KATEY’S FIRST PANICKED THOUGHT as Boyd dragged her downstairs was that he was taking her to jail. He mumbled something about letting the authorities figure it out, that he couldn’t trust his own instincts where she was concerned. So all she could think to shout at him was “Wait! Wait!”
He didn’t. And he reinforced her conclusion when he said to the wide-eyed innkeeper as they passed the man, “Caught her sneaking into my room. I’m surprised to find thieves in a nice town like this.”
Katey gasped at that accusation, but Boyd wasn’t stopping so she couldn’t let the innkeeper know who the real culprit was. He pulled her straight out the door, and his horse would have to be right there.
He tossed her up in the saddle none too gently. With his hands off her for a moment, she started to slide off the horse to the other side, but Boyd mounted behind her too quickly. With Boyd’s arms on either side of her now as he gathered the reins, she felt like she was being caged.
A deep sense of rage settled over her. Pigheaded, arbitrary, thinks-he-knows-it-all blackguard! she screamed to herself. And to think she’d liked him! Too much! How many times on that voyage with him, had she been tempted to tell him the truth, that she wasn’t really married. Ha! She’d been right to hold her tongue.
But she wasn’t holding it now. “You should have done this to begin with,” she yelled at him. “Instead of detaining me against my will. And don’t be surprised if you’re the one who ends up in jail, Mr. High-and-Mighty. When I get done telling the constable how you held me prisoner in that room, manhandled me, and falsely accused me, we’ll see who’s laughing.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that’s not where we’re going.”
He sounded amused, as if he was sure her threats were desperate attempts to perpetuate her lies. But if she’d been paying attention instead of railing at him, she would have noticed that he’d galloped out of town and was only now slowing down to a less grueling pace. She frowned, staring at the now familiar highway up ahead.
“Where are you taking me then?”
“To London. It was your idea,” he reminded her.
She gasped. “I never said we should go to London, I said we should find Judith!”
“And she’ll be at home. I warned you Jeremy wouldn’t waste any time taking her back to her parents. They’ll be in London long before we can catch up to them.”
“My God, I can’t believe you’re carrying this to this outrageous extreme!” she exclaimed. “All you had to do was listen to me.”
“I did,” he said, sounding angry again, “but all you did was claim to be innocent when I caught you red-handed! That, sweetheart, doesn’t work. So what was the truth? You got separated from Cameron, didn’t you? You moved Judy without telling him? Did you have a fight with him? Decide to keep the fortune all to yourself?”
Katey stared incredulously before her, hearing new charges that were so preposterous they didn’t deserve to be answered. “If you’d just use your head for what it’s supposed to be good for,” she retorted, “you’d realize how ridiculous all those allegations are.”
To which he leaned into her back to say, “I can’t think straight when you’re within touching distance, when the only thing on my mind is carrying you to the nearest bed, so I don’t dare just take you at your word, Katey Tyler. I’m sorry.”
She drew in her breath sharply. It wasn’t just his words that affected her. It was also his chest pressed against her, his arms tight on either side of her, and his warm breath against her ear. The shiver that ran through her body had nothing to do with the brisk autumn air blowing against her face.
It took several minutes for her to get her own desires under control and to drum up enough nerve to point out, “You don’t call this touching distance?”
“You noticed that, did you?” He chuckled. “But there’s no longer a bed nearby, so I think I can manage to restrain myself long enough to turn you over to the Malorys. Judith’s father can sort this out and figure out what to do…with…you.”
It wasn’t just how he tried to not end that statement. She also felt him stiffen, as if he’d just realized something he should have thought of sooner. Of course he’d already admitted he wasn’t thinking straight…
“What?” she demanded as she glanced back at him. “Did you overlook something pertinent? Like you have no right to be taking me anywhere?!”
Instead of answering her, his eyes latched onto her mouth. “You might want to keep your lips out of my view, Katey. Really. Unless—?”
“I get the point!” she exclaimed, and whipped her head back around.
The chill wind hit her in the face again due to his fast pace. But had the clouds overhead darkened? It was going to rain, she was sure of it, and he was foolishly racing them down the highway on horseback!
“This is absurd,” she grumbled. “I was going to London, but I’m not going by horseback! I demand you take me back for my coach and driver. And my maid is going to be frantic with worry when she can’t find me. And my clothes! I’m not dressed to travel like this!”
“Do you ever keep quiet?”
