcastic bite in Alex’s tone swiftly cut any girlish trembling inspired by his touch. Why had Sidney used the pet name? Only he called her Charles. It was all in good fun, but Alex was sure to get the wrong impression... think the nickname intimate or some other such foolishness.
Sidney took the lead, guiding them through the inky wood. Not once did Alex loosen his hold on her and he proved remarkably sure footed on the uneven terrain despite his limp.
“Watch your step,” Alex murmured, turning to face her. All anger was gone from his handsome visage, and only soft concern reflected in the moonlight. He leaned down, slipping one arm around the small of her back and the other beneath her knees, gallantly scooping her up in his arms.
“Oh!” Charley’s stomach floundered. Heavens, he lifted her as easily as one would a horse blanket.
“This snow drift looks a little deep,” he supplied, cradling her into his heat. “I wouldn’t want you to trip.” Warm gusts of breath tickled her cheek, sending tingles dancing along her skin.
Tingles did not bode well for her peace of mind.
“Th-thank you.” Her arms settled naturally about his broad shoulders, fingers brushing the soft hair and smooth skin at the base of his neck.
He strode clear of the drift and she pulled away from his upper body, expecting him to set her back to the ground. Alex, however, showed no signs of slowing. “You can put me down now.”
“Nonsense,” he clipped. “We’ll move faster if I carry you.”
Charley rather doubted that. “Alex—”
“Lay your head on my shoulder,” he ordered, the words quiet but filled with his usual gruffness. He shifted her easily in his arms, giving her little choice but to comply, and marched through the trees as though she were no more burden than a potato sack.
After the night’s ordeal Charley simply didn’t have it in her to argue, and tentatively rested a cheek against his shoulder. She sighed out a pent up breath, relaxing ever so slightly against his sturdy frame. This was much more comfortable. Her head fit perfectly within the crook of his neck and his broad back blocked the cold wind. The familiar aroma of coffee mingled with Alex’s masculine scent teased her senses. Coffee… she’d forgotten he didn’t like tea. The sweet memory reminded her again of the friendship they’d once shared and her guard slipped just a bit. “Why did you come for me?”
“You seemed in need of rescuing,” he murmured softly.
Spoken like a true fairytale knight. The unexpected tenderness coupled with the fresh terror of her abduction brought on an urge to cry so sudden, Charley barely swallowed back the sob rushing up her throat. Struggling to maintain her self-control she squeezed her eyes shut, striving to banish the faces of her captors. A vision of Alex charging into the thicket swept through her mind bringing with it a sense of security that threatened the iron walls surrounding her heart.
Cuddled in his arms she was warm and safe and, foolish or no, she didn’t particularly want to leave his embrace. Here was the sanctuary she’d craved in the clearing. Despite everything between them Alex had actually come for her. He hadn’t paid a ransom; he’d gallantly risked his life instead.
A twig popped, snapping her from the fanciful haze. Lord above she’d best not dwell on anything Alex may or may not have done. If she wasn’t careful her imagination would weave ridiculous daydreams and she’d find herself falling hard and fast in love with a fairytale. Again. Alex did nothing unless he stood to profit from it. Best to remember that.
“You’re shaking,” he murmured, softly touching his lips to her hair.
Charley’s fickle heart twisted and the trembling grew tenfold in force. “It’s just that…” She paused, reluctant to admit the true center of her thoughts. “Those men… I—I still can’t believe you’re here, that you found me before…” her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry, Alex.”
“Think no more of it for now, love. You’re safe and we’ll discuss it later.”
Love? Her insides quivered. Stop. Stop. Stop that, she scolded silently. No good could come of reading into meaningless endearments. The same endearments he used for children, animals, and likely the cooking staff. The reality was quite depressing and her heart sank along with her thoroughly battered spirits. What a day. What a night. What a disappointment.
“Rest your head. I’ve got you.” Comforting gusts of breath licked her hair and foolish though it may be she complied. Here in the dark of night, in the shadowy woods, what could it hurt to let those powerful arms surround her for just a spell? He hadn’t scolded her for the situation and was being very attentive. She snuggled deeper, wrapping her arms more fully around his neck. Just this once she’d play the role of damsel in distress, and he would be her armored knight.
Alex wove steadily through the trees without another word and showing no signs of weariness. After a few minutes Charley spied the road winding through the trees, illuminated by moonlight.
“Keep Charley back, Alex,” Sidney called from the roadside. “She doesn’t need to see this.”
Charley gulped, curling her fingers in her husband’s coat. “Saunders?”
Alex shook his head. “He didn’t make it.”
A sob clogged her throat, and she sucked a whistling breath into her lungs.
Her husband strode from the thicket, steering her away from the wreckage, but Charley spied the splintered carriage from the corner of her eye. Sidney draped a blanket over the still form of her faithful driver. She buried her face in the thick wool of Alex’s uniform, a fresh wash of tears rushing forth.
Gently Alex set her down beside Letty. “Hush, there is no need for tears. Never look back at what could have been different.” He caught her cheek in a rough palm and smo
othed a thumb across her cheek, wiping away the slick of tears. Compassion and understanding glistened in the depths of his piercing blue eyes. He slipped burly arms around her, folding her in an all encompassing embrace.
“Oh, Alex.” She crumbled, clinging to his waist, using his strength to hold her up. “This is all my fault.”
“Don’t think that way. None of this is your doing. You had no way of knowing you’d be abducted on your way to a dinner party.”
Except that she hadn’t been on her way to a dinner party. Guilt settled hard in her stomach. If she’d gone to Lady Carmichael’s after all none of this would have happened… Saunders would still be alive. Instead she’d selfishly flown from London.
“This isn’t about you, Charley. It’s about me.” Alex smoothed a hand over her hair and drew back.
“No, Alex, you don’t understand, those men were hired to kill me.”
“Kill you?” He shook his head in bewilderment. “Charlotte, those bastards were holding you for ransom. I have the note to prove it.”
“I heard them talking, Alex. Someone hired them to kill me for one thousand pounds. The lead man, Johnston, saw you riding through town and they decided to hold me for a higher ransom instead.” Questions, uncertainty, and more than a little fear left her terribly off balance. She held to her husband’s arms as an anchor. “Who would want to kill me, Alex?” Miserable tears slid down her cheeks, blurring his handsome face.
Alex took her face in his hands, smoothing calloused thumbs across her cheeks. “None of it matters, love. I have a very good idea who is behind this and rest assured no further harm will come to you.”
For a long moment he gazed down at her, expression soft and yielding. A spark lit his eye, holding her transfixed. Something forbidden and powerful lurked in his gaze, sending heated shivers along her spine.
He leaned just a bit closer, his hooded gaze tracing the curve of her face, coming to rest on her mouth. White mists of breath rolled through the air, mingling between them, and her lips lit with silent yearning. For the briefest instant, intimacy banished the chasm of marriage contracts and scandal between them. For one perfect moment nothing in the world existed save for them and she knew the silliest, fleeting thought that he might kiss her.
Light to Valhalla Page 4