Suddenly things weren’t quite so easy and Hiro felt himself stiffening. “Is it?”
She’d been raised as the daughter of one duke, the sister of another, but most of her time had been spent in London, not the sprawling highland estate.
“I suppose…” Amanda cocked her head, peering up at him, but perhaps not really seeing him, in that adorable way of hers. “Alistair and Olivia are there for the holidays. Mother is with them, and her last letter said Amelia and Kipling will be joining them before visitinghisestate.”
“So your family is at Effinghell,” he prompted, hoping she’d see his point.
She shrugged, gaze focusing on him once more. “Your family is in York. We could go there instead.”
What? “My lady, your family is far more important?—”
“Bosh,” she scoffed, straightening, but not pulling away. “Your home is in York, and you have a right to visit them for the holidays.”
Perhaps. If my home wasn’t wherever you are.
He didn’t say the words, because a) they sounded far too ridiculous to actually speak when she had teased him enough already, and b) he couldn’t afford to hint at his true feelings.
Let her think this—this—whateverthey shared was simply pleasure. Lust. He was along to protect her and slake her passions, whenever she needed him. He would be there for her, no matterhowshe needed him.
Always.
Which was convenient, because it turned out she needed him right there, right then.
Only not in the way he’d been considering.
“Well, well, ain’t this a cozy scene. Lovers among the dead, eh Hamish?”
Hiro dropped Amanda and spun around, using one arm to hold her behind him as the two men—bundled up against the cold in dirty coats and overgrown beards—sauntered toward them. One carried a cudgel, and the other was unarmed.
Or rather, hewould’vebeen unarmed, if not for the two huge, incredibly musculararmsattached to his shoulders. It would be rather difficult to disarm him, not without an ax.
When the man laughed and smacked one fist into the other palm, Hiro decided those two arms were likely the only arming this giant had ever needed.
“What do you want?” he barked sharply, still holding Amanda behind him. He didn’t reallycarewhat the bastards wanted, he just wanted them focused on him.
He had to keep her safe.
“Well, that should be obvious, milaird,” the be-cudgeled man drawled. “We want yer money. Or yer life. Or both. Right, Hamish?”
At least they were speaking to Hiro and hadn’t seemed to notice Amanda. He would fight better if he didn’t have to worry about keeping her out of trouble as well.
That was when Amanda, damn her, drew their attention. “You know, my family has a cockatoo named Hamish. He has rather a naughty vocabulary. It is why my sister was determined to raise her own parrot from the egg, to teach him better…but she got a pair of chickens instead. They arenicechickens,” she mused. “Just a little less eloquent.”
Hiro’s eyes fluttered shut in dread for only a moment, as the giant rumbled, “Chickens? I like to eat chickens.”
“Well, there you are,” Amanda chirped brightly. “You already have a better vocabulary thanmyHamish. He says things likeShow us yer knickersandFooking magnificent!”
In that moment, Hiro changed his mind about Amanda’s interference. Both bandits were staring at her in such shock and surprise—likely at hearing such language from a refined lady—that Hiro could use their distraction to his advantage.
He struck hard and fast, the way his old master had taught him. The side of his hand chopped hard against the arm of the smaller man, causing him to drop the cudgel, and when his opponentbent forward grasping for it, Hiro slammed his fist into the man’s neck.
It took that long for the giant to notice something was amiss. Well-armed, but not particularly well-brained. As he slowly turned, Hiro launched himself at him, slamming into the large man’s stomach and throwing him backward. The giant stumbled but Hiro had always been light on his feet. He planted one of those feet and, as his opponent straightened, launched a flurry of kicks at his face and throat.
The man grabbed for his foot and surely got lucky. A pair of massive hands closed around Hiro’s ankle, but this wasn’t entirely unexpected. By using his opponent’s strength as an anchor, Hiro planted his other foot on the man’s thick thigh, shifted, and swung up and around.
In a move which would’ve made his old master proud, Hiro ended up perched atop the giant’s shoulders, both legs locked around the man’s neck. All he had to do was provide pressure while his opponent fruitlessly punched at his thighs and calves.
Hiro winced, tightening his hold, as the giant slowly ran out of air. When he did and fell forward to his knees, Hiro merely had to ride the bastard down.