“Do you ever listen to anything that’s said to you?” she shot back. “I’m not dressed to ride a horse like this. My skirt—”
“Tuck it under your legs,” he suggested. But he also pressed closer to her again, leaning over her shoulder to see what she was complaining about. “Nice calves. I had a feeling they would be.”
“Keep your eyes to yourself!” she snapped, blushing, and shrugged him away from her.
“I’m trying!”
My God, she almost laughed. If she weren’t so furious with him, she probably would have. What an outlandish rogue he was turning out to be. This lust of his had been present on the voyage, but while she’d known about it, they had both had to pretend it didn’t exist. Her supposed marital status had served as a firm barrier that had helped them accomplish that. That barrier had crumbled today and he’d become entirely too bold.
She tucked her skirt tight under her inner thighs on both legs, but that didn’t help with the wind. “I’m still cold,” she complained. “I’m blocking most of this wind from you, so you’re not feeling how brisk it’s gotten. I need my coat. No, I need my coach! There is absolutely no reason to make this trip this way when I have a perfectly good coach ten minutes back.”
“No,” he said simply.
“Why?!” she wailed.
“Because I’m not letting you out of my sight. Do you really think I’d trust your driver to take us where I tell him to go? Someone will be sent back to deal with the rest of your cohorts in good time.”
She gritted her teeth. “Mark my words, it’s going to rain. Look up at the sky if you don’t believe me.”
He barked a short laugh. “When doesn’t it look like that in this country?”
“You’re saying it’s not going to rain?”
“I doubt it. It’s looked like that all morning and it hasn’t rained yet.”
“I’m still cold.”
He leaned his chest against her again to say suggestively, “Well, you could turn around to face me. I guarantee that will warm you very fast. Or you could put my jacket on.”
“I’ll take the jacket.”
She heard his sigh as he leaned away from her again. A moment later, his jacket was draped about her shoulders. Katey didn’t thank him, but she quickly put it on. She wished it didn’t smell like him, though. It made it seem as if she were surrounded by his warmth.
A few minutes of silence passed as she snuggled deep into that warmth. Her legs were resting on his with her sitting in front of him on the saddle. His arms on each side of her hugged her more tightly, too, until it felt as if he were actually holding her in his arms. Him, him, him. God! She needed to think about something else!
“You didn’t say what gave you pause a while ago, when you mentioned the Malorys,” she said.
“It merely occurred to me that you don’t need to be scared of any constables, sweetheart. You do need to be scared of Anthony Malory, though.”
She rolled her eyes. He really and truly did think she was guilty, while she was sure she’d have nothing to fear from Judith’s father. Boyd was going to be the one who would have to account for his mistake, and she relished that. But that was assuming that Judith would think to mention Katey’s part in this little adventure, and if she hadn’t, if Katey would be allowed to speak to the child first before…before what?
“This isn’t the first time you’ve implied the Malorys are to be feared. Just who are they?”
“One of the more powerful families in this realm, and very family-oriented. Hurt one and you’ve hurt them all. But Judy’s father, well, he beat your husband, Geordie, so severely it’s doubtful he’ll ever look the same again. He’s been so out of his mind with worry that he’ll take heads off before he asks questions.”
Katey stiffened. “I told you, I don’t know this Geordie person. And Judy was much too sweet to have a father like the one you’re describing, so stop trying to scare me.”
She felt him shrug when he replied, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Anthony isn’t likely to lay a hand on you. I didn’t mean to imply that. You’re a woman, after all. But he can make sure you spend the rest of your life behind bars. In fact, my first thought when I found you knee-deep in this was to rescue you.”
She decided to humor him by asking, “I suppose you mean from prison?”
“Yes. I could get you out of the country instead. That’s still an option. Think you could manage to convince me to do that?”
She snorted. She should have known he wasn’t being serious, that his thoughts had taken a sensual turn. “That doesn’t deserve an answer.”
“By the end of the day you’ll think otherwise.”
“By the end of the day,” she shot back angrily, “you’ll be on your knees begging my forgiveness, which won’t be forthcoming, I promise you. In fact, if I ever see you again after today, you’ll be lucky if I don’t shoot you. You, sir, are a…a…a stubborn jackass!”
She heard his chuckle. “But you like me anyway, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“Oh!” She wasn’t going to say another word to him. Odious man. But he would be sorry!
It started to rain. Big drops. She smirked for all of two minutes, until she was quite drenched.
“Now look what you’ve done!” she said accusingly.
“Sorry, but I didn’t summon up this downpour.”
“I’m freezing!”
“You’re nothing of the sort,” he said, but his arms did close around her a bit more tightly.
