AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“With Evan?” Marcus asked.
Tait nodded. “Which meant if they found us, one of them had betrayed him. But we wouldn’t know which one, so I shouldn’t trust anyone.”
“No’ even the police?”
“No, because there was no way to know how deep the betrayal went. And even if it didn’t, eventually their reports would get back to whoever betrayed him, anyway.”
She sighed and shrugged within the circle of his arms. “Maybe that doesn’t matter now. Those men already know who I am, and now, where I am. And I can’t bear the thought of Evan’s family not…not finding him and bringing him home. Maybe we should make that anonymous call to the police, after all.”
“Aye. The blackguards already ken the vicinity ye’re in. But in the morning, we’ll take measures tae reverse that.”
She looked up at him once more, confusion in her eyes. “Why? You’ve done so much for me already.” She glanced around the room. “Helping me, providing this temporary sanctuary has saved my life. But you don’t even know me. Why risk yourself any further?”
Why indeed?Couldhe turn his back on her? Nae. Even wi’out the debt he owed Soni and his deep need to pay it forward, he couldnae just walk away. The question was so preposterous, he snorted. “I’ve a notion tae see ye safe, Lass. For as long as it takes. Ye’ve my word on it.”
At some point today, his quest to help her had moved beyond it being the honorable thing to do. He wasnae sure when it had become personal. But it had. Tait was…more of everything he’dneverexpected. He wasnae through unwrapping all the surprises she held.
Or the few he was discovering within himself.
Slowly, she moved out of his embrace to resettle against the headboard. “I still don’t understand why, but I won’t lie about being relieved. And grateful.” Her sigh was heavy as she fussed with a loose thread on the bedspread. “I suppose all this has been rather shocking. Certainly not what you expected when you began your…vacation?”
“Ye’re right. ’Twasnae what I thought tae find. But shocked? No’ a’tall,” Marcus replied, already missing the feel of her in his arms. “I’m fairly used tae the unexpected.”
“Really?” she pulled a pillow to her chest again and crossed her arms around it. “Do tell.”
“ ’Tis a tale for another day,” he said getting up. “This one has been long and hard for ye. And I ken tomorrow will present a whole new set of challenges. ’Tis time ye got some rest. Och! But ye havnae eaten. Ye must be starvin’.”
“Not really,” she yawned. “More tired than hungry, I think.”
“Aye.” Marcus glanced at the single straight-backed chair in the corner of the room. ’Twould have to do. “Good night tae ye, then.” With an inward sigh, he switched off the light.
“Marcus, we both know that chair’s not going to hold you.” Tait’s voice, soft and low, came out of the stillness. “This bed is big enough for both of us. Besides, you’ve earned a good night’s sleep.”
He couldnae think of anything to say. And his legs dinnae seem to want to move. Like a fool, he stood immobile in the dark.
“You’re quite safe,” Tait whispered. “I’m far too tired to take advantage of you. I promise. Come lay down, Marcus. I’ll feel safer having you beside me.”
Apparently, the lass trusted him, he reasoned as he moved to the opposite side of the bed.
But should he trust himself?
He yanked a pillow free and laid down atop the bedspread, barely daring to breathe as Tait pulled the blankets down and wiggled between the sheets. Several long minutes passed as he listened for her next breath. Naught—in all the nights in Wickham’s barn with the whole of The 79’s snores thickening the air—had prepared him for the soft, gentle rhythm of her breathing.
How was a man to sleep?
Hearing a rustle from Tait’s side of the bed, he froze as she pulled an arm free of her covers and reached for his hand, slipping hers, warm and soft, inside his. “That’s better,” she sighed. “Goodnight, Marcus.”
Chapter 6
Marcus awoke to a thin beam of light pushing through the wee crack between the drapes—and Tait tucked beneath his arm. His first instinct was to pull away before she woke, but even with the thick layer of bedding between them, he relished the feel of her beside him.
Just a minute more?
Somehow, they’d both gravitated to the middle of the bed where she lay with her back to him and her mass of auburn curls spread across the pillow, close enough to tickle his nose.
His arm lay across her waist, his hand loosely draped over her abdomen. Never had he resented a blanket quite so much as the one beneath his hand.
Tait moaned, shifted, and turned toward him, giving him the opportunity to snatch his arm back before he embarrassed them both. But now her face lay mere inches from his, her soft lips slightly parted. Yesterday, he’d kissed those same lips with complete abandon, so why did the thought of doing so now feel like a betrayal of trust?