“I’m going to catch my death and it will be your fault. I told you I was going to London. We could have been riding in my nice, warm coach! But, no, you couldn’t be sensible about this, could you?”
She sneezed to make her point. It wasn’t a feigned sneeze, but it wasn’t a true sign that she was catching a cold either. Raindrops had gathered on the tip of her nose, tickling the sneeze out of her.
But it was enough to make him ask, “I don’t suppose you know of any shelter nearby?”
She blinked. He was going to be sensible? A bit late, but still…
“As it happens, there’s a small town about ten minutes from here. You just passed the road to it. Go back. There’s an inn there.”
He turned around. It took him less than five minutes on horseback to reach the town she’d stopped at that morning, but then he’d spurred his mount to a gallop again to get them out of the rain sooner.
She pointed out the inn when they were in the center of the small town in case he hadn’t noticed it yet. He whisked them straight inside, leaving her in front of the fireplace in the common room to start warming up, while he paid for a room where they could wait out the storm.
She wasn’t really cold. The rain might have brought a little chill to the air, but the weather wasn’t even close to wintry yet. She’d merely been trying to make Boyd feel guilty, not that she thought he was capable of remorse. Yet. But he would be when he finally found out what a colossal mistake he’d made.
She kept an eye on him while she held her hands out to the fire. Unfortunately, he was keeping an eye on her. She sighed. There’d be no slipping out a side door without his noticing—yet.
She also thought about making a scene now that they were around other people again. Having a constable summoned could go either way, though. Without her servants here to verify her story, Boyd might be believed instead, and she could well end up in jail after all. She decided not to risk that. Besides, she would rather make her way back to Northampton, collect her belongings and her servants, and put what had turned into a ridiculous adventure behind her.
“Come on,” he said, taking her arm to escort her upstairs. “If this rain doesn’t stop within the hour, I’ll see if I can find a coach to hire for the remainder of the journey.”
Concessions? So he could make them? But he should have thought of coaches before he galloped them out of the much larger town of Northampton. He wasn’t likely to find one to hire here. But she didn’t mention that. Anything that would separate them long enough for her to escape she would agree with.
To that end, she said as soon as he ushered her into the room, “I’m starving.”
He ignored her and went straight to the fireplace to get it lit. She wished he’d forget that she’d said she was freezing. He was so single-minded!
Annoyed, she said, “Did you hear me? I’m starving?”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I haven’t eaten since yesterday,” she lied, but for good measure added, “My maid had just gone to fetch us food when you burst into my room.”
He still got the fire going before he stood up, dusted his hands, and said, “All right, I’ll see about getting some food sent up and maybe a hot bath, too. Dry off while I’m gone, but stay the hell away from that bed. Is that clear?”
“I didn’t say I was tired,” she quipped.
He just stared at her until a blush appeared on her face. She knew what he’d meant. He’d mentioned her and beds in the same breath enough times for her to never forget just how much he wanted to get her into one.
“We’re clear,” she was forced to say.
He ran a hand through his wet hair and glanced at the comfy bed. “This is probably a bad idea,” he said in a half groan. “We should just wait out the storm downstairs. We can get food down there as well.”
That wasn’t going to help her to get away from him! “You wait downstairs,” she quickly said. “I’ll take that hot bath you mentioned. Really. It will probably keep me from catching a cold.”
He stared at her for another long moment before he nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him. She immediately heard the scraping of a key in the lock and ground her teeth in exasperation. Well, no wonder he’d so readily agreed. He knew damn well he’d be locking her in!
But Katey wasted no time in examining other options. The room had two windows that overlooked the street, and the street was empty because of the rain. One of those windows was even directly over the slanted porch roof at the front of the inn. And it wouldn’t be that far of a drop if she dangled from that roof.
Ten minutes later Boyd stood at that same window that Katey had left open in her escape. Although he’d tossed a coin to one of the inn workers downstairs to get his horse stabled, he could see out the window that the horse wasn’t where he’d left it and had a feeling Katey had gotten to it first. It was just as well.
As soon as he’d left the room and Katey’s presence, he’d started having doubts about her involvement in Judith’s abduction. It just didn’t feel right labeling her a criminal. She befriended animals, for God’s sake! And with that thought he began to think he’d wanted her to be guilty. Then he could put her from his mind, finally, as unworthy of his regard, and for a married woman, she’d been on his mind far too long as it was.
But whether he was making excuses for her now and she was actually guilty as sin, he wasn’t going to chase her down. Judith was safe now. And he couldn’t really bear the thought of Katey Tyler in jail.